Winter’s Favorite Giveaway Day~~25

My Favorite Thing about Winter

If I were Lorelei Gilmore from the Gilmore Girls, I could smell my favorite thing about winter before it even arrived. Any Gilmore fan would know from that clue that it’s snow. Living in the Southwest, I don’t get to see a lot of snow, which could explain my love. But to me there is nothing more elegant or surreal as a snow falling softly on a blue-gray day.

As much as I love snow, I am certain that hot chocolate started it all. It was a process, really. A series of events that makes me associate snow with all things warm and wonderful. When I was five, I remember sitting in my father’s lap by the fireplace while the snow was falling outside, our living room adrift with the scent of burning wood. My brothers and I had cut wire hangers and were stuffing marshmallows onto them to roast in the fire while an animated Christmas tale was playing on the television. My father had to help me with my marshmallows. They would catch fire and I would squeal and run away until he blew it out. But he always saved the gooey remains for me. I remember his hands, strong and loving and safe. The highlight of the evening, the piece de resistance, came later when my mother brought over hot chocolate, thick and smooth and warm.

That evening, as I sat wrapped in my father’s arms, I ate roasted marshmallows and drank hot chocolate while watching the snow fall outside. And the world was a perfect place. Later, after everyone went to bed, I snuck to my bedroom window to watch the snow fall some more, but it had stopped. In its place was a crisp, blue night and a fresh blanket of white. But the most amazing thing about the snow was how it sparkled in the moonlight. Thousands of tiny lights shimmered on the ground and in the trees. I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life.

My father died shortly after, but I have never forgotten his hands or the feeling of being wrapped in his arms. I have never forgotten the way the burning wood smelled that night, or the taste of those roasted marshmallows. And I have never forgotten the way the snow sparkled with promise and shimmered with hope.

So, yeah, snow. That’s my favorite thing about winter. 

My Favorite Cocoa

Hi, thanks for having me here at Books-n-Kisses!  *blows kisses* I’m Lee Brazil, author of m/m romance from Breathless Press and member of the Story Orgy. I’m here today to do some promotional stuff for Story Orgy’s anthology from Breathless Press, Word Play.

By that, *sips coffee* I mean I’m going to talk about my favorite cocoa recipe and leave you with a few blurbs for the stories in the anthology.

When I was a kid, we lived in a scattering of states where snow was common and cold lasted from October through April. We didn’t let snow and cold keep us from playing outside, and my parents sure didn’t let it keep us from doing chores outside.

There’s nothing quite like taking out the trash when you have to put on your boots and coat and gloves and wade through two feet of snow to pout the bags in the outdoor cans. Frozen metal cans, that is. The chill seeps through any number of layers of gloves.

 You don’t know what cold is until you’ve shoveled a quarter mile driveway.

My mom had a cure for that. She made the cold disappear with homemade hot chocolate. I’m not sure if there was instant cocoa available back then- but I know my mom didn’t use it. We’d come back in form shoveling and there’d be a pot on the stove bubbling away, chasing away cold with a warm rush of chocolate scent that seeped into your bones before you took the first sip.

Here’s that recipe.

1/3 cup of cocoa powder (unsweetened)

½ cup of sugar ( use more if you like it sweeter)

1 pinch of salt

1/3 cup of boiling water

4 cups of milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the dry ingredients in a sauce pan and mix well. Whisk in boiling water. Bring to a boil . Simmer and stir for two minutes.

Add milk. Heat, but do not allow to boil. 

Stir in vanilla.

Divide into four mugs. Top with whip cream or mini marshmallows.

And here’s how we serve it today at our house…

This is sometimes called a Snowplow. 

To 8 oz of cocoa, ad 1 oz of Bailey’s Irish crème, 1 oz of Malibu rum, ½ oz crème de cacao, and a dash of cinnamon. 

You can top that with whip cream too if you want…

Whichever you like, cocoa is a certain favorite in this winter holiday season! 

Happy Holidays to all of you!

