It’s the Holiday Historical Romance Cookie Hop!
I have never been a great baker-of-cookies. Although I’m great at cakes and other things, the perfect cookies elude me! I produce excellent door stops filled with chocolate chips or smelling like gingerbread but most times I avoid baking them. Oh, there are one or two I can make that are edible, delicious even, but I can’t count on them actually coming out that way.
So, maybe that’s why Rosette cookies appealed to me? No dough to make or roll or drop. No worries over too-thin-or-too-thick. Waaaaay back in the married-with-young-children days, I felt pressured to find something when my younger sister became a pizzelle master, especially at the Holidays.
From researching their origins, these batter cookies are claimed by several countries including Sweden/Norway, Netherlands and Mexico – and more. Basically they are fried batter that are dusted with powdered sugar. There are special irons that hold the batter in shapes to be dipped in hot oil. If it sounds like funnel cakes, it’s because they are the same batter but one has a shape and the other is freeform.
Each Christmas season, my sister would bring out her pizzelle iron (like a waffle iron) and make piles of pizzelles (almost crunchy, flavored with anisette) and I would make piles of rosettes. And our families loved them both! It’s a good memory and I think of my sister every time I see a pizzelle…
The recipe? Easy peasy — but the irons aren’t easy to find —
Rosette Cookies
Ingredients: Makes about 30 cookies
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- vegetable oil for frying
- confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions:
Beat eggs, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Add flour, milk, and vanilla extract; beat until smooth.
Heat oil in a large, deep skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place a wire rack over paper towels.
Heat the rosette iron in hot oil for 2 minutes. Lift the iron and let excess oil drain. Dip the iron in batter to 1/4 inch from the top of the iron, then dip the iron immediately into hot oil. Do not cover the whole form in batter!
Fry rosette in hot oil until golden, about 30 seconds.
Lift the iron out; tip upside down to drain. Use a fork to push rosette off the iron onto the prepared wire rack.
Reheat the iron in hot oil for 1 minute; cook remaining batter. Sprinkle rosettes with confectioners’ sugar.
Have you ever had Rosette Cookies (or Funnel Cake)? Or Pizzelles? Do you make any special family dessert for the Holidays?
If you comment below or email a comment to me at: contest@terribrisbin.com – you’ll be in a drawing for an ebook of any of my books along with a Scottish 2025 calendar – 2 winners will be chosen from those who enter!
And don’t forget to hop to all the Historical Romance Authors in the Holiday Cookie hop to find their cookies – and their giveaways! Any questions? Visit the FB event page – for more info and the complete list, too.
E-mail your completed list to Heather@HeatherMcCollum.com with “Historical Romance Authors are Sweet” in the subject line. Good luck!
It’s The Halloween Historical Hop!
Beginning at 8am EST on 10/26 and running until 11pm EST on Halloween, it’s the annual historical romance authors’ Halloween Hop! You all know the drill – hop over to each author’s place (using the listed links), find their Halloween treat and make a list. Everyone who emails their list to our hallowed hostess Heather MacCollum is eligible for the Grand Prize – a $150 gift card! (And I have my own little giveaway too so look below for that!)
Here’s the list of links – you can go in any order – if you need more info, visit the FB group at https://www.facebook.com/share/T1Vy2LZDJi1PVrF8/
Pssst — I’ve put a hint in the top image of my treat – keep your eyes open and Happy Halloween Historical Authors’ Hop!
And – I’ve written 2 ghostly stories – both are novellas and both are listed on my website here — tell me the name of one of the main characters in either one to be eligible to win my giveaway – an ebook copy of any of my books! Just email me the name at contest@terribrisbin.com (you might want to look at this page to find them — Terri’s Books (including 2 ghostly stories!)
Okay – you have your assignment so go have fun and meet some historical romance authors – and don’t eat all the candy at one time!
Books! Books! Books! September 21!
Terri will be joining 125 authors of all sorts of fiction (and mostly romance) next Saturday, September 21 at the annual Books Books Books event in Lancaster PA. She’ll be signing her books and chatting with readers from Noon until 5pm at The Barn, part of the Lancaster Wyndham Hotel.
Just look for Terri at Table 42 – the lovely, kilted (cardboard) Jamie Fraser will be by her side and available for photos!
FMI – visit the Books Books Books website! See you next week!
Ready for Summer/Beach/Pool/Reading Fun?
Terri and some of her favorite historical romance authors have all the goodies you need for summer fun. Towels, fans, sunscreen, phone protector, sunglasses, ICED TEA Brewer/cup and bags to carry it all in are up for grabs as part of an Author’s Favorites Summer Giveaway.
Just visit the Author’s Favorites website and enter to win – the giveaway will be live until July 7th.
Historical Author Easter Egg Hunt-Hop! NOW!!
Well, it’s that time of year again — with Easter and Spring comes the Historical Romance Authors’ Easter Egg Hunt-Hop! And I’m taking part in it again with this wonderful egg —
From 8am EDT on Thursday, March 28 and running until Sunday, March 31 at 11:59pm EDT, our now-annual Easter Egg Hunt is live! And, in addition to our grand prize of a $150 gift card, many of the 30+ authors are doing their own giveaways — I am, too!
How To Play the Game –
1. Hop to each historical romance author’s link and find their decorated Easter egg. Here’s the Link List to each author’s place. (If there’s a delay or problem with any link, check here on the Facebook page!)
Author Link List ~ Historical Romance Author Easter Egg Hunt 2024
2. Using the Egg/Author form (link provided on first day of hop), match the egg to the author by
• drawing a line between them (you may want to print & tape pages together), or
• writing the author’s name next to their egg, or
• writing the number of the egg next to the author’s name.
