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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

The Best Combo Is a Great Book, a Delicious Cookie, & Sweet Tea

by Chautona Havig · 2 Comments

Heart Pressed releases with a whole string of amazing cookie recipes. Follow along to glean great recipes AND prizes! via @chautonahavig

Picture it. My husband at a drive-thru with 9 kids in the van and an order as long as your arm. He begins.

“I’d like a Chicken, Bacon, and Swiss, two–”

“Would you like that as a combo?”

Concentration lost, he blinks at the screen before catching on.  “No, no.  Two, ham and cheese…”

As he consults his interrupted memory, the perky girl on the other end says, “Would you like those as combos…”

By this point, he hasn’t only forgotten how many roast beef sandwiches he was supposed to get. He’s also forgotten why he was buying so many and who all these people are in his vehicle.  He stares at me.  “Do I know you?”

Okay, so maybe it’s a bit of an exaggeration, but only a bit.  Seriously.  Even driving up and saying, “We have a large order and none of them are combos. Please don’t interrupt or we’ll forget a child and have social services to our house for cruelty to our underfed children.”

They never did find that funny…  (maybe because we never added that last bit about social services).

But seriously. We could feed our whole family for about twenty bucks back in the day. Or, with combos, thirty-five.  We never did the combos.  Shocker, I know.

Maybe if the combos included something soporific to allow everyone to sleep well for a few hours… But no, the combos never appealed.  But some… some do.

The Best Combo Is a Great Book, a Delicious Cookie, & Sweet Tea

Okay, I only put in “sweet tea” because the book I’m thinking of is Heart Pressed by Melissa Wardwell.  This second Elnora book features lots of great combos–including Dante and Amara!

But to celebrate the release of Melissa’s book, the authors have come together to create a fabulous “cookie hop!”  From blog to blog, you can find each author’s recipe.  I hope you’ll try them all.

As for me, my recipe is for “Island Cookies.”  You know, the recipe I put in Christmas on Breakers Point?  That one. Yesterday, we had a great day with half the island authors converging on a store in Greeneville, Tennessee and… we gave away little baggies of these Island Cookies made by Christa DelSorbo, the fabulous narrator of my island books!

Island Cookies

island cookies

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups white flour

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup shredded coconut

– – – –

1 cup sugar

3 oz room temp cream cheese—cubed

½ tsp vanilla

Zest of 1 lime (key limes may be preferred)

– – – –

½ cup (1 stick) melted butter (warm)

1 egg

1 TBS milk (whole is the most delicious… and half & half is even better)

1 TBS lime juice (again, some may prefer key limes)

 

½ cup powdered sugar  (reserved for rolling cookies in)

Directions: (oven preheats to 350)

Stir together the first five ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside

Stir together sugar, cream cheese, and lime zest in a large mixing bowl. Cream butter in. Add vanilla. Repeat with egg, milk, and lime juice, one at a time. Make sure your ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Add dry ingredients slowly. Mix well.

Roll dough into approximately 1” balls.  Roll each ball into powdered sugar and place on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.

Bake for approximately 11-12 minutes until lightly golden.

Before you eat, close your eyes and imagine yourself beneath swaying palm trees with warm sand between your toes.

Don’t forget to visit all the authors and their blogs!

Melissa Wardwell
Kari Trumbo
Rachel Skatvold
Tabitha Bouldin
Carolyn Miller
Chautona Havig
Sandy Barela & Celebrate Lit

For more information about Heart Pressed:

Heart PRessedSynopsis:

Crushes are great for grapes, wine, and romance—not so great for hearts.

The Sweetheart Festival, an Elnora Island institution, has sparked more than a few romances over the years, but who would have thought it would light a fire in two hearts from two of the island’s oldest families. When Amara Martin and Dante Greco meet, sparks fly that may ignite more than romance.

Two wineries, old feuds, generations of traditions.

