Happy Christmas!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend, full of friends, family, good food, and wonderful books to read! I will be back next week with a favorite End of the Year fashions blog, right after I recover from my family's "traditional" Christmas Eve of Indian tacos and my father's famous margaritas...

Winners!

Thanks so much to all the commenters on yesterday's Harlequin Historical Advent Calendar post! You're all in the pool to win the Kindle, and the winner of my own prize--a hot cocoa and book basket for the cold winter evenings!--is CassandraR!

And the winner of a free download of To Court Capture and Conquer is--Leona!

Tis the season for reading! Please send your mailing info to me at Amccabe7551 AT yahoo.com

Harlequin Historical Contest!

Happy Jane Austen Birthday, everyone! (Also, Beethoven's birthday. And my mom's, which reminds me I need to go buy her a present before this evening...) I'm so excited today is my day on the big Harlequin Historical Advent Calendar contest. First things first--go to my website and read the instructions for entering. Your comments here will put you in the running for the grand prize of a Kindle, as well as my own prize of a Cozy Winter Evening--cocoa, china mugs to drink it in, biscuits from my local British supply store, and a signed book! You can have your pick of any of the books on the sidebar of this blog, just let me know which you would like in the comments. (It can be either an Amanda or Laurel book. You can also "Like" my Facebook page, Amanda McCabe Books. And I have another contest going on this blog--just scroll down a couple of entries...)

Good luck, and thanks for visiting!

Duchess Tour Stop

And the Duchess of Sin Blogathon is at the Borders True Romance blog today! Come bye and say hello--then I won't feel too lonely :)

And since my mother's birthday is tomorrow, I must go shopping and find the right present. Any suggestions???

Risky Tuesday

At the Riskies today with my Jane Austen Week post (and a prize!) How is your holiday season going??

Blogs and Blogs

At the RT Blog today! (and because it's getting busy here, I'm expanding the Undone contest to next weekend, the 18th...)

Wedding Celebration

I'm talking about my royal wedding obsession at the Riskies today! And since I feel in the mood to celebrate, I'm also having an impromptu contest--one commenter will receive a free download of my latest "Undone" story, To Court Capture and Conquer! Just tell me your favorite royal moment, and I will announce a winner this weekend...

Monday Blogs

I'm at not one but two blogs today! SOS Aloha (with Nicola Cornick) and the History Hoydens. Come and say hi--it's a great break from holiday craziness...

Happy Hanukkah!

A few days ago I went to a friend's beautiful party to celebrate the start of Hanukkah! I'm afraid I shamefully gorged myself on the sufganiyot (the traditional jelly-filled donuts--the oil used to fry them reminds us of the miracle of the lamp oil in the Temple), and here is the recipe in case you want to throw a Hanukkah party yourself!

• 25 grams (1 ounce) yeast
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 3 cups flour
• 50 grams (1/4 cup) margarine, melted
• dash of salt
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/4 cups water (room temperature)
• jelly (strawberry is recommended)
• oil for frying (canola is recommended)
• powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. To make the dough: Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl. Mix well, cover, and wait until it rises. In another bowl, mix 3 cups of flour with the melted margarine, salt, sugar and egg yolks. Combine the yeast mixture with the flour mixture. Slowly add water while stirring. When batter is smooth, cover the bowl with a towel and let it sit and rise.
2. To make the doughnuts: After the batter has risen, pour it onto a floured surface and roll it out. Use a glass with a small opening to cut out circles of the dough. Place a drop of jelly in the middle of each circle, and then cover with another circle of dough. Make sure that 2 circles attach well to form a closed ball with jelly in the middle. Cover the doughnuts with a towel and let rise.
3. To fry the doughnuts: Heat oil in a deep pot until very hot. Drop the doughnuts into the oil and fry on both sides until brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

TIP: These sufganiot are only good fresh. After you make the dough, only fry a few at a time. Store the rest of the dough in the refrigerator.