Winter Blogfest: Sarita Leone

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of Sterling’s Way.

Pumpkin Bread

The holidays are a time for family, fun—and food! Families and friends gather around kitchen or dining room tables and spend hours catching up. Good times, right? 

That is the way things are now, but it is also part of holiday celebrations that took place in the frontier days of the wild west. Sure, there may have been a train robbery, cattle rustling, or dustup at the local saloon thrown in, but back in the day families did settle around camp fires and kitchen tables to share the joy and tastes of the season. 

A Wylder Christmas, set in the Wyoming territory in December 1878 features a holiday celebration. Every family in town contributes to the festive food tables—the way many of us do potluck dinners now. Gertie, one of Wylder’s most helpful citizens, bakes one of her family’s treasured treats. Her pumpkin bread is praise-worthy and loved by all. 

I bake pumpkin bread for our festivities, too, so I’m sharing my recipe with you. It may not be as great as Gertie’s, but I hope it adds some cheer to your holiday table!  

Pumpkin Bread  

½ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

½ cup light brown sugar

½ cup sugar

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla 

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg
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¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup almond milk (you can use your milk of choice here)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Grease and lightly flour a bread pan.

Combine wet ingredients in one bowl. 

Combine dry ingredients in a second bowl. 

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth. 

Pour into bread pan. 

Place pan in the oven and bake for about an hour. When you’re getting close to the full hour, check for doneness by inserting a knife near the center. When the knife comes out clean, the bread is done. 

Cool on a wire rack before cutting. 

Inside tip: I bake an extra loaf or two to use for toast or even French toast! Yum!   

Can a Christmas miracle bring a southern belle into the arms of a Union soldier?

Violet Bloom leaves Charleston to come west as a mail-order bride. But when she steps off the stagecoach, she&’s greeted by tragic news. She vows to begin anew in Wylder, to lay haunting memories to rest, and find peace.

Former Union soldier Thomas Harvey’s dreams of homesteading are crushed, along with his heart, at the passing of his wife. He moves to town and struggles to survive—not for himself, but for his spirited young daughter.

After Thomas rescues Violet during a snowstorm, neither has any thought of romance. But Christmas magic is in the air. It’s a time of forgiveness and new beginnings—even for lost souls.

Sarita Leone loves happy endings—in life and on the page.

When she’s not busy writing her next novel, this adventure-loving yoga teacher likes to hike, travel, and dance beneath the stars. She studies languages, enjoys making a mess in the kitchen, and never says “no” to fun. Finding pockets of peace everywhere she goes, this author plans to make every moment of this journey count.

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Buy the book at Amazon.

Winter Blogfest: Sarita Leone

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a $5 gift card to Starbucks.

Shoeing Through the Winter

I live in the northeast. We pretty much enjoy all four seasons, and I definitely take my activity cues from Mother Nature. Swimming in the summer, raking in the fall, and planting in the spring. Winter? It’s a big deal here—it almost seems like it should be two seasons instead of just one. Cold and colder—or snowy and snowier, maybe.

Things should slow down, given the icy roads and wintery winds but just the opposite happens. The cold weather brings so much activity! People are shopping, meal planning, travel planning—there’s so much to do and so much of it is ridiculously frenzied. Along with the pre-holiday excitement, there’s an almost-insane pace to get everything done despite darkness coming early.

Except here, in my little corner of the world. I don’t get caught up in the “big plans” for the holidays that so many do. I make a conscious decision to hunker down and witness winter unfolding. If anything, life actually slows once the frost hits the pumpkin!

I’m big on enjoying nature even when bright lights beckon from city streets. So I stick to my following the seasons routine, which makes for a much calmer end to my year.

My biggest excitement about the winter season? I can break out my snowshoes! That’s right, I love to hike across snowy meadows and through silent forests. It’s a wonderfully peaceful way to spend an afternoon or even grab some exercise early in the morning before I settle down at my desk. Who needs the gym when Old Man Winter calls? Snowshoeing is great for burning calories and if you move quickly enough, the heart rate ramps right up!

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Are there any winter sports that bring you pleasure?

The Octopus isn’t an urban myth—and its agents are anything but ordinary. The intelligence bureau is so well-hidden most doubt its existence. A handful know its location. And fewer walk the halls in the subterranean compound. Benjamin Sinclair didn’t ask to be a scientific miracle but every mission has its risks and one perfectly-placed bullet ended his life—for a brief moment in time. Nicole Anima battles demons every day. Life as a paranormal resources operative gives her tortured mind a rest—and keeps her from contemplating her own death. When Anima and Sinclair partner on a globe-trotting race to eliminate the threat about to cripple humanity, all hell breaks loose. Leaping from planes, crashing into continents, dealing with voodoo priestesses, and running through jungles with zombies hot on their trail doesn’t leave much time for romance, but this duo somehow manages to sizzle. Two agents. Telepathic mind paired with regenerated commando. One world—and a mission to save it.

About the Author: Sarita Leone is an award-winning author who has written romance in many forms including Regency, paranormal, and contemporary. She loves happily-ever-afters in any setting!

When she’s not writing, Ms. Leone spends her time hiking, learning languages, and traveling. She loves adventure and can pack a suitcase, grab her passport, and hit the road in less time than it takes to peel an apple!

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