Christmas Quotes: A Very Morland Christmas Part 1

Today's Christmas Quote comes from pages 90-91 of The Long Shadow by Cynthia Harrod Eagles - Book 6 in the Morland Dynasty series. I will have another quote from the same book tomorrow.

Hugo had enjoyed Christmas at Morland Place more than any he remembered. At Martin's instigation Ralph had named Hugo Lord of Misrule for the twelve days, which meant that everyone had to obey him, whatever he told them to do and he and Martin had a great deal of fun thinking out absurd orders. He was also master of ceremonies in all the  games and festivities. Martin and George between them wrote a masque with music, and Hugo had the direction of it, which pleased him so much he even accepted it as reasonable that George should have the principal part. There was all the traditional feasting - the boar's head, the gilded peacock, the plum porrage, the mince-meat pies - with the poor at the gates coming in every day for the open table, and tenants and villagers bringing seasonal gifts for the master and staying for good ale and  good fare.

There were mummers and jugglers and travelling players and carol-singers forever at the door, and they too were brought in to the great hall, made festive with boughs of bay and rosemary and holly and ivy, to entertain the gentry. There was singing and dancing every night. At the Boxing-day hunt, Hugo was in at the kill and Ralph awarded him the antlers, and when the Twelfth-day Cake was cut, Hugo got the King's token and Daisy got the Queen's token, and he got to kiss her, which he did with a flourish that made everyone laugh. For the whole season everyone was kind to him and no-one slighted or despised him, and he was gloriously happy. His one regret was that his mother was not there to see what a fine and popular person he was.

Weekend Cooking: Plum Pudding Muffins

This recipe comes from Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood. It is the first book in the Corinna Chapman mystery series which features a baker who is an amateur sleuth. I saved the recipe months ago because I thought it sounded like a way to be a bit festive without doing the whole pudding thing.

Special thanks to my sister who provided the fruit and the brandy - turns out I have never bought a bottle of rum or brandy in my life!

Plum Pudding Muffins 

2 cups plain flour
Half a cup sugar
1 and a half teaspoons baking powder
1 and a half teaspoons bicarb of soda
1 cup chopped candied peel, sultanas, chopped dried fruit
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of allspice
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
tablespoon rum or brandy

Heat the oven to 300C*. Spray the muffin tins with oil. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the egg, milk, butter and alcohol together. Pour it all at once into the muffin mix, stir it with a fork and put it into the prepared tins. Bake for about 15 minutes until they smell cooked but before they are burned on the bottom.

Special thanks to my sister who provided the fruit and the brandy - turns out I have never bought a bottle of rum or brandy in my life!

*This seems really hot to me, although it was the temperature that was written in the book, especially seeing as my oven doesn't go that high. I baked mine at 200C instead.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.  

Library Loot: December 5 to 11

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

A smallish loot this week. I am trying not to borrow too much because I am not getting a lot of other books read at the moment because I am reading Les Mis at the moment and think I will be for a few more weeks yet.

Here's what I got:

The Perils of Pleasure by Julie Ann Long - I have heard so many good things about the later books in this series, but I always need to start at the beginning.

Starlight by Carrie Lofty - The second book in the Christies series

A Trail of Fire by Diana Gabaldon - The latest short story collection. I have read one of these stories but the others are new to me

Never Enough by Lauren Dane - The latest book in the Brown Siblings series. I have already read this and the short story that follows it, but now it looks like I will have to wait until next October for the next book in the series.

Share your loot by heading over to Claire's blog and adding your link to Mr Linky that will be hosted there.

Christmas Quotes: Stirring the Pudding

Today's quotes come from Salvation Creek: An Unexpected Life by Susan Duncan.

The first part comes from page 113:

But my brother is dead. And Christmas since his death has been more of an ordeal than a celebration. However, this first Pittwater Christmas, when I live in the wooden house set at the water's edge, I am determined to get organised in a way that my brother would have approved, revive the Duncan family tradition. I want it to be a grand time for the fourteen people who will gather around the table on the deck at about noon. My goal is to restore, if I can a little of the old joie.

I begin making the pudding only a week before Christmas Day. Which is a bit scary because it's a three-day process. First, double the recipe. Then candy the orange and lemon peel and soak the raisins, sultanas, dates and currants in four times the suggested amount of brandy, letting the fruit sit for a couple of days.Stir (by turning over, not mashing!) every time you go past the bowl and make a wish. Invite everyone who passes to stir and make a wish. Watch them succumb to the sweet, dizzying brandy fragrance. see them close their eyes, breathe deep and hold their breath. Then wish.

'Never heard of this tradition,' Marie notes, wielding the thick wooden spoon. 'But it's a great way to get your pudding mixed!'

For a moment I wonder if it's a tradition. Then I remember Christmas at the pub. A local woman, famous for her puddings, soaked bucket loads of dried fruit in rough-as-guts brandy for a day or two in an old tin baby's bathtub in the pub's concrete-floored laundry. A barrel of batter, made from butter, eggs, dark brown sugar, ginger and flour, was poured on top, bringing the mixture to almost the rim of the tub. It was too huge and heavy for one pair of hands to mix, so the tub was ceremoniously dumped in the public bar for a couple of hours and everyone asked to have a stir and make a wish. By the time the bar closed at six o'clock, the batter had been turned over hundreds of times and the fruit was well and truly mixed in. A bit of cigarette ash and a slop or two of beer as well, I suspect.

