Blog hop - 12 days of Christmas

Blog Hop: 12 Days of Christmas 

Event Date: December 1st - 12th 2013 

Hosted by: As You Wish Reviews & Confessions of the Paranormal 

Sponsors: As You Wish Tours & Book Dragon Designs

Christmas window biscuits

I do these with my children every year. Not only do they look great hanging on the Christmas tree but they taste nice too :)



Ingredients

• 125g butter (cubed and at room temperature)
• 125g golden caster sugar
• 225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 table spoons of milk
• 1 packet of colourful boiled sweets

Equipment

• Baking sheets
• Greaseproof paper
• Sieve
• Large mixing bowl
• Rolling pin
• Large Christmas and small shaped biscuit cutters or a knife 
• Wire rack 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / Gas Mark 4 / Fan 160°C
2. Line 2 baking sheets with greaseproof paper
3. Put the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl and cream together until pale and fluffy
4. Sift the flour into the mixture
5. Add the milk
6. Use your hands to mix everything together until you have a ball of dough
7. Sprinkle a clean work surface with flour and place the dough in the centre
8. Lightly flour your rolling pin and roll the dough out until it's about 6mm thick
9. Cut out your biscuits using large Christmas shaped cutters or a knife (ask an adult for help)
10. Transfer each biscuit to the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between each one
11. Next carefully cut out the shapes for the window, using smaller cutters or a knife  
12. Place a boiled sweet into each window - if they are large sweets you can break them up by bashing them once or twice with a rolling pin whilst they are still in their wrappers
13. Using a fat straw cut out a small hole for the ribbon
14. Bake in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes or until they are a light golden brown and the sweets have melted
15. Leave the biscuits to cool completely on the baking sheets as the sweets are very hot and need to set. When completely cool transfer to a wire rack
16. Thread ribbon through each hole and they are ready to decorate your Christmas tree

Erin Tait is a 15 year old girl, who thinks of herself as a freak. She's moves to her parents home town of Galladale, where all is not what it seems On her first day at school, she meets Sean Jackson. Instantly she is besotted with him. But this results in her being targeted by a girl called Jessica Watson. She has one warning. Stay away from Sean! But he is everywhere she goes, even in her dreams. Which are soon taken over by Jessica's threats and actions against Erin are taken in school. Erin is scared, lonely and confused. Who can she turn to? Will Jessica stop this hate campaign? and can Erin control the fire within?

Most 15 year old girls usually only worry about what clothes to wear, but not Erin Tait. Erin just has to try not to set fire to anything. Easier said than done when she can’t control it. Louise Clarke is a new girl who seems to have some type of seductive power and she says she can have any man she wants, but the only man she wants right now is Sean. After discovering the diary of her great grandmother, Elizabeth Tait, Erin realises that all is not what it seems. Or rather not everyone is who they seem to be. Who is the invisible man? And what secrets does he hold? Can Erin stay away from him? And can she keep Louise away from Sean?

Erin ran away from Sean's birthday party after she witnessed Sean and Louise kiss.

Her world has since been torn apart by the pain caused by Sean's Betrayal and the fire is not only burning on the outside but from within, threatening to strip her of her sanity.

Can Erin handle the Torment that Louise and Sean are inflicting on her?

Can she fight the burning from inside?

Follow Erin on her emotional roller-coaster as she begins to learn to control her fire powers and a friendship soon starts to blossom when Erin begins to learn self-defence.

Her appearance begins to change when she starts fighting with those around her.

Everyone, but Erin, believes that Sean is under some kind of spell and they will go to extreme lengths to prove it.

What will happen in this third installment?

Want a chance to win a signed paperback of Erin the Fire Goddess:The Beginning?

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Hi all

I wanted to write a blog because I haven't in so long so I wanted to say hi and have a catch up on what I have been up to..... no much lol (j/k)

Firstly I want to say that my beautiful daughter, Erin, who my Erin the Fire Goddess series is named after, published her first book. She is only 12 years old - How cool is that? Here is a picture of Erin:

So I thought I would tell you a little about her book. It is called 'My World, My Words' and it is mainly poetry and one short story. The reviews have been amazing - You must check them out.

Buy Now - Amazon UK

Buy Now - Amazon US

I am truly proud of my daughter, and I really hope that you could all support her and get yourself a copy. Please try and leave a review :)

For several months Erin has had problems with her foot. At first we were not sure what the problem was. She is in constant pain and tends to walk on the side of her foot. 

After X-rays, MRI scans, Ink trace scan, we finally we go and see a consultant at the Rheumatology department where we were told that Erin has something called Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritus (JIA). 

Then the people in the room started talking about medication she was going to need etc. Erin totally freaked out because they said she would need regular blood tests and injections. She absolutely hates needles. Then they started talking about the medication they use to treat this. It is called Methotrexate. Luckily they have said that Erin can take this in tablet form until she gets use to needles, through having regular blood tests.

It's been a month now since the diagnosis. Erin gets nauseous from her Methotrexate and tired from her pain meds, but we know that this will help her. Also her school have helped by letting her do permanent swimming for P.E, which is great because she loves swimming. Any other sports, which she hates, she lasts five minutes and has to sit down. 

Erin is the same person she has always been - A bit cheeky and thinks she knows everything lol. But we wouldn't have her anyway. She loves reading and writing. Hopefully she will continue and publish more books. 

Not everyone can say they published at a book at the age of 12. I know I cant but I certainly did try - This is exactly why I encouraged Erin and helped her publish her book. When I was that age it was so hard to publish a your work. I use to get letter after letter saying 'We do not accept unsolicited documents' which is quite disheartening for a young girl and for almost two decades I gave up my dream of becoming a writer. It was actually Erin who encouraged me to start writing again when she asked me to write another story about her, after a wrote a short story for her school about how bullying is bad and you should stay in school and learn.  Then one day I had a dream about a young girl being bullied et voila, Erin the Fire Goddess was born.

Now I have my youngest daughter, Kasey-ray, asking me to write a story named after her. Having a character named after her in the EtFG series isn't good enough lol. Well the other day I dreamt of the perfect story for her and next year I will start writing it. So watch this space. 

It was actually Kasey-ray's 7th birthday on Monday 2nd December. She told me it was the best birthday ever. Here is a picture of her:

As you can see, I am truly blessed to have such beautiful children who inspire me every day. I love them so much :)