What's This Generation Coming To?

By Nancy Jill Thames

Store Bought Italian Cream Cake

On the eve of  the Fourth of July, my husband and I were invited to a party at our daughter's boyfriend's parents house. Nice! So far, so good. Now, this particular daughter was born to us late in life along with one of her brothers. This means we have one foot in the current generation and the other in an older one. This is what I observed being with guests from both eras: for the party food, the older generation guests brought mostly homemade - guacamole and chips and a special white cake with cool whip and fresh strawberries sprinkled with blue sugar for the occasion. The younger generation brought several store bought cakes. I can remember when there were no such things as store bought cakes, except for Twinkies maybe and Snowballs. Things are different now. More women work and don't have time to bake. I get it. Even though I consider myself a full time author, being from the older generation I am conditioned to baking something special for holiday celebrations because that was what my mother did. My contribution was a chocolate picnic cake - you know, the one with the boiling water and cocoa.

One guest brought a store bought Italian cream cake. Yes, I had a piece (and also a piece of the white cake with the cool whip and fresh strawberries) and it was good. But when I had a conversation with the lovely lady (from the younger generation) who brought it, she said she had a recipe for a much better one.

Hmm. Anyway, the other revelation I had was when we cut into the watermelon I bought for our own celebration and discovered seeds! Oh, no! But it had stripes! Sorry. I reflected and told my younger daughter and her boyfriend that I could remember a time when there were no seedless watermelons. And I also remember it was customary to eat a whole quarter of watermelon - not just a tiny triangle slice! Maybe that's the way my parents filled us up. And did any of you ever salt your watermelon? I didn't but I knew people that did. Heaven forbid if someone saw you do that today! 

The Fourth of July used to mean hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill or fried chicken, with corn on the cob, potato salad, watermelon quarters and homemade ice-cream and cake. I'm sure these traditions are being carried on somewhere in the good old USA. But what did I serve this year? It was weird! BBQ chicken that my husband slaved over, baked potatoes with all the trimmings because someone in the family may not like potato salad, potato salad (homemade of course), jalapeno potato salad (we live in Texas), fresh spinach salad with hot bacon dressing (an unusual side for the Fourth), watermelon triangles with no rind, baked beans straight out of a can (Bush's brand with bacon and brown sugar) baked in the oven, peach cobbler (Marie Calender's) and ice-cream (store bought) and picnic chocolate cake (yes, I made two). Here's the kicker. No one ate the second cake. It's sitting on the counter waiting for my husband and I to eat the whole thing. The younger generation is health conscious, in fact, the older one is too. Another sigh.

I suppose then that this generation is coming to less focus on actual baking and more focus on earning money to buy the store bought versions. Me? I'll eat both! Just out of curiosity, did you buy a dessert for the holiday or did you make one?

I hope  you enjoy the rest of this fun holiday weekend.

See you in my books!

 ~Nancy Jill 

Mystery novelist Nancy Jill Thames began publishing Christian fiction in 2010. The author of six books in the Jillian Bradley series, she is an award winning blogger and is listed numerous times on the Author Watch Bestseller’s List, this in addition to winning first place for her Chocolate Cream Pie.

When she isn’t plotting her next book, she spends time with her six grandchildren, tags along with her husband on business trips, and plays classical piano for her own personal enjoyment. She is an active member of the Leander Writers' Guild, American Christian Fiction Writers, ACFW CenTex Chapter, and supports the Central Texas SPCA with a portion of her book sales. CONTACT INFORMATION jillthames@gmail.com

 Nancy Jill is busy working on Book 7 "The Ruby of Siam" a mystery taking place in London.

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Passing the Baton

This Christmas the cooking and baking baton was officially passed to my children. Our youngest daughter compiled a family cookbook and gave them as gifts to her siblings. The gifts were well-received mainly because she included the ancient recipe handed down from my husband's grandmother for Chicken and Dumplings. Now, there's a story behind that particular recipe.

When Granny made the dish, there was no recipe. She simply did what her mother and grandmother before her did - throw a big fat hen in a large pot, add salt and pepper and cook that bird until it fell apart!

