Congratulations to "Laura S.", the winner in Cindy's giveaway. Thank you to all who paricipated!
The number one rule of Christmas dinner? It’s going
to get messy.
The first time I cooked a turkey, it came out raw
inside. I had left the slimy little packet of gravy and gizzards tucked inside.
There were witnesses of course, because no great act of stupidity is complete
without an audience. I was in the Air Force and it was the first time I hadn’t
gone home for Christmas. For reasons I still don’t comprehend, I thought it
would be easy. Well, not easy, but... okay. I didn’t expect seven hungry people
waiting in my living room for hours!
Mom made it look easy. She had four kids, but that
was never enough. She invited all the single people from her work, old family
friends, new family friends, and the occasional oddball. More than occasional,
really. We had some very eclectic holidays, but the food was always excellent.
The turkeys came out browned like something out of a commercial. The homemade
cranberry sauce sparkled in the crystal dish we used for holidays. The cold
food was cold and the hot food was hot. And there were enough dirty dishes to
fill a dishwasher three times over. Messy, but easy.
My first Christmas dinner didn’t go well, so writing
An Untouchable Christmas was a little
bit about redemption. Come on. If anyone could pull off a perfect dinner, it
would be Sofia Capri. She once faced down
a mob boss and went hand-to-hand with his lieutenants.
After that, dinner with Logan’s family should be a piece a cake. Sofia is
convinced it’s going to be a mess:
EXCLUSIVE
EXCERPT:
God, what was
wrong with her? No part of her life had prepared her for a traditional
Christmas dinner with a real family. Sofia braced her arms on the sink and
leaned over; afraid she might puke. She’d only met his family once, and now she
was suddenly inviting them to Christmas dinner. That meant his parents, his
sister and her family, plus two of Logan’s friends, and two from the book
group. Thirteen with Eli, Logan, and Sofia.
The moment he
grabbed her from behind, a jolt spiked her nerves. She let out a squeal and
half jumped into the sink, knocking her knees into the lower cabinet. “You
scared me.”
Logan’s sigh
ruffled her hair as he wrapped warm hands around her waist. “I can’t wait for
the day you don’t jump every time I touch you.”
“I don’t.” Her
back stiffened. She couldn’t help herself. Holiday meal planning had her nerves
strung tight, and she couldn’t shake the dread that something worse was coming.
No matter that the men who kidnapped her son were dead and gone, evil still
existed. The mob didn’t go away.
***
Sofia and Logan’s first Christmas together doesn’t exactly
go according to plan, but one this is certain: This holiday is one she’ll never forget.
Now
it’s your turn. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made while cooking a holiday
meal?
An Untouchable Christmas
Sofia Capri survived life as a mob wife, but living with
drop-dead gorgeous FBI agent Logan Stone has its own challenges. Step one? Host
his family for Christmas dinner.
Rescuing Sofia from her former mob life and saving her
kidnapped son was enough to earn Logan a place in her life, but a mysterious
phone call before dinner threatens the security he'd give anything to provide.
When Sofia's son and Logan's nieces disappear from the
festivities, the illusion of a normal Christmas shatters, hurling Sofia back
into her nightmares.
Find it online:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2fQM0Gg
About Cindy Skaggs:
Cindy Skaggs grew up on stories of mob bosses, horse
thieves, cold-blooded killers, and the last honest man. Those mostly true
stories gave her a lifelong love of storytelling and heroes. Her search for
story took her around the world with the Air Force before returning to
Colorado.
As a single mom, she’s turning her lifelong love of
storytelling into the one thing she can’t live without: writing. She has an MA
in Creative Writing, three jobs, two kids, and more pets than she can possibly
handle. Find her on Facebook as Cindy Skaggs, Writer, @CLSkaggs on Twitter, or www.CSkaggs.com
to sign up for her newsletter.
Connect with Cindy:
Website: http://www.cskaggs.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSkaggs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/clskaggs
Congrars ot the new release! Looking forward to reading An Untouchable Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThanks Natalija! I hope you enjoy Sofia and Logan's story.
DeleteI'm an Asian Muslim so the busiest cooking prep for me and my family is usually days before Eid Festival. I agree with you, moms made holidays cooking look effortless when in fact, it is sooo not true! LOL
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your latest release, Cindy. And wish you a fab coming holidays (thanksgiving and Christmas) too with your family.
Thanks, Dee! I hope you holidays are fabulous as well. :)
DeleteThank you for the contest. I look forward to reading "An Untouchable Christmas".
ReplyDeleteThanks! Good luck with the contest. I hope you enjoy Sofia and Logan's story.
DeleteNothing like the stress of planning a big meal! Once you've done it before I actually find cooking a turkey to be one of the easiest things. It's all the side dishes that are work.
ReplyDeleteI entered the giveaway...and just wanted to comment that I think the "follow on Twitter" link points to the wrong Cindy.
Thanks, Laura. You're the first to notice. We should have it fixed shortly. Until then, I'm @CLSkaggs on Twitter. Good luck with the giveaway!
DeleteI did the same thing with a turkey once. Although I didn't leave the bag inside I didn't get the turkey done and we ended up eating all the other stuff and had the turkey like 3 hours later. It was a disaster. Kind of like the first time I fried chicken, it was beautiful on the outside and dripping blood on the inside. YUCK!! My family has never let me forget it.
ReplyDeleteOf course family won't let you forget it. They have a long memory, and are reminded of that before they even think to remember the dozen of other years it turned out right. :)
DeleteThanks for stopping by, Linda!
Holiday family dinners have always been stressful and the stress increases as the family grows.
ReplyDeleteI keep waiting for that mythical time when I stop stressing about it so much. Hasn't happened yet. :)
DeleteThanks for stopping by, Mary. Good luck with the giveaway!
My biggest mistake was trying to make a whole wheat low fat stuffing/dressing. No one wants low fat anything for Thanksgiving. It tasted so awful!
ReplyDeleteMandy, that's the absolute truth. I tried to make some of my mom's recipes low-fat. Nah, not worth it. Like you said. It tasted awful.
DeleteI have to fess up, I haven't made any mistakes....it's because I horrible in the kitchen. There's no way anyone in my family would allow me to mess up a holiday meal LOL
ReplyDeleteahui89 at hotmail dot com
Ada, that's funny. At least you know your limitations. :)
DeleteNever making enough of everyone's favorite!! Just when I think I've covered all the bases too!
ReplyDeletethebigbluewall77 (AT) gmail (DOT) com
Anita, I've had that problem too. For our family, it's usually the mashed potatoes. We must really like our starches. :)
DeleteMy sister-in-law would make pumpkin pie each year sans sugar.....she would make it with the milk with raisins that soaked in the milk to sweeten it...it was still just plain yucky in my opinion. So I make a pumpkin pie every year for Thanksgiving. That year was no different...except for when I was telling my other sister-in-law about it...and how my pie would be great. Except for the fact that I forgot to add the sugar. Yeah....it was great, NOT! Plus there was another Thanksgiving when I was young where my cousin Mike scooped a bunch of mashed potatoes on his plate and then some other people at the table didn't get any...and there weren't more mashed potatoes in the kitchen like normal. So my cousin has never lived that down...it's a family thing, we love to tease each other. :o)
ReplyDeleteThose are the best stories to tell! You can just keep adding to the list of ways to torment each another as years go on.
DeleteThis book sounds amazing. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy the book.
DeleteCongratulations on your new release. I love your books and I have Beth Rhodes to thank.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pamela! I'm glad you stopped by. And I'm glad Beth suggested my books to you. She's one of my favorite people. :)
Delete