After mixing, the batter was divided up and wrapped in steaming, floured calico, to be dumped in the copper boiler where the sheets and towels were washed on Monday mornings. The puddings were tied to a stick so they didn't sink and fill up with water, and the bobbed on the surface like giant dumplings for about six hours. They they were pulled out and hung from an indoor clothesline to cool down. I like to think now that those puddings were filled with the wishes of decent but reticent country blokes who would never dare say them out loud. As I recall, they were loaded with threepences and sixpences, which we warned guests about every year after one bloke swallowed a sixpence and nearly choked.

On Scotland Island, when I finally assemble the pudding mixture about three days before we're due to eat it, I'm anchored to the house for the next six hours, topping up the water in the pot. It's a broiling job but easily bearable. When the heat feels over-powering and sweat rolls down the valley in my back, I walk out the door and fall in to the sea. Nice life, huh?

And then from page 345

I start making the puddings in the weeks leading up to Christmas Day, to give them time to mature. The kitchen fills with the sweet, boozy smell of dried fruit soaking in brandy. And every time I see someone new arrive at the boatshed, I fly down with the bowl and demand they have a stir and make a wish.

'Is there a limit to the numbers of wishes?' Veit asks, his long arms lifting and turning the mixture carefully. 'Or should I repeat the same one every time I stir the pudding?'

His question stalls me for a moment. Why do we always say make a wish? Why not make some wishes? Why shouldn't we be able to make as many wishes as there is time for?

'Nope! There's no limit. Go for it!' I tell him

Christmas Quotes: A Christmas spent apart

Another new to me author I enjoyed reading this year was Victoria Hislop!  I loved The Island and The Thread. I think I still have one of her books to read. Must reborrow that one!

This quote is kind of sad, but poignant I thought.


From page 110-111 of The Island by Victoria Hislop

When Advent began, Giorgis and Eleni needed to decide how to deal with Christmas. It was to be their first one apart for fifteen years. The festival did not have the importance of Easter, but it was a time for ritual and feasting with the family and Eleni's absence would be a gaping void.

For a few days before and after Christmas Giorgis did not cross the choppy waters to visit Eleni. Not just because the vicious wind would bite into his hands and face until they were raw, but because his daughters needed him to stay. Similarly, Eleni's attentions had to be on Dimitri and they played out in parallel the age-old traditions. As they always had, the girls sang tuneful kalada from house to house and were rewarded with sweets and dried fruit, and after early morning mass on Christmas Day they feasted with the Angelopoulos family on pork and delicious kourambiethes, sweet nutty biscuits baked by Savina. things were no so very different on Spinalonga. The children sang in the square, helped bake the ornate seasonal loaves known as christopsomo, Christ's bread, and ate as never before. For Dimitri it was the first time he had enjoyed such plentiful quantities of rich food and witnessed such hedonism.

Throughout the twelve days of Christmas, Giorgis and Elenis sprinkled a little holy water in each room of their respective houses to deter the kallikantzari, seasonal goblins that were said to play havoc in the home, and on 1 January, St Basil's Day, Giorgis visited Eleni once again, bringing her presents from the children and from Savina. The ending of the old year and the beginning of the new was a watershed, a mile-stone that had been safely passed, taking the Petrakis family into a different era.

The Emperor's Conspiracy by Michelle Diener

When Michelle Diener contacted me to offer a review copy of this book, I was interested, but mainly because Michelle lives in Australia  and therefore I could count this book for several challenges. And then I noticed that Amy from Historical Fiction Virtual Tours was running a tour for the book. I volunteered because then not only would I intend to read it, I would actually read it and in a timely fashion! The thing is though, by the time I finished the book, I was happy to have read the book, not because of challenges or impetus to read, but because in the end this was a really good read!

The book opens with a scene that is quite unusual. A London lady finds herself with a chimney sweep stuck up her chimney because the sweep had grown too large, and the sweep is abandoned by her master because if the sweeps can't work, then he can't afford to feed them.

Fast forward a number of years, and we are introduced to Charlotte Raven. She is a young lady who is mostly at ease in the glamorous world of the ton but equally at home in the rougher parts of London. She is something of an oddity in the ton, because she is ward to a well respected lady who took her into her home and introduced her into the rarefied ways of the ton. She is also unusual in the stews because she is one of the lucky ones, one of the people who climbed out of a life of poverty. Charlotte is acutely aware of her own good fortune and does her best to help others get a start on a better life if they are prepared to make the necessary changes.

There are two main male characters in the book, both representing the two different parts of Charlotte's life. On one hand, Charlotte's childhood protector and love, Luke, is now running a crime ring. He rules the streets of his area which are filled with hardship and deprivation and more. On the other, Lord Edward Durnham. He is aloof, rarely seen in society but has a complicated secret life. When the two worlds collide, thanks predominantly to Charlotte's own actions, she is the one who has the power to control their fates. And yet, it is her own fate which may be the most difficult to decide given that she doesn't really fit in her new world but she certainly doesn't fit in the old world either.

