Holiday Gifts of Love Blog Hop

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Christmas is a time of giving and to me that's the most fun. On Christmas morning, I watch the rest of the family as they open their gifts to see their reaction to what I gave them. Do they like it as much as I thought they would? Are they pleased? Then, someone will say “Mom/Nana, aren’t you going to open your gifts?” and I quit watching and start opening.

A traditional cookie we always have at Christmas is O Henry Bars. This came from Hubs’ aunt and my kids love them. (Me, too.) Chocolate and peanut butter. How can you go wrong with that?

So here’s my gift to you. I hope you enjoy.

O Henry Bars

2/3 cup margarine

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup light corn syrup

3 tsp vanilla

4 cups uncooked oatmeal

1 cup chocolate chips

2/3 cup peanut butter

Cream together margarine and sugar. Add corn syrup and vanilla. Beat well. Add oats. Mix. Spray (with non-stick spray) 13x9x2 pan. Spread oats mixture in pan. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes (don’t bake any longer even if it doesn’t look done). Cool.

Melt chocolate and peanut butter together. Pour over cooled cooked oat mixture and spread evenly. Cool several hours before cutting into bars. Quantity depends on how big you cut the bars.

While you're cyber-munching on an O Henry Bar, here's a little taste of my newest sci-fi romance The Pilot, which kicks off  the Outer Rim series about strong women on the frontier of space.

Blurb: 

There's no place like home and he just stole hers.Cargo hauler, risk taker Celera d'Enfaden must work with rule-bound Administrator Trevarr Jovano to save her brother from a galactic gangster.

 Excerpt: 

     Celara pushed her chair away from the table and climbed up on it. “Quiet down, you Rimmer scum.”

The patrons laughed then quieted. Someone paused the Seinfeld vid.

     She lifted her drink again. “A toast, Rimmers. Let’s hear it for the wonderful, fantabulous, yada, yada, yada, Administrator Jovano. May he live long enough to enjoy good health.”

     To her surprise, silence met her toast. No one raised their glasses or mugs, even in jest. Everyone was looking at her, standing on the chair.

     No, they were looking past her. Only thing behind her was the door. Kleema groaned and buried her head on her arms on the table. Booted footsteps rapped on the rough-hewn plank floor then stopped behind her.

     “Thank you for the compliments and the good wishes for my longevity.” The baritone-and-chokiris voice sounded just over her shoulder.

     If ever she needed a personal cloaking device, it was now. Or a magic ring with which to disappear. Sec Admin Trevarr Jovano stood behind her. Waiting. She swore she could feel him breathing.

     Undaunted, she turned around. As the room tipped, she reached for the back of the chair. “Whoa, those mudslides sneak up on you.”

     Missing the chair, she grabbed the closest thing—Trevarr Jovano’s black-clad shoulders. Beneath her fingers, the strong muscles contracted. “Hey there, Admin Man. Heard my toast, did you?” She grinned down at him.

     He wasn’t smiling. “You should sit down before you fall down. Or better yet, go home and sleep it off.”

     A dark fury swept away the sweet tranquility of two, tall Kruferian mudslides. “I can’t go home, you snake. You stole my home.”

     She swung a round-house punch at him, missed her objective and would have fallen ignominiously off the chair had he not caught her. For several long secs, he held her tightly against his chest, her feet dangling off the floor a good twenty-five centimeters. His green eyes caught hers and darkened.

     The heat in the room rose ten degrees. Her heart tripped, the air leached out of her lungs. His eyes. She could drown in those green depths. 

I think Celara had a little too much Christmas cheer. :)

What is your favorite food around the holidays?

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