This recipe has been handed down for generations. It's appropriate because it's a Christmas must around my house and it's English (which goes right along with my time-travel Victorian novel). And I saved the best for last. It is ridiculously easy.

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English Toffee

• 2 cups chopped pecans
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 stick of margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons water
• 12 oz. of chocolate chips (milk chocolate or semi-sweet. Choose your own adventure here.)

Spread chopped pecans on the bottom of a cookie sheet

Combine margarine, butter, sugar, corn syrup and water.  Bring mixture to boil over moderately high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved and it reaches a hard crack stage.

Pour over the pecans in the prepared cookie sheet.  Top with chocolate chips and swirl into tasteful shapes while you realize that you are an artiste and chocolate is your true medium.

Wait for it to cool, then break into chunks and boom goes the dynamite.

 

How to woo a gentleman—and weaponize dessert.

Romance novel junkie Eliza Pepper always thought she was born too late, but now she really is stuck in the wrong time. Tasked with mending a tear in the timeline, she’s trying desperately to fit into 1873 London. But dang it, mucking out a fireplace while looking like the lunch lady from hell is hard.

If she can just keep from setting the floor on fire and somehow resist her growing attraction to the master of the house, she’ll be fine. All she has to do is repeat her mantra:  “He’s nothing like Darcy. He’s nothing like Darcy.”

William Brown has always taken pride in his mastery of English decorum, but his new maid is a complete disaster, has thrown his household into chaos…and he finds her utterly captivating.

Though he’s willing to endure extreme physical discomfort to keep their relationship in proper perspective, her arrival has brought out a side of him he never knew existed. And Eliza has an innocently erotic knack for coaxing that decidedly ungentlemanly facet of himself out to play…

Warning:  A modern girl who knows bupkis about nursing and maiding in the 19th century, a gentleman poet with a repressed wild side, and inappropriate use of a pair of pantaloons.

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terrimeeker.com

Christmas is my favorite season. I love the sights, the smells, and the tastes. One of my fondest memories is watching my grandmother make her pralines. Now my husband makes them for our holiday. I hope you enjoy the sweet southern confection as much as we do.

Happy Holidays!

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Oma’s Pralines

1 ½ cups brown sugar

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

3 Tablespoons dark corn syrup

1 cup canned milk (Carnation or Pet)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups pecan halves

Butter sides of heavy 3-quart saucepan. Combine sugars, corn syrup, and milk.

Heat and stir over medium heat till sugars dissolve and mixture comes to boiling.

Cook to soft-ball stage (234 degrees), stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat, cool slightly, and add vanilla.

Beat by hand about 2 minutes before adding pecans then beat until mixture loses its gloss.

Drop by heaping tablespoons on buttered foil or waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. (If candy becomes too stiff to drop from spoon, add a teaspoon of hot water.)

Makes nine 3 ½ inch pralines.

He never doubted he’d find her.

She moved on without him.

Can he reclaim her heart before it’s too late?

Annie’s heart is torn between the man she'll always love and her promise to her fiancé’s young daughter.

A father’s lies. A first love’s determination to change her mind and her heart. A promise to . Annie is torn between the man she'll always love and the young daughter of her fiancé whom she’s promised never to abandon.

Her father’s lies. Her first love’s determination to change her mind and her heart. Annie’s heart is torn between the man she'll always love and the young daughter of her fiancé whom she’s promised never to abandon.

Her first love’s determination to change her mind and her heart. Her commitment to her fiancé and his child. Who will claim her heart?

Her first love’s return forces Annie to exam her commitment to her fiancé and his child. Who will claim her heart?

Her first love’s determination to change her mind and her heart forces Annie to exam her commitment to her fiancé and his child. Who will claim her heart?

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http://www.judythemorgan.com/

My mother whips up these great-looking treats when she’s short of time but wants to impress, and now so do I. They're especially handy when I'm on deadline or even when I don't want to tear myself away from a good book. The finished product has an elegant appearance and tastes yummy.

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Easy and Elegant Chocolate Pretzel Bites

1 package small chocolate-covered pretzels (in my grocery store, these are in the candy aisle)

1 package chocolate kisses (any variety, but I use milk chocolate)

1 package M&M’s

Put the pretzels on a greased baking sheet. Place a chocolate kiss in the center of each pretzel. Bake at 200 degrees for about two minutes.

While still warm, top each chocolate pretzel bite with an M&M, pressing down slightly. (I use the colored ones, because they look prettier). Chill for about 10 minutes in refrigerator. You're done!

Dead Ringers 1: Illusion

An Original Publication, This is a 25,000-word novelette that is the first volume of a nine-volume serial with mystery, romance and missing memories. The volumes are also available in boxed sets.

Do you know who your friends are?

Jade Greene remembers nothing from the time she went missing except a blinding headache and an evil clown with a syringe. Not exactly the stuff to convince others of your sanity.
Nobody at the summer carnival believes Jade was even in danger except her secretive co-worker Max Harper. Max offers to help Jade solve the mystery, but he’s sidetracked by the case of a Black Widow.

When Jade and Max stumble across a body on the beach, only two things are certain. People in town aren't who they seem. And things for Jade are about to get much, much worse.

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www.darlenegardner.com

Just because the holidays are long gone, that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy some decadent rum balls. After all, we need some rum to warm us up on these cold nights, don’t we?

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Ingredients:

* Vegetable oil, cooking spray

* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

* 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

* 3 large eggs

* 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

* 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

* 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark rum

* Coarse sanding sugar, for rolling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray; set aside. Melt butter and chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

2. Whisk together eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in chocolate mixture, then fold in flour. Pour batter into prepared baking sheet. Spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake until top is shiny and a cake tester inserted into center comes out with some crumbs attached, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

3. Break up brownie into small pieces; transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With machine on low speed, pour in rum, and mix until crumbs start to come together to form a ball.

4. Shape into 1-inch balls, and roll in sanding sugar to coat. Transfer to a baking sheet; refrigerate, uncovered, until cold, about 2 hours. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Something else to warm you up is my brand new book, “Summer Job, Summer Love”

Bronwyn needs a summer job and thinks being a life guard would be fun. In class she’s surprised to find there are twelve men and only three women. She’s even more surprised when Ross and Jake monopolize her attention and want to date her. But this is only a summer romance. It can’t possibly last longer than the ten life guard lessons. Can it?

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http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/

http://berengariabrown.com/