Central to the drama between the characters is a plot which seems highly improbable, until you realise that it was taken straight from the pages of the history books! This plot is what gives the book it's title. I must confess that for the first parts of the book I was wondering precisely where the title fitted in, but it all became clear in due course. The only clue I am going to give you is that the book is set during the Napoleonic wars.

The thing about this book is that it doesn't really fit neatly into any sub-genre. There are times when you might think that what you are reading is building up to a historical romance story... but it's not only that. You may think that you are reading a historical mystery, and you are, but not in the sense that the heroine decides that she wants to be an amateur sleuth and sets out to solve a crime. Rather Charlotte is trying to find, or keep, her place -trying to keep one foot in both her past world and her present world.

I may have mentioned once or ten times now that I am currently reading Les Miserables. Whilst I am enjoying that book, it is a book that I am having to work hard at reading. By contrast, this book was a completed breeze to read and I closed the book already wondering if we were going to see more of these characters. As I look back with the added distance of a couple of days, there are probably a couple of plot holes, and there probably could have been a bit more in the way of character development, but in terms of the actually reading experience I had, it was perfect for me at the time. Just what I needed.

This was the first time I have read this author, and I will definitely be looking for more from her in the future, especially if there is a follow up book to this one.

Rating 4/5

Thanks to the author for providing a copy of the book along with a gorgeous bookmark. This did not influence my review.

Tour Details

Tour schedule
Michelle's website
Michelle on Facebook
Michelle on Twitter
Twitter Hashtag: #EmperorsConspiracyVirtualTour

Synopsis

From nineteenth-century London’s elegant ballrooms to its darkest slums, a spirited young woman and a nobleman investigating for the Crown unmask a plot by Napoleon to bleed England of its gold.

Chance led to Charlotte Raven’s transformation from chimney sweep to wealthy, educated noblewoman, but she still walks a delicate tightrope between two worlds, unable to turn her back on the ruthless crime lord who was once her childhood protector.

When Lord Edward Durnham is tapped to solve the mystery of England’s rapidly disappearing gold, his search leads him to the stews of London, and Charlotte becomes his intriguing guide to the city’s dark, forbidding underworld. But as her involvement brings Charlotte to the attention of men who have no qualms about who they hurt, and as Edward forges a grudging alliance with the dangerous ghosts of Charlotte’s former life, she faces a choice: to continue living in limbo, or to close the door on the past and risk her heart and her happiness on an unpredictable future.

Challenges

This book counts for the following challenges:

Christmas Quotes: A Colonial Christmas

Quote comes from page 494 and 495 of Olivia and Jai by Rebecca Ryman. The book is set in colonial India and the main character, Olivia, has just been reconciled with her cousin Estelle.


I find myself fascinated at the idea of colonial life in India. I think it is because one of my great-great grandfathers served there as a musician in the Army.

Here is a quote from Olivia and Jai by Rebecca Ryman. I highly recommend this hard to find book and also the other book I read by her this year which was called Shalimar

It was the season of Christmas.

In the cosy downstairs parlour of the Birkhurst residence, the least formal of the reception-rooms, a tall conifer stood in a wooden tub, and it was splendidly decorated with coloured streamers, glass baubles, silver fairies in twinkling tinsel, gold stars, snowy white cotton wool, a cardboard Santa Claus and his rendeer, and banks of mistletoe and holly purchased with scandalous extravagance from Whiteaways. The house was filled with music and song and seldom heard gales of laughter. On Christmas Day the Donaldsons, the Humphries and, of course, Arthur Ransome had been guests at a veritable feast of trandational fare produced with uncanny skill by Rashid Ali andn the specially summoned Babulal. There had been gaily wrapped gifts for everyone, including the servants and their families, particularly the children. There had been crackers and fireworks, boisterous carol singing and generally uninhibited revelry such as had not been witnessed in years at the austere, under-inhabited mansion.

It was Olivia's second Christmas is India. And so different in spirit from that miserable occasion of twelve months ago in Barrackpore, which no one could now rustle up the courage to remember!

And then....

The Christmas festivities and frivolities had been her (Estelle's) idea. "A quiet Christmas?" She had echoed Olivia's desultory suggestion with horror. "Why, Amos will never forgive us that! If only for his sake, we must make it as merry as we can no matter what our own feelings." Olivia could not deny that she had been touched.

Sunday Salon; November Reading Reflections

When I wrote up my October Reading Reflections last month, I made specific mention of one very unusual thing. Last month I reread 4 books - something I very rarely do. This month, that rereading continued with me devouring another 5 books in the Virgin River series by Robyn Carr but then I just stopped. There are another 10 books in the series but apparently that was all I needed.

That wasn't the end of the rereading though. When you have a look through my list, you may notice that I have listed a couple of Cherrie Lynn books twice, which is not a typo. I read both Rock Me and Leave Me Breathless and then reread them both less than a week later.  I am not sure that I might not read Leave Me Breathless again because I loved it - especially the hero, Seth 'Ghost' Warren. I think he has actually ruined me for all other tattooed, pierced bad boy heroes for a while.