Word Play

By

Story Orgy

From Breathless Press

I’m thinking that all of us will at one time or another need each others blurbs for Word Play – especially on my new handy dandy page I created on my blog!  *heads desk giggling*

So maybe we should post them all here?

Ryder made a mistake Harlan can’t forgive.  Will Ryder cross a line no man should cross to obtain a second chance?

Ryder Halloway made a life changing decision about his relationship with Harlan when he was young and stupid.  Thanks to one rash moment, he lost it all.  He lost the only man he would ever love, his drive to even try to finish college and his zest for life.

Seven years later finds him in front of Harlan’s house preparing to take back what he lost with a vengeance.    He’s prepared to use all the tricks in his arsenal to plow through every wall, protest and excuse Harlan might come up with.

Of course, he never expected Harlan to put him in the hospital …

Harlan Mychels had his heart broken in college by the popular Ryder.  He learned his lesson about love and since then hasn’t allowed anyone even remotely close to his heart.  Then one morning he turns and sees the one person able to tear his walls down and destroy what is left of it.

He uses every defensive tactic in his possession to keep Ryder at arm’s length, but Ryder is persistent.  Harlan’s not sure if he can stay safe from heartache … and he starts wondering what the real heartache is – letting Ryder in again … or letting him go for good.

When Harper finally sees the light and dumps his cheating boyfriend, can Pitt convince Harper to trust him enough to let it all go?

When Harper Evans discovers his boyfriend in yet another bar with yet another Joe, he makes the final break and kicks him out. More relieved than heart-broke, Harper turns his attention to the letter burning a hole in his pocket that could mean a fresh start across the country.

Pitt Mullen has been looking for just such an opportunity and pounces on it – and Harper – when it shows up. But not everything is as it appears. When Pitt gets a late night call and rushes to another, will Harper understand or cut his ties before he listens to the truth? 

A sexy, bad boy neighbor, a handsome detective investigating an unsolved murder, and ghostly warnings help Kirk uncover the deadly secret within his new house.

Kirk Stanford’s realtor never mentioned certain features of his new home during the walk through, such as mysterious rooms and brutal secrets. All Kirk knows is he has a lot of unpacking to do and a handsome, bad boy neighbor seems to have taken an interest in him.

But then the warnings begin to appear, written in steam on the bathroom mirror. At first, Kirk dismisses the messages, but when a prowler attempts to break into his house, and a handsome private detective shows up asking questions about the murder, Kirk realizes how much danger he is in. He’s invested too much money in his new house to just walk away, so his only choice now is to figure out for himself who the murderer is and what he still wants out of his house.

Dark secrets come to light and Kirk is forced to put his trust in a supernatural presence as he fights to survive.

First they were three, now there are two.

Can Jason and Morgan make a relationship work without Paul?

For years the three of them had been inseparable, first as friends, then lovers. It’s been ten years since they parted for what was supposed to be a year apart to pursue their dreams.   This isn’t the reunion they planned then.  It’s nine years too late for one thing, and they are one man short for another.

In the years since Paul’s death, Morgan hasn’t exactly been waiting for Jason to reach out to him.    He’s been too busy trying to forget, to move on.  Until Jason sends the right message. Is the painting just an excuse to see his ex again? 

 Best Friends and landscaping entrepreneurs, Mitch Sterling and Colby Merritt, enjoy their comradeship. Can scouting country roads for business opportunities unveil a lifetime of passion?

 Best friends, Mitch Sterling and Colby Merritt have spent their whole lives together in a small town in the Hill Country of Texas. At twenty-four, the two entrepreneurs run a small landscaping company. Mitch works out in the field, leading the landscaping crews and getting his hands dirty. Colby uses his college education to handle the business aspect of the company from their office.

Outside work, the two can always be found together. A Saturday morning drive leads them to a dirt road that neither has ever traveled. With the help of a few beers, the hot Texas sun, and a secluded country pond, Mitch and Colby find themselves exploring new territory Off the Beaten Path.