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Friday, November 30, 2012

Merry #Menage #Giveaway Hop!



Hi all, and welcome to the Divas of Desire stop in the Merry Menage Giveaway Hop sponsored by Day Dreaming, My Secret Romance and The Book Tart. I'm taking part in this hop to celebrate the recent release of my FFM ménage romance His and Hers and Hers.

Kyla Denster and Jordan Brougham are passionately in love. Kyla knows she's lucky to have a guy who uses all his tricks to keep her happy in and out of bed. Jordan knows he's lucky to have such a hot, adventurous girlfriend.

But neither of them knows that their best friend, Cassie DeSantis, wants them both. Cassie's painful past has taught her not to wear her heart on her sleeve.  She keeps quiet, afraid that revealing her feelings would mean losing the two people she cares for most.  Things change one night when an impulsive kiss leads to the three of them spending an incredibly hot night together.

When the couple wants more of Cassie, she leaps at the chance to be with them. But problems arise at her insistence that no one mention the L word and when Jordan and Kyla clash over how to deal with disapproving family.  Their triad relationship will only survive if they all stand together to prove that three is the perfect number—when all three are in love.

Not only is the ménage theme of the hop a perfect fit with this story, the holiday theme is as well! The story takes place from just before Halloween to shortly after Christmas and some life-changing events take place for the Jordan, Kyla and Cassie over the Christmas holiday.
Those of us participating in the hop were asked to share something personal about celebrating Christmas. I'm Italian on my father's side and Scandinavian on my mother's. Both cultures have some interesting ways of celebrating the Christmas season.
On Christmas Eve, many Italian and Italian-American families enjoy a buffet of different kinds of seafood. That meal is known as the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Why seven fishes? Well, some say it's because God took seven days to create the universe. Or maybe because there are seven sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. Or perhaps the explanation, like so many things, will have to remain a mystery.
Something my family often enjoyed Christmas Eve was shrimp, which was a rare treat for us.  A special dish often associated with this feast is salted cod fish or baccalà. I've never had it myself, and to tell the truth am not particularly eager to try. (Hey, I could be wrong, maybe it's very tasty.)

My mother's parents came from Sweden and Denmark and those Scandinavian countries are no slouches either when it comes to Christmas Eve dinner. After a sumptuous meal, which often includes roast pork, duck, goose or ham, rice pudding will be served. Inside the treat is one whole almond or a raisin. Whoever gets the portion with a hidden goodie is given a small gift and promised good luck all year.

A traditional Christmas libation is Gløgg or Glögg. (There seems to be variation of spelling and pronunciation. In our house we pronounced it glug.) This is a beverage made with wine, whiskey and spices and served warm. My mother would make this from my grandfather's recipe.

Here's a recipe that's similar to my grandpa's:

1 bottle of port wine (my mom always used ruby port, but you might prefer something less sweet)
¼ - ½ bottle whiskey
1 cinnamon stick
A few whole cloves
2 – 3 tablespoons sugar (if desired)
1 cup dark raisins
½ cup blanched slivered almonds

Combine the wine, whiskey and spices in a pot and heat on the stove. Once it's hot, remove spices with a slotted spoon and add the raisins and almonds. Serve in small cups with a spoonful of raisins and nuts in each cup (a treat to eat once you've drunk the glogg).

This can be made in advance and stored in wine bottles. It should be reheated to serve.

Yum. Delicious, but it's some powerful stuff!

Now, what's Christmas without gifts? My gift to one lucky commenter is  a $15 gift certificate to Amazon/Barnes and Noble (winner's choice).  This is an international giveaway. To be eligible to win, please do two things:

 1) Follow this blog (if you already follow The Divas of Desire skip this step) and

 2) Leave a comment sharing how you celebrate the holidays. Don't forget to include your email info so I can contact you if you're a winner! The winner will be selected randomly on December 9.

What kind of traditions does your family celebrate?  Do you associate certain holidays with special foods? I'm eager to hear your responses! 

Have a wonderful week, everyone! And don't forget to visit the other stops in the Merry Menage Giveaway Hop!

His and Hers and Hers available at:  Loose Id   Amazon   AllRomance ebooks


Nona Raines
Hot Contemporary Romance
Edgy ~ Emotional ~ Erotic
www.nonaraines.com


54 comments:

  1. We[my family and I] prepare nice meal, decorate the Christmas tree, usually watch something funny on TV, go out to watch fireworks :)
    swordlily_girl[at]yahoo[dot]com

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    1. Very cool, swordlily! I don't think they have Christmas fireworks where I live. That sounds like a very fun way to spend Christmas.

