by Jeanne Bice
Meanwhile, place the cranberries and the remaining 3/4 cup of water in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes.
Drain the water and blot the cranberries with paper towels to remove excess moisture.
When the bulgur is done, transfer the cooked grains to a large serving bowl and stir in the cranberries, pecans, diced cucumber, mint, oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Note: You can make this recipe up to two days in advance and store it in an airtight container.
Ivy Larson, recipe developer and coauthor, The Gold Coast Cure, www.thegoldcoastcure.com
Christmas Cran-Apple Martini
Serves 8
Cup of ice
1-1/2 cups all-natural Cran-Apple juice
2 oz. Absolut Citron vodka
1 oz. Grand Marnier
Splash of apple cider
Squeeze of lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh cranberries, for garnish
1 red or green apple, thinly sliced, for garnish
Setting aside garnish, pour ice and liquids into a cocktail shaker and shake gently. Pour into four chilled martini glasses. Put several fresh cranberries into each glass and place red or green thinly sliced apples onto rims of glasses for garnish.
Ivy Larson, recipe developer and coauthor, The Gold Coast Cure, www.thegoldcoastcure.com
Roast Turkey with Cranberry Orange Glaze
Serves 12
Prep time: 25 minutes • Total Time: 3 hours, 55 minutes
3/4 cup orange marmalade
3/4 cup frozen cranberry juice concentrate, thawed
3 tablespoons maple or maple-flavored syrup
1-1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 Butterball Turkey, 14–16 pounds, thawed if frozen
Cooking spray or vegetable oil, to brush on turkey
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Combine marmalade, cranberry juice, maple syrup, vinegar, and salt in small heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently for 12–15 minutes or until glaze is reduced to about one cup.
Remove neck and giblets from body and neck cavities of turkey; discard or refrigerate for another use. Drain juices from turkey and dry turkey with paper towels. Turn wings back to hold neck skin against back of turkey.
Place turkey, breast side up, on a flat roasting rack in a shallow pan. Brush turkey lightly with vegetable oil or cooking spray. Roast turkey for two hours and then cover breast and top of drumsticks loosely with foil to prevent overcooking of breast.
Continue roasting turkey for another 45 minutes, remove foil, and brush generously with glaze. Return foil loosely to top of turkey and cook for another 45 minutes, or until meat thermometer reaches 180 degrees F when inserted into the deepest part of the thigh. Brush with remaining glaze. Let turkey stand 15 minutes before carving.
The Experts at Butterball Turkey
A Simple But Sinful Stuffing
Serves 8-10
1 stick of butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 tube of Jimmy Dean sausage
1/2 pound of Italian sausage
2 boxes of herbed croutons or 1 pound of stale bread
1-1/2 cups chicken stock
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 package of dry pork gravy mix
In a skillet over medium heat, melt half a stick of butter. Slowly sauté the onions until translucent. Add the sausages and fry until browned. Break the sausages up with a fork and remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Pour the bread cubes into a large roasting pan. Add the chicken stock and milk, and mix until moist.
Add the sausages and onions to the mixture. Add the remaining ½ stick of butter, cut into slices.
Sprinkle the packet of dry gravy mix on top of the bread crumb mixture and bake for one hour. Stir once or twice while baking.
Be sure to check stuffing for moistness during baking; if it is getting dry, add a bit more stock.
Jeanne Bice, For the Love of Christmas author
Santa’s Spicy Molasses Cookies
Makes 20 Cookies
1/2 cup Splenda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Brown Sugar Blend for Baking1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup Land O’Lakes Soft Baking 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Butter with Canola Oil1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup molasses1/2 cup water
1 egg1/4 cup brown sugar
2-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
Combine sugar blend and baking butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and the egg; beat well.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture; beat at low speed just until blended. Cover and freeze dough for one hour..
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place water in a small bowl, and place brown sugar in another bowl. Shape chilled dough into two-inch balls, and then flatten slightly into the shape of a cookie. Dip one side of each unbaked cookie in water; dip wet side in sugar.
Place the cookies, sugar side up, one inch apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray.
Bake for 12–15 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack. Allow to cool or refrigerate for 10 minutes before serving.
Ivy Larson, recipe developer and coauthor, The Gold Coast Cure, www.thegoldcoastcure.com
Chocolate Fudge
Makes 1-1/2 lbs.
With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it seems there is always another party to go to. Here is my so-simple recipe for fudge that never fails. To jazz up the presentation, place the fudge in a decorative Christmas tin and finish off with some holiday dishtowels wrapped around it secured with some ribbon or raffia. Or, for a nice hostess gift, wrap the fudge in cellophane and place it in a gift bag tied with raffia and an ornament.
