#HappyNewYear #food #foodie #cooking #stutter #stutterer #romance #romancenovels #Christianfiction #CeceliaDowdy

I hope all of you had a wonderful New Year!

As mentioned in my last newsletter, we had cornbread, black-eyed peas, greens, and chicken for New Year’s.

Here’s a picture of our meal! It was delicious! I had purchased a huge bag of greens from the store. The bag was about twice the size of what I’d normally purchase. I don’t think I’ve ever made such a big pot of greens in my life! We were eating greens for days. They were delicious!

We cooked the chicken in the air fryer.

Now that Christmas is over, and winter is here, many of you may have time to settle down and read a good book during the cold winter months!

I wanted to share how I came up with the premise for my novella Sugar and Spice.

Have you ever known anybody who stutters? Do you know what they did to overcome their stutter?

When my son was young, between the ages of 3-7, he suffered from stuttering. His stutter was quite strong, and we had to go to speech therapy for years. We ended up seeing three different therapists for long blocks of time.

When my son was having sessions with his last therapist, I was speaking with her. I asked her if she’d ever had any male adult patients who stuttered. She told me that she had one. She said that this man had stuttered his entire life. The only reason he was seeking help was because he had a high-level corporate job and they required that he get help for his stutter. I believe she said he had to speak to many people, and his stutter caused issues.

Of course, she didn’t tell me the identity of this person. She may not have been at liberty to share the details outlined above.

After our conversation, I thought about it. I thought, how terrible for this poor man! What if he wanted to go out on a date with someone? What if he stuttered so badly that he couldn’t even ask a woman out?

That thought stayed planted in the background of my mind for years. Sometimes, I might get a kernel of an idea and it’s rooted into my head for a long time. I might not even realize I’m actually thinking of a story until years later.

My one conversation with my son’s speech therapist grew into Sugar and Spice. In Sugar and Spice, Mason is a stutterer. He’s also an identical twin. Here are more details about this amazing love story:



Sheila Parks is stunned when Mason Smith, the identical twin brother of her ex-boyfriend Reese, moves to Blue Spring and opens a bakery. Reese’s cruel breakup still bothers her and seeing somebody who looks just like him is a painful reminder of her predicament. Unemployed, Sheila needs financial help and it appears that Mason can assist her with her problem. Can she learn to trust a man who looks just like her ex?

Mason is stunned when Sheila storms into his bakery, mistakenly thinking that he’s Reese. Mason is used to comforting his womanizing brother’s ex-girlfriends. A stutterer, Mason has always had a hard time socializing with others. However, he finds himself smitten with beautiful Sheila. Can he control his stutter so that he can ask Sheila to be his date to his grandmother’s Christmas birthday party?

Both Sheila and Mason deal with past pains as they work together during the Christmas season.

Sugar and Spice is a sweet, emotional Christmas romance that you will always remember! Download now! This is a nice treat for you and all of your friends!

Have you ever known anybody who stutters? Do you know what they did to overcome their stutter?

Have a blessed week! Let me know if there’s anything exciting or troublesome going on in your life right now! I love hearing from all of you!

I hope all of you had a glorious week!

I’m writing this from a hotel room in Durham North Carolina.

Do you have favorite Christmas shows that you watch each year?

I didn’t celebrate Christmas as a child, so, I embrace traditions as an adult. Some of these shows, I’ve been watching since I was a kid. Although Christmas was not celebrated, we were allowed to watch Christmas shows.

Here’s a list of a few of my favorite movies.

A Charlie Brown Christmas – I love this cute short Christmas show! I especially like it when Linus tells Charlie Brown the true meaning of Christmas! Plus, the music is wonderful. Charlie Brown has some nice jazzy tunes!

The Polar Express. I love this magical story. From the very beginning of my childhood, I was told that Santa didn’t exist. I’ve often wondered what it would’ve been like to believe in Santa. I believe this movie gives us a taste of what it’s like to believe in Santa as a child! This belief even grows into adulthood!

Home Alone 1 & 2. I love both of these because they are hilarious!

Here’s the rest of my list:

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

The Year Without a Santa Claus

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

The Nutcracker – The Ballet – NOT the Disney Movie. I watch several versions of this. One of my favorites was made in the seventies and features Mikhail Baryshnikov.

A Very Merry Mix-up – A cute. sweet Hallmark movie.