3. When you have all 30 egg matches, either e-mail a picture of the form/list or send an e-mail with the author’s name with their matching egg number. E-mail to Heather@HeatherMcCollum.com by 11:59 PM on Easter – 3/31/24 to be entered into the $150 gift card g!ve@way! A w!nner will be randomly picked out of all the entries. The grand prize w!nner will be announced by noon on 4/1/24. The winner will have 24 hours to claim their prize.
4. While you are hopping to collect eggs, don’t forget to like, follow, or sign up for the author’s newsletter to keep up to date on their new releases and author wanderings.
Thanks for hopping! Wishing you a lovely and safe Easter 
**No purchase or sign up necessary to enter. Participation is completely voluntary. Your e-mail address will not be shared or added to any lists unless you specifically sign up for a newsletter list. Winner must be at least 18 years of age and have an e-mail address to accept gift card.**
For my Giveaway, whether you do the whole hop or part of it or even only my page, just post below and tell me which Easter treat you like to find in your Easter basket – or which treat you like (even if you don’t celebrate Easter). One commenter will win a copy of any of my ebooks along with a $10 gift card. (ETC:must be of legal age in place of residence, no purchase needed to enter, not associated with other authors or FB, etc) Winner will be chosen on Monday, April 1 – no fooling!
Have a great time and hop away!
Join Terri in Cupid’s Corner – Feb 10th~
It’s true – February and especially Valentine’s Day and its celebration belong to ROMANCE AUTHORS and READERS! So, to mark our special time of the year, Terri will be joining authors Tara Conrad, Stephanie Julian, Lydia Michaels, AK Landow, Lucia Catherine and Raven Storm at Cupid’s Corner — aka the Barnes & Noble in Wilkes Barre PA – on Saturday, February 10 from Noon till 5pm!
So, please stop in the Barnes & Noble on the Arena Hub in Wilkes-Barre – we’ll be signing our latest releases and chatting and having fun next weekend. It’s open to the public, no cost except for the books you buy and should be fun!
It’s the Holiday Historical Cookie/Sweets Hop 2023! Grab your biscotti!
Italian cookies that originated in medieval Tuscany – sigh! Cookies that are twice-baked (which is what biscotti means in Italian) and hold up to dunking in tea or milk or chocolate or wine or Prosecco. Another bonus in addition to the wide range possible flavors is that being twice-baked gives them a longer shelf life – so more time to enjoy them! Yes, it’s true – I love biscotti!
My favorite flavors tend to be plain – vanilla (or a touch of almond flavor) is my usual one but I do like chocolate chip, too. Oh, and gingerbread, too. Or one called a Snicker-cookie biscotti that turns out like a sugar cookie with a hint of cinnamon. Mmmmmm. They are easy to make and simply delicious. And although they don’t have a specific link to the Holiday season, I find I make them more near Christmas than other times of year.
I should admit that I turned to trying them because of my cookie-baking failures. It’s true – I can successfully make most other baked goods – gosh, my pound cake is always in demand at family gatherings and events. But cookies? They defeat me. Too flat. Too hard (often compared to small hockey pucks!). Not right. Not enough. So, when I made my first batch of biscotti and they turned out hard and crumbly, I realized they were perfect — LOL!
There are lots of biscotti recipes all over, online and in cookbooks and in family recipes so it’s not difficult to find one to try. I’ve found a great basic recipe along with more recipes that turn them into so many flavors on the Kristine’s Kitchen Blog. I’ve also had some success with recipes from an online site (BiscottiRecipes.org) but it seems to be gone now. Luckily I have print and digital copies of those recipes!
Have you tried making biscottis or other holiday cookies? Are you a Pizzelle maker? Those were my younger sister Mar’s favorites and she made them every year…so good! Or is your Holiday superpower eating them? Hey, bakers need people to enjoy their creations!
Since I’m part of the Historical Authors Holiday Cookie (and Treats) Hop, here’s the list of all the participating authors (many of whom are doing giveaways on their pages so don’t miss them!):
Historical Romance Authors Cookie Hop Link List 2023
(look below for directions if you haven’t seen them)
After you collect the names of all 30 recipes, e-mail the list of authors with their treats to Heather@HeatherMcCollum.com with the subject line: Historical Romance Authors are Sweet. One winner will be chosen on Wednesday, 13 December and announced on the FB event page and on Heather’s website: https://www.heathermccollum.com/ .
For my giveaway, I’m giving one winner who makes a comment below a lovely 2024 Scottish calendar along with a wee Scottish giftie, too! So just tell me if you bake or make Holiday treats or just like to eat them or what your favorites are and I’ll choose a winner TWO WINNERS who will be announced on December 13. Could be one of these calendars below or another of the ones I’ve collected for the New Year! Good luck!
Historical Romance Holiday Cookie Hop
It’s coming soon!! More authors, more recipes, more holiday fun! Mark your calendars now….
Weekly Scottish Calendar Winners
I’m a bit behind due to my usual Hermit Week but I’ve picked winners of the first 3 weekly drawing for a special 2024 Scottish calendar – congrats to Kris K, Jane S and Ellie W! This time I picked a winner from each way that people can enter the contest – at in-person events, on my website and by being a subscriber to my newsletter. There are still at least 2 more weekly winners and then the two ‘grand prizes’ will be drawn by December 7th.
Make sure to enter for the rest of the prizes over on my website – or subscribe to my newsletter for a chance at that special grand prize!