Anyway, here is the list of books I read in November.


A Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr 4/5 (Reread)
Blame it on Paris by Laura Florand 4/5
Home Town Girl by Mariah Stewart 3.5/5
Second Chance Pass by Robyn Carr 3.5/5 (Reread)
Temptation Ridge by Robyn Carr 4.5 (Reread)
Paradise Valley by Robyn Carr 4.5/5 (Reread)
Under the Christmas Tree by Robyn Carr 4/5 (Reread)
A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead 4/5
Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear 4.5/5
The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister 4/5
Superb and Sexy by Jill Shalvis 4/5
Poppy and the Thief by Gabrielle Wang 3.5/5
Sydney Harbour Hospital: Tom's Redemption by Fiona Lowe 4/5
How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal 4.5/5
Romancing the Holidays Anthology 4/5
Flawless by Carrie Lofty 4.5/5
Fool for Love by Beth Ciotta 2/5
Christmas Wishes by Rhiann Cahill 4/5 (novella)
Manu's French Kitchen by Manu Feildel 3.5/5
Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas 4/5
Unleashed by Cherrie Lynn 4/5
Rock Me by Cherrie Lynn 4/5
Barely Leashed by Cherrie Lynn 2.5 (short story)
Leave Me Breathless by Cherrie Lynn 4/5
Fables, Vol 6: Homelands by Bill Willingham 4.5/5
A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare 4/5
Once Upon a Winter's Eve by Tessa Dare 3/5 (novella)
Rock Me by Cherrie Lynn 4/5 (reread)
Leave Me Breathless by Cherrie Lynn 4.5 (reread)
A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare 4/5
Chains of Revenge by Keziah Hill 3/5 (novella)
A Little More Scandal by Carrie Lofty 4/5 (novella)
The Emperors Conspiracy by Michelle Diener 4/5

In terms of the challenges that I am participating in, I added more books read to challenges that I have already fulfilled the requirements for but didn't find a book to read for the one category of the What's in a Name Challenge - I am not sure that I will. I am currently contemplating my challenges for next year. I suspect that it will be all the same ones as I did this year, but I am thinking about ways to make a couple of them more...well .... challenging. I will probably have more on that next week.

Australian Women Writers Challenge - Poppy and the Thief, Tom's Redemption, Christmas Wishes, Chains of Revenge and The Emperor's Conspiracy

Aussie Author Challenge - As for AWWC plus Manu's French Kitchen.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear, Poppy and the Thief and The Emperor's Conspiracy.

I should just also mention that the Virtual Advent Tour for this year is underway. It is not too late to join in the fun for this year though. If you wish you had of signed up, you can still do so by clicking on this link and following the instructions.

Currently Reading

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo and The Christmas Miracle and other stories by Connie Willis

Reading Next

The Time it Snowed in Puerto Rico by Sarah McCoy, Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa or The Wedding Shroud by Elisabeth Storrs.

Christmas Quotes: Carl's Christmas memories

I really enjoyed reading Erica Bauermeister's books this year. This was the first, and I think still my favourite.

This quote comes from page 71 of School of Essential Ingredients.

He didn't even mind those early Christmas mornings when first one, then another toddler would climb into the bed that he and Helen had so recently fallen into themselves after a night of putting together wooden wagons, or bicycles, or dollhouses. He opened his arms and they piled in, trying to convince him that the streetlight outside really was the sun and that it was certainly time to open the stockings, if maybe not presents, when in fact it was usually only two in the morning. Helen would groan good-naturedly and roll over, telling Carl all she wanted for Christmas was a good night's sleep, and he would pull the children close and whisper the story of the Night Before Christmas until they would slowly, one by one, fall asleep, their bodies draped across each other like laundry in a basket. When the children got older, self-sufficient enough to go on their own midnight exploratory missions among the boxes under the tree (where, more often than not, Carl and Helen discovered them sleeping in the morning, Carl found himself missing their warm intrusions into his dreams.

How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal

At this year's RITA awards (which is the romance world equivalent to the Oscars), I had two books that I was cheering for in the Novel with Strong Romantic Elements category. One was The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn (love this series, especially Nicholas Brisbane) and the other was The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley. If you have read my blog for any length of time you might have noticed that I am a Susanna Kearsley fangirl and have been for a while now. Unfortunately, neither of those two books won the coveted prize, but rather this book won and it wasn't the first time the author had won this award. While I was disappointed that my favourites didn't win, I did think that maybe, maybe I should try one of Barbara O'Neal's books so I requested this one. I will leave it to the end of this post to tell you whether I am happy with that decision or not.

The main character of this books are Ramona, her daughter Sophia and Sophia's step daughter Katie. Each of the women are dealing with their own issues but together we get a storng picture of a family growing together and dealing with their issues to the best of their abilities.

