Home on the Range Holiday Cookies

I'm Victoria Bylin . . . I've written eight western romances for Love Inspired Historicals and thoroughly enjoyed stories set in the old West. at the same time, I enjoy the modern conveniences in my kitchen. With the fall season in the air, II've started to think about baking.

 My grandmother made these cookies when I was a little girl, and I’ve kept the tradition going for my sons. You’ll find similar recipes in just about any cookbook, but this one has everything . . . and lots of it. You can add or subtract the extra ingredients as you like. 

If you make this cookies for Christmas, red and green M&Ms are a festive touch. And for Halloween and fall, use Reese’s pieces.

HOME ON THE RANGE HOLIDAY COOKIES

1-1/2 c. butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking power

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 c. oatmeal (regular not instant or steel cut)

2 c. Rice Krispies

1 can shredded coconut (7 oz or so)

1 big bag chocolate chips

1 large box raisins

½ lb. walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar and vanilla. Add beaten eggs. Cream well. Add dry ingredients (sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt). Mix well. Add coconut, chocolate chips and nuts.  Flatten into small cookies with wet hands.  Bake for 10-12 minutes. This is a double recipe, makes 16 dozen.

I hope you enjoy the recipe!  My books are available on Amazon , B&N, and Christianbook.com. 

We're Thankful for Readers

November is the month for Thanksgiving. Here on the Craftie site, we're especially thankful for readers. So, let's celebrate one.

Welcome, Julie! Tell us a little about yourself.

Let’s just say I am an early bird eclectic. I got married at 19 to my own personal hero and had my children early too. I have a microbiology degree from NC State and later went back to school to earn my Masters from Duke University’s Divinity School. This is a problem during ACC basketball season. I have worked in a laboratory, run a Vacation Bible School for five hundred children, consulted on a website for senior citizens and their caregivers, pastored a church building a sanctuary, and worked for a cancer focused non-profit. I once said, “if I don’t do anything after 40, I will still have had a full life.”

These days I am a card and paper artist, volunteer for an organization rearranging cast-off flowers and makes new arrangements for those in need, and am a very young “Grandma Juju.” I love my life and all the time I have to read, write, and create.

How did you discover Love Inspired Romance and how long have you been reading them?

Seven years ago, my mother died unexpectedly. It was life changing event in ways both big and small. I decided I needed to read for entertainment more but picked up a couple of books with surprise unhappy endings. [Spoiler Alert: I could show you the wall dents from when I threw Cold Mountain and My Sister’s Keeper across the room.] So I decided to try romance books because I heard they came with guaranteed HEAs!

I credit Linda Goodnight and Victoria Bylin for getting me reading inspirational romance. When I began glomming romance, I found myself drawn to contemporaries and historical westerns. I read everything Linda and Vicki had written. Then I noticed they also wrote for Love Inspired. Truthfully, I was leery about inspirational romance. How could someone combine stories about faith and love? Would they be sappy, too simplistic, too “religious” or not enough? But I was thrilled! What a wonderful discovery Love Inspired and its community of authors have been for me. Of course, I may be one of the only folks who writes to an LI author saying how “theologically sound” I find their books - in addition to being wonderful love stories.

What is your favorite Love Inspired Romance? Why?

Nope, not going to answer that one. Don’t ask me which child is my favorite either! I read more contemporary and historical than suspense. I have my favorite authors but specifically buy the new authors as they debut. I believe it is a calling to support and encourage inspirational authors in all the sub-genres out there.


What are you reading today?

Just finished Pamela Nissen’s Rocky Mountain Homecoming and Renee Ryan’s Courting the Enemy. Now I am enjoying Pamela Tracy’s Once Upon A Cowboy. (Disclaimer: I was reading Pamela’s book before she asked me to do this interview.) I don’t read a lot of the suspense LI books but I may have to glom her mysteries now.

Do you write, also? If so, tell us what you’re working on?

I have been a writer since I was little. In addition to sermons, I used to write devotionals and essays for a national publishing house. I have always written from “the other point of view.” These days, my writing friends are encouraging me to explore fiction. I am fleshing out some stories including an idea about a woman who finds herself fingered as a former “other woman,” affecting her new faith and relationship with a possible love interest. My friends have said if anyone could make folks see her side of the story, it would be me. We will see.

Besides the Craftie Ladies, tell us two or three other Blogs you like to visit and why.

I visit www.seekerville.blogspot.com for their writing tips and encouragement of newbie writers. I love www.petticoatsandpistols.com for their always interesting background on the Old West. Don’t get me started on all the wedding blogs I am reading getting ready for my daughter’s wedding in October.

What are you three favorite books of all time (I know, hard to narrow it down). Tell us, what spiraled them to the top of your list? What did the author do that won you over?

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott taught me about the writer’s longing to write but I wonder if it was really my “first” romance book. The young loves and adventures of the sisters were described with great detail and written with warmth, humor and pathos.

Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer introduced me to characters that were not glamorous but tugged at my heart. The Depression and WWII setting was so vividly described. Authors who are painstaking about details are put on my auto-buy list.

I read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens each year on my birthday in December. A tale of redemption, lost love, found hope, and a carefully entertaining commentary on the state of society at the time.

Anything else you'd like to add?

If any of the Love Inspired authors have ever wondered if they “make a difference,” they do! I can’t tell you the number of times I have picked up a Love Inspired book and the scripture verse, story line or something a character says jumps out at me, lifting me up and encouraging me. Thank you all.