Friday, December 14, 2012

Holiday Gifts of Love Blog Hop 2012



Welcome to my stop on the Holiday Gifts of Love Blog Hop.  I'm going to talk a little about my families Christmas and New Years traditions and share my favorite cookie recipe too.

We have THREE grand prizes. You can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!

Now what are those prizes?


1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet - Open to US and International Entries 

2nd Grand Prize: A $200 Amazon or B&N Gift Card - Open to US and International Entries 

3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more! - Open to U.S. Residents Only!





Please make sure you leave your email address with your entry.  No email address.....No Entry!







My Family Traditions

We try to get together every holiday but with 2 of my 3 sisters out of town, it can be difficult.  It's become somewhat of a tradition to celebrate Christmas with my youngest sister in town with my parents at her house, we either get together for Christmas Eve dinner or Christmas Day brunch.  We usually have a nice ham, two different kind of potato dishes (mashed/hash browns and sweet potato), lots of crescent rolls (usually at least 40), sometimes we'll have scrambled eggs, a non-alcoholic Trader's punch to drink and then all kind of cookies and other yummy desserts to eat.

Favorite Cookie Recipe

I have and always will love these cookies that my mom and I found in an old cookie cookbook.  I'm posting the newest version of it (which is true to the original) from a fellow blog site I occasionally visit - PieKnits 



Scandinavian Almond Bars



  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature is easiest
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • Milk
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds, coarsely chopped
  • Almond Icing (below)
Preheat oven to 325°F. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large mixer bowl beat butter or margarine till softened. Add sugar and beat till fluffy. Add egg and almond extract and beat well. Add flour mixture and beat till well mixed.

Divide dough into fourths. Form each into a 12-inch roll. Place two rolls 4 to 5 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten till 3 inches wide. Repeat with remaining rolls.

Brush flattened rolls with milk and sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 325°F for 12-14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. While cookies are still warm, cut them crosswise at a diagonal into 1-inch strips with a sharp knife. Cool on wire rack. Drizzle with Almond Icing. Enjoy!

Makes 48.

Almond Icing

Stir together 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, and enough milk (3 to 4 teaspoons) to make icing of drizzling consistency.




Non-Alcoholic Trader's Punch

2 Cups Orange Juice
2 Cups Lemon Juice
1 Cup Grenadine Syrup 
3/4 Light Corn Syrup 
3- One Litre bottles Ginger Ale (Chilled and Not Spicy - Recommend Canada Dry)
Ice Ring 
Punch Bowl

Chill the juices and grenadine syrup overnight.  Prepare an ice ring (you can add strawberries and fresh orange slices to make it pretty) and leave in freezer overnight.  

To Prepare:

Mix chilled juices in a large container, add both the grenadine syrup and the light corn syrup to the juices, mix and re-chill in refrigerator for at least an hour to let the flavors combine.  

To Serve: 

Pour juice mixture into punch bowl, add the ice ring and then slowly add the 3 one litre bottles of ginger ale  




DON'T FORGET.......TO ENTER THE GRAND PRIZE DRAWING YOU MUST LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.  NO EMAIL - NO ENTRY.  To Enter MY Giveaway Use the Rafflecopter Form Below.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

42 comments:

  1. Those cookies look great. I do so love my almonds.

    nrlymrtl at gmail dot com

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  2. Thanks for the great giveaways and the cookies look Yummy.
    crystaley73 at yahoo dot com

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  3. Thanks for the recipes, you are making me hungry! LOL and thanks for participating in the hop and the chance to win.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those Almond Bars looks yummilicious ;)

    Alyssa
    hesperialovesbooks(AT)gmail(DOT)com

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Almond Bars look delicious! Will be trying those out this year :)
    Thanks for the giveaway.
    kitcat76(at)hotmail.com

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  6. Love Almonds .Thanks
    r.d1@myfairpoint.net

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  7. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas. Thanks for being part of the hop and for the chance to win. <^_^>
    reneebennett35 (at) yahoo (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  8. omg, those cookies look delicious and I've never heard of that punch. Yes, I spent several minutes trying to figure out how to get an ice ring LOL> Definitely going to try that soon!!

    Thanks so much!
    Liz

    liz at fictional candy dot com

    ReplyDelete
  9. the almond bars look delicious. Thanks for the chance.

    mythic021@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. This recipe looks great! I love trying new recipes. I have some baking to do this weekend.
    Mel
    bournmelissa at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  11. One of my favorite Christmas Romance Books is The Untamable Rogue by Annette Blair! The story is about Ashford Blackburne Fifth Earl and he has to get married and get his willing bride pregnant before Christmas or his grandfather won’t let him inherit his money. Ash truly needs to inherit the money because his late father squandered it all away and he is taking care of his mother. After getting stood up at the alter, again, Ash and his friends go to the local pub where the owner plays a drunken Ash in a card game…his consolation prize is the pubs daughter Larkin, who he wants to get ride of. Ash has to learn to forgive…Larkin has to learn how to trust…can two completely different people find love together. This is a cute, extremely funny, romantic story with a surprise Christmas ending!

    Angelheart618@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for sharing the recipes.

    elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks for the awesome giveaway!
    cassandrahicks1989@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for the giveaway! Those recipes look delicious :)
    laceyblossom1(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yummy recipes! Thanks for sharing and for the giveaway!

    lizsemkiu@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. OH the almond cookies look so delicious, Thanks for sharing the recipe!

    Rafflecopter Name: Dawna Newman

    vampiremistress2010(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  17. I think I may have to take a break from the hop just to go find a cookie to eat now. lol Thanks for sharing them they look amazing!

    always.and.never AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Think I'm gonna try these recipes!!! :)

    Thanks for the wonderful giveaway :)

    Rachel Ramos
    rachelanniramos@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. That cookie recipe looks so yummy! I wish I was better at baking! Thanks for participating in the hop!

    squiggles87(At)Aol(Dot)Com

    ReplyDelete
  20. The almond bars look so good!
    bituin76 at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Merry Christmas to you! Thank you for the giveaway!

    verusbognar (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh man you made my mouth water with that picture. I so want one
    Hope you and yours have a great holidays

    Raonaid at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  23. I am going have to try making those cookie bars they look so YUMMY

    Happy Holidays
    BeckeyWhiteATgmailDOTcom

    ReplyDelete
  24. thanks for sharing the cookie recipe my favorite christmas read was carrieann ryans santas excutive angelwolfmystic@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. i like making rum balls with the rum
    kaholgate at ymail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  26. Happy Holidays! Great giveaway!

    aprilnu2003(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  27. Those cookie bars look wonderful! I really enjoy the holiday season. I enjoy the smells, the food and lights. Oh and the music too. Not much into baking anymore. But I do enjoy tasting, ask my scales. Tee Hee. Great blog. Thanks for being part of the Holiday Blog Hop.
    roya-clan@sbcglobal.net

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  28. Oh I got the recipe. Let's see if my daughter and I can try this next week. Thanks!

    Happy Holidays!
    morebooksthanlivros@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  29. Your recipes look delicious!! hthurmeier @ gmail . com

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thanks for the recipe and the chance to win!
    natasha_donohoo_8 at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  31. I love baking for the holidays.

    Morganlafey86(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  32. Great recipes! Thanks for the great giveaway. I love hoping along and learning about new books, authors and all kinds of things.

    thompsonem3(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thanks for the great giveaway

    wolphcall(at)bellsouth(dot)net

    ReplyDelete
  34. Thanks for the chance to win :)
    raynman1979 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  35. Thank you for the giveaway.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  36. Thank you for the chance!

    spamscape [at] gmail [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  37. Thanks for the recipes!
    smoofrog at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  38. I'm spending this holiday season with my family and hoping to win so I can read more romances. I don't have an ereader. Happy Holidays! lisarayns at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  39. My favorite thing about this season is cookies; I love making and eating them. Everyone is so willing to share.
    planterofhope at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete
  40. thanks for the cookie recipe Maria, I'm going to have to try them since I am Scandinavian.
    I am just puttering around the house until S-Day.
    Z
    Seawitch Reviews at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  41. Happy Holidays, Big Hugs
    Missie Jones
    missie25524 @netzero .com

    ReplyDelete
  42. Thank you for the recipes! My favorite thing is being with family & baking cookies.

    JessieL62@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete