The Christmas Table

by Donna VanLiere

  This is yummy for family movie night. Unfortunately, it’s hard to stop eating!

  32 cups plain popped popcorn (approximately 1 cup of popcorn kernels will yield 32 cups of popped popcorn)

  2½ cups brown sugar

  1½ cups butter

  ½ cup light corn syrup

  1 teaspoon salt

  1 tablespoon vanilla

  1 teaspoon baking soda

  2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

  Coarse-grain sea salt (optional)

  Preheat the oven to 225°F. Pop the popcorn and remove any unpopped kernels. Put the popcorn into a large roasting pan and set aside. (If you have a roasting pan that can fit a turkey, it will have room to spare for 32 cups of popcorn. If you have a small roasting pan, you may need to use an additional 9 × 13 pan.) Combine the brown sugar, the butter, the corn syrup, and the salt in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat and stir occasionally for eight to ten minutes or until the mixture comes to a full boil. Continue cooking for five minutes more. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and baking soda. Pour the hot sugar mixture over the popcorn in the roasting pan and stir until well coated. Bake one hour, stirring every fifteen minutes, or until there is a crispy coating on the popcorn. Spread out the popcorn on parchment paper and cool. Microwave the bittersweet chocolate chips, stirring every thirty seconds until they have melted. Drizzle over the cooled popcorn. If desired, sprinkle with coarse-grain sea salt. Let stand until drizzle is firm. Store leftovers in an airtight container. Makes two gallons of toffee corn.

  Special Thanks

  Special thanks to Troy, Gracie, Kate, and David, who are always up for me trying new recipes, and to Jen Enderlin and everyone at St. Martin’s who continue to believe in the power of story, especially at Christmas. And many thanks to my mom, Alice Payne, who passed on the love for a good recipe and taught me how to cook.

  Dear Sam’s Club Friend,

  Merry Christmas! I am so honored that you are taking time out of your busy holiday season to enjoy The Christmas Table. The story is a labor of love for me because I love what Christmas means, and I love to cook! I wanted to write a story that would encourage us to think about our own family table and the people around it. I hoped to encourage us to remember the ones whose places are empty at the table and to cherish the memories that have been forged through years of family meals together.

  Around that table food is shared, dreams are planned, wounds are mended, arguments are fought, and laughs take our breath away, and no matter our age, that’s what we want going forward—what happens around that table. For many, home is four-letter word—an unthinkable place filled with inescapable memories. But even then, we are homesick for a place where we are loved and accepted, warts and all, and there is a waiting chair for us at the kitchen table. Especially at Christmas.

  Food reminds us of home. Especially at Christmas. Many times, the smell can take us hundreds of miles and several decades back to home. It’s amazing how a simple whiff can take us back to Grandma’s house at a Christmas that smelled like hummingbird cake, or to Mom’s house that was still saturated with the scent of roasted turkey. Food always takes us back. When my kids are grown, I hope some of their best memories involve our kitchen table; the one that their dad made with his own hands from the black walnut tree in our front yard. I hope when one of my daughters walks into a restaurant she will say, “That smells like the chicken and rice soup that my mom used to make,” or when my son walks into a bakery or another home he’ll say, “That smell reminds me of my mom’s biscotti that she always made at Christmas.”

  Food brings us together. Especially at Christmas. We spend hours shopping for ingredients, preparing the food, and setting the table so everyone feels welcome. While TV movies and commercials are filled with picture-perfect, happy people enjoying Christmas and toasting around a beautifully decorated table, the holiday was never intended only for them. Christmas began in a manger; the first meal was from a simple peasant girl’s breast to her newborn, Jesus. Linus declared, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.” Christmas is for the brokenhearted, the lonely, the widowed, and the homeless. It is for the single mom who works two jobs to take care of her kids. It is for the young woman who walks the streets or works in a strip club and for the mother at home who worries about her. It is for the fractured home and the broken marriage. It is for the celebrity or millionaire who has everything he wants but nothing at all. Christmas is for everyone who longs for home and their place at the table.

  In The Christmas Table, Lauren longs to create a home that she never knew while growing up. With the newfound recipes she discovers, she is determined to build memories around her and Travis’s new kitchen table. I am delighted to share with my Sam’s Club friends a few more recipes that are mentioned within the pages of the book. I hope your family enjoys them as much as we do and that some of your greatest laughs and dreams are shared around your table because each meal is like a new beginning. Especially at Christmas.