Ramona is the owner of a specialist bakery. Although she could be part of a family run corporation, she is determined to do this on her own, even if that means that when things go wrong, broken water heaters and the like, then it means that she is running very close to the wire financially. Ramona loves to bake, and she can clearly identify the times in her life when baking and specifically baking bread saved her emotionally. The first time was when she was a young girl, pregnant and sent away from her family to stay with her aunt to have 'a holiday' and then come back to her family, preferably without the baby in tow. Ramona's relationship with her own mother is difficult and she is upset at being shunted away from her family. While baking saves her, another strong factor is her friendship with a young man who works in the local record store. As well as providing her with the friendship she needs, Jonah also helps her learn about different types of music. It is a friendship that is misunderstood by those around them and so is discouraged before anything more is really even given the chance to develop.

Now that Sophia is a grown woman, pregnant with her own child, Ramona is called on to provide a home to Sophia's troubled step daughter Katie when Sophia's husband is severely injured when serving in the military in Afghanistan. Not only does Katie need to deal with the stress and worry associated with her dad's injuries but she is also dealing with the aftermath of living with her junkie mother and being away from the only friends she has ever had.

Each of the main characters is given their page time: Ramona thinking about how difficult it was to be young, unwed mother and then to raise her daughter, as well as a disastrous marriage and what it might mean when Jonah comes back into her life; Sophia trying to support her husband physically and emotionally while dealing with the upcoming birth of her baby as well as worrying about Katie; and Katie try to find her place in the life of a family where she is almost, but not quite a member, at least in her own mind.

This is fantastic foodie fiction with recipes sprinkled throughout the book . There were so many mentions of really tasty food, especially bread. At one point, the author had me seriously contemplating making my own bread starter and then trying to keep it alive. I have no idea why...I have never made a loaf of bread in my life. Just the way that she described it made it sound almost therapeutic to be able to tend to the starter each day and also then to knead the bread. I can't see myself actually doing it, but I did like reading it. 

If you like really good foodie fiction with strong characters, interesting storylines and emotionally engaging voices, then give this book a go.

One of the recipes in the book was for Easy Pain au Chocolate so I thought I would give it a go (being much easier than making bread from scratch. Here is the recipe which luckily was on the author's website.

Just out of the oven

Easy Pain au Chocolat


2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed*
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp water
12 oz bittersweet chocolate (chocolate chips work fine)**

Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment or oil lightly. Cut each sheet of pastry into 12 squares* and brush the tops of each with egg glaze, then sprinkle ½ oz chocolate (a few chips) on each of square and roll up tightly around the chocolate. Place on the baking sheet, seam down. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Remove pastries from fridge, preheat over to 400 degrees. Brush the tops of the pasties with remaining egg glaze, and then dust lightly with sugar and bake for about 15 minutes. Better to cool them at least a little or the butter taste is a little overwhelming.

*I am not sure how big sheets of frozen puff pastry are in the US but to cut our sheets into 12 would have been tiny, so I cut mine into 6 rectangles. 

**I was a little more generous with the chocolate (and I used Chocolate melts because that is what I had in the cupboard). Still pretty happy with how they turned out.

Oh, and in relation to the question I posed at the beginning of this post, whilst The Rose Garden would have still been my choice (big surprise, I am sure), this book is a worthy winner. I have already requested my next Barbara O'Neal book from the library, as well as another book by this same author that was released under the author's other name of Barbara Samuels. Fans of authors like Erica Bauermeister might like to read this book.

Rating 4.5/5

Synopsis

In a novel as warm and embracing as a family kitchen, Barbara O’Neal explores the poignant, sometimes complex relationships between mothers and daughters—and the healing magic of homemade bread. 

Professional baker Ramona Gallagher is a master of an art that has sustained her through the most turbulent times, including a baby at fifteen and an endless family feud. But now Ramona’s bakery threatens to crumble around her. Literally. She’s one water-heater disaster away from losing her grandmother’s rambling Victorian and everything she’s worked so hard to build.

When Ramona’s soldier son-in-law is wounded in Afghanistan, her daughter, Sophia, races overseas to be at his side, leaving Ramona as the only suitable guardian for Sophia’s thirteen-year-old stepdaughter, Katie. Heartbroken, Katie feels that she’s being dumped again—this time on the doorstep of a woman out of practice with mothering.

Ramona relies upon a special set of tools—patience, persistence, and the reliability of a good recipe—when rebellious Katie arrives. And as she relives her own history of difficult choices, Ramona shares her love of baking with the troubled girl. Slowly, Katie begins to find self-acceptance and a place to call home. And when a man from her past returns to offer a second chance at love, Ramona discovers that even the best recipe tastes better when you add time, care, and a few secret ingredients of your own.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.  

A Train in Winter giveaway winner

Whoops! Dropped the ball on this giveaway. Completely forgot to draw the winner!

I have put the details into a random number generator which gave me a winner number! The lucky person who was allocated that number was .....

Lisa from ANZLitLovers! 

Congratulations Lisa! I will be in contact shortly for your details.

Christmas Quotes: A Pacific WWII Christmas

Today is the kick off for this year's Virtual Advent Tour. I really can't wait to see what everyone comes up with this year! It is always so amazing to me seeing what everyone chooses to share. Like last year, I have been saving some Christmassy quotes from the books I have read during the year and today I bring the first of the Christmas quotes for this year. I don't have one for every day, but there will be at least 3 or 4 each week until we reach the big day!

