Quinn's Cookie Exchange

To celebrate the soon to be released Chaste by my friend, author and poet Angela Felsted, I’m participating in Quinn’s Cookie Exchange, named after the main character in the book, a teenage boy who knows how to cook.

Even though Hanukkah is over for this year, I think you’ll find this recipe delicious any time. All the grease spots on my original recipe card attest to that.

Hanukkah Cookie Pinwheels

(Draidle or spinning top cookies)

Bake at 350 deg for 15 minutes

Makes about 5 dozen

Pastry:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 8-oz pack cream cheese

¼ cup dairy sour cream

2-1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

½ teas salt

Filling:

2 cups finely ground walnuts

½ cup sugar

1 teas ground cinnamon

1 egg

1 teas grated orange rind

1. Prepare pastry: Beat butter and cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer until creamy. Beat in sour cream. Stir in flour and salt until a firm dough forms, adding more flour if necessary. Form into a ball, wrap. Chill overnight.
2. Prepare filling: Combine nuts, sugar, cinnamon, egg and orange rind in a small bowl.
3. Divide pastry in half. Roll out half on floured surface to make an 8-inch square about ¼ inch thick. Spread half of the filling evenly on pastry. Roll up, jelly-roll style. Wrap in foil, chill for a least 1 hour. Repeat with other half of pastry and filling.
4. Light grease two cookie sheets. Cut the rolls into ¼-inch thick slices. Place ½ inch apart on cookie sheets. Reshape into rounds, if necessary.
5. Bake in a moderate oven for 15 minutes or until firm and golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Brief Synopsis of Chaste

When he steps into his physics class on the first day of senior year, Quinn Walker is too exhausted from staying up all night with his three-month-old nephew to deal with moral dilemmas. As a devout Mormon who has vowed to wait until marriage for sex, the last thing he needs is a very hot and very sexy Katarina Jackson as his physics partner. Regrettably, he has no choice.

Kat feels invisible in her mansion of a home six months after losing her older brother in a fatal car crash and will do anything to get her parents’ attention. Since her pastor father has no love for Quinn’s “fake” religion and her ex-boyfriend refuses to leave her alone, she makes an impulsive bet with her friends to seduce her holier-than-thou lab partner by Christmas.

Take a look at the great trailer and go Amazon or Barnes&Noble to buy this book.

And don't forget to try the cookie recipe. 

The Look Challenge

Linda Hoye, author of Two Hearts, invited me to take part in The Look Challenge for writers. According to Linda, “The premise is simple: find a passage in your manuscript or book that contains the word “look,” post it on your blog, and tag five other blogging writers to do the same. Seems to me like a great way to introduce readers to other writers, so I’m all in.”

And I’m all in too. Here is a one of the poems included in my memoir Leaving the Hall Light On – it even has the right title for this challenge.

The Look

(inspired by the movie “Revolutionary Road”)

She looked toward him

from the counter

and offered him a glass of orange juice

freshly squeezed.

She was fully dressed in blouse and skirt

and little wedgie shoes,

Her makeup was perfect.

Her long blonde hair just so.

She then invited him to sit down

at the table.

“Scrambled or fried eggs?” she asked.

He said whatever is easier, scrambled

probably, and unbuttoning

his suit jacket sat down,

looking at her all the while.

She stood at the sink scrambling and

when the eggs were cooked,

she sat down

opposite him and they ate.

Not much talking, mostly eating, and looking

closely at each other’s eyes.

He got up to go.

“That’s the best breakfast you ever made

for me,” he said.

And before he left, he asked her

if she was still mad

at him from the night before.

They had yelled at each other and showed so much hate

that she ran off into the woods

beyond their yard.

“Leave me alone,” she screamed,

“I need to think,” and he went to bed

alone.

But this morning there was complete calm.

Her eyes clear, her face luminous,

showing none of last night’s horrific pain.

She had the look that said

she had found her

peace. And, it didn’t include him.

I saw that look once before

on my son’s face, the night before

he took his own life.

So I knew what was coming.

It was eerie to be so certain

that this was where this story

was going.

As she said, “No, I don’t hate you,”

she took his face in her hands

and smiled slightly.

She then walked him

to the door and stood there until

he drove away.

She turned and went inside.

That was the last time

he would see her alive.

Now, I extend the challenge to these five wonderful writers. Please take a look at their websites and become familiar with their work. You are in for a treat.

Angela Felsted, editor of Poetry Pact, 2011

Eleanor Vincent, author of Swimming with Maya

Sonia Marsh, author of Freeways to Flip-Flops

Doreen Cox, author of Adventures in Mother-Sitting

Laurel Garver, author of Never Gone

My blog tour starts today

Angela Felsted officially kicked off my blog tour today by posting her wonderful review of Leaving the Hall Light On. Please find it at her blog site, My Poetry and Prose Place, or on the Leaving the Hall Light On Amazon page. Thank you, Angela, for your kind words about my book. Thirty-seven of thirty-eight readers found your review helpful.

My tour will continue through the months of October, November, and December - But so not to give you the idea that I'll be working at it constantly during that time, not every day is taken. Also, the posts will vary between book reviews, questions and answers, a blog post my me, and a giveaway. So I hope you'll stop by often.

The rest of the October agenda is:
October 9 - Linda Hoye at A Slice of Life Writing
October 10 - Jessica Bell at The Alliterative Allomorph
October 17 - Amanda Lebron at All Between the Lines
October 22 - Kathy Pooler at Memoir Writer's Journey. 

I'll let you know what's in store for November at the end of the month. And, contact me if you're interested in being a host. I'd love to have you participate.