A little FREE Loving and a lot of Gingerbread!

One of my favorite things around the holidays is baking! When I was a little girl, my mother used to make a house out of cardboard, and we used to cover it in chocolate and stick candies all over it. Later, when I was an adult, I added to it.

I started baking my own gingerbread to make the house. Now, let me tell you that I was doing this before you could buy Gingerbread house kits! Personally, I absolutely love baking the Gingerbread so my entire house smells so yummy! This year, my daughter and I are going to make the gingerbread and bake it ahead of time so when my grandkids are here next weekend, they can help to decorate one to take home with them!

I was lucky that many years ago, I found stone molds made by Pampered Chef, and I have made sure to take good care of them through the years so that every year I can make one of these lovely concoctions!

I also have the gingerbread train, and one time, I made an entire village, with six buildings, and a 20 car train! I donated that one, and I sure wish I could find the pictures because man, was it impressive! But this is similar to what the house will look like when we are done with it this year.

If you’re interested in making your own gingerbread, here is a great recipe that goes with the gingerbread molds that I use!

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all-purpose flour 1 12 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 12 teaspoon baking soda 12 teaspoon salt 14 teaspoon ground cloves 12 cup vegetable shortening 12 cup sugar 12 cup molasses 1 egg

Lightly spray the mold with nonstick cooking spray; blot out any excess oil using a paper towel. Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, and cloves; mix well. In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening and sugar until blended. Add molasses and egg; beat until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture; mix well. Shape dough into a ball; divide the dough into 2 portions. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap; chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Press 1 portion of dough firmly into prepared mold, filling all sections. Holding a serrated knife parallel to the surface of the mold cut excess dough from mold. Bake 17-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to cooling rack. Cool in the mold for 5 minutes. Carefully remove cookie pieces from mold; cool completely. Cool mold completely before filling with the remaining dough. Repeat procedure with remaining dough.

Check out two of my Holiday Romances!

Tangled in Tinsel

Mistletoe & Cocoa Kisses

Apple Strudel and other news… 😊 @melinda_de_ross #mgtab

Happy Apple Strudel Day!

How do you feel about pastries? I adore them, which makes it really hard for me, because I have decided to cut back on sugar and carbs. The pandemic brought me a few extra pounds and a lot more aches and pains than a year ago. While I’ve been putting everything on account of being sedentary, I’m starting to think that eating sugar several times a day might contribute to all that. 🤔

However, I have a lot to show for all those hundreds of hours spent with my butt in the chair, glued to my laptop. It’s been a while since my last news bulletin, so make yourself comfy! 😊

First of all, I am super happy to let you know I sold the gaming rights for three of my books: my suspense romance, The Diary, and two detective mystery romances, Killer Score and Silent Strike, written in my other pen name, Melinda Colt. I don’t know when the games will be developed or in what format, but if you’re subscribed to my NL or follow me on social media, you will be the first to know!

The other news is that you can grab not one, but TWO of my stories for free!

BANG! is a short story that is available exclusively through my newsletter.

The other one, HOOKED, is a re-release of a novella that I wrote last year and which is now free at all major retailers. Whether you’re going on a holiday this summer, you have two beach reads that will give you a free taste of my Lovestruck series – if you haven’t read it already.

Hopefully I left you with a craving for books (and probably pastry). Until next time, I wish you a wonderful summer, stay healthy and happy!

 

Hugs,

Melinda

 

 

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Cracked Open

Oceanside, CA. I miss you! Photo © Ev Bishop

I’ve just returned from a very restful, inspiring, sun-drenched, sand-filled, saltwater-soaked vacation in Newport Beach, California.

I loved playing in the white sand that was hot under my feet. I adored wearing flip-flops as I tripped along the boardwalk, knowing friends and co-workers back home were in their winter gear, suffering fresh snow and below freezing temperatures. (Sorry guys!) And it was very special to spend do-nothing-but-have-fun family time with my husband, nieces, sister, stepmom, and daughter. The biggest impact of the trip, however, came from the ocean.

I was amazed by her. Awed.

Obviously, living where I do, I’m already familiar with the Pacific—but let me tell you: her waters are very different up in northern British Columbia than they are in southern California.

I spent a lot of time playing in the surf, being knocked down and getting up again, being dragged back into deeper water as the ocean readied to send another wave, and, most fun of all, swimming out over my head, beyond the crash line, where even the hugest waves were just starting as rolling swells. Above me, the sky was so blue and just . . . huge. And all around me, as far as my eye could see, was water. Since it’s California’s “winter” too, there weren’t a lot of locals in the water. Sometimes, for hours, I was the only one.

And maybe it was the salt pulling things out of me, the same way soaking in Epsom salts releases toxins. Or maybe it was because it was the first time in far, far too long where I didn’t have anywhere to go specifically or anyone I had to see, and my mind was deliciously free and uncluttered. Or perhaps it was the sounds of the ocean working to bring the tide in or out, the sea birds calling and swooping about, blotting out any noise in my head . . . But whatever the reason or combination of reasons, something deep inside me cracked open, and I had one of those strange epiphanies, where you can see so clearly where you’ve come from, where you are, and where you want to go next.

Sometimes it’s easy to lie to ourselves, to make excuses for why we’re standing still instead of moving forward, to justify our reasons for sticking with things that are no longer a good fit.

I found that out there, salt-crusted, saturated and awed by the unmitigated power, depth and magnitude of the ocean, it was impossible to be false with myself. I might as well have tried to keep the surf from crashing, or the sand from pulling away beneath my feet in the after effects of the waves. But it wasn’t a negative or self-condemning sort of feeling. I didn’t beat myself up for work not done or goals not accomplished. And it wasn’t merely a giddy, momentary flash of newfound enthusiasm (though I did feel those lovely bursts too). The feeling was a deep sense of readiness, of quiet resolution and surety. A sense that change is coming, and instead of fighting it or being afraid of it, I was going to welcome it and move with it.

I kept waking up my first couple of nights home because I missed the sound of the surf—and I’d only been away eight days. I’ve carried the decision I arrived at in the waves with me, however, and while my suntan’s receding, my resolve hasn’t waned.

I’ll be making some exciting announcements the next two months or so. In the meantime, if you can somehow sneak away to a beach—ocean, river or lakeside—to do some thinking and dreaming, I highly recommend it.

So good for what, if anything, ails you. Photo © Ev Bishop

Author’s Note: I have NOT just returned from a sunny beach vacation, but a photo from the 2015 trip I shared about above just popped up as a FaceBook Memory, plus showed on my website as a “past post you might enjoy.” I can take a hint! I do need to have some ocean time again soon, but for now, this was a good reminder and refresher. . . ahhhh!

And the bit about “having exciting announcements to make in the next few months” is absolutely current too! Stay tuned for a big reveal on April 1st—no fooling!)

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