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  2. i follow via email parisfan_ca@yahoo.com

    gfc laurie goudge

    and my fave Christmas tradition is having take out on Christmas eve and watching movies

    parisfan_ca2@yahoo.com

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    1. Take out is a great idea! It lets you enjoy the holiday without spending hours in the kitchen. And there aren't a bunch of pots and pans to wash afterwards!

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  3. we like to go to our town's Christmas Eve Carole sing around the town green and then to candlelight church service
    GFC - Diane Sallans
    sallans d at yahoo dot com

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    1. That's a lovely tradition, Di. Thanks so much for commenting.

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  4. For the holidays, my family and relatives all have a huge dinner together, and afterwards, we open the presents :)
    GFC follower: laceyblossom
    Lacey
    laceyblossom1(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Sounds like a great tradition, Lacey. I hope you're not the only one doing the cooking, lol!

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  5. My tradition is making dinner for my entire family on christmas day!
    realityfun2@gmail.com

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    1. That's a lot of work, Ms. Reality! I hope your family appreciates all the love that goes into it. Thanks for stopping by.

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  6. I can’t wait to just get to spend quality time with my siblings and their very large families. My brother has 7! Kids!!!!
    Thanks for contest Foretta forettarose@yahoo.com

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    1. Kids make Christmas so much fun, don't they, Foretta? They really remind us of the magic of the holiday season.

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  7. Our tradition is the adults to draw names and we get for the kids, we get together either Christmas Eve or before depending on everyone's work schedule then we open those presents then. Then as our small family we open the rest of our gifts Christmas, then have dinner.

    vampiremistress2010(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Sounds like a good system, BHLmistress. It's great to have a big celebration with extended family, but a cozy Christmas at home is a lot of fun too. (And less stressful!)

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  8. Now that my daughter is all grown up and lives in another state, we celebrate Christmas by going to the boyfriend's family's house. All of his family gathers there and we can watch the youngins open their presents and catch up with everyone. His mom is getting older so a lot of the Christmas classics we used to enjoy are no more. She does do this chicken, broccoli, water chesnut casserole for Christmas though that I always associate with the holiday. GFC follower-Scott Wilcox

    Thanks so much for the great giveaway and being a part of this steamy hop!

    Happy Holidays,
    Marlena
    charmedpoms(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Our traditions often tend to change as time goes on, but the casserole sounds yummy! Having kids around during the holidays makes it fun, too. Thanks for stopping by, Marlena.

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  9. We have the whole family over for Christmas and the hubby takes over kitchen duty. We always have a nice honey ham and candied yams(my fav) and loads of pie!

    grapeapril75(AT)gmail.com

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    1. Wow, K. April, you're lucky to have a husband who takes over cooking during the holidays. The honey ham and candy yams sound delish!

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  10. When I started dating my husband, my family did Christmas on the 25th. So to help out, we did Christmas on Christmas Eve and then spent the 25th at his family's house. Last January, my father in law passed away. My mother in law passed in 2004. So we may have to change our days.
    We don't have any specific food for just Christmas. Ham, potatoes, corn, green beans, rolls. basic food.
    luvfuzzzeeefaces at yahoo dot com

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    1. It can be difficult to juggle all the relatives around the holiday and make sure you spend time with everyone, but it sounds like you're doing a good job. Thanks so much for stopping by a commenting.

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  11. GFC follower: Sarah Handrich
    I spend my holidays with my family and the in-laws.
    mamamoss08(at)hotmail(dot)com

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    1. It's great to get together with everyone on the holidays. Thanks for stopping by, Sarah!

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  12. we have the whole family over on christmas eve and open one present with them then there back the next day to eat and open the rest GFC kimberly
    kaholgate at ymail dot com

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    1. That's a great system, Kimberly. That way you get a little peek at Christmas gifts the night before, while still holding off on the big event until Christmas proper.

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  13. Being from Venezuela (now in the US), we like to celebrate Christmas eve by waking up early and preparing a Venezuelan feast for that night :) It's a lot of fun and the food is deliiicious! I love having holiday traditions, especially about food.

    Thanks for the chance.

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    1. Mmm, I'd love to know what some of those Venezeulan foods are, they sound yummy! I love trying new dishes. Thanks for stopping by, Sandra!

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  14. Every year we put up the Christmas tree on the weekend of Thanksgiving. We all spend Saturday together and make it a big deal.
    Great giveaway!
    Merry Christmas
    swkimbell@yahoo.com

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    1. Decorating the tree is so much fun, especially if the whole family is involved. Sounds like a wonderful tradition, Kim!

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  15. We celebrate on Christmas Eve. We have a big dinner and open presents, all the usual Christmas things.