I think that the quotes this year reflect the way that my reading changed this year - lot of Australian quotes to be shared and even though I didn't deliberately choose to read a lot of WWII books, I seem to have a few of those quotes too. Today though, I am starting with a quote from The Bungalow by Sarah Jio.


from pages 121-

I couldn't stay in on Christmas Eve thinking about Papa and Maxine roasting chestnuts together back at home. I shook my head, and mde my way down Someone in a room upstairs must have found a radio, and even rarer, a signal out across the great blue ocean that carried the sweet, beautiful, pure sound of "O Holy Night" sung by Bing Crosby. My knees weakened as I listened to the song drifting over the airwaves like a warm breeze, comforting me, reminding me of Christmases in Seattle. With cider, Carolers. An enormous fir tree in the entryway. Papa smoking by the fire. Mother fussing about wrapping gifts. Maxine's sweets, though I didn't have the taste for them now. And Gerard, of course. I couldn't forget Gerard.

"Makes you sentimental, doesn't it?"

I turned around upon hearing Stella's voice behind me. "Yes," I said. If only she knew.

Her face appeared softer in the dim light of the entryway. Has the island changed her? "It hardly feels right," she continued. "No snow. Not even a tree. For the first time, I'm homesick. Really homesick." "Me too," I said, locking my arm in hers. we stood there listening until the song ended and the radio frequency become garbled - the moment lost forever, swallowed up by the lonely Pacific.

and then from 123

As we walked outside, the radio's signal regrouped and began transmitting a weak version of "Silent Night" sung in a foreign language I didn't recognize. It sounded strange and lost, which was exactly how I felt.

Once inside the little chapel adjacent to the mess hall I let out a gasp. "Where on earth did they get a tree?" I eyed the fir standing to attention near the piano. "A Douglas fir, in the tropics?" Mary grinned, "It was our big secret," she said. "The Social Committee has been planning it for months. One of the pilots brought it over with the supplies last week. Nobody thought of decorations so we had to get creative. The men deserve a tree on Christmas." The choir began warming up to our left, as I looked at the fir tree, adorned with tinsel - handmade from finely cut tin foil - and read apples on each bow. Some of the women must have loaned out their hair ribbons, as there were at least two dozen white satin bows from top to bottom.

"It's beautiful," I said, blinking back a tear.

Library Loot: November 28 to December 4

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

OH my goodness! How on earth can we be talking about the December loot already! I am not ready for it to be the end of the year yet. Thank goodness I have some new loot so that I can continue to pretend I have plenty of time left!

Here's what I got:

A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare - The next book in the Spindle Cove series by Tess Dare

Aussie Rules by Jill Shalvis - My journey through Jill Shalvis' backlist continues. I am a little bit worried about this one becasue it does feature an Aussie character. The Aussieness could be fantastically portrayed... or it might not be!

Speak Now by Taylor Swift - I decided to get Taylor Swift's new album, Red, but then I realised I hadn't actually listened to her last album despite the fact that I listen to her first album quite often! I am in the queue for Red but this one was just sitting there waiting for me!

Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister - I have read and enjoyed by The School of Essential Ingredients and the Lost Art of Mixing so now I have to read Joy for Beginners, even though I had to get the book via interlibrary loan.

No Place Like Home by Barbara Samuels - I recently read a book by this author that was released under the name Barbara O'Neal. I was talking about it on Twitter and Aussie author Kelly Hunter recommended this book, so I requested this one via interlibrary loan too.

A Winter's Tale by Trisha Ashley - Someone reviewed a later book in this series recently, and it sounded like a fun read so I requested the first book in the series.

What loot did you get? Add your link to Mr Linky below:

Fables, Vol 6: Homelands by Bill Willingham

Like a lot of the Fables collections, this graphic novel has multiple storylines going on. One of those storylines continues the narrative thread from the earlier novels - mainly that of the conflict between the Fables who live in our world and those that still live in the Homelands. In this instalment, we find out more than we have previously seen of what it is like for those left behind in the Homelands than we have in previous episodes, including the big reveal of who exactly is the Adversary.

The first part of the collection though is more of a jumping off point for the Jack of Fables spinoff series and features Jack (of the beanstalk fame, also of be nimble and many other adventures). He has a big plan of how to make his mark. He has managed to acquire some funds - best not to ask how - and heads off to Hollywood to start his own movie studios. His plan is to make the biggest selling fantasy movie trilogy ever. Jack being Jack, the stories to be told are, of course, his own. All goes swimmingly until the Fables powers that be catch up with him.

Whilst I didn't mind Jack's story, it really was the second part of the novel that really shone for me, and it may even be my favourite section of the Fables books I have read so far. In this group of episodes, we follow Little Boy Blue deep into the Homeland. His mission is to get close enough to the Adversary to assasinate him and maybe he might be able to find his true love, Red Riding Hood, while he is at it. At his disposal he has a whole arsenal of weapons all concealed in his blue cloke. Will his weapons and skill be enough to match against several different worlds of Fables characters who will do anything they can to stop him - particularly as he gets closer and closer to the Adversary.