1-2/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2-1/2 cups mini marshmallows
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1-1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Combine sugar, butter, salt, and evaporated milk in a saucepan; cook over medium heat until boiling, stirring constantly.
Reduce heat to low and cook at a slow boil for 8 minutes without stirring; remove from heat.
Add chocolate chips, marshmallows, pecans, and vanilla; stir until marshmallows are melted.
Pour mixture into a greased 9 × 9-inch baking pan. Cool and cut into squares.
Jeanne Bice, For the Love of Christmas author
North Pole Peppermint Pie
Makes 8 Slices
2/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten
Two 1-ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
One 9-inch premade graham cracker crust pie shell
1 cup heavy cream, whipped; or use store-bought whipped cream
1/3 cup crushed peppermint sticks, candies, or candy canes
Cream the butter and sugar together until they’re lightly mixed. Hand-mix the eggs until blended. Add the chocolate squares and the chocolate chips and mix well.
Pour the mixture into a graham cracke
r crust. Refrigerate for three to four hours. Just before you serve it, spread the whipped cream on top and sprinkle with the crushed candy canes.
Jeanne Bice, For the Love of Christmas author
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese
Frosting and Caramel Drizzle
Makes 26 cupcakes
cupcake liners2-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2-1/2 cups granulated sugar1/2 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs2-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1-1/4 cups vegetable oil1/2 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon allspice
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour1-3/4 cups (15 oz.) canned pumpkin
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Insert cupcake liners into cupcake pans. Mix sugar, eggs, and oil in a mixer on low speed until well combined. Add in the dry ingredients and blend well. Add the pumpkin and mix all of the ingredients on low speed.
Scoop this mixture into the cupcake liners, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake the cupcakes for 20–25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool before frosting. Swirl the cream cheese frosting (see recipe to follow) on the cupcakes and then drizzle with caramel
Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 pound (12 oz.) cream cheese
3-3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Caramel Drizzle:
24 caramel candies
1 tablespoon milk
Cream the butter and the cream cheese. Add the sugar and the vanilla and beat until smooth. Don’t overbeat this mixture.
Unwrap the caramel candies, making sure that you remove all of the plastic. Combine the caramels and the milk together in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1–2 minutes or until they have melted.
Lori Karmel, We Take the Cake, www.wetakethecake.com
The Writers
Nancy Bechtolt wrote a travel column, Ikimasho (Let’s Go), for an English-language weekly newspaper when she lived in Japan from 1971–76. In addition, she penned monthly editorials for her local Unitarian newsletter.
Kathe Campbell lives on a Montana mountain with her mammoth donkeys, a keeshond, and several kitties. She is a prolific writer on Alzheimer’s and her stories are found on many e-zines. Kathe is a contributing author to Chicken Soup books, numerous anthologies, Rx for Writers, and medical journals. E-mail: [email protected].
Helen Colella is a freelance writer from Colorado whose work appears in parenting magazines across the country. A Chicken Soup for the Soul contributor, Helen writes educational materials and articles/stories for adults and children. She operates AssistWrite, [email protected], a home-based business offering writing services to independent publishers.
J. Vincent Dugas is a semiretired businessman, now sorting and assembling hundreds of stories written throughout his lifetime.
Terri Elders prefers books as Christmas gifts and shops for her own underwear and jackets. She lives with husband, Ken Wilson, two dogs, and three cats in the country near Colville, Washington. Write her at [email protected].
Peggy Frezon is the winner of Guideposts 2004 writer’s contest and the Children’s Writer 2007 personal story contest. Peggy’s publishing credits include Guideposts, Teaching Tolerance, Positive Thinking, Pockets, Chicken Soup for the Soul titles, and others. She’s currently writing a book about dogs and diets. Visit her blog, The Writer’s Dog, at thewritersdog.blogspot.com.
Caroline Grant is senior editor of Literary Mama, which features her monthly column, “Mama at the Movies.” She is coeditor of Mama, PhD: Women Write about Motherhood and Academic Life (Rutgers University Press, 2008). Write her at [email protected].
Lori Hein is the author of Ribbons of Highway: A Mother-Child Journey Across America and a contributor to several Chicken Soup for the Soul titles. Her work has appeared in publications worldwide, including the Boston Globe and Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit her at LoriHein.com or her world travel blog, RibbonsofHighway.blogspot.com.
Sonja Herbert is the author of an award-winning and as yet unpublished novel about her mother surviving the Holocaust in a circus and other true stories. Sonja presently lives in Germany where she is doing research and getting reacquainted with her mother and siblings. Her website is germanwriter.com.
Joseph Hesch is a writer and poet who lives and works where he draws much of his inspiration—his hometown of Albany, New York. His poetry has appeared in Boston Literary and Wanderings magazine.
