The 12 Rogues of Christmas: Warm Regency Romance Novellas to celebrate the season
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Eleven Christmas Pipers – Pamela Hart
A Widow who’ll never love a soldier again. Especially one who plays the bagpipes!
What inspired your story Eleven Christmas Pipers in the 12 Rogues of Christmas: Warm Regency Romance Novellas to celebrate the season
I kept my title as the line straight from the carol, because the minute I started thinking about this story, I knew I wanted the eleventh piper to be a little boy. I feel as though it’s a bit boring compared to the other titles, though!
What is your favourite thing about Christmas?
Baking presents. Yes, baking. Our family LOVES presents – none of this ‘only for the kids’ nonsense. Everyone gets a present, and in our big family, that means upwards of 30 presents a year, which gets expensive. So a few years ago, I started putting together gift baskets for each household. I buy the baskets in July from Vinnies or the Salvo’s charity shops (there are never any there in December) and I bake just before Christmas. Gingerbread, sugar cookies, shortbread, marzipan trees, home-made chocolates, sweet/