Mailbox Monday: December 20

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. (Library books don’t count, but eBooks & audiobooks do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @ The Printed Page, is on tour! Last month's host was Julie @ Knitting and Sundries, and she did a fantastic job! Rose City Reader kicks off 2011.

Mailbox Monday is one of my favorite memes, and I am delighted to be hosting, especially during my favorite time of the year! I'll be putting the posts up on Sunday afternoons for all you early birds!

I received three books this week:

 

ARC from Crown Publishers. To be published February 15, 2011. The world knows Madame Tussaud as a wax artist extraordinaire…but who was this woman and how did she become one of the most famous sculptresses of all time? In these pages, her tumultuous story comes to life as only Michelle Moran could tell it. The year is 1788, and a revolution is about to begin…

 

ARC from New American Library/Penguin. To be published March 1, 2011. As the beautiful daughter of courtiers, Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount is overjoyed when she secures a position as maid of honor to Katherine of Aragon. But when she captures the attention of the king himself, there are whispers that the queen ought to be worried for her throne. When Bess gives birth to a healthy son the whispers become a roar. But soon the infamous Boleyn girls come to court and Henry's love for her begins to fade. Now, Bess must turn to her trusted friend, the illegitimate son of Cardinal Wolsey, to help her move beyond life as the queen's rival...

I won this one from Historical Tapestry, which incidentally, was the very first book blog I followed! In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeds in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown. Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write. But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth--the ultimate betrayal--that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her...

I've already read The Winter Sea and LOVED it!

I'll post my thoughts next week.

Since I anticipate my Mailbox to be on the lean side this month (at least until after Christmas :), I'm fattening it up by sharing the goodies I'm baking this month. Yesterday was our annual Christmas Kitchen day, where the ladies in my family gather in my aunt Donna's kitchen and make cookies and candies to share. It's a deliciously fun day and I'm sharing two of my favorite candy recipes with you. Both are super easy to make and when you drop a few pieces in a bag and tie it off with a ribbon, you've got cheap and yummy gifts!

Haystacks

12-oz. bag of butterscotch chips
1/4-cup of peanut butter
5 cups of Cornflakes

Melt the butterscotch chips and the peanut butter on the stovetop in a large saucepan, mix in the cornflakes, and drop mixture by tablespoon onto waxed or parchment paper and allow to cool. That's it! So good!

Cookie Bark

1 package of semi-sweet chocolate baking squares (8 squares)
1 package of white chocolate baking squares (6 squares)
2 tablespoons of peanut butter
10 Oreo cookies, crushed

In separate microwave-safe dishes melt the chocolate and white chocolate. Add peanut butter to the melted white chocolate. Divide the crushed oreos and add to both chocolate mixtures. Drop in alternating spoonfuls onto large cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Use a knife to swirl through the mixtures, creating a marbled effect. Refrigerate until firm. Break into pieces and enjoy! Note: This recipe makes a half-cookie sheet of candy, so I make two batches to fill up the entire cookie sheet before I pop it in the fridge. Afterwards I store this candy in an airtight container in the fridge.

Enjoy! Happy Holidays!