vanilla pound cake with berry sauce - author mona hodgson

Miss Hattie’s Vanilla Pound Cake with Berry Sauce

In Twice a Bride, Miss Hattie drew her Cripple Creek friends into a celebration of new beginnings with her vanilla pound cake. Don’t forget her berry sauce. Ingredients for Pound Cake: 3 cups flour 2 cups sugar 1 cup oil 1 cup buttermilk 2 teaspoons butter 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon baking soda 4 eggs Instructions …

Shortbread cookies - author mona hodgson

Miss Hattie’s Shortbread Cookies

On the trail west in Prairie Song, Miss Hattie received her recipe from Rhoda Kamden, a Scottish woman in the Boone’s Lick Wagon Train Company. Ingredients 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 ½ cups butter, softened 1 cup confectioners’ sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extract Instructions Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, …

Lemon Scones - author mona hodgson

Miss Hattie’s Lemon Scones

A signature treat at Miss Hattie’s Boarding House in Two Brides Too Many. Ingredients for scones: 2 cups Flour ½ cup cold butter, cut ½ cup heavy whipping cream ¼ cup sugar 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 egg Ingredients for Sour Lemon Glaze: ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar …

peanut cabbage slaw - author mona hodgson

Nell’s Peanut Cabbage Salad

Nell’s Peanut Cabbage Salad It’s time for a picnic in Two Brides Too Many, and Nell is bringing the salad. 1 head of cabbage, chopped fine 3 tablespoons vinegar 2 tablespoons sugar 1 cup of chopped peanuts Mix lightly with a fork, should be just wet enough to hold together nicely. Pepper and salt to taste. Enjoy! Do me a …

Lemon Snowball Cookies - author mona hodgson

Tilda’s Lemon Snowballs

A favorite teatime treat in the Sinclair sisters’ home in Portland, Maine. In Two Brides Too Many, they were snacking on the lemony goodness when Father broke his news and turned their world upside down sending Kat and Nell to Cripple Creek, Colorado.   Ingredients 2 ¼ cups flour 1 cup unsalted butter 1 ½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice Zest …

Sewing Circle by Howard Sanden Blog Banner

Book Club Fun to Celebrate The Quilted Heart

Do the members of your book club or reading group enjoy reading a series of novellas and spending time with an ensemble cast? If so, Elsa Brantenberg’s Quilting Circle in St. Charles, Missouri, might be a great fit. And I’m happy to say the 1860’s heartland setting lends itself well to having fun with historic Main Street and riverside flair. For some book club …

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Recipes Inspired by The Quilted Heart

The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek novels and Prairie Song, Book 1 in the Hearts Seeking Home Series all feature fun foods and inspire recipes. The novellas, Dandelions on the Wind, Bending Toward the Sun, and Ripples Along the Shore are no different. Enjoy a meal with three recipes inspired by The Quilted Heart omnibus.

Essential Handbook for Victorian Etiquette

Sinclair Sisters Fun and Yum for Book Clubs

Do the members of your book club or reading group enjoy reading series and spending time with an ensemble cast? If so, the four Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek Series might be a great fit. And I’m happy to say the 1890s Colorado mining camp series lends itself well to having fun with Victorian, Old West, Mining Camp flair. Your group might want a …

Cripple Creek Church History Cook Book

Writing Historical Fiction by the Cookbook

You’re not likely to find me flipping channels looking for the Food Network. Fact is, my hubby does most of the cooking and baking at our house. But don’t ask me to write about a new setting without a cookbook from the time period and location. For The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek Series, I pored over the Church History Cook Book from …

PlumPudding[1]

Research, Cookbooks, and Christmas Plum Pudding

Research can be many things: Fascinating, engaging, time-consuming, surprising, delightful. Even yummy. If you’ve been reading The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek novels, you know Miss Hattie attends First Congregational Church in Cripple Creek, Colorado. In Two Brides Too Many, the Sinclair sisters began attending the church. By the end of Too Rich for a Bride, Ida’s husband Tucker Raines …