I loved the humour in this whole section; the trolls talking about their human girlfriends serving up chicken and saying it tastes like snake, the birds having a conversation about how the female birds always fall for the crows - the bad boys of the bird world, the fights against the three horseman, and so much more! I was reading this part on the train and I am sure I spent the whole train ride smiling broadly as we got further and further into the adventure.

While it was no big surprise to me as to who the identity of the Adversary was (I had picked it a couple of books back as I think most readers would have) I did like the other twists that the story took as part of the big reveal.

The other thing that happened in this collection is that we were introduced to a new characters who I am sure will play a big role in future episodes, and that is Mowgli from the Jungle Book. I also really liked the hint that there are plenty of other fables characters and worlds to be explored with African, Asian, Indian themes. I wonder if they would ever do one featuring Australian fairy tales or Dreamtime tales, although it might be difficult to do so whilst still maintaining the necessary respect for indigenous Australians.

One other thing I would say about this volume - I really missed Bigby! Hopefully he isn't gone for too long.

I don't know if I have mentioned this or not whenever I have posted about the Fables series, but my library doesn't actually own any of these. If I want to read the series, then I have to request it via interlibrary loan from whichever libraries in the state have a copy and then wait for it turn up at my library. I am lucky in several ways. The first is that this service is still free, and that so far there is always at least one library that has had a copy of the next instalment - long may that continue!

The other thing about interlibrary loans is that once I do get the book, the borrowing period can't be extended, so between the transit times and the restricted borrowing times I am reading one Fables book every six to eight weeks or so. It feels like a pretty even and good pace to be reading them at. Expect the next review in six to eight weeks.

Rating 4.5/5

Synopsis

Over the Hills and Far Away

Have beaten back the Adversary's first advance into their world, the residents of Fabletown must now prepare themselves for the full-scale ware that is such to follow. For one particular Fable, this means skipping town to launch a new career as a venal Hollywood mogul - a path he hopes will be paved with gold and immortality. For another Fable, though, it means a journey down a much more dangerous road - one that winds thorugh the Fables' old Homelands into the very heart of enemy territory, where the mystery of the Adversary's identity will finally be revealed.

Other artists include Mark Buckingham, David Hahn and Steve Leialoha

Library Loot: November 21 to 27

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Another big library haul this week! I can't seem to stop myself requesting things despite the fact that I was very controlled for a while there! Here's my loot for this week:

 Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear - The next Maisie Dobbs book in the series.

This is How by M J Hyland - This was our bookclub book for last month but I didn't get around to reading it so I have reborrowed it from my library. After the discussion I am not sure whether I will actually read it or not.

Madam Will You Talk by Mary Stewart - There are a group of us over at Goodreads who are doing a readalong of this book in January.

Sydney Harbour Hospital: Lily's Scandal by Marion Lennox - I read Fiona Lowe's entry in the Sydney Harbour Hospital series a couple of weeks ago so figure I might as well start at the beginning now.

Poppy Comes Home by Gabriel Wang - the fourth and final episode of Poppy's story in the Our Australian Girl series.

The Twelve by Justin Cronin - Feels like we have been waiting for this follow up book to The Passage forever!

The Cook by Wayne Macauley - Heard a lot of good things about this book.

Claire has Mr Linky this week so head on over to share your loot!

Spotlight on Escape Publishing

Today, I am excited to welcome Kate Cuthbert here to visit with us all in her capacity as Editor of Escape Publishing, a newly launched digital imprint of Harlequin.  I am excited about the prospect of seeing what is published on this imprint, especially seeing there is a strong focus on Australian authors!

Welcome Kate!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kate Cuthbert

Hi Everyone! I'm so happy to be here. Thanks for your interest in Escape Publishing. We've been working behind the scenes for ages now, so we're super excited to get to put it out into the world and set it free!

Marg knows that I've been talking up our launch books for the last week, so she decided to go in a slightly different direction and asked me to talk about our launch authors, which is a fabulous idea because they're all such fabulous people. I'll let you know a little bit about each of their books, but probably the most important thing for you is that they are all on sale right now for a very limited time to celebrate the launch. You can get Chaos Born, Christmas Wishes, Grease Monkey Jive, and In Safe Hands for $0.99 each, and Chains of Revenge, our erotic fantasy novella for free! So if you're interested in seeing what we've got, then now's the time to take advantage! Hop on our website www.escapepublishing.com.au for all the details.

On to introductions!

Ainslie Paton is not at all used to being on this side of the camera – she works in a corporate setting in marketing, public relations and advertising. If you're wondering if she knows the dance scene first hand, the answer is yes, though she only dances for herself now. Ainslie lives in Sydney, and her launch title Grease Monkey Jive is her debut novel. I loved it because I love big stories with ensemble casts and relationships outside the main love interest and lovely, long, building relationships. Plus ballroom dancing. And a hot surfer hero. Really – what's not to love? You can learn more about Ainslie on her website: http://ainsliepaton.com.au/

Keziah Hill used to work in the criminal justice system (though I imagine she never had 'justice' quite like it pans out in her launch novella Chains of Revenge!). Needing a tree change, she decamped to the Blue Mountains north of Sydney to focus on writing. As well as steamy erotic romance, Keziah also writes romantic suspense and takes care of her garden. Chains of Revenge is an erotic fantasy novella, and I loved it because even though the hero and heroine were always at odds power-wise, their relationship and their feelings for each other also meant they were always on even footing. Also, it was hot. You can find out more about Keziah here: www.keziahhill.com

