Wednesday, December 17, 2008

New Holiday Recipes


Sorry for the delay in getting more recipes posted. The Lotti has been jumping ever since the cold weather hit. It seems everyone in town stops by at least once a day—if not twice!—to warm up with a winter beverage or hot meal. In case you can’t make it in to have a cuppa with a peppermint fudge brownie or a slice of our hazelnut torte, here are some more recipes from our “Favorite Holiday Treat” contest for you to try out at home:



Candy Cane Cookies

(from Kimberly A. Sutton)


Mix:

1 cup shortening

1 cup butter


Sift:

5 cups flour

2 cups confectioners sugar


Add:

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. almond extract

2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs


Divide in half. Add red food coloring to one half. Mix well. Cool approximately 1 hour. (Because of the heat from your hands while rolling, you want the dough to be fairly cold.) Pluck a small amount, about a 2" ball of each color, and roll into a tube about 1/2" wide. Wrap together and lay on an ungreased or parchment lined, cookie sheet in the shape of a candy cane.

Bake at 375* oven for 7 minutes.



Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares...taste like Reese's PB Cups!

(from Lisa White)


3/4c melted butter
2c icing sugar
1c smooth peanut butter
1&1/2c graham cracker crumbs
1&1/2c-2c chocolate chips

Mix first four ingredients together and press into 9X13 pan. Melt chocolate chips and spread evenly on top. Refrigerate until chocolate is hard.


Many thanks to Kimberly and Lisa for sharing these recipes with the rest of us!

April Garza, Lotti manager



Sunday, December 14, 2008

Café Klatch Reviews: Angel Gets Her WIngs by Kat Duarte

Café Klatch meets the second Monday of each month...
Where: McKenna Café Lotti
When: 7pm to 9ish or closing

Recap: Last month five of us gathered for dinner, dessert, coffee and a discussion of Sloane Taylor’s hot book French Kiss. We loved it and her style of combining romance, suspense and some pretty steamy sex scenes. Her stories are definitely “Sweet as Honey...Hotter than Hell” as she says on her website. It looks like we’re not the only ones who feel that way. Ms. Taylor has been announced as a finalist for the EPPIE Awards, which we hear is like the Emmy Awards of ebooks.

Imagine how excited we all were when she actually dropped by the Lotti for a visit! Not only that, but when she heard our book for this month was Kat Duarte’s new one, she volunteered to write up a review on it for us.

This month’s Café Klatch review is for:
ANGEL GETS HER WINGS by Kat Duarte
Available now at Eternal Press

Here’s that review by none other than EPPIE finalist (we’re so excited for her!) Sloane Taylor:

Angel Martinez O’Reilly is a hot seraphim wannabe who finds herself aboard an airplane Christmas Eve among exuberant travelers who have more than indulged in holiday spirit. With her Naughty and Nice candidate list in hand, she discovers two more people who need her help.

Computer nerd Eugene Freeman is sexually inexperienced and programmed for great things in his life. All he needs now is a self-confidence boost to propose to his true love.

Stewardess Bitch Jeannie Wilson is the woman you love to hate, but this sex queen delivers satisfaction like none other.

Captain Sean Conlan dreams of his future but lacks the strength to follow though. Angel is more than willing to help Sean overcome any problem.

Celeste, the mother of all cherubs, pops in to oversee Angel, offering delightful pearls of wisdom along with caustic humor.

It’s Angel’s job to make it all work out. And it’s Angel who will win your heart as she travels her own journey to self-discovery.

ANGEL GETS HER WINGS is perfect to kick start to your holidays. Ms. Duarte has penned a poignant, squirm in your chair sexy read filled with humor and sincere emotion along with the hottest sex I’ve read in a long time. This talented author made reading the last paragraphs difficult through the happy tears in my eyes. I certainly hope Ms. Duarte creates a series based on the ultra hip Celeste.

We agree with Sloane on this one. Angel Gets Her Wings gets a rating of 3 peppermint chocolate truffles from us. It’s truly is a holiday treat! For more on Kat Duarte’s work check out her websites: http://www.katduarte.com/
www.myspace.com/writerkatduarte

Remember to check out Sloane Taylor’s latest work at her sites:
PHOTO OP! www.aspenmountainpress.com
FRENCH KISS www.eternalpress.ca
www.sloanetaylor.com www.myspace.com/sloanetaylor

Next month’s book: Psychic Passions by Ally Robertson

Monday, December 8, 2008

Winners in the "Favorite Holiday Treat Contest"

The winners of the Lotti’s “Favorite Holiday Treat Contest” are Judy Cox and Robyn Lee. Congratulations to both of you! Your prizes will arrive shortly.


Thanks from all of us at the Lotti to those of you who dropped by to participate. If your name wasn’t picked, don’t be sad. There are treats for everyone—the great recipes sent in for the contest! Come back and visit the Lotti often because we’ll be posting new ones every few days. Try out one or try them all. You might find a new favorite to make your holidays a little merrier. We’ll start out with the two from our contest winners...


When asked for her favorite holiday treat, Judy Cox said, “My favorite is a fruit salad my husband makes. I am not big on a lot of the fruit salads out there. His mother always made hers this away is where he got it. He only makes this during the holidays; I think that is why I love it so. Here is a rough draft of what you use:”


Holiday Fruit Salad

  • oranges
  • bananas
  • apples
  • seedless grapes
  • bottle of cherries
  • nuts ( he uses pecans and walnuts)
  • mayonnaise
  • juice from the cherries


How many of the fruit you use depends on how much you are making and what you like the best. You just slice all the fruit up, slice the cherries in half, chop the nuts coarsely, he slices the grapes in half also. You use some of the cherry juice and the mayonnaise, use what is needed to mix, it usually does not take much, because of the juice in the fruit itself being cut up. She use to put sugar, but the cherry juice is sweet enough for us.


Robyn Lee sent us this wonderful recipe:


Coconut Tarts

  • 1 tablespoon margarine
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon Corn Syrup
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup coconut
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 24 mini tart shells (2") (in foil)

Mix the above ingredients and pour into tart shells that have been arranged on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

*my oven is hotter so I bake at 350.

Everyone that loves coconut loves these and with a cup of coffee they are wonderful.