A Miracle at Macy's
Page 32
Thanks to all of my FB and Twitter friends. You guys keep me going, and give me laughs. The wonderful reviews and support I get mean more than you can know.
Thank you to the other HarperImpulse authors who have been in my corner. It’s appreciated.
Thanks to my husband, Sam, and our kids for keeping the household going while I write. Once upon a time, I lived in a clean house. I swear it. And as God as my witness, I shall someday again. Try to work around that pile of dirty dishes for now.
And to my fellow New Yorkers: Thanks in advance for not pointing out that I fiddled with the dates of time-honored traditional holiday events. I’m not going to lie… I love how fiction is forgiving. It works for me. We all know I’m fairly lazy, and I prefer being loosey-goosey.
Finally, and mostly, thanks to all of my readers. Even after all of these books, I’m still humbled that strangers choose to spend their precious time reading the words I’ve put on pages. You made my dreams come true. X
Bonus Material
Keep reading for some deliciously festive recipes from the author and a look at her bestselling Christmas romance, Summer at Castle Stone (if you’re feeling a bit Christmassed out!)…
Lynn Marie’s Holiday Delights
Did you know that Lynn Marie Hulsman is also a chef? Well, she is! And she’s agreed to share some of her wonderful festive recipes with us! We’ve got three recipes from her exclusively for you, starting with this yummy-sounding Sweetly Spiced Holiday Popcorn recipe! Enjoy…
This tasty treat is a wonderful light offering, packed with show stopping flavor. Salty and sweet, it’s perfect as a cocktail snack for adults at a sophisticated Holiday Open House or as a pre-dinner nibble on the special day itself. I suggest making big batches of the spice mix, and having it on hand in your pantry — since it only takes minutes to pop corn, you’ll have a nearly instant snack to serve chilly carolers or gift-delivering visitors. Packaged in a decorative tin, or a plastic bag festooned with ribbons in holiday colors, this gorgeous goody becomes an elegant hostess gift!
Makes 8 Servings
Non-stick spray, for coating
1 dried bay leaf
Zest of 6 large clementines or 3 medium oranges, finely grated
Zest of 1 large lemon, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped *(Reserve the seeds)
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups / 1 kilogram raw sugar (or use granulated or caster sugar, if that’s what you have)
2 tablespoons butter, for popping
3 to 6 tablespoons olive oil, for popping
1 cup / 200 grams popping corn (more or less, adjust spice mix to popcorn to your taste)
To Make the Sugar-and-Spice Blend
Preheat the oven to 200°F 120°C. Lightly coat a 9-inch by 13-inch 23-centimeter by 33-centimeter baking sheet with non-stick spray, and set it aside.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the bay leaf, clementine zest, lemon zest, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla pod, and salt. Process until finely ground and well combined, about 1 minute.
Add the sugar to the zest and spice mixture, and pulse until well combined, about 10 pulses. (The sugar will look damp.) Spread the mixture in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the oven set to very low heat, stirring occasionally, about an hour. Make sure to watch carefully, so that the mixture doesn’t burn. The goal is to bring the oils out of the zest and vanilla pod, and to take the dampness from the mixture. Once the mixture is fragrant and dry, transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack, and allow it to come to room temperature. One cooled, transfer the mixture to a colander or sieve and strain, then discard any large pieces of zest or pod. Use immediately, or store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place for up to 1 month.
*Don’t waste the seeds from the pod! Combine with 1 cup granulated sugar, and seal in an airtight jar and make vanilla sugar to spoon into tea and coffee!
To Make the Popcorn
Before you pop the popcorn, prepare one or more bowls. You’ll need a bowl large enough to hold the whole batch of popcorn with extra room for tossing and coating, or you’ll need to work in batches using several smaller bowls.
Combine the butter and the oil in a very large, heavy-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid set over medium-high heat. Stay with the pot, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. You want the butter to melt, but not scorch.