  CHICKEN AND SPINACH QUICHE

  This quiche is delicious at breakfast or at dinner served with home fries and fresh fruit. You can easily add diced cooked bacon alongside the chicken or use whatever meat you like in place of the chicken. Don’t let the creole seasoning throw you off; it doesn’t make the quiche taste Cajun but seasons it perfectly. I often use a combination of cheeses in addition to Gruyère, but the Gruyère alone makes an outstanding quiche. If you have a family of five like me, you may need to make two of these because you won’t have any leftovers with just one!

  1 (9-inch) unbaked pastry shell

  ¼ cup shredded Gruyère cheese

  1 cup diced cooked chicken

  ½ cup chopped sweet onion (or a combination of sweet onion and finely chopped leeks)

  1 cup chopped fresh spinach

  ¾ cup shredded Gruyère or Monterey Jack cheese (or a combination of Gruyere and Asiago cheese is yummy)

  3 eggs

  ¾ cup whipping cream or half-and-half

  ½ cup mayonnaise

  ½ teaspoon creole seasoning such as Tony’s Original Creole Seasoning

  Preheat the oven to 350°F.

  Line a 9-inch pie plate with the pastry shell and poke holes in the bottom. Sprinkle ¼ cup cheese in the pastry shell.

  In a bowl, mix the chicken, onion, spinach, and remaining ¾ cup cheese and spoon into the pie shell.

  In the same bowl you just used, whisk the eggs, whipping cream, mayonnaise, and creole seasoning. Pour over chicken mixture.

  Bake in the preheated oven until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean (thirty to forty minutes, depending on your oven). Let stand at least ten minutes before serving.

  BUTTERMILK BREAKFAST CAKE

  This breakfast cake is so moist and tender that you can eat it plain or add chocolate chips or fresh blueberries, raspberries, peaches, or a combination of fruit. I have discovered that fresh fruit tastes better than frozen in this recipe. This is not a sweet cake; it uses only ⅓ cup of sugar, so you won’t feel a crash an hour after breakfast. The key ingredient is buttermilk, so be sure you use it and not plain milk. Buttermilk makes this cake melt in your mouth. If you don’t have whole-milk buttermilk you can always make your own, and I’m including those simple steps below (although I prefer purchasing whole-milk buttermilk over the homemade version). This cake is still wonderful the next day and freezes beautifully, too.

  ½ cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature

  zest from 1 large lemon

  ⅓ cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling

  1 egg, room temperature (put in a cup of warm water for a few minutes if it’s straight out of the refrigerator)

  1 tsp. vanilla

  ½ tsp. almond extract

  1¾ cups all-purpose flour. I typically use Einkorn all-purpose, but any will work. You can set aside ¼ cup to toss with the blueberries (more on this in the directions).

  2 tsp. baking powder

 
; 1 tsp. salt

  ½ cup whole-milk buttermilk

  MIX-IN OPTIONS

  2 cups fresh blueberries or raspberries, picked over but not washed (or washed and gently patted dry)

  2 cups peeled and diced fresh peaches (a combination of these varied fruits is also very good)

  1 to 1 ½ cups chocolate chips

  Preheat the oven to 350°F. Using cooking spray or butter, grease an eight-inch-square baking pan.

  Using a handheld mixer, cream the butter with the lemon zest and ⅓ cup sugar until light and fluffy.

  Beat in the egg, vanilla, and almond extract.

  Toss the blueberries or raspberries with the ¼ cup of flour you have set aside. (Both of these fruits will still break apart when stirring into the batter, so don’t get discouraged. I usually skip this step for that reason and just add the ¼ cup of flour here in the next step.)

  In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 1½ cups of flour (or the entire 1¾ cups if you have not tossed the fruit with flour), baking powder and salt.

  With a spatula, add half of the flour mixture to the batter and stir. Stir in all of the buttermilk.

  Add the remaining flour and stir until just absorbed. Gently fold in the blueberries, raspberries, peaches, or chocolate chips.

  Spread the batter into the prepared pan. It is thick, so you will have to use the spatula to gently spread it. Sprinkle the remaining one tablespoon of sugar on top. Depending on your oven, this cake will bake anywhere from thirty-five to forty-five minutes and will have a light, golden color on top. Convection setting will take less time. Be sure to check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or a knife. If it comes out clean, the cake is done and it’s delicious!

  HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK

  Place two teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Fill the cup with whole milk (2% works, too) until it reaches the ½-cup line. Let it stand for ten minutes, and it’s ready to use.

  CHICKEN AND WILD RICE SOUP

  My kids always know I’m making this when they come home from school because it makes the house smell wonderful! The beauty of this recipe is that you can add more half-and-half to make the soup thinner or reduce it to make the consistency more stewlike. For a healthier option, you can use 2% milk in place of the half-and-half and skip the cream cheese altogether, but it’s awfully good as is! Delicious served with a side salad.