Lee Christine revealed to us during the launch celebrations that her first stories were actually songs – when she was a teenager, she dreamed of being a singer/songwriter. Which naturally prompted us all to plan a karaoke outing quick smart. Lee lives in Newcastle with her husband, and has two grown children. She's worked in a number of settings including law and software training. In Safe Hands is her first novel and did very well on the contest circuit before I snapped it up for Escape because it's smart, it's savvy, it's suspenseful, it's sophisticated, and it scared the pants off me. You can find out more about Lee on her website here: http://leechristine.com.au/

Rebekah Turner works as a graphic designer and admits to an addiction to stationary (which, honestly, is a vice I share). She lives in Brisbane with her husband, two kids, and a dog that you can see pictures of if you follow her on Twitter, which you should. She also loves 80s action movies. She calls them trashy. I substitute 'awesome'. Chaos Born is Rebekah's debut novel and I couldn't accept this manuscript fast enough. The world-building is incredible, complex, deep, dark, sinister, yet familiar. Her heroine, Lora, limps but in a total bad-ass way. And, while there's technically a love triangle, I'm currently recruiting everyone I know to Team Roman. Rebekah's website is here: http://rebekahturner.net/

Rhian Cahill will already be familiar to readers who like things a little hotter – she's multi-published in erotic romance, and chose Escape Publishing when she wanted to take her writing in a different direction. Rhian lives in Sydney with her husband and those of her four children who have decided not to leave home yet. When she approached me with her idea for a holiday-themed novella that would still carry her trademark heat level but move away from explicit erotic romance, I made her send it to me the next day. Christmas Wishes is still steamy, but it's incredibly sweet, with a light-hearted touch and a sigh-worthy ending. Best of all? The sequel, New Year's Kisses is available from Escape in December. You can learn more about Rhian on her website: http://rhiancahill.com/ Cool Rhian fact: she also has her own app, which can be downloaded via iTunes or Google Play for info, new releases, and contests.

So now you know a little bit more about each of our launch authors – and Escape Publishing! Thanks for having me to visit.

Kate

The Escape Publishing team with the authors at the launch in Sydney last week.

Thanks for visiting Kate! I am read Rhian's story yesterday and I am especially happy to hear the news that there will be a follow up coming next month!

Sunday Salon: 2012 Virtual Advent Tour sign ups are open!

There are a few ways that I know that Christmas is on it's way. First, I start having those 'for Christmas can I have ....' conversations with the boy (actually those start pretty much straight after his birthday in September), the decorations go up in the shops and it is time to start preparing for the Virtual Advent tour for this year!

A couple of days ago, Kelly  from The Written World and I announced that the sign ups for 2012 Virtual Advent Tour are open! This is going to be the seventh year that Kelly and I have co-hosted the tour where we invite people to share their holiday memories, recipes, traditions etc with us all, even for those of you who don't celebrate Christmas (we would love to hear what you do for the holidays). We have a separate blog for sign ups, buttons, and the daily posts talking about where the stops will be! We hope that lots of you decide to sign up and join in on the fun this year. If you would like to have a look at some of the posts in previous years, you will be able to find some links here.  I can't wait to once again visit all the participants and see what everyone comes up with to share with us all!

You can also follow us on Twitter @VirtualAdvent

This year I am not sure if I will be having a specific date for people to visit my blog, but I will again be posting quotes from books I have read most days, both here and at the Advent Tour blog and a couple of the quotes might find their way over to Historical Tapestry as well.  I have been preparing for this since January when I started collecting quotes about Christmas in particular. As soon as I saw a mention, I looked at it as a possible blog post. It is kind of surprising how few mentions there really are, but I think I have nearly enough.

Last year I read quite a few Christmas themed romances and that is true again this year. I would have said that was kind of out of the ordinary for me but given that is has happened two years in a row, and I still have a couple left to read as well, maybe this is my new normal! Who knows!

To be honest, I am not the biggest fan of Christmas and I am more than a little apprehensive about it this year given that I am planning to head back to Adelaide to have Christmas there for the first time in more than 10 years. The boy will get to spend some time with his dad and half siblings which he hasn't been able to do before, so I am sure that it is time, and it is the right thing to do, but that doesn't stop me from dreading it just a little bit.

 I watch other people talk about the fantastic time they have had since their childhood and their family traditions. It really wasn't the case for me, especially from the age of about 10 on when we moved away from my father's side of the family. My sister and I have worked at trying to make it a more special time, especially for the kids, but it does feel like an effort! The Advent Tour has become a huge part of my build up to Christmas each year, helping to get me just a little bit excited about the holidays, and I love reading about everyone's traditions, favourite food, music and films!

I hope that you enjoy all the posts that I put up starting from December 1. We will get to then end of the Virtual Advent tour and then I will be beginning to save quotes again ready for next year! 

Currently Reading

The Fitzosbornes in Exile by Michelle Cooper

Reading Next

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo and maybe something else.