Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column - December 31, 2021

Dear Reader,

This New Year's Eve column has become a tradition at the book clubs. Happy New Year!

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]

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader Column - December 30, 2021

Dear Reader,

My gift to you this holiday season is the Book-A-Day Giveaway. Even though I'm on a staycation, I'm choosing winners every day, so feel free to enter every single 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]

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

(FICTION)
MORE THAN POSSESS YOU by Shayla Black

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

Dear Reader Column - December 29, 2021

Dear Reader,

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

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

Why not start the New Year with a Penguin Classic? Every other month I feature a Penguin Classic in your daily read, but today you can sample an entire year of Classics. If you missed them the first time, here's your chance to sample them. Enjoy!

ROMANCE IN MARSEILLE, by Claude McKay

UNSUNG: Unheralded Narratives of American Slavery & Abolition, by The Schomburg Center.

THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE, by Gloria Naylor

THE TRANSIT OF VENUS, by Shirley Hazzard

THE TALE OF PRINCESS FATIMA, WARRIOR WOMAN: The Arabic Epic of Dhat al-Himma, translated and edited by Melanie Magidow

THE PENGUIN BOOK OF DRAGONS, edited by Scott G. Bruce

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

Happy Holidays,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

 

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader Column - December 28, 2021

Dear Reader,

It's fun to receive gifts, it's even more fun for me to give them. So every day this week, be sure to enter my Book-a-Day giveaway.

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

Thanks for reading with me (this past year). It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader Column - December 27, 2021

Dear Reader,

My annual Book-a-Day giveaway starts tomorrow. Feel free to enter every single day.

SURPRISE! Inside every cupcake is a tasty surprise. Scrumptious, out-of-this-world, great tasting, and simple to make. They're perfect for New Year's or football potluck parties--a hit with both kids and adults.

Surprise Filled Cupcakes

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
6 T cocoa
3 eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk
2-1/2 cups flour
1- 1/2 overflowing teaspoon pure vanilla
1/2 cup hot tap water
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Mix the sugar and butter together. Add cocoa and egg yolks. Stir baking soda into hot water (make sure it's completely dissolved).

Then alternately: add buttermilk, baking soda mixture and flour (A little buttermilk--beat, then some of the baking soda mixture--beat, then some of the flour--beat. And repeat until all three have been completely added to the batter.

Beat egg whites with vanilla and add to the batter.

Line a cupcake pan with paper liners and fill each cupcake 2/3 full with batter, then drop 1 teaspoon of the Surprise Filling on top of each cupcake in the pan. (The first time I made these I overfilled the cupcake liner. The cupcakes will grow in the oven. The batter should not fill up the cupcake liner before it's baked.)

Surprise Filling

8 oz (1 pkg) cream cheese, softened
1/2 c sugar
1 egg
1 dash salt
1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Blend cream cheese, sugar, egg, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop one teaspoon of the filling on top of each cupcake, before it bakes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes. Test cupcake with toothpick. When the toothpick comes out clean, cupcakes are done.

Remember, my annual Book-a-Day giveaway starts tomorrow. You can enter every single day.

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

Happy Holidays,

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

MORE THAN POSSESS YOU (FICTION) by Shayla Black

I'm thrilled to bring you this friends-to-lovers standalone--a cross between my Reed Family Reckoning and Hope series. I've been dying to tell this story since introducing hippie-chick Echo Hope and her best friend/unrequited love, Hayes Elliott. They're celebrating her college graduation in paradise. Will he lose his heart when he sees her as more than a friend? I'm giving away five copies, to enter the drawing, click on the link to Authorbuzz and the book jacket to enter or email: [email protected]

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on MORE THAN POSSESS YOU to read more and to email author Shayla Black, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column - December 24, 2021

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 - December 23, 2021

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 - December 22, 2021

Dear Reader,

It's so simple to make, but it's so impressive looking. And it's my grandson's favorite holiday treat!

Mardi Gras Punch
(I double the recipe below to fill the punch bowl. If you don't have a punch bowl, check at the dollar stores, that's where I got mine.)

1- 6 oz can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1- 6 oz can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 cup water
Fruit pieces, such as cut-up oranges, strawberries, limes and whole blueberries
1 quart chilled apple juice
2 quarts chilled ginger ale

Combine the orange juice and lemonade concentrates. Refrigerate HALF of the concentrated mixture.

To the remaining half, add the water. Make ice cubes with pieces of the cut-up fruit and the concentrate-water mixture. (When I double the recipe, I have two ice cube trays filled.)

Serve in a large punch bowl, stir together the chilled juice concentrate and the apple juice.

Slowly pour the ginger ale down the side of the punch bowl. Add the fruit filled ice cubes and serve.

If you missed the photo and recipe for my Candy Cane Coffee Cakes, click here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

Dear Reader Column - December 21, 2021

Dear Reader,

There is fancy photo next to the Candy Cane Coffee Cakes recipe in the Betty Crocker Christmas Cookbook, and I stared at that photo for weeks. It looked impressive, but a little intimidating. I figured only a professional baker could make it look like the picture, not an occasional baker like me. The dough was made with yeast and the finished coffee cake was in the shape of a candy cane. Sliced dough strips were delicately weaved over top of each other, topped off with a glaze and fruit accents. But I finally decided to give it a go, after all someone followed the recipe and made it look like the gorgeous photo in the book, so why couldn't I do the same thing?

And so I began, simply reading one line in the recipe at a time, not jumping to the end--where the hard part was--but keeping my eye on a single line of instruction adding one ingredient at a time.

To my delight, my Candy Cane Coffee Cake adventure was indeed a success. Who would have imagined, certainly not me, but there it was--a finished fancy coffee cake--that looked just like the picture in the cookbook and I did it line-by-line.

Line-by-line, it's a good thing for me to remember this time of year. I've been making a mental list of all the things I want to do so the holidays are picture-perfect, too. But I think I'll take it easy, slow down, and just take the holidays line-by-line.

From Betty Crocker's Christmas Cookbook copyright 1988, page 74. To see the photo, click here. 

CANDY CANE COFFEE CAKES

2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
5 1/2 to 6 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups snipped dried apricots
1 1/2 cups chopped drained maraschino cherries

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large mixer bowl. Add buttermilk, sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder, salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Beat on low speed, scraping bowl constantly, 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 2 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. (Dough will be soft and slightly sticky.)

Turn dough onto well-floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. (It's a great workout for your arms!) Divide into 3 equal parts. Roll each part into a rectangle, 15x6 inches. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Make 2-inch cuts on 15-in sides of rectangles at 1/2 inch intervals.

Mix apricots and cherries. Spread 1/3 of the fruit mixture lengthwise down center of each rectangle. Crisscross strips over fruit mixture. Stretch each rectangle to 22 inches; curve to form cane. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. (Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Drizzle glaze over canes while warm. Decorate with cherry halves or pieces if desired. Makes three coffee cakes.

Recipe for Glaze:
Mix 2 cups powdered sugar and about 2 tablespoons water until smooth and of desired consistency.

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

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]

* Congratulations to the winners of The Ring-Sworn Trilogy, by guest author Howard Andrew Jones: Janice D. and Linda F.

Dear Reader Column - December 20, 2021

Dear Reader,

Today I'm sharing a column that I wrote a few years ago. I like to read it every year myself, because it helps me remember that the holidays aren't the same for everyone.

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 a friend who is in hospice 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]