TRADITIONS
I wanted to take a moment and talk to you about traditions. We all have them for one reason or another, passed on from generation to generation. But I want to talk specifically about holiday traditions. Christmas is fast approaching. My first book, a novella titled, HEAVEN SENT, is due out Dec. 19th
I wanted to take a moment to talk to you about traditions.
Writing comes from real life events sometimes. In Heaven Sent, the tradition is that everyone in the family puts their tree up the day after Thanksgiving. This is something that we do in my family also, but not for the reasons I give in my book.
One of the traditions I love the most within my family is that every year, the women get together and we have a candy making day. The girls have to be over the age of 13 and we rotate houses each year so that everyone gets a chance to host it. We start at 10 AM and we make cookies, wreaths (like Rice Krispy treats but you use Corn Flakes and turn them green with red hots), buckeyes, chocolate covered pretzels, many different flavors of rock candy, thin mint cookies, and so on. The list is very large. Then we divide it all up. Around supper time, the men bring the kids and we have supper and play games.
I love this tradition. Not only for the goodies we make, but for the time spent with the women in my family. We tell stories, laugh, and are brought together by the love we share for each other.
Traditions are important. They’re what keeps the past alive. My grandmother is no longer living, but on this particular day, she is in our hearts, memories, and our stories. The world is changing around us every day, but on this day, I like knowing that we are doing something that my ancestors did. The only thing separating us from them is the gas stove. I like the idea of one day doing something with my grandchildren that I did with my grandmother.
So tell me, what is your favorite holiday tradition? What about this tradition do you love the most? If you don’t have one, it’s never too late to start one of your own.
I will leave you with a recipe that we use every year. We make mice and they are so cute.
1) Take a cherry with the stem and dip it in chocolate and add to it a Hershey’s kiss. Make sure the point of the kiss sticks out. It’s the nose. The stem of the cherry is your tail. Use chocolate covered icing as your glue.
2) Take two almond slices and put in between the body pieces to make ears. You may have to cut them down for a perfect size.
3) Use a red tube of icing to create a red dot on the tip of its nose and a white tube of icing for its eyes.
4) They are adorable to look at and they don’t last long! Enjoy!
You can learn more about me and my books at www.sarahhoss.com, visit me at my blog or follow me on Twitter or Facebook. If you’d like to get Heaven Sent on your wish list, check out The Wild Rose Press.
Thanks Patricia for having me on your blog today! I have had a great time.
Here’s a blurb for Sarah’s amazing book Heaven Sent and WOW check out the cover!
When forgiveness heals the soul, love heals the heart.
Flight nurse Tenlee Hawkins is used to making quick decisions, but one decision she made the Christmas day her mother died haunts her. Wrestling with the past, she spirals into depression—until the day she finds a man unconscious in her woods and saves his life.
When Sam awakens in the hospital with a concussion and no memory, Tenlee rescues him again. She takes him into her home and her life. But as Sam recovers and remembers who he is, he’s torn. A guardian angel isn’t supposed to fall in love.
As the promise of true love grows, Tenlee realizes that Sam has helped her much more than she ever helped him. But Sam is filled with guilt knowing he must soon leave. Will it take a Christmas miracle to find the life with Tenlee he’s always wanted?
