Monday Mentions Welcomes Nicole McCaffrey
Chatting today with author Nicole McCaffrey about special holiday memories and Chocolate Chip Christmas Wishes, her upcoming release in The Wild Rose Press' Christmas Cookies Series.
Welcome to the blog today, Nicole! Let's get right to the questions because I know lots of people are looking forward to getting to know you.
Is there a favorite holiday tradition or event that you
enjoy?
My favorite holiday has always been Thanksgiving. I think because it ushers in the Christmas season. For years my favorite night of the year was Thanksgiving Eve. That was the night my dad and I would make our family stuffing recipe. Lots of tears as we chopped onions, but as we browned the sausage and put the celery through the food chopper, pulled out the seasonings and tore up loaves of bread, we would listen to music, talk, laugh and in later years have a drink or two. I loved being in the kitchen with him, we cooked together a lot. Since we both had late November birthdays, Thanksgiving usually fell on or near our birthdays so there was a feeling of celebration in the air.
I lost him in 2013 but I have shared the family stuffing tradition with my sons and every year when we pull out the ingredients and begin to cook, I feel him there, sometimes so keenly I can almost reach out and touch him. So I guess in a way it’s still a special time between my dad and me. I don’t think he’s missed one yet.
Do you have a favorite holiday cookie?
I think it would have to be sugar cookies. There is just something about them, probably because we only make them around holidays, but they are my favorite—the more frosting and sprinkles the better! Many years ago my sister discovered a recipe for sugar cookies using cream cheese to keep them soft and the subtle flavor it adds is soooo good. I have used that recipe ever since. It’s not Christmas until I have dunked one in my coffee! LOL.
Any favorite holiday memories you care to share?
I have fond memories of a Christmas Eve blizzard—I think it was in 1977. Not much snow on the ground when we went to bed, but later that night, I heard noises and peeked outside (I had only just turned 11, so trust me I was not sleeping, I was listening for Santa!) It was my neighbors returning from midnight mass and it was snowing like crazy. I remember running into my closet, where there was a small porthole type window (and where I was less likely to attract notice if someone and his team of reindeer flew past—or if mom or dad got up to use the bathroom) and just stood there for a few minutes, watching the heavy wet snowfall under the glow of the streetlamps. There is just something magical about snow on Christmas Eve. The fact that I can still remember it so clearly all these years later tells you how special those few moments felt. The next morning there was probably three feet of snow on the ground. And lots of presents under the tree, of course, so blizzard or not, Santa got through. (I like to think Rudolph’s nose got put to good use that year!) I’ve yet to see another white Christmas to top that one!
Sounds magical!
Jake Mistletoe is the North Pole's resident bad boy. Half elf, half human, he is the only child of a single mother who just happens to be Santa's head elf. Fed up with his wild, partying ways and lack of direction, his mother sends him to the real world for a dose of reality.
Lucy Prescott is all alone in this world. Since the death of the grandparents who raised her, she has struggled to keep their Christmas novelty shop running in a dated, dying Christmas-themed tourist town.When Jake appears in town, magic seems to be in the air. For the first time in ages, life holds excitement, and Lucy finds herself wondering … what if?
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