Once the butter has melted, add the popcorn kernels, stir to coat, and cover the pot. Once you hear the first several pops, shake the pot to distribute the heat and prevent burning. Do not lift the lid! Continue to shake often until the popping dies down. When popping slows and becomes intermittent, remove the entire pot from the heat. (It’s better to waste a few kernels than to burn the batch!
To Assemble
Spoon the spice mix into one large bowl or divide it among two or more smaller bowls.
Add the warm popcorn and toss lightly, distributing the spice mix, until the kernels are evenly coated. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to three days.
Hot & Boozy Chocolate Silk
Of course holidays are for family, but I think every hardworking gal should make room on her schedule for a Girl’s Night amid the hustle and bustle of the season. After all, it’s the support of your girlfriends that gets you through the dreary mundane Tuesdays of the year. It’s only right to allot a celebratory night to bask in that friendship, and relax surrounded by feelings of gratitude and appreciation.
Here’s a drink I recommend serving after the last night of your office job, right before the holidays start! You can make the chocolate stir-in in advance, so when your girlfriends gather to kick off their heels, snuggle on your sofa wrapped in throws, and share wishes about holiday gifts to come, these decadent warmers will be ready in a flash.
These smooth and warming drinks go down like a dessert, but there’s no denying that they pack a punch. But why not? Letting down your hair with friends and a bot drink during the holiday rush is the perfect way to spend a cold, wintry night.
Makes 6 mugs
1/2 cup / 90 grams dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup / 60 milliliters white corn syrup (or substitute golden syrup)
1/4 cup / 60 milliliters water
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup / 240 milliliters heavy cream (or substitute double cream)
1 quart / 1 liter whole (full-fat) milk
6 ounces / 170 milliliters good Irish whiskey
Dutch cocoa powder, for dusting
In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, set over low heat, combine the chocolate chips, syrup, water, and vanilla. Warm the mixture, stirring often, until the chocolate has melted. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.
Put the cream in a medium-sized mixing bowl (this will work best if you use a metal bowl that you’ve chilled in the freezer), and beat using an electric mixer set to medium-high, until soft peaks form.
Gradually add the cooled chocolate mixture, and beat on medium-low until it mounds. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
To serve, heat the milk in a medium-sized saucepan set over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. If bubbles form at the edges of the pan, reduce the heat. Aim for steaming hot milk, but not boiling.
Divide the warm milk evenly among 6 large mugs.
Add 4 tablespoons of the chocolate mixture to each mug, and stir briskly to combine.
Add 1 ounce of whiskey to each mug, and stir one turn. Serve immediately.
Store in the refrigerator, in a tightly lidded jar or bottle, for up to one week. Shake to combine, and heat before serving.
Dried Cherry & Dark Chocolate Loaf
I love this simple-to-make loaf as both a gift and a sweet treat for the table. If making it as a hostess gift or a present, I suggest including a tag listing t
he dry ingredients that are included in the jar, along with the list of fresh ingredients needed to complete the recipe, and the directions for baking. If you’re crafty, the jar itself or the handwritten recipe can become keepsakes that rekindle memories for holidays to come. Holiday shopping already complete? Treat yourself! Served with a milky cup of tea, this moist, decadent loaf is the perfect pick-me-up for exhausted tree trimmers.
Makes one 9 x 5-inch / 23 x 13-centimeter loaf cake
1 1/2 cups / 180 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup / 200 grams granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup / 75 grams dried cherries
1/2 cup / 80 grams dark chocolate chunks (I like Ghirardelli)
1/2 cup / 75 grams chopped walnuts
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and then spoon into a canning jar. (You can use large resealable plastic bag, but you won’t gorgeous layered appearance.) Tap the jar gently on the countertop to settle the flour. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in a bowl and pour over the flour in the jar. Continue the layers with the dried cherries, then the chocolate chunks, and finally the walnuts. Put the lid on the jar and decorate as desired. Store in a cool, dark place until ready to use, up to 6 months.