I Believe in Santa – this is one of the newer additions to my list – since it was just made in 2022. It’s about a grown man, a lawyer, who believes in Santa Claus!

This list includes some of my faves. There are others, too. However, those are at the top of my list.

So, what are your favorite Christmas shows? Email me & tell me about them!

Our son made it home for Christmas! How wonderful to have his company for a month!

Since I’m finished with graduate school, I can focus on getting him prepared to take his driving test to get his license. He got his learner’s permit over a year ago, but I was so focused on school and work, we never found the time to take him for his driving test!

Speaking of people coming home for Christmas – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses has returned home for Christmas! He has a dream! His dream is to own his own bakery – and he’s anxious to pursue it! As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true. Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends. Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season. When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love. Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life. Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it. Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend! Download all of my Christmas novels for fun, emotional holiday reading!

#Christmas #graduation #CeceliaDowdy #holidays #fiction #Christmasfiction #hea #Christianromance #romance

I hope all of you had a glorious week!

Have you ever had a dream that you wanted to pursue?

On Friday, December 15th, I officially graduated from The University of Maryland Global Campus!

As mentioned previously, my degree is a Master of Science in Accounting and Finance!

I want to encourage all of you to follow your dreams! It’s never too late.

I wanted to initially go to graduate school when I was in my twenties, but, the timing never seemed to be right.

I pursued my writing career, and it was joyous to see my books distributed in bookstores & megastores such as Walmart & Target, all over the world!

Although the writing somewhat pacified me, I always felt a gentle tug, internally, whenever someone mentioned graduate school. I always felt as if I never finished my education.

That gentle tug intensified sometime after my mom had her stroke. I realized that life is short, and if we want to pursue something, we just need to buckle down and do it, no matter what age we are!

I’m 57 and I’m finally receiving my degree! (They did not officially bestow our degrees yet – I’m supposed to receive my degree in the mail in January! I will post a pic when I receive it!)

What a glorious feeling to finally accomplish this!

So, have you ever had a dream that you wanted to pursue? Did you pursue your dream(s)? If you haven’t yet pursued your dream – do you plan to do so? Email me! I want to hear all about it!

Celebrating graduation with hubby & family! Later, hubby and I went to Blues Alley! We ate blackened catfish, beans, rice, & bread pudding & chocolate cake for dessert! I forgot to take pics of the food – so here’s my cleaned plate & hubby enjoying his drink!

Speaking of pursing dreams – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses has a dream! His dream is to own his own bakery – and he’s anxious to pursue it!

As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.

Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.

Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.

When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.

Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.

Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.

Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!

Download all of my Christmas novels for fun, emotional holiday reading!

Have a blessed week! If/when you decorate your home for Christmas, please share pics! I love Christmas decorations!

#Christmas #Gaylord #icesculpture #ice #sculpture #fiction #CeceliaDowdy #romancenovels #romancenovel #romance #Christianfiction #Christmasfiction

I hope all of you have had a wonderful week!

Have you ever seen a live ice sculpture?

I attended the ICE display at the Gaylord at the National Harbor. The theme was Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer! I love watching Rudolph each year. So nostalgic for me. We didn’t celebrate Christmas in my household, so I embraced my own Christmas fun by watching cute, Christmas-themed shows.

Rudolph really resonates with me because Hermey wanted to be a dentist, which went against the mold of being an elf! Being a romance writer doesn’t exactly fit within the mold of working a nine to five job. Although I’ve still had to work over the years, I really feel that writing is what I’m supposed to be doing – kind of like how Hermey feels that he should be a dentist.

All of the sculptures were made totally out of ice! It was so pretty!

At the end, there was a religious display of ice sculptures that included Mary, Joseph, Jesus, & an angel. The ending was so pretty and emotional. The religious sculptures didn’t contain color such as the other ones.

Have you ever seen a real ice sculpture? If so, where did you see it? Were you able to watch them create the sculpture live?

Here’s a few pics from yesterday’s excursion!

Me, when I first arrived at the Gaylord.

This is me touring the ice sculpture display! It was obviously FREEZING in there! They gave us a special parka to wear during the tour.

Speaking of Christmas – be sure to check out some of my Christmas novels for some fun, emotional holiday reading!

Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses returns home for the holidays. As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! A dreamer – he longs to own his own bakery. I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.

Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.

Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.

When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.

Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.

Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.

Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!

Have a blessed week! If/when you decorate your home for Christmas, please share pics! I love Christmas decorations!

I hope all of you have had a wonderful week!

Have you finished your Christmas shopping?

Speaking of Christmas, I watched a cute movie the other day on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. It’s called Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas.

I blogged about the movie here.

The movie is about a young woman who has amnesia. Since she can’t remember her identity & has no ID, they call her Jane. Jane is troubled about not knowing about her past – I’m sure most would feel this way if they couldn’t remember their identity.

I’ve noticed amnesia is a popular trope used in romance novels and romance movies. Although it is often used, I seldom hear about such an illness in real life.

Have you, or someone you know, ever suffered from amnesia? How long did it take for the memories to come back – if such memories came back at all?

I’ve noticed in films and books that usually amnesia occurs because of some sort of accident, like a blow to the head, which rattles the brain.

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing an amnesia story some day, so, thought I’d ask.

Here’s a few pics of our son playing in the band! He’ll be home for Christmas in a few weeks!

Speaking of Christmas homecomings – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses loves returns home for the holidays. As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! A dreamer – he longs to own his own bakery. I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.

Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.

Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.

When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.

Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.

Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.

Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!

Have a blessed week! If/when you decorate your home for Christmas, please share pics! I love Christmas decorations!

I hope all of you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ours was pretty fantastic. We visited with relatives. My husband and I stayed at the historic Vandiver Inn in Havre de Grace, Maryland.

The Vandiver Inn is a mansion that was built by Murray Vandiver for his new wife, Annie Clayton Vandiver, in 1886. Murray was a banker, politician, & mayor of Havre de Grace Maryland. He also owned a lumber company.

I didn’t take any pictures of the main room of our suite. By the time I remembered, we’d already unpacked and tossed our stuff around the room – and it was too messy! 😊

This is the adjoining room in our suite. It has a daybed, a fire place, a mirror, table & chairs, as well as a desk. That desk looked pretty old. The opening beneath it was so small that I could barely fit my legs underneath while I sat there!

Look at this cute little child-sized rocking chair in our room!

The Vandiver Inn is a bed and breakfast. This is the dining room. I really like the stained glass window.

This is the outside of the inn. There are tables to sit and relax, and maybe enjoy a cup of coffee! It’s nice to visit historic places and learn more about the area.

Share!

Please share your Thanksgiving photos & memories of the good times that you had! Email me!

I’m afraid I forgot to take pictures of the food. The only pic I have is of the sweet potato pie that I made.

We had turkey, stuffing, spicy greens with cabbage, mashed potatoes, gravy, ham, homemade dinner rolls, & cranberry sauce. Sweet potato pie & lemon pound cake for dessert!

On Black Friday, we went shopping with our son. He needed a new computer for school. The store was very crowded and busy. We dropped our son back to his college dorm on Saturday afternoon before we headed back home.

Speaking of Thanksgiving and baking sweet potato pies – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses loves to bake. As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! A dreamer – he longs to own his own bakery. I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.

Thanksgiving is the stepping-stone to Christmas. Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.

Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.

When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.

Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.

Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.

Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!

Have a blessed week! If/when you decorate your home for Christmas, please share pics! I love Christmas decorations!

#Thanksgiving #holiday #holidays #Christmas #cake #baking #Christianfiction #Christianromance #romancenovel #inspirational #baking #recipe

Thanksgiving Love!

I hope all of you have had a wonderful week!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes with you. I’ve shared this before, but, I’ve tweaked it a bit.

When you make this Old-Fashioned Lemon Pound cake, it’s best to make it in loaf pans. I used to bake this in a tube pan. The cake is still delicious when baked in a tube pan – but I found the exterior was a bit too thick and dark since baking in a tube pan increases the baking time.

If you bake the cake in 2 loaf pans, it turns out just right. I suppose that’s why we often see pound cakes baked in loaf pans – cuts down on baking time and makes a better exterior crumb.