  7 cups chicken broth

  1 (6-ounce) package long-grain and wild-rice blend. You will use both the rice and the seasoning packet.

  ¾ cup butter

  1 rounded cup carrots, diced

  1 rounded cup celery, diced

  1 cup onion, diced

  ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (you may need more if the soup isn’t thickening to your liking)

  ½ teaspoon black pepper

  3 cups half-and-half or whipping cream

  4 ounces cream cheese, cubed

  2½ to 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed (rotisserie chicken works great)

  Pour the broth into a large pot on the stove and stir in the rice (save the seasoning packet for later). Bring to a boil over medium heat and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for five minutes and turn off the heat.

  Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onion and sauté for four to five minutes. Add the contents of the seasoning packet, stirring, and sauté for an additional five to six minutes. Gradually add the flour and pepper, stirring constantly to form a roux. Sauté for two to four minutes.

  Whisk in the half-and-half or cream, a little at a time, until smooth. Add the cubed cream cheese. Cook until the cream cheese melts and soup thickens. Stir this mixture into the broth and rice and add the cooked chicken.

  Cook over medium heat until heated through and rice is done, ten to fifteen minutes. Depending on its consistency, you may need to add more half-and-half or chicken broth.

  PUMPKIN SCONES

  These are some of our favorites! They are delicious plain, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, or you can add some white chocolate baking chips into the dough. For special occasions, a spiced glaze can be drizzled on top. The dough can be patted out and cut into rectangles or you can simply drop ¼ to ⅓ cup of the dough onto a cookie sheet and bake. So good with a hot cup of coffee or tea!

  SCONES

  2 cups all-purpose flour

  ½ cup granulated sugar

  1 tablespoon baking powder

  ½ teaspoon salt

  1 teaspoon pumpkin spice

  ½ cup canned pumpkin

  3 tablespoons half-and-half or whipping cream

  1 large egg

  White chocolate baking chips, optional

  Spiced glaze, optional

  Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a stand mixer, combine all the dry ingredients. Use a knife or vegetable peeler to strip the butter into the ingredients. Turn the mixer on low and let it combine the mixture until it is crumbly with no obvious chunks of butter remaining.

  In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, half-and-half or cream, and egg. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the dough forms into a ball. If you’d like, stir in ½ to 1 cup of white chocolate baking chips.

  Scoop out anywhere from ¼ to ⅓ cup (depending on how large you’d like each scone) and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake anywhere from thirteen to fifteen minutes or until firm to the touch.

  SPICED GLAZE

  1 cup powdered sugar

  1½ tablespoons milk (or more if needed)

  ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice with additional pinch of cinnamon

  Mix all the ingredients together. Add more milk if the glaze seems too thick. Taste and see if it needs more cinnamon. Allow scones to cool slightly before drizzling the glaze over the top.

  Also by Donna VanLiere

  The Christmas Star

  The Christmas Town

  The Christmas Light

  Christmas Keepsakes

  The Good Dream

  The Christmas Note

  The Christmas Journey

  The Christmas Secret

  Finding Grace

  The Christmas Promise

  The Angels of Morgan Hill

  The Christmas Shoes

  The Christmas Blessing

  The Christmas Hope

  About the Author

  DONNA VANLIERE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Good Dream, Finding Grace, The Angels of Morgan Hill, and nine Christmas books, including the perennial favorites The Christmas Shoes and The Christmas Hope. Six novels have been turned into made-for-television movies. She travels as a speaker and lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with her husband and three children. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  A Christmas Table Full of Recipes
>
  Special Thanks

  Chicken and Spinach Quiche

  Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

  Homemade Buttermilk

  Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

  Pumpkin Scones

  Also by Donna VanLiere

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group

  THE CHRISTMAS TABLE. Copyright © 2020 by Donna VanLiere. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.

  www.stmartins.com

  Cover design by Michael Storrings

  Cover art by Alan Ayers

  Cover photographs: Christmas background © Alan Hicks / Alamy Stock Photo; trees and snow © rcreitmeyer / Deposit Photos; table © E+ / Getty Images; room © Jun Zhang / Getty Images

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Names: VanLiere, Donna, 1966– author.

  Title: The Christmas table / Donna VanLiere.

  Description: First edition. | New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2020. |

  Identifiers: LCCN 2020028411 | ISBN 9781250164674 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250172495 (ebook)

  Subjects: LCSH: Christmas stories.

  Classification: LCC PS3622.A66 C485 2020 | DDC 813/.6—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020028411

  eISBN 9781250172495

  Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.

  First Edition: 2020