FAIRY DROP COOKIES
- 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp. almond extract
Frosting:
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp. milk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- Your choice food coloring
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
In large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients. Cream butter into flour mixture. Add both kinds of sugar and beat ’til fluffy. Add oil, eggs and almond extract to mixture and beat ’til well-mixed.
Chill cookie dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Pinch off teaspoon-sized bit of dough, roll between fingertips and place on ungreased cookie sheet, half an inch apart. After all cookies are on sheet, use a coil spring-shaped tool to flatten cookie and make impression on top.
Bake 10-12 minutes, until cookies are palest shade of yellow.
Make frosting by beating butter into powdered sugar, adding almond and vanilla flavorings, thin with milk until you have a thick frosting, separate into 2 or more bowls and tint with desired shades of food coloring. Red and green are fun for Christmas, pink, blue, mint-green and yellow are fine for other occasions. Place dab of frosting atop each cookie.
These keep well in a sealed container.
RENT ONE OF MKA’s COTTAGES
The Breeze Inn
Ebbtide
Did you know that MKA’s own beach cottages—that she has lovingly restored with her own hands and decorated with her own junking treasures—are available for rent?! You and yours can chillax in beautiful beach cottage comfort in the very spot where MKA pens her bestselling novels. Smaller group? Choose The Breeze Inn which MKA took from ramshackle to the pages of BH&G in a year’s time back in 2009. For larger groups, check out MKA’s new treasure, Ebbtide, which she fixed up in her own signature style. Call Diane at Mermaid Cottages and book yourself in for the full MKA experience! If MKA’s places are not available, Diane has 50 one-of-a-kind cottages sprinkled around the island, all just a short ride on a beach cruiser away from each other. Get yourself on “Tybee time” and discover the magic of slowing down.
MKA Online
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Dear Friends:
Time to confess. I bought a Christmas gift this week. And it wasn’t even the first one! Normally I’m a last-minute kind of holiday gal, but this year, with CHRISTMAS BLISS, a brand-new Christmas book coming out October 15, and plenty of tour dates to promote it, I figured I should get an early start on all things Christmas.
CHRISTMAS BLISS is the fourth installment of my Savannah series, featuring Weezie Foley and her best friend BeBe Loudermilk. Although I’ve written nearly two dozen novels over the years, Weezie and BeBe seem to be the characters my readers most adore. In this new novella, Christmas is coming, but Weezie Foley is doubly distracted. First and foremost by her upcoming wedding to her longtime love Daniel. Then there’s the fact that maid-of-honor BeBe is due to give birth any day—and is still adamantly refusing to marry her live-in-love Harry. A last minute trip to the snowy Big Apple, a mystery surrounding BeBe’s ex, and the wedding planning escapades of the unstoppable Cookie and Mannie make CHRISTMAS BLISS a delicious treat. Speaking of treats, if you pre-order your copy by October 15th, we’ll send you an autographed bookplate and a bookmark. Use this form to claim your gift.
I had such fun reuniting with these two characters, helping Weezie plan her wedding, sending her on a junk jaunt to New York City, and watching BeBe work on The Breeze Inn. I hope you’ll enjoy this Christmas reunion as much as I did.
We’ll kick off the publication of CHRISTMAS BLISS with a festive book launch party in Decatur, GA on Sun. Oct. 13, and then take the party south with a Savannah charity benefit launch luncheon on Tues. Oct. 15. The full slate of tour dates is listed at right as well as on the Events page of my website.
My publisher has promised I’ll be home from touring in plenty of time to bake, decorate and shop for our own Christmas blitz. Like Weezie, I’m a long-time collector of vintage Christmas decorations. Most of my collections of bottle-brush trees, snowmen, Santas and Shiny-Brite ornaments were once inexpensive dime-store finds, which I usually find at junk shops and estate sales. I take great joy every year in unwrapping them and arranging them around my house. Putting them away after Christmas is a different matter though, right?