To make the bread, you will need:
1/2 cup / 120 milliliters sour cream
4 tablespoons / 60 grams butter, melted
1/4 cup / 25 grams Confectioner’s sugar
2 to 3 teaspoons whole milk
Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C and grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch / 23 x 13-centimeter loaf pan.
Pour the jarful of dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir well, using a wooden spoon. Using your hands, make a well in the center and crack in 2 eggs, beating lightly with a fork. Add 1/2 cup 120 milliliters of sour cream and 4 tablespoons 60 grams of melted butter. Stir just until incorporated; the batter will be lumpy. Transfer the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly in the pan before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup / 25 grams of confectioners’ sugar and 2 to 3 teaspoons of milk (adding a little at a time to reach the proper drizzling thickness) and drizzle the glaze over the top.
Rich Winter Chutney
Even home cooks who swear they can do little more than toast bread and boil water can pull off this simple chutney recipe with aplomb. For beginners, though, I don’t recommend learning the ins and outs of canning (though this condiment lends itself nicely to that method of preservation). My philosophy is that it’s so easy to make, and gets eaten so quickly, why not just store it in the fridge and plan to eat it daily? And believe me when I tell you that delighted holiday-gift recipients won’t mind stashing jars of your homemade treat in their own fridges. I suggest serving this as an accompaniment to sweet and salty roast pork, or on a platter alongside a wheel of brie and some hearty crackers. Or, give your overnight Christmas guests something to remember by spreading it onto sandwiches made with leftover slices of turkey or goose.
Makes about 2 cups / 480 milliliters chutney
1/2 cup / 75 grams chopped walnuts
1/2 cup / 80 grams chopped pitted dates
1/4 cup / 50 grams chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup / 50 grams chopped dried figs
1/3 cup / 50 grams raisins
2 large apples, peeled and chopped
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 tablespoons grape juice
2 teaspoons honey
Place the walnuts in a food processor fitted with the chopping blade attachment. Process the nuts until coarsely ground. Add in the dates, apricots, figs, raisins, apples, and cinnamon and pulse 4 to 6 times, until mixed. Scrape into a bowl and mix in just enough grape juice to make a pasty consistency so the mixture sticks together (you may wind up using more or less than a few tablespoons). Stir in the honey. Serve immediately, or ladle into clean jars with tight-fitting lids and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Festive Holiday Mulled Wine
Nothing fills a home with the holiday mood like the spicy-sweet fragrance of mulled wine. Guests adore being called inside from the dark and chill of winter by having a steaming mug of winter cheer pressed into their hands. Tread carefully, though! This delicious warming beverage goes down easy. I’d go so far as to call it a wolf in sheep’s clothing. That said, when the jolly chatter of convening with friends rings in your ears, and the worries of workaday life melt away with the season, why not indulge a little? Christmas comes but once a year!
Makes about 12 mugs
2 large, thin-skinned oranges
1 small lemon
2 bottles Cabernet Sauvignon
1 bottle Pinot Grigio
3 thick, coin-sized pieces of fresh ginger
2 cinnamon sticks
5 whole cloves
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 tablespoons brandy
Wash the oranges and lemon thoroughly. Using a sharp knife or citrus zester, remove the zest from the oranges in strips about the size of your thumb, being careful to remove only the outer layer, leaving the white-colored pith behind (it has a bitter taste, and will ruin the pot). Then, using a citrus reamer, juice the oranges and lemon. Pour the juice into a very large, heavy-bottomed, non-reactive pot.
Pour the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Pinot Grigio wine into the pot with the orange juice. Add the strips of orange and lemon zest, the ginger, the cinnamon sticks, the cloves and the sugar to the wine mixture. Stir lightly to dissolve the sugar.
Cover and set the pot over medium-high heat, and simmer until just steaming, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Do not boil.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and warm the mixture for about an hour to allow the flavors to combine and develop. Using a slotted spoon, or a skimmer, remove and discard the fruit peels, ginger, cinnamon sticks, and cloves, and serve hot in mugs with a splash of brandy.
