Susan Hatler

Guest Author: LUCY MCCONNELL

By 29 Comments

Hi everyone!!

I’m super excited to have a special guest author here today to help celebrate my new release, Forever Yours in Christmas Falls. Please give a warm welcome to: LUCY MCCONNELL

Dear Readers,

First, let me say a big Thank You! to Susan for hosting me on her blog today. Christmas romances hold a special place in my heart and I am thrilled to celebrate her new release, Forever Yours in Christmas Falls, with all of you.

I travel to conferences and publish sweet romances, so I may have met you somewhere along the way. However, if this is our first introduction, I should probably tell you that I like to listen to early Rock ‘n Roll when I work, I don’t like doing laundry, and I recently bought a ukulele with hopes of learning to play “Blue Christmas” before December 24th. (Fingers crossed!)

I also love to read and write modern western romances. I’ve recently released a three-book set called the Lime Peak Ranch Family Romances. The complete set of romances surrounds a rodeo family with a secret.

Robert Canton came to the Lime Peak Ranch under the guise of providing a real-life cowboy experience for him and his young son. However, when he falls for the rancher’s daughter, he has to come clean or risk losing the determined and accomplished Olivia Dumont and the opportunity to meet his birth mother.

To start reading, check out the first book in the series, The Unexpected Groom, by clicking here.

You know, when I release a new book, I like to make something with chocolate. I was blessed to be raised in a family that understood the importance of that sweet treat and taught me to temper, dip, mold, bake, melt, and appreciate all things chocolate. In fact, the first short story I ever published was in Chicken Soup for the Chocolate Lover’s Soul.

Since I can’t pass chocolate through a wireless router to all of you (yet!), I decided to do the second best thing and share one of my favorite chocolate recipes. These Truffle Pops are perfect to eat while you’re reading. They aren’t messy, they come together quickly, and they are so good you’ll want to keep them all to yourself. Thankfully, the recipe makes 36 pops so there is enough to share—if you’re willing.

Because I’m so excited about Susan’s holiday romance (seriously giddy!) I’ve put together a prize pack with two dessert cookbooks, One Dirty Bowl Desserts and The Chocolate Lover’s Cookbook. To enter my giveaway, comment below naming one of your favorite desserts, and we’ll announce the winner tomorrow morning.

Happy reading and eating,

Lucy McConnell

**********

Truffle Pops

Ingredients

2 cups milk chocolate chips

1 (14 ounce) can sweet and condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

12 ounces dipping chocolate

Sprinkles or additional chocolate for decorating (I like to use semisweet chocolate)

36 sucker sticks

36 mini treat bags

Tape or ribbon

Directions

Prepare a 5 ½ x 7 ½ inch pan by lining it with aluminum foil. Set aside.

In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the chocolate chips and sweet and condensed milk. Stir occasionally and remove from heat once the mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla and mix well. Pour the chocolate into the prepared pan and place in the refrigerator making sure the pan is level. Chill for 2-4 hours.

When the truffle center is set, lift the chocolate out using the aluminum foil. Peel away the foil and, using a long knife, cut the chocolate into 36 pieces. Insert a sucker stick into each piece and stand it on a wax paper lined plate or cookie sheet. Place the suckers in the fridge while you melt the dipping chocolate. Lay a piece of wax paper on the work surface. Holding the sucker stick, dip each truffle in the chocolate. Tap the sucker stick against the edge of the pan to remove the excess chocolate and then carefully lay the sucker on the sheet of wax paper. Repeat with each sucker. If adding sprinkles or nuts, do so before the chocolate sets. If garnishing with additional chocolate, you can do so after the suckers harden. Once the chocolate has cooled and set, you can wrap the suckers using tape or ribbon to close off the bags.

Thank you so much for being here today, Lucy. Good luck to everyone on Lucy’s giveaway. Happy reading!!

🙂 Susan

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Comments

  1. My mom grew up on a dairy farm and there was always plenty of cream and butter. My grandpa had a sweet tooth and always asked what was for dessert before asking about dinner. A favorite was ice cream with a homemade hot fudge sauce. And I have to say it’s also one of my favorites. Cream, sugar, butter and chocolate! Easy peasy but oh so delicious… and definitely a go to treat. Whether by the spoonful or heated and used over ice cream, it’s heavenly!

  4. Thank you for sharing your recipe. One of my favorite cookies is No bake chocolate oatmeal cookies.

  5. Hi Julie,

    My grandpa was a dairy farmer too! He was an amazing man and I’m so proud to be his granddaughter.

    I remember going out to the milk tank with an empty pitcher and getting fresh milk for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some of my best childhood memories are from the farm.

    Thanks for stopping by today and for sharing your memory and your favorite dessert,

  6. Hi Marinda,

    Love those cinnamon rolls! My husband’s grandmother is famous for hers and I come close but can’t quite match her abilities. 🙂

    Thanks for stopping by!

  7. Charlene,

    No Bake Cookies are fantastic! I can totally justify eating anything with oatmeal for breakfast. 🙂

  8. Hi Lucy, my fav dessert is anything and everything chocolate 😍 Sorry when it comes to chocolate there’s no choice, I’m all in.. 😍

  15. Leslie,
    Lava cake! If I am going out for my birthday, I pick a restaurant that has lava cake n the menu. 🙂

  16. Britney,

    Thanks for entering. My mom makes a FAN-TA-STIC chocolate chip cheese cake. I would even clean bathrooms to earn one slice. 🙂

  17. I LOVE making desserts and, in fact, when we invite company over, dessert is usually the first thing I plan. One of my favourites is a chocolate raspberry cream cheese pie. I have yet to find someone that doesn’t like it!

  19. My favorite dessert is what my mother used to call Cherries in the Snow, made with a saltines and egg whites in the base, baked, then whipped topping and garnished with cherries. It’s our Christmas tradition and we look forward to it every year. I love plain old-fashioned cheesecake too, no topping.

  21. Lucy that’s so neat your grandpa was a dairy farmer too. I didn’t meet my grandfather, he passed away about 10 years before I was born. But the stories about him show he was a great man too! Some of my favorite memories are also of being at the farm, helping feed the calves and herd in the cows and playing in the cemetery right next to the barn where our family are buried. We would take pitchers and fill them with milk in the tank room too. So yummy! My uncle sold all his cows when I got married and that’s one experience I wish my daughters could experience. Thanks for sharing your memory too! I’ve been thinking about all my memories associated with the dairy today.

  23. I love cheesecake, mostly plain but I like fun flavors, too. Checking out those cowboys of your now 😊

  26. Thank you Lucy for this recipe. My mouth was watering just picturing them. My all time favorite is a homemade Italian cookie my grandmother made called Cucidata. Figs, nuts, raisins etc. It takes so much work we only have it at Christmas. But I had a dessert recently that was chocolate cake covered in chocolate sauce and filled with raspberry sauce. OMGoodness. 🙂 Awesome.
    Carol L

  27. Love almost any dessert, but think cheesecake would win out for very best! Thanks for the chance!

  29. Congratulations, Cheryl Hastings!! You are the winner of the cookbook duo!

    Thanks to all who participated. I gained three pounds just reading reading the comments. 🙂

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