Allie Pleiter shares a holiday recipe her heroine would enjoy

It’s always fun to have a holiday book out at Christmastime.  My “A Ranger for the Holidays” is no exception.  I have loved being part of the Lone Star Cowboy League series, and am especially proud that this book has been nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award and received an RT Top Pick.  Amelia and Finn have been through a lot to get to their happy ending—they deserve a bit of recognition.  And we certainly can’t forget the true star of the book, Amelia’s lovable pug Bug.

Amelia loves the holidays even if Finn can’t yet understand why they bother him so. Given how she is “of the opinion that pie makes everything better”—an opinion I heartily endorse—I like to think Amelia would have enjoyed my favorite holiday recipe.  That’s why I’m sharing it with you.  It’s from the Trim Healthy Mama eating program, so it’s a sweet that’s good for you (my favorite kind!).

Cranberry Pie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oat fiber (I occasionally cheat and just use oats I’ve ground up in the blender)

3 eggs

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1/4 tsp Xanthum gum (optional)

1/2 cup stevia blend (I use Truvia)

pinch of sea salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup or 1 stick butter

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

whipped cream for topping (my personal addition!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the stick of butter into small chunks and put into a mixing bowl with all the other ingredients except the cranberries.  This is easiest if the butter is soft.
3. Combine all ingredients really well (mushing with hands works best but is rather messy).
4. Add cranberries and mix again.
5. Put mixture into a well-greased pie dish.
6. Bake on middle or high rack for 30-40 minutes

It makes a great treat, a good choice to bring to a holiday party, or my favorite time to eat pie: breakfast!  Enjoy, and Merry Christmas from the Pleiter household!

Allie Pleiter on being bossy

I admit it: I’m bossy.

I was a bossy little girl, now I’m a bossy woman.  My mom was a bossy woman (she preferred to think of it as “leadership,” and I’ve been known to do the same), and I suspect my daughter has no fear of telling others what they ought to do. When I directed theatrical musicals in college, someone gave me a shirt that said “BOSS LADY.”  Hmm.

In my writing, I like to think this means I create heroines with no shortage of spunk.  They speak their minds, they get things done, and they are just as likely to save the hero as he is to save her.

In my life, it means I have to work on my collaborative skills.  I am a do-it-myself kind of gal by nature, and that doesn’t always serve me well.  I always say I’d rather chair a committee than sit on a poorly run one—something that gets me in more “chairs” than is perhaps wise.  As such, one of my goals for this year has been to up my collaboration game.  To ensure that my “let’s work together” doesn’t immediately disintegrate into “here’s what I think you ought to do.”

Let’s just say I’m a work in progress.

If you’re a writer, however, you can see some of the fruits of that labor in my next project, which just happens to be WRITING SUCCESS, a compilation of great writing craft books by some outstanding fellow authors.

No, I didn’t co-author anything—I can barely let anyone in the kitchen when I cook, so co-authoring is way beyond me at the moment.  But my fellow authors and I have joined forces for a pretty sweet deal of technique books releasing October 27 for an irresistible price.  If you aspire to write, or know someone who does, it’s hard to beat all these books for under a buck!

My contribution to this compilation is my beloved Chunky Method Handbook.  This compilation is only e-book, but don’t worry if you are the kind of writer who needs a hard copy—it is still available as a single volume.

My next “plays well with others” project?  I have the third book in the Lone Star Cowboy Leage Love Inspired continuity series.  

See, I’m getting less bossy all the time…..