Every year around Christmas, I make my Sugar and Spice Nuts. I think they are festive enough to serve for fancy functions, so wrote them into my historical romance novel,
The Goodbye Lie. Click on the link for the recipe,
http://www.greenlightwrite.com/sugarspicenuts.htm,
and read the excerpt below from the book that mentions the nuts...
The scene is the Fort Clinch Christmas dance of 1882 set on Amelia Island, Florida.
While Trip and Will found amusement
between them, Nora commented, "You'd never think this was a military
establishment from the looks of the holiday decorations. All I can
think of right now, though, is biting the head off one of those frosted snowman
cookies hanging from the red ribbons."...
The girls nibbled on triangular egg salad
sandwiches, rolled ham, and sugared nuts while watching Mrs. Bleether. The
stout widow was still dressed in black for General Bleether who had passed away
in the line of duty before Breelan was born. Tonight, the widow nodded
periodically to the conductor with instructions. A self-described expert
tunesmith, she could always be found near the hapless leader of the band at any
social function she attended...
Breelan danced with Trip each time he asked
despite his occasional cutting remarks. She didn't understand why he was
becoming increasingly nasty as the evening advanced. Usually that happened as
he drank more alcohol, but the dance committee was only serving spiced punch
and mulled cider they heated with a fire poker. When Trip crushed her to him in an
indelicate moment of lust, she felt the hard flask under his tunic and
understood.
The glowing fireplaces kept most of the
cold at bay. They blazed high, casting a golden haze on everyone and
everything. Passing the door in dance, Breelan felt a rush of raw wind enter
the room, along with a late arriving couple. The cape the man wore was not
military. She saw the woman next. The blond hair, piled a little too high on
the head, left no doubt that it was Leona Visper, a figure not seen since New York City and more
importantly, not missed. Looking again at the silhouette of shoulders, Breelan
realized the identity of the singer's escort. It was then that eyes met,
expressions hardened and polite nods were exchanged.
"What the hell's he doing here?"
Trip railed.
Having no answer, Breelan offered none.
"Look everyone," said a voice
from somewhere in the room, "Captain Taylor and his lady brought the snow
with them to Fernandina!" The floor cleared as couples rushed to the
windows to see the rare white flakes drop softly to the earth, melting on
contact with the warmer sand and sparse grass.
Trip grabbed Breelan's hand and yanked her
to the window farthest from the entrance. He threw his arm about her
waist...murmured a vulgarity against
her ear. She tried pulling away, but was fused to his body by his overpowering
strength...
Mary Jo W. from Sacramento, California, surprised me with this handmade and very, very pretty letter B representing Breelan Dunnigan, the heroine in The Goodbye Lie! 