For the dumplings, cups of flour were placed in a bowl, salt and baking powder (a rounded spoonful) were added, along with some Crisco, stirred together, milk added in, mixed, kneaded, rolled, cut into strips and squares, and then dropped onto the boiling broth. Finally, a cup of sweet milk was poured over the top, and without stirring, the dumplings were covered and allowed to rest for 20 minutes.

Of course, "the dumminies" tasted better the second day after absorbing all the flavorful broth. After I'd eaten my first plateful of these wonderful pillows of delectable flavors and textures, I had to have the recipe. Since there wasn't one, I had Granny make them for me and recorded, step by step, the entire process beginning with, "Wash hands."

This Christmas, our son made the entire Christmas Day Dinner, complete with turkey baked in the Big Green Egg (Google it if you don't know what one is), and homemade popovers. Delicious - better than I could make. Then, when we arrived at our daughter's house in California, she had not only made the Chicken and Dumplings, but Banana Cream and Chocolate Cream Pies, two of our family's favorites. And what did I have to do? Absolutely nothing but sit back and enjoy forkfuls of delicious food.

So it is with complete and utter joy that I hand the baton of making the family recipes to my children. And I hope and pray the tradition of eating these wonderful favorites continue (at their houses)!

Happy New Year, dear readers!

~Nancy Jill

Mystery novelist Nancy Jill Thames began publishing Christian fiction in 2010. The author of six books in the Jillian Bradley series, she is an award winning blogger and is listed numerous times on the Author Watch Bestseller’s List, this in addition to winning first place for her Chocolate Cream Pie.

When she isn’t plotting her next book, she spends time with her six grandchildren in two states, tags along with her husband on business trips, and plays classical piano for her own personal enjoyment. She is an active member of the Leander Writers Guild and supports the Central Texas SPCA with a portion of her book sales.

Nancy Jill is busy working on book 7 "The Ruby of Siam" a mystery taking place in London, England.

To learn more about the author and check out her books, please visit her blog at  
Cozy Mystery Author, Nancy Jill Thames.

CONTACT INFORMATION
jillthames@gmail.com

To view and purchase her books on this site, please visit the Cozy Book Store.

Secrets of a Cozy Christmas

By Nancy Jill Thames

As a child, was there a special Christmas you remember? One that stands out among all the rest? When my mother cut up an old white satin formal of hers to make a wedding dress for my doll, that's the Christmas I remember. 

We lived in a tiny house, all five of us, plus a brand new baby brother, making six. But in spite of the cramped quarters, our family spent some of our happiest days living there. Having a ton of neighborhood friends to play with was one reason we children were so happy, but another reason was the way our family celebrated the holidays.

When Christmas came, my parents did their very best to provide as many gifts they could to make us happy. We lacked for nothing because my father made sure we had everything we needed. Not everything we wanted. That's where Christmas came in.

My father read the Christmas story every Christmas Eve from the gospel of Luke, Chapter 2. Afterward, my mother would serve hot Dr. Pepper with lemon as a tradition. We went caroling with church friends, had parties, baked cookies, and hung paper chains all over the house. Gifts were opened on Christmas morning, but we were allowed to open one on Christmas Eve to break the tension.

Growing up, making gingerbread houses wasn't  part of our tradition, but my kids loved making them. As they grew older, I carried on the tradition with my grandchildren. The one you see pictured was made by my grandson two years ago. Instead of making a new one each year, I wrap this one in plastic bags and store it in the top of my closet. If some decorations fall off, I simply glue them back on with a little water.

In my new book "Waiting for Santa," I've written in some of my families Christmas traditions as a way to preserve the legacy. What are the secrets of a cozy Christmas? I believe it's carrying on your own special traditions, whatever they may be. 

Merry Christmas!

~Nancy Jill

Mystery novelist Nancy Jill Thames began publishing Christian fiction in 2010. The author of six books in the Jillian Bradley series, she is an award winning blogger and is listed numerous times on the Author Watch Bestseller’s List, this in addition to winning first place for her Chocolate Cream Pie.

When she isn’t plotting her next book, she spends time with her six grandchildren in two states, tags along with her husband on business trips, and plays classical piano for her own personal enjoyment. She is an active member of the Leander Writers Guild and supports the Central Texas SPCA with a portion of her book sales.

To learn more about the author, visit her blog at http://www.nancy-jill.blogspot.com or email her at jillthames@gmail.com