Summer at Castle Stone
Turn the page for an exclusive look at this gorgeously summery romantic comedy…
Chapter One
Who keeps his tongue, keeps his friends.
“I’m sorry, there’s no table for Shayla Sheridan.” I couldn’t read the tall hostess’s expression behind the ebony curtain of hair obscuring her face, but I can tell you this: she didn’t sound sorry.
Soaked from a surprise downpour, I stood dripping on the polished wood floor in the vestibule of Le Relais, a restaurant situated roughly 40 blocks hipper than I was used to. I peeled off my soggy Adirondack jacket and folded it over my arm, hoping to raise my profile a little. I so didn’t want to be there.
Before Maggie called, my Friday night plan was to grab a burrito from La Paloma and get my dark roots touched up and my hair straightened at the little walk-in hair salon around the corner from my apartment. Instead, I stood in the driving rain to catch a 20-dollar cab from midtown to Soho for the privilege of being ignored. I cleared my throat.
The hostess shot me a glance, annoyed that I was still standing there. Dragging her eyes down the length of me, she huffed out a small noise of disapproval. Understand this: I’m a native New Yorker. I know better than to show up at a place like this wearing a twinset and flats. But I’d come straight from the office and really, if I had stopped home to change, what did I have in my closet that was much of an upgrade? Even if I liked shopping, I don’t have the time. I work a 50-hour week at Haversmith, Peebles, and Chin Publishers, not to mention ghostwriting how-to books, and working on my own book.
My own book. My stomach plummeted. Brenda Sackler, my terrifying bulldog of an agent, had red-lighted it this very afternoon. Boom. She didn’t even invite me into the agency to talk about it. Just
a no-go over the phone. Access denied. Dream dead on arrival. I wanted a vodka and soda more than I wanted to breathe air, and this clothes hanger on stilts was standing between me and sweet relief. Squaring my shoulders, I mustered a shred of strength from the depths of myself, ready to engage in battle. Who did she think she was, anyway? As if looking like an upmarket shampoo ad qualified her to be the gatekeeper of those precious bottles of Skyy lined up behind the bar.
I caught an unfortunate glimpse of myself in the side of a towering metallic vase, filled with sharp, pointy birds of paradise. Even handicapping for the fun-house distortion of the mirrored curve, I could see clearly what I looked like and it wasn’t good. Dark circles under my eyes, frizzy two-toned hair, and a gray cardigan. The top pearl button had fallen off at lunch, and I’d stuck it back on with a safety pin. By New York standards, I wasn’t even a 5. Disgusted, I shook my head at myself in my reflection. Why would I even think like that, ranking myself? Fucking Soho. So much for all those Women’s Studies classes I’d taken at Sarah Lawrence. I felt so exposed in the open-plan restaurant, with the vaulted ceilings. I just wanted to blend in and get my body behind a table. And, for the love of God, to have a drink.
I didn’t like to do it, but I had no choice. Leaning in, I whispered, “Can you try Shayla de Winter?”
“Mmm-mm, sorry” the hostess said automatically, shaking her head no. “Wait!” Her body went stiff. She flipped her hair over to one shoulder and squinted at me. “You mean, like, Hank de Winter?”
“Yes, he’s my father,” I mumbled.
“Bruno!” she shouted, still gazing at my face. An almond-eyed man-boy in a crisp white shirt appeared at her side. “Take Miss de Winter’s coat.” The stunning and obedient Bruno bowed his head and gently urged the formerly offensive canvas garment from me as if it were a Russian sable, disappearing as quickly as he’d shown up.
“Right this way,” she said, flashing her dazzling white teeth in a smile she now decided I deserved. In a fluid motion, she whisked menus from a discreet cubby in the hostess stand, turned sharply on her heel and Olympic-walked down a wide aisle, hips keeping time like a military metronome. She landed at a “good” table. Not too near the kitchen or powder rooms, and sufficiently in the middle of the room to facilitate seeing and being seen. I would have preferred something along a wall.