It’s best to use real butter instead of margarine. Some people want to skip grating the lemon rind – don’t skip this step! The fresh lemon rind adds an extra zing to the cake. Also, it’s best to use freshly squeezed lemon juice. Here’s the recipe:

OLD FASHIONED LEMON POUND CAKE

1 ½ cups butter (3 sticks)

3 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

Freshly squeezed juice of one lemon

Grated rind of one lemon

6 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup evaporated milk

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two loaf pans. Beat butter in large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add sugar ½ cup at a time, creaming well after each addition. Stir in vanilla, lemon extract, juice and rind. Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Stir thoroughly after each addition. Pour into prepared pans. Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. If cake is not done after 50-60 minutes, bake longer, until wooden pick comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes; remove from pans.

GLAZE:

Sift one cup of confectioners’ sugar into a bowl. Squeeze juice of one lemon into a separate bowl. Remove seeds from the lemon juice. Mix lemon juice with confectioners’ sugar and drizzle over cooled cake.

Enjoy!

I’ll be baking this cake for Thanksgiving. We’re picking up our son from college on Wednesday. We’ll then go to my sister’s place for the holiday. We’ll be staying in Havre de Grace Maryland Wednesday through Saturday.

I might make a sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving, too, if I feel like it! Pies taste so much better with a homemade crust.

Folks often debate about pumpkin and sweet potato pie. Which do you prefer?

Will you be baking desserts for Thanksgiving? If so, what are you making?

Coffee Time!

Every morning, I enjoy a large cup of coffee. Here’s a pic of me enjoying my brew earlier today!

Speaking of baking – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses loves to bake. As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! A dreamer – he longs to own his own bakery. I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.

Thanksgiving is the stepping-stone to Christmas. Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.

Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.

When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.

Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.

Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.

Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!

House Trouble

I hope all of you have had a fantastic week!

We had some trouble in our house last week. Our hot water heater busted. Water was all over the basement and a bunch of our stuff got wet.

We were able to get he heater replaced fairly quickly, but it was still a bit of an inconvenience. We didn’t have hot water for a couple of days. Cold showers are so uncomfortable! Brrr…!

While we were clearing out all of the wet stuff underneath the stairs, I came across these items! I guess we purchased a cake topper but never used it. The decorative comb – I wore that in my hair on our wedding day.

Home Life

Our son has been busy playing in the Towson University Marching Band. He shared a few pics with us – which were taken while they were practicing. He loves playing his saxophone! He’s been taking private lessons since sixth grade!

Thanks for your suggestions about lowering my cholesterol. I might try implementing oatmeal into my diet again. I had a bowl this morning. It was delicious!

I’m continuing with my walking, when I’m able to do so. Here’s a pic of the trees near my house.

Speaking of Thanksgiving – that holiday is the stepping-stone for Christmas.

How will you be celebrating Thanksgiving this year?

Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.

Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm up your heart and soul during the holiday season.

When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.

Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own, and feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. When she reconnects with Jamal, it’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.

Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.

Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

I hope all of you have had a fantastic week!

Earlier today, I had the pleasure of turning in my FINAL EXAM! This is the exam for the very last class for my graduate program! I’M FINISHED & and SO RELIEVED!

My degree is Master of Science in Accounting and Finance! Commencement will be in December! I’ll be sure to post pics!

It’s been a while since I’ve updated you on all that’s happening on the home front. Our son recently visited for the weekend. First time we’d seen him since he went away to college! It was nice having him home!

My husband, Chris, recently celebrated his birthday. He requested that I bake him a cake. I had too much homework to do so we ordered cupcakes instead. Don’t they look yummy?

My knees have been bothering me lately. I think I’m getting old. When I can manage it, I go for long walks around the neighborhood. Since I’m done with school, I’ll have more free time so that I can increase my exercise. My cholesterol is pretty high, so, I’m working to improve it. If you have any suggestions, I’d appreciate it. Here’s a pic that I took after one of my walks. Not sure why my eyes look closed! I guess I was looking down at the camera trying to get a good picture!

Halloween night was pretty quiet in my neighborhood. I was busy working late and doing homework, plus, my outside light had burned out, so, I didn’t give out any candy. I’m wondering if kids go out trick-or-treating very much anymore. If you have kids/grandkids, do they go out for Halloween?

When I was a kid we didn’t participate in Halloween. My dad brought home lots of candy for us, though. Speaking of candy, here’s a pic of my little grandniece after she went trick or treating! She hit the jackpot!

Speaking of holidays and candy, Christmas is next month. Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm up your heart and soul during the holiday season.

When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.

Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. When she reconnects with Jamal, it’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.

Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.

Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!

Enjoy the rest of your week!