Seeing the attraction at Amara and Dante’s chance meeting, Beth Stevens and Scott Anderson join forces to do a little matchmaking, not realizing the pressure it would bring to both households and their own hearts. The new couple must decide if they will adhere to tradition or break free from expectations and choose love. Pressure on every side threatens a love that hasn’t yet had a chance to ripen—for both Amara and Dante as well as for Beth and Scott.

And, there’s a giveaway to celebrate the release of Heart Pressed.

 

 

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Comments

  1. SARAH TAYLOR says

    February 28, 2021 at 10:18 am

    Yummy this cookie sounds amazing!

    Reply
  2. Lorie Lingel says

    February 26, 2021 at 6:28 am

    Yes, a good cup of coffee also!

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 155: Chatting with Heather Day Gilbert & Jen Cudmore
byChautona Havig

To Love a Viking by Heather Day Gilbert and Jen Cudmore has been released, and I got to chat with them about it last week. Guys, this series!  If the Christian influence on Viking history isn’t enough, what about adventure, fight scenes, and romance that won’t make you blush? How about that a damsel is in distress and… gets rescued by another woman instead of the stereotypical DUDE! Listen in!

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Are You Ready for an Exciting New Viking Series from 2 Great Authors?

 

One of the biggest surprises I recall from researching books by different authors was that the cozy mystery and suspense author I liked and respected, Heather Day Gilbert, had also written historical Viking books! I made the erroneous assumption that they were romance and skipped them (for the time being… I knew I’d read them some day), and then something happened.

A few months ago, I saw this cover.  With Heather’s name on it.  And some other gal I hadn’t heard of–Jen Cudmore.  What is this deliciousness?  The cover was AMAZING… not stereotypical nor was it inauthentic.  It was just GOOD (not to mention gorgeous) and with the Celtic frame (the Vikings did go over to Scotland/Ireland after all), I just felt like it hit all the sweet spots.

Well… the book is here, folks.  And I’ve got a copy in my hot little hands.  No, really. It’s July. And I live in the desert.  My hands are totally hot and in totally all the wrong ways. Just throwin’ that out there.

Anyway, Heather and Jen chatted with me about To Love a Viking, and oh my!  This book sounds fabulous. We know Viking women were strong. Even those that weren’t warriors had to survive Nordic winters. Ergo, strong.  But what about strong enough to build a new society with people they’d once fought against. Oh, and rescue a damsel in distress #BecauseYeah!

I’m ready to dive in to To Love a Viking myself, and I hope you’ll grab a copy, too. It promises to be incredible.

To Love a Viking by Heather Day Gilbert and Jen Cudmore

Get swept up in an enthralling new romance series featuring women who rule the hearts of Viking men.

ELLISIF Forced into a financially advantageous marriage that spirals into a nightmare, Ellisif cannot help but imagine what might have been and ache for what was lost. The only lights in her life are her daughters and the friendships she’s forged with the household servants.

Though seven years have passed since Ellisif wed another man, Dagar still cannot forget the woman who captured his youthful heart. As the Viking warrior battles for his country’s future, he finds himself entangled in a personal war for Ellisif’s freedom that could cost his family their reputation and standing with the king. If he risks all, can he save the woman whose face still haunts his dreams? And if given another chance, will she choose him?

INARA Escaped slave Inara is determined to start a new life. Under the guidance of warrior and shipbuilder Håkon, her sword skill grows, as does her confidence that the Viking men will accept her as a warrior in her own right.

When she is selected to lead a perilous rescue mission to protect Ellisif, Inara finds herself blindsided by feelings for Håkon…and by threats to her freedom far closer than she feared. As dreams and desires collide, she wrestles against the lies holding her captive. Can she conquer her doubts before all that she’s hoped for slips from her hands?

Written by award-winning historical author Heather Day Gilbert and fresh voice Jen Cudmore, two love stories entwine in this sweeping Viking-era romance, the first novel in the Tavland Vikings series.

You can find out more about the series and the authors on Heather’s WEBSITE.

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Episode 155: Chatting with Heather Day Gilbert & Jen Cudmore
Episode 155: Chatting with Heather Day Gilbert & Jen Cudmore
July 1, 2022
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