Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 12-31-10

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

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Baking Christmas cookies didn't make my to-do list yet this year, so instead of getting dressed up and going out in the cold, I'll be baking Candy Cane cookies to celebrate New Year's. The cookies are one of my favorites because they're impressive, taste great and they're fun to make--they "grow" in the oven. I love them!

The recipe is below, and you can find it on page 128 of my book, Muffins and Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life. Seeing a photo always helps when I'm making something new, so if you'd like to see the finished product proudly displayed by book club reader Cindy, and her daughter Faith, go to: http://tinyurl.com/2fbxyo

If you decide to mix up a batch, remember they "grow" in the oven, so don't start with too big of a candy cane twist. Have fun and let me know if you try them--dunk one for me!

Candy Cane Cookies

3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter at room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten with 2 teaspoons vanilla

Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt, then set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg mixture, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add the dry ingredients, blending well after each addition.

Put 1/2 of the dough in another bowl. Add red food coloring to one part of the dough to make the desired candy cane shade. Leave the other dough plain. Flatten each ball of dough, wrap snugly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until slightly firm. Don't over chill!

Dust your hands and working surface with flour. Roll a one-inch ball of dough into a rope about 6 inches long. Take one red colored rope of dough, along with a plain piece of dough and cross over, to make a candy cane. (The first time you make these experiment with a couple before you bake them all. They can turn out too big if you use too much dough.)

Bake in a 350 degree oven on greased cookie sheets for 12-14 minutes. The cookie dough may be a little soft when it comes out of the oven. Let cool completely before you handle the cookies.

Happy New Year!

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

 

 

Dear Reader Column 12-30-10

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

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Christmas was an easy-going holiday for me this year because I didn't try to do it all. I didn't bake Christmas cookies and I didn't even put up a tree. Instead, I filled my home with Christmas flowers and accents including a huge, cuddly, Santa sitting on my side porch. The outdoor cats I take care of loved Santa and snuggled up to him on the cold Florida nights we had over the holiday.

After a big event in my life I like to look back and mentally review each day, revisiting conversations, interactions and how I chose to spend my time. These are three of the memories I'll hold dear from this Christmas.

The big holiday delight for me this year was cooking a fancy Christmas dinner for family and friends. The rooms in my home were turned into a lovely buffet and dining area. Tables covered with miniature rose linens and poinsettias, my best dishes, silverware and glasses and way too much food. But so many choices--that's what makes a holiday dinner special. I love waiting on folks and I hope I created a memorable experience for my guests. They certainly created one for me.

My daughter called from Wisconsin on Christmas evening to tell me she'd went to a friend's home for dinner. "I don't want to sound ungrateful," she said, "but those people don't really know what good food is. I missed your cooking Mom."

A reader requested an autographed bookplate a few days before Christmas, and in her email she also shared a little bit of the stress she was dealing with in her life this holiday season. So along with the bookplate I sent a "thinking of you" package.

"Oh, Suzanne...your box was waiting for me when I got home yesterday! 'Wow,' I thought, 'that's an awfully big box for a bookplate.' Then I got all excited because I knew that something was afoot. When I opened the box and saw all the treasures you sent, I was overwhelmed. My dad went home Monday; the doctor said it was a miracle...Suzanne, you remind me of my dad in the way that you touch so many people's lives. That is the highest compliment I can give to anyone. When I read your note, I just cried, again. With all that has happened in the last few days, your thoughtfulness really touched my heart. When I thought about why you would remember me out of all the folks that you encounter...you are 'just being Suzanne.'"--Cheryl

Time spent with family and friends, "I missed your cooking Mom," and "you are just being Suzanne." Special holiday memories I'll never forget. I am blessed.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Warm holiday wishes to you,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

AUTHORBUZZ: New authors, old favorites--all wonderful books you can win:

Laura Childs/THE TEABERRY STRANGLER, A TEA SHOP MYSTERY

Stuart Neville/COLLUSION

C.W. Gortner/THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI

Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, Kelly Long/AN AMISH LOVE

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

 

Dear Reader Column 12-29-10

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

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

I'm on holiday, so today I'm running one of my favorite holiday columns.

