Now on sale . . . Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if Disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher, and when you purchase it, request a free autographed bookplate, by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/Muffins-MayhemPO
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Dear Reader,
Who doesn't love a good recipe, especially when there's an interesting story behind it? Thumbing through my own recipe box was part of the inspiration for writing Muffins and Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life because almost every recipe reminded me of when...
You can create your own "Cookbook of Memories" when you visit my website: www.MuffinsandMayhem.com Collect your favorite recipes, enter them at your own pace, then jot down the story behind them. Create an entire book, print it out, and have it inexpensively bound at an office supply store. Or type in just one recipe and story to share with other readers.
The theme for this year's annual Write a Dear Reader Contest (details released July 12th) is recipes and the stories behind them. There's no need to have writing aspirations, simply look through your recipe box, share one of your favorites, and write down the story behind it.
Just the other day my husband's friend, Jerry, sent an email that included a family-favorite recipe for orange cookies. His mother used to make them for him and they were his absolute favorites.
When I asked Jerry for the rest of the story, he referred me to his sister, and she sent this reply:
"Many years ago our mother made these orange cookies. My brother, Jerry, took a real liking to them and Mom even sent them to him when he was in the Navy in Adak, Alaska. I know, because I wrapped each one individually. Then Mom got older and wasn't baking anymore. I didn't think anymore about the cookies as I had my own family. But about three years ago a family member was clearing things from Mom's home, and sent me the hand written recipe for her orange cookies. There is a grease stain on some of it, but I'm so happy to have the recipe, and especially in Mom's handwriting. There is a part in the recipe that Mom referred to as shortening, and in parenthesis (oleo). But I have since substituted butter. I have also added grated orange rind to the batter, as well as to the frosting. For the last three years, I have sent about two dozen, individually wrapped cookies to Jerry for his birthday in mid-March."--Joan Merrill-Teo
Since Jerry only receives two boxes from his sister, he says he rations the cookies and stores them in the freezer. "Three seconds in the micro oven, and they taste better than, I don't know what--but they are great!"
That's Jerry's story. Tell me yours. Visit my website to start creating your own Cookbook of Memories and see the original Orange Cookie recipe. Go to: http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com:80/node/334
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com
KIDSBUZZ: This week, books for tweens and teens about humor and magic, being stuck in the wrong place, moving and fitting in from Rhonda Hayter, The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams; Susan Carlton, Lobsterland, and Kate Kingsley, Pretty on the Outside. For a chance to win free books and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz
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