    JYL22075 at gmail dot com

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    1. One good thing about opening gifts on Christmad Eve is the kids don't wake you at 3:00 am to tell you what Santa brought them! That's what my siblings and I used to do to our poor parents, lol.

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  16. Yum! That does sound delicious.

    My favorite holiday tradition is a full day of baking with my family. We make cookies, pie, bread, maybe a new recipe someone wants to try. There's a lot of laughter, spilled flour, possibly some kitchen catastrophes, but always a lot of fun and some great memories.

    dancingcelt at gmail dot com

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    1. That sounds like so much fun, Mer! With so many helping, I'm sure the time flies, not to mention all the goodies to enjoy. Thanks for stopping by.

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  17. We usually open presents at home in the morning and then head to Grandma's house. All the kids exchange gifts (large family so they draw names) then the adults do a chinese auction/exchange:0) Then we eat dinner and by this point everything is over...I goes by so fast.
    Thanks for the giveaway
    Tanya
    my1lulabug at yahoo dot com

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    1. Having a chinese auction type of exchange sounds different and like a bunch of fun, Tanya. It's so wonderful to get together over the holidays, especially when you have a big family.

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  18. I love spending time with my whole family, and with having 7 brothers and sisters and half of them have kids, it really is a houseful! But it's a really good time :)

    evitap67(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. I'm sure with such a large family it gets really busy around the holidays, but having so many children around at Christmas really adds to the holiday! Thanks for stopping by, Evita.

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  19. I usually spend time with my family, drinking wine, exchanging gifts and watching a movie.
    Thank you for the chance!

    GFC follower - Dovile

    spamscape [at] gmail [dot] com

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    1. Sounds like a lovely, stress-free way to spend the holiday, Dovile. Thanks so much for commenting.

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  20. GFC: Fiza Halliwell
    We just spend the days together with the family. And bake & cook together. Not fancy really.

    fiza700[at]gmail[dot]com

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    1. "Not fancy" is my idea of the perfect holiday, Fiza. Sometimes we over-stress ourselves rushing around and forget to just enjoy ourselves. Thanks for stopping by.

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  21. We always have a massive dinner at my grandfathers, its amazing how small the house seems now that us "kids" have children of our own. I remember thinking how big it was when I was younger! Thanks so much for the chance to enter!
    wendynjason04@gmail.com

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    1. I know what you mean, Wendy. Things sure do look different from the perspective of an adult! Thanks a lot for stopping by.

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  22. We always go to my sister's house on Christmas Eve and have lunch and open presents. I always get there early and help get everything ready.
    sstrode at scrtc dot com

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    1. That sounds like a lovely tradition, Sherry, and It's wonderful to be with family during the holidays. Thanks for commenting.

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  23. Christmas is done at home on the qt. We try to be very relaxed and pretty non-structured other than we eat breakfast together before gifts and Mass after. We do dinner, but it is mainly close family. We do bake an extreme amount of cookie.
    planterofhope at aol dot com

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    1. I like your way of having a relaxed and easy-breezy Christmas, Carla. It's much more fun when it's stress free. I'm not much when it comes to baking cookies, but I'm a real champ at eating them, lol!

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  24. We wake up, open presents, have a big breakfast, and then extended family either comes to our house throughout the day or we go to their house. We always have a ham for dinner on x-mas. Thanks for the giveaway! Happy Holidays!
    flava_sava_chick@yahoo.com

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    1. Happy holidays to you too, Brandi! Your holiday season sounds like it's chock full of family, fun and great food!

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  25. We have Christmas in the morning with my family and then head over to the in-laws for the afternoon/evening. My favorite part is watching the kids open their gifts. They are always so happy about it!
    Although I haven't done it in a few years, I like to bake cookies for Christmas.
    trb0917 at gmail.com

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    1. It's so much fun to watch children open their gifts. I love homemade Christmas cookies myself, but they're a lot of work. Thanks so much for stopping by, Tina.

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  26. I spend christmas with my mom it is just me and her! We like to look at christmas lights on christmas eve!
    Thank you for the great giveaway fun blog hop!
    tishajean@ charter.net

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    1. Latisha, I think a small family Christmas is just as much fun as a big one, and a lot less stressful. It's so much fun to look at all the Christmas lights--some people really go all out when they decorate! Thanks for commenting.

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  27. My apologies, friends. A family emergency delayed my announcing the winner of the $15 gift certificate. The winner is...drum roll please...Julianne Keller!

    Congratulations, Julianne!I'll be contacting you shortly. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and commented. I really appreciate your participation.

    If you didn't win this time around, don't give up hope! I'll be participating in the Naughty New Years Blog Hop shortly after Christmas! There are more fun and prizes in store. Have a very happy holiday, everyone!

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TRR

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