Confession is good for the soul and it's even easier if you don't know the people you're talking to.

"Never talk to strangers" may be the advice these days, but when I need to get it out of my system, give me a stranger any day. Friends, they want to help--and I'm appreciative--but strangers, they simply listen to be polite, never interrupting once, until I've finished my little tirade.

"Oh, my that's too bad," or "You poor dear," they console. I realize that's not really what they're thinking. It's no secret that when I'm out of earshot, they look at each other and announce, "She's a really weird one. Perhaps we should avoid walking down that street in the future?"

No doubt that's what the unsuspecting strangers, out for a leisurely walk, thought about me a few years ago. It was Christmas time and I had a house full of relatives. One was on a special tofu only diet, another was recalling the not-so-good days, 30 years ago, when her sister got a bike for Christmas and she didn't. My aunt seemed to be coming down with a nasty case of the flu, and our always-in-the-mood-to-party relative (every family has one) decided to check out the night life, ended up in jail, and called wanting to know if I could raise bail money.

Don't get the wrong idea, I love having relatives at my house for the holidays, but I needed a break, so I was out in the yard wandering around reciting the, "Blessed thou art thankful" prayer, when a nice looking couple came walking down the sidewalk.

"Hello, how are you today?" they innocently asked.

Instead of answering with the usual, "Fine, thank you," I barricaded the sidewalk with my body and held them hostage for 20 minutes, giving them my own personal version of the Chevy Chase movie, "Christmas Vacation."

Afterwards, I felt much better. Yes, this talking to strangers thing worked great, until I asked my "strangers" where they lived. "Oh, we're new in the neighborhood. We just moved in two houses down from yours. Nice to meet you."

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

 

Dear Reader Column 12-28-10

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

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

I'm on holiday, so today I'm running one of my favorite holiday columns.

I cleaned out my refrigerator yesterday. It was still filled with "holiday" leftover items. Some of them I shouldn't have bought because we didn't even eat them, and we never do, but I keep buying them every Christmas season anyway.

I guess it's just hard to break old habits. I have this picture of Christmas in my mind and it includes certain foods from my childhood. French Onion dip, vegetable dip, cheese, salami and crackers, all displayed on a Lazy Susan accompanied by an assortment of vegetables for dipping into those dips, and pecan pie. Those were the foods that were always in our house at Christmastime.

But now there aren't enough of us in my family to eat all the "holiday" foods I buy, and no one eats dip except me, and absolutely no one in our family eats pecan pie.

So why do I buy these things?

I don't understand it. I could buy these things any time of the year, if I wanted to, but I don't--until they start piping Christmas music into the supermarket, and then I head straight to the chip and dip aisle.

The pecan pie?

My Grandpa Hale loved pecan pie. His birthday was the day before Christmas, and he'd start eating his favorite pie on the 24th and he was still eating it until New Years Day. It was a once a year treat, because nobody else in our family liked pecan pie. But even long after Grandpa passed away, my mother kept making his pie, and I've kept up the tradition.

But I did make a little bit of progress this year, because Grandpa Hale also loved chocolate covered cherries--last year I bought three boxes--this year I walked right by.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

 

 

Dear Reader Column 12-27-10

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

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

I'm on holiday, so today I'm running one of my favorite holiday columns.

I've always thought my gift-wrapping abilities were unique. I use scraps of this and that, and if I do say so myself, I come up with some pretty unusual presentations. But one Christmas I had to relinquish my gift-wrapping title when I opened up the present I received from my friend Bill in Oregon.

I admit it, I told him it was a first for me. I'd never before received a Christmas gift in a box that said on the outside, "Contents: 1 rectal thermometer, 1 breast pump, petroleum jelly, 1 tape measure, and 2 isolation masks," among other intriguing items.

Yeah, boy, Happy Holidays! How did he know what I wanted!