 One of my favorite activities to share with my two grandchildren is baking. And Christmas baking is the most fun of all. This year, I think Molly and Griffin are going to love helping me make Fairy Drop cookies, a delicious and easy butter cookie with a dollop of almond-flavored frosting. They’re easier for small fingers to manage than intricate cookie-cutter cookies. These were a big favorite of my own children, and as a bonus, the recipe makes about a bajillion cookies – plenty to share!
Happy fall. Happy holidays in advance. And, as always, happy reading.
Hugs,
MKA
Do you have a book club? If your club is reading one of my books, I would love to call in and join your discussion. You never know, I may even be able to drop by in person if it works out right. E-mail us with your request and we’ll see what we can do! Be sure to include a snail mail address and info about the size of your club.
SAIL AWAY WITH MKA
Come sail away with me on the beautiful Celebrity Reflection! The “Sail Away with MKA” Caribbean cruise promises to be the ultimate adventure for literary enthusiasts. We depart Miami February 8, 2014 for a 7-night trip to the Eastern Caribbean including San Juan, St. Thomas, and Philipsburg. VIP events include a meet & greet, cocktail party, book signing, Q&A session, surprise activities with MKA, a complimentary shore excursion, and much more! Balcony rooms starting at $1259 per person. Be among the first 50 fans to book and you’ll receive a private photo session with MKA including a complimentary photo and a signed copy of Christmas Bliss!
Click here to register now!)
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In Stores
October 15th
ORDER NOW!
Christmas Bliss Tour Dates
Sun Oct 13, 7:00 PM
Book Launch Fundraiser
hosted by FoxTale Book Shoppe at the Decatur Library
215 Sycamore Street, Decatur, GA
For tickets visit www.foxtalebookshoppe.com
Tues Oct 15, 9:00-11:00 AM
Ronald McDonald House Fundraiser, Savannah, GA
For details, contact Sue Ruby: I [email protected]
12:00 PM
Savannah Golf Club, 1661 E President St, Savannah, GA
For tickets visit www.seniorcitizens-inc.org
6:00-8:00 PM
Cocktails/Fundraiser, Downtown Savannah area
For location and details, contact Sue Ruby at [email protected]
Wed Oct 16, 7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble, Richland Fashion Mall, Forest Acres, 3400 Forest Drive, Columbia, SC
Thurs Oct 17
12:00 PM (lunchtime event)
7:00 PM (evening event)
Quail Ridge Books & Music, 3522 Wade Ave, Raleigh NC
Sat Oct 19, 9:00-5:00 PM
GoinÕ to the Chapel Pop-up Antiques market
Chapel Hill Meeting House, Pike Road, AL
Wed Oct 23, 2:00-4:00 PM
Talk/Book Signing/Dessert/Tea
Hosted by Book Exchange at Gabriel’s, 800 Whitlock Avenue, Suite 135, Marietta, GA
Mon Nov 4, 6:30 PM
FoxTale Book Shoppe, 105 E. Main St., #138, Woodstock, GA
Tues Nov 5, 6:30 PM
Ivy Hall, SCAD Writing Center, 179 Ponce de Leon Ave, Atlanta, GA
Wed Nov 6, 12:00 PM
University of South Carolina Beaufort Lunch With Author Series
Sea Pines Country Club, 30 Governors Road, Hilton Head Island, SC
Call 843-521-4147 for reservations
Sat Nov 9, 4:00 PM
Discussion-4:00 PM, Cabaret Theater
Booksigning-5:00 PM, The Shops at Mohegan Sun
Mohegan Sun, 1 Mohegan Sun Blvd, Uncasville, CT
For details visit www.mohegansun.com
Sat Feb 8, 2014
SAIL AWAY WITH MKA, Celebrity Reflection
Departing Miami for a 7-night trip to the Eastern Caribbean
For details visit www.cruisechick.com |
