18 Days of Christmas Giveaways: Day 15 Cindy Young Turner


My good friend, and fellow author, Cindy Young Turner is taking over the blog for Day 15!  She's sharing with us some awesome holiday treats, her novel, Thief of Hope, and giving something away!

Keeping things short and sweet, here's today's Giveaway info!

 

The Giveaway Today is:
An Ecopy set which includes Thief of Hope,
and the prequel, Journey to Hope.
 The Rafflecopter Task of the Days is:
Like Cindy Young Turner's Facebook Page
 Alright, Cindy, take it away!

16 Days of Christmas Giveaways: My Favorite Holiday Treats

 Avery, thanks so much for having me back for your Christmas giveaway event! It’s always so much fun. This year I want to share some of my favorite holiday treats with your readers. I am not much of a cook, but I do love baking, especially this time of year. Years ago, back when my friends and I had a lot more free time than we do now, we’d exchange gifts that included a number of yummy treats and usually a bottle of my friend’s wonderful homemade Gluehwein, which is a kind of German mulled wine.  Now with kids and jobs we are lucky to get cards and gifts out on time! I still try to find time to do a little baking, though.

I’m going to share two recipes today. One is for Gluehwein, which will always be a traditional holiday beverage for me. We used to make it for New Year’s Eve and the production of it was half the fun. The other recipe is for apple bread, which is still a staple of my Christmas gifts. I started baking it because when I lived in Massachusetts we’d go apple picking every fall and I’d come home with a huge bag of apples. Apple bread freezes nicely and it’s so delicious. Enjoy!

Gluehwein

(Recipe from food.com, as the only recipe I have doesn’t have any measurements. We did it all to taste. I believe traditionally you would add a high proof rum at the end and light the drink on fire.)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup water ( or orange juice)
3/4 cup white sugar ( or less to taste)
1 cinnamon stick
1 orange
10 whole cloves
1 (750 ml) bottles red wine

Directions:

1.  In a saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer.
2.  Cut the orange in half, and squeeze the juice into the simmering water. Push the cloves into the outside of the orange peel, and place peel in the simmering water. Continue simmering for 30 minutes, until thick and syrupy.
3.  Pour in the wine, and heat until steaming but not simmering. Remove the clove-studded orange halves.

Serve hot in mugs or glasses that have been preheated in warm water (cold glasses will break.).

Apple Bread
Makes two loaves

 5 apples, sliced
½ C sugar
Toss the apples and sugar and let sit while you make the batter.

In a large bowl, combine:
3 C flour
2 C sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 C orange juice
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 C vegetable oil

Blend on low for 1 minute and on medium for 4 minutes.
Grease 2 pans and layer in each 3 batter and 2 apple.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, 5 minutes.

Okay, those sound like amazing Holiday Treats. I've totally written them down to try! Now, let's learn about more about Thief of Hope!

 


Sydney, a street urchin and pickpocket in the town of Last Hope, has managed to evade the oppressive Guild for years, but there is no escaping fate when she's sentenced to death for associating with the resistance.

 After she's rescued by a wizard, Sydney is forced to accept that magic—long outlawed throughout the Kingdom of Thanumor—still exists, and the Tuatha, a powerful faery folk, are much more than ancient myth and legend. When the wizard offers a chance to fight the Guild and bring Willem, bastard prince and champion of the Tuatha, to the throne, Sydney embraces the cause as a way to find her own redemption.

 But Sydney's fear of the Guild, distrust of authority, and surprising connection to the Tuatha threaten Willem's success. Can she untangle the strange threads that entwine her life not only to the fate of the kingdom, but also to Willem himself?



And now for a little more on Cindy! If you want to learn even more about her and books, click on the links below.

Cindy Young-Turner has been writing for most of her life. At age twelve, she won her first writing contest, a local contest in her small hometown in Massachusetts calling for stories written in the style of Edgar Allan Poe. Thus began her love of stories that are dark and fantastical. She believes genre fiction can be just as well written and valuable as literature. The universal themes of love, hate, revenge, and redemption are present regardless of whether characters live in the distant future, on other planets, or in fantastical realms.
By day she edits and does business development for international development projects. In her free time, she works on inspiring her characters to fight for change and justice in their imaginary worlds. Her published works include the fantasy novel Thief of Hope and a short prequel, Journey to Hope.

 Website     Facebook      Twitter      Goodreads

 
I doubt I have to say this again, but, if you are just joining us, take a look at the Rules and Regulations Page for more info on the contest. Or don't. It's really simple, just read the post, scroll down to Mr. Rafflecopter and do the daily task. But wait. What if you don't have Facebook or Twitter or can't do the other tasks before you? Have no fear! As a contingency, on the off chance people can't do the daily task, they can simply leave a blog comment! This way, everyone has equal opportunity to be enter to win the tons of prizes up for grabs! And don't forget, if you missed the previous days, you can go back and enter those too! Just check out The Linky List. The contest runs until December 29th, and of course, don't forget to come back tomorrow.

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

1 Response to "18 Days of Christmas Giveaways: Day 15 Cindy Young Turner"

  1. Cindy Young-Turner Says:

    Thanks for having me today, Avery! Happy holidays!