Marybeth Hicks is the weekly culture columnist for the Washington Times newspaper and the author of Bringing Up Geeks: How to Protect Your Kid’s Childhood in a Grow-Up-Too-Fast World.
Jeanne Hill is the author of three hundred inspirational articles including seven in Chicken Soup books. Her award-winning short stories and articles are often chosen for anthologies. She is a contributing editor to Guideposts and has published two books, Daily Breath (Word Books) and Secrets of Prayer Joy (Judson Press).
Joanne Hirase-Stacey is an attorney living in rural Idaho with her husband and dogs. She has published several short stories and articles as well as a devotional and poetry. When not working, Joanne finds time to enjoy her favorite things: writing, quilting, running, and biking.
Robert W. Howe is manager and chief naturalist for a Wyoming guest ranch. He travels to South America’s jungles whenever he can to study ethnobotany and live in the rain forest with indigenous friends. He has written numerous articles and two books, Yours, from Wyoming and Tigres of the Night.
Connie Alexander Huddleston spent twelve years in Panama. She enjoys writing about parenting, prayer, and missions. She and her husband, Harry, are marriage and family counselors in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. She can be reached at [email protected].
Nancy Edwards Johnson writes stories and memoirs about growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. She is a longtime contributor to area magazines and has written a monthly column for Latitude magazine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for more than two years. Her e-mail address is [email protected].
Since 2002, entrepreneur Lori Karmel has been the owner of We Take the Cake (WTTC), a unique cake boutique in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Her cakes have been featured on Oprah, several shows on the Food Network, and in many local and national publications, including the Washington Post, the Miami Herald, and Entrepreneur Magazine. In 2004, Oprah Winfrey selected We Take the Cake’s Key Lime Bundt Cake as one of her “Favorite Things.” Lori’s delicious and beautiful cakes are sought out by some of the most discriminating customers—including brides—in the United States. We Take the Cake also supplies desserts to many upscale hotels and resorts, and many of WTTC’s cakes and cupcakes are also available at Whole Foods Markets in the Florida region. We Take the Cake’s Gourmet Bundt Cakes are available through
www.wetakethecake.com, www.neimanmarcus.com,
and www.normthompson.com. Additional information
is available at www.wetakethecake.com.
Elisa Korentayer is a singer-songwriter and writer based in New York Mills, Minnesota. She performs under the name Elisa Korenne. Learn more at www.elisakorenne.com.
Robyn Kurth is a freelance writer with over fifteen years of experience writing and producing corporate and industrial videos, and a specialty in “writing for the ear.” A native of the Chicago area, she currently resides in Orlando, Florida, with her husband, Greg, and children, Alex and Zell. Ms. Kurth’s essays have been published in Chicken Soup for the Chocolate Lover’s Soul and Democrat’s Soul. She can be reached at [email protected].
Andrea Langworthy writes a column for Rosemount Town Pages newspaper and another for Minnesota Good Age. She won first place in the 2008 Chicken Soup for the Divorced Soul Contest. Her work has appeared in the Lake Country Journal and
Minnesota Parent magazines. She coteaches a workshop at the Minneapolis Loft Literary Center.
Ivy Larson is the coauthor of an Amazon.com #1 bestselling health and diet book, The Gold Coast Cure (HCI Books, 2005) and the follow-up Gold Coast Cure’s Fitter, Firmer, Faster Program (HCI Books, 2007), which she cowrote with her husband, Andrew Larson, M.D. Ivy developed and created all of the healthy whole-foods recipes in both books and currently teaches nutritionally oriented cooking classes at Whole Foods Markets and culinary shops, as well as group classes at private homes. For additional information on Ivy, please visit her website at www.goldcoastcure.com and her blog at www.wholefoodsmom.blogspot.com.
Jaye Lewis is an award-winning inspirational author and a frequent contributor to many popular anthology collections. Jaye lives with her family in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Visit her website at www.entertainingangels.org or sign up for her blog at http://entertainingangelsencouragingwords.blogspot.com. E-mail Jaye at [email protected]
Pat Mendoza is an internationally acclaimed storyteller and author. Prior to his entertainment career, Pat served as a police officer for nearly eight years, including a year and a half as a homicide investigator. He also served in the United States Navy for four years. Write him at [email protected] or visit his website at www.patmendoza.com.
Linda O’Connell, a veteran early childhood educator, is a widely published writer who enjoys outdoor activities such as camping and walking on Florida’s white sandy beaches where she goes to reenergize after each school year. She and her husband Bill enjoy spending time with their blended family of four children and nine grandchildren. Contact her at [email protected].
Dorri Olds, a native New Yorker, earned a B.F.A. in 1985 and has been a graphic designer ever since. In 1994, she started her Manhattan-based business, DorriOlds.com. Her short stories have been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul books, New Woman magazine, and in the book At Grandmother’s Table.