My curiosity was definitely peaked, so I cautiously opened up the box, and much to my relief I found the usual homemade jellies and pancake syrup that I look forward to getting from him every year.

Of course, I had to ask, "Where, why, and how did he get a hold of that box--and why did he send it to me?"

Apparently, an entrepreneur in his area had developed an Infant Care Kit for new mothers, but the company went bankrupt. The bankruptcy court awarded the entire inventory of boxes and kits to a local charity where my friend volunteers. After 15 years of giving baby kits out to every new mother in the area, there were still stacks of boxes, but no more baby kits to put inside them. The boxes were going to be thrown out, but being the good Scotsman that he is, my friend couldn't stand to see them go to waste.

So he saves them for special occasions and friends like me.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

AUTHORBUZZ: New authors, old favorites--all wonderful books you can win:

Laura Childs/THE TEABERRY STRANGLER, A TEA SHOP MYSTERY

Stuart Neville/COLLUSION

C.W. Gortner/THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI

Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, Kelly Long/AN AMISH LOVE

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 12-24-10

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

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

A few years ago, I tried my hand at writing some poetry--an amusing version of "'Twas The Night Before Christmas," and now it's become a tradition at the book clubs.

Okay, I admit it's a bit hokey, but it's really kind of a catchy little number once you start reading it. It's got a syncopated beat, and if you throw in a little sing-song rhythm, you'll be smiling by the end of it.

"'Twas The Night Before Christmas at the Book Clubs"

'Twas the night before Christmas and in every house
all good book club readers were clicking their mouse.

They'd hung all their stockings, decorated their trees
And now it was time to sit down and see
What their email had brought them on this Christmas Eve.

A five-minute break to read a good book
Was just what they needed, but oh my--look...

When they opened their email, no read could be found.
"Oh no, we're afraid Suzanne went out of town.
Could she have forgotten to send us our read?
How could she do this in our time of need?"

The readers all panicked, they shivered in fright,
They pined for their emails and settled in for the night.

"Could we have misplaced them? Did we hit the wrong key?
Did it go in our deleted files?" Oh such misery.
And then in a flash, with a stroke of a key,
One by one, they discovered their Christmas Eve reads.

Their eyes how they twinkled, they laughed and they smiled
And they settled into their chairs to read for awhile.

Their hearts were delighted, they felt just like kids,
But it's still such a mystery where that email had hid.
Was it there all the time and they just didn't see?
Or did Santa step in and do a good deed?

Good boys and girls are on Santa's list
And good book club readers he vows never to miss.

It's been a long night, time to climb into bed,
So they shut down their computers and laid down their heads.

But in the quiet of night, before things came to an end,
They heard, "Thanks for reading with me,
It's so good to read with friends."

I wish you peace and joy,

Warm Holidays Wishes from,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 12-23-10

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

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

I still ask Santa for new pjs every Christmas. This is one of my favorite holiday columns. Be sure to take a look at the photo.

When I was a kid, my friends thought getting pajamas for Christmas was boring, but not me. New pjs were the highlight of my Christmas bounty. It was the first package I'd look for under the tree. Actually, it was pretty easy to find...it was "shake-less". The quietest package under the tree, but the one that always delighted me the most.

I could always count on Grandma for pjs. They were never boring, but always a little too big in case they "shrunk" or I grew.

When my assistant asked me the other day, "Suzanne, what's the best Christmas present you ever got?" There was no doubt in my mind--no runner up: My red and white jammies with the matching cap to keep me warm. To take a trip with me down memory lane and see me in my favorite pjs, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/pajamas.html

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

(I hope you get pj's this year.)

Warmest Holiday Wishes,
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Your lucky charm just might be your ticket to a free book this week. View book trailers, enter contests and read excerpts from these authors:

Robin Easton/NAKED IN EDEN: MY ADVENTURES AND AWAKENING IN THE AUSTRALIAN RAINFOREST

Eleanor Brown/THE WEIRD SISTERS

Kelli Stanley/THE CURSE-MAKER

Sheldon Russell/THE INSANE TRAIN: A HOOK RUNYON MYSTERY

Carla Neggers/COLD DAWN

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

 

 

Dear Reader Column 12-22-10

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

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

I'm wrapping presents and enjoying time with family, so today I am sharing one of my favorite holiday columns.

"What's your favorite Christmas memory?" When Debbie, a book club reader asked, I had to sit a spell and think about my answer.

The same thing happens when someone asks me to name my favorite book. Even after thinking about it for awhile, I almost always end up giving them the title of whatever book I happen to be reading. Because I don't bother finishing books that I don't like, so I'm always reading a "favorite."

My favorite Christmas memory? I guess I'd have to say that it was four years ago because my grandson was born on December 22nd. I think it will probably will be one of my favorites for a while, because it was such an insane time.

No way, no how, did it resemble an old fashioned Christmas. It was chaotic, indeed. Actually chaotic is much too gentle of a word, it was bedlam and turmoil all the way. But in the end, the chaos is what I want to remember. It reminds me that even on holidays, even on special occasions, life goes on as it always does and usually it's not all wrapped up in a neat and pretty package.

Things didn't go like I planned, people didn't behave like I'd expected, a baby came six weeks early, a cat got injured and had to have emergency surgery on the same day my grandson was born. My oven went on the blink--it was hit-or-miss if dinner would even get cooked. And when I finally served dinner, half of it was served to people sitting around my dining room table, and three other plates were packed in Grandma Hale's picnic basket so I could take Christmas dinner to my daughter-in-law, her grandmother and my son, who were at the hospital with the new baby.

It was a one of a kind Christmas filled with the true spirit of the holiday season. It took a lot of love, patience, forgiveness and laughter to get through that Christmas and it's a reminder for me that it takes a lot of love, patience, forgiveness and laughter to get through life, too.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 12-21-10

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

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

I'm wrapping presents and enjoying time with family, so today I am sharing one of my favorite holiday columns.

I had a good cry yesterday. The holidays are a fun and magical time, but they're also filled with memories. Family and friends who aren't with me any longer and friends who are fighting cancer right now, these thoughts are all mixed in with visions of sugar plums dancing in my head.

I guess I'm mentioning this because yesterday when I interacted with an obviously very angry man in the aisle of the supermarket, at first I was feeling pretty upset with the guy, even caught myself thinking, 'What's his problem? Why is he being such a nasty person, especially around the holidays?'

But then I reminded myself that life is complicated, especially this time of year. Life goes on like any other day, people lose their jobs, families are split apart, folks are feeling lonely because this is the first Christmas since their spouse passed away, and others are worried their parents might not be around to celebrate next year.

I had a good cry yesterday--and now I feel much better. I sure hope the man I met in the supermarket gives himself that gift, too.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

 

 

 

Dear Reader Column 12-20-10

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

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/


Dear Reader,

There's a celebrity among us. Diane O'Neill, a reader at the book clubs, submitted the piece she wrote for this year's "Write a Dear Reader" contest and it was published recently in the Chicago Tribune.

From my Email Bag:

"Dear Suzanne, I just wanted to thank you for holding the recipe themed Write-a-Dear-Reader contest last summer! Although I wasn't chosen as a winner, writing the essay helped me figure out some truths about myself and my family. I submitted it to the Chicago Tribune and they published it on Sunday. I'm including the link in case you'd like to see it--after all, you inspired it, smile. Thanks again for your wonderful, heart-felt columns and for being a role model for writers!"--Diane O'Neill

Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/27gk9kh

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Your lucky charm just might be your ticket to a free book this week. View book trailers, enter contests and read excerpts from these authors:

Robin Easton/NAKED IN EDEN: MY ADVENTURES AND AWAKENING IN THE AUSTRALIAN RAINFOREST

Eleanor Brown/THE WEIRD SISTERS

Kelli Stanley/THE CURSE-MAKER

Sheldon Russell/THE INSANE TRAIN: A HOOK RUNYON MYSTERY

Carla Neggers/COLD DAWN

 Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader