Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 12-31-19

Dear Reader,

Happy New Year! This is my annual New Year's Eve column. Hopefully nothing strange happens to me this year that would top it!

My most memorable New Year's Eve was the year my dress fell apart. Well, actually it was shedding. We'd just moved to Florida and some new friends invited us to their New Year's Eve party. We didn't know anyone else at the party, but I made, without a doubt, a big first impression. I was wearing a brand new, black velvet dress--purchased just for the occasion (and it wasn't cheap)--but it started shedding. Everywhere I walked, I left a trail of huge, black fuzz clumps behind. The dress was literally falling apart from the inside out.

I wasn't aware of what was happening until I visited the bathroom. The floor had two huge, white rugs, so it instantly became apparent that I was leaving a trail. I was horrified. I picked up my "droppings" and headed back to the party.

When I walked back into the kitchen, I looked down at the floor and sure enough, there was my dress, all over it. No one else seemed to notice the trail that I'd left around the house. But like a run in your stocking, I was sure they were aware and not saying anything just to be kind.

My first thought was to walk around the kitchen--shuffling my shoe along the floor--so I could sweep up my black fuzz balls. But then I realized that as fast as I was rounding up those little buggers in front of me, I was leaving a new crop behind. My backup plan was to find a dimly lit spot and stay put. And I did, until we left.

I can only imagine what that couple must have thought the next day when they cleaned up from the party! Maybe they thought I'd brought a pet.

* Enter the Book-A-Day Giveaway, win random books from my bookshelf, click here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 12-30-19

Dear Reader,

My gift to you this holiday season is the Book-A-Day Giveaway. I'm choosing winners every day, so feel free to enter every day.

Enter today's drawing to win a random book from my bookshelf, click here:

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

Happy Holidays,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 12-27-19

Dear Reader,

My gift to you this holiday season is the Book-A-Day Giveaway. I'm choosing winners every day, so feel free to enter every day.

Enter today's drawing to win a random book from my bookshelf, click here:

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

Happy Holidays,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 12-26-19

Dear Reader,

I'm on holiday this week celebrating with my family, but that doesn't mean I'm not thinking of you. Getting ready for a new year means it's time to clear off my bookshelves. So during the holidays I'm offering my Book-A-Day Giveaway. Feel free to enter every day.

Enter today's drawing to win a random book from my bookshelf, click here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 12-25-19

Dear Reader,

Merry Christmas from everyone at the book clubs!

Andre, Amber, Bob, Sandra, Susan, and Valerie.

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

May you find peace this Christmas,
Suzanne Beecher

Dear Reader Column 12-24-19

Dear Reader,

A few years ago, I tried my hand at writing some holiday poetry for readers--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. There's a syncopated beat throughout, and if you throw in a little sing-song rhythm, you'll be smiling by the end.

'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."

Happy Holidays. I wish you peace and joy.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 12-23-19

Dear Reader,

I asked readers to share their favorite cookie recipe with me, and so I'll be baking almond cookies and sour cream horns today, thanks to book club readers Karen D., and Donna C.

"Suzanne, I have a cookie business and this time of year it is insane. I sold 140 dozen cookies, and this is my favorite. I always bring these when I am invited to a party and people ask, "Are you bringing your almond cookies?" The Italian bakery sells them for $39.00 a pound. So after many tries to duplicate theirs, here is what I came up with. Enjoy!

ALMOND COOKIES makes 24 - 26 cookies

2 large egg whites
1 box SOLO almond paste grated - Odensos in a tube is not as good
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour
pinch salt
sliced almonds
Parchment paper or Silpat mat

Beat whites until very foamy; add paste and beat until crumbly. Increase speed and beat 2 minutes. Add sugars and beat 1 minute or until creamy. Add flour and salt and beat until just blended (dough will be sticky). Refrigerate at least an hour until dough can be handled.

Preheat oven to 350.

Spread nuts on a plate. (I like to lightly toast and cool the nuts before using.) Dip hands in water. Use a level tablespoon of dough and form a ball. Roll in nuts. Place about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper, or a baking mat.

Bake 15-18 minutes until edges are golden and tops begin to brown. The less you bake them, the chewier they'll be.

Thank you to book club reader Donna C., who sent me this classic holiday recipe.

SOUR CREAM HORNS

1 cup butter
2 cups flour
1 egg yolk-slightly beaten
3/4 cup sour cream

Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Work butter and flour together like a pie crust. Fold in eggs and sour cream. Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Roll into a circle and cut 12 wedges from each section. Sprinkle filling on each wedge. Roll from widest part to center like a crescent roll. Bake point side down at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Frost while hot with powdered sugar (and a little lemon juice) glaze.

P. S. I never seem to get my cookies in equal proportion, so it might not take as long to bake them. Enjoy--they're delicious and my family just loves them.

If you have a favorite cookie recipe, I'm ready to try making it. Email me at: [email protected]

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

Happy Holidays,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column 12-20-19

Dear Reader,

I'm never dreaming of a white Christmas here in Sarasota, Florida, but I do get excited when my husband and I drive around the neighborhoods looking at the Christmas lights. It's been an annual tradition. This year my husband suggested we invite a close friend of ours, who doesn't have any family, to ride along.

"Suzanne, how about inviting Dianna, the two of you can sit in the back eating Christmas cookies, snuggled in quilts--I'll turn the air conditioner on--and you can listen to carols streaming through Sirius radio, and you guys can even wear your pajamas? I'll be your chauffeur."

My husband is such a thoughtful man, he spoils me (and I love it!). It's not the first time he's been my chauffeur...

...He looked handsome in his black suit, white shirt and dark tie. His shoes were polished, there was a black chauffeur's hat on his head and dark shades covered his eyes. Every woman in the hair salon was staring at the mysterious man that walked through the door, and so was I.

"Is Suzanne Beecher just about finished?" the handsome man, who sounded like my husband, asked the receptionist.

And when the receptionist told him it would be 10 minutes before I was ready to go, the handsome man, who resembled my husband, thanked her and said, "Would you please let Suzanne know that her driver is waiting outside?" And out the door he went.

I was shocked, and within minutes every woman in the beauty shop, including me, was pressed up against the front window staring at my husband, dressed in chauffeur attire, standing beside a stunning old-fashioned MG Roadster sports car.

It was my birthday and as a gift, my husband was in "character," playing the part of my personal chauffeur, and he had rented the MG Roadster for the weekend. It was a birthday I'll never forget.

After we left the hair salon, for the rest of the day my "driver" chauffeured me around town to all of my favorite boutiques and galleries. Every time we made a stop, my husband jumped out of the car and hurried around to open my door, then he took my hand and ushered me inside the store.

My personal chauffeur never went inside the store with me, that would have been a driver's indiscretion. Instead, my "guy" would go back to his "post," with his chauffeur's hat tipped ever so slightly, legs stretched out, and he'd lean up against the side of the MG Roadster and publicly wait for me. It felt like a Cinderella birthday--everyone inside the store and outside in the parking lot was dying to know, 'who was this woman with the fancy car and driver?'

Happy Anniversary to my husband (who reads my column). We're celebrating 42 years!

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader Column 12-19-19

Dear Reader,

For the past two days I've been baking and delivering pumpkin bread, banana bread and Thumbprint cookies to friends. I bag up the assortment of goodies, cover them with colorful tissue paper and attach a note: "Enjoy! From Santa." Then when I know my friend is home, I hang the Christmas bag on their front door knob and disappear.

Several years ago, Rachel, a reader at the book club sent me her recipe for Thumbprint Cookies, and I've been baking them ever since. Not only are they easy to make, people love them. Rachel's recipe is below, and if you click on the link, you'll see photos of me making the cookies. https://tinyurl.com/RachelsCookies

RACHEL'S THUMBPRINT COOKIES

2/3 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 cups flour Cream together the sugar, butter and almond extract. Add flour.
Chill dough for 1 hour.

Roll into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet (I lined my cookie sheet with parchment paper)

Press thumb in the middle of each ball. Add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon jam or preserve of your choice. (Don't fill it completely or it will run onto the pan.)

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 14 - 18 minutes. Cool and drizzle with glaze.

GLAZE
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 - 4 tsp water (until right consistency to drizzle on top of the cookies)

If you have a favorite cookie recipe, I'd love to get a copy. Email me at: [email protected]

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

Happy Holidays,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

AUTHORBUZZ: With so many new books out every week, we promise these titles deserve your attention:

(Fiction)
CLOSER by Kylie Scott

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THE REVERSIBLE MASK: An Elizabethan Spy Novel by Loretta Goldberg

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Dear Reader Column 12-18-19

Dear Reader,

I've been spending time taking a look back over the past year, and focusing on some personal changes I'd like to make in the new year. Making a list of New Year's Resolutions doesn't ever work for me. I need to put on some music and spend some time writing about the year gone by.

Yes, for me, there's magic in the music. It stops me from editing my thoughts as I write them down. The music takes me up, it takes me down. I write about joyful things that come to mind and I smile, and then I write about the times I cried. Not happy tears, but tears filled with worry and fear, and the night when I started crying and feared I might never stop.

When I feel in the middle and can't seem to get grounded, I turn on a song that helps me feel whatever emotion I'm trying to get in touch with. It's not unusual for me to write for hours listening to the same two songs over and over again, because I never disconnect from their inspiration.

But for the past two years, since I first hooked up my new computer, I haven't had a speaker, so listening to music was a problem. Bluetooth wasn't connecting like it should, so I decided that doing without was an easy solution. But today, I finally have a speaker that actually works with my computer. The happiness is now pumping via iTunes, through a bar sitting behind my computer screen.

It seems absurd that I waited so long to fix the problem. So instead of trying to make big changes in the new year, I'm reminding myself how making little changes can make life easier. How a simple little thing that I don't change, because I think "it's good enough" can irritate me every day.

Writing and listening to music makes me wonder what other things in my life I've chosen to take the "it's good enough" route. What would happen if I decided to tackle some more of the seemingly itty, bitty, little things? It would change my life in a huge, big, enormous, gigantic, joyful way!

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.