Have y’all been enjoying Jingle Jangle Spurs?
As most of you know, the fillies take the last two weeks off from the regular blogging schedule so we can enjoy the holidays, too. But we want to keep the festive spirit alive and let you know we’re still thinking of you. So every year, we try hard to stir up something fun for everyone.
I’m bringing up the tail end of Jingle Jangle Spurs, and even though Christmas is over, New Year’s is just around the corner. Have you ever wondered how the custom of ringing in the New Year with champagne or a lively cocktail began?
It’s said that after Julius Caesar fiddled with the pagan calendar and ultimately added January, he ordered Roman consuls to begin their new terms then. Hence, in addition to looking forward to the end of winter, the people heralded in some new politicians as well, and took up the opportunity to celebrate.
The practice of heralding the new year spread across Europe and eventually America in the 1800s. Settlers stayed awake until midnight firing their guns, setting off fireworks, and tolling church bells. Some even went door to door demanding drinks like spiked punch and lemonade, along with snacks. Can’t you just imagine the festive atmosphere with the air filled with noise and raucous (and maybe a little drunken) fun?
Later in the decade, champagne emerged as the cocktail of choice in society parties and fine restaurants. I suspect most of you reading this can recall lifting a glass of bubbly after 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve?
My husband and I don’t go out to celebrate like we used to, but I’d love to share my favorite Sangria recipe that’s easy to make, festive and LOW CALORIE to boot!
Even better, you don’t have to wait until New Year’s Eve to enjoy it.
Tropical Sangria
1 750 ml bottle of white zinfadel wine (use red wine, if you prefer!)
1/4 cup orange liqueur like Cointreau
1 unpeeled orange, thinly sliced
1 unpeeled lime, thinly sliced
8 oz can pineapple chunks or slices, undrained
2 cups lime or lemon-lime seltzer, club soda or carbonated water, chilled
Combine all into large pitcher EXCEPT seltzer. Stir and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.
Add the chilled seltzer just before serving.
Wishing you all a healthy, safe and prosperous New Year!
Although A Texas Christmas has been out since 2011, it is still one of our best selling anthologies. It hit New York Times and USA Today making is a popular holiday read.
In A Christmas Miracle, Mattie Jo Ashley has lost too many people she loves. She is determined not to lose her baby sister to a mysterious disease. 
The Christmas Children
Texas Ranger Shiloh Barrett loses his hotheaded older brother to a gunfight over a hand of cards. Now the “winner”—a wealthy landowner who’s coveted the Barrett homestead—finally has what he wants. But could there be something Seamus O’Connor desires more than the Barretts’ land?
A woman with no home… Beautiful Southern belle Julia Jackson has just been informed she and her niece must find a new home immediately—or else. With no family to turn to in Georgia, Julia takes a mighty gamble and answers an advertisement for a nursemaid in wild Indian Territory—for the child of a man she knows nothing about. Together, she and five-year-old Lauralee waste no time as they flee to the safety of the new position Julia has accepted. She can only hope this move will be the start of a bright future for them away from Lauralee’s dangerous much older half-brother.
ONE MAGIC EVE
THE CHRISTMAS MELODY
GIFT OF GRACE
