by Heather Redmond
When it comes to the holidays, old memories are often the best. Nostalgia beats the new stuff every time. While I might be guilty of switching out my mother’s (delicious) Thanksgiving stuffing for a new version since I became a vegetarian years ago, when it comes to holiday baking, I’m a purist.
I still have the notebook I started in fourth grade, which eventually became my recipe book. I still have it and refer to it often, tattered though it is. One of these days I had better digitize every page before it falls apart.
Here is one of my recipes from the good old days:
Chocolate-Mint Layered Bars
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/2 C butter
2 eggs
1 C sugar
1/2 C flour
1/2 C almonds, chopped
350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Melt the chocolate and butter together. Thirty second increments in a microwave until they blend is wise. Beat together the eggs and the sugar. Add the flour, nuts, and chocolate mixture and stir. Pour into a greased and floured 8×8 pan. Allow to cool.
1 1/2 C sifted powdered sugar
3 TBL soft butter
2 TBL cream
3/4 TSP peppermint extract
Mix and spread across bottom layer. Chill.
2 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 TSP butter
Melt chocolate and butter together using the same method as above. Drizzle over the top of the chilled pan, making festive patterns. When cool, cut into bars.
Author Bio
Heather Redmond is an author of commercial fiction and also writes as Heather Hiestand. First published in mystery, she took a long detour through romance before returning. Though her last British-born ancestor departed London in the 1920s, she is a committed anglophile, Dickens devotee, and lover of all things nineteenth century. Her current release is A Christmas Carol Murder, with Tattooed to Death out on January 5th.
Author Bio
She has lived in Illinois, California, and Texas, and now resides in a small town in Washington State with her husband and son. The author of many novels, novellas, and short stories, she has achieved best-seller status at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Apple Books. Her 2018 Heather Redmond debut, A Tale of Two Murders, reached #1 in Historical Mysteries at Amazon as well as being in the Top 100 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble (Top 20), and Apple Books (Top 40). It is also a multi-week Barnes & Noble Hardcover Mystery Bestseller and a Historical Mystery bestseller on Kobo Books.
Her two current mystery series are “A Dickens of a Crime” and “the Journaling mysteries.” She writes for Kensington and Severn House.
She is the 2020-21 President of the Columbia River Chapter of Sisters in Crime (SinC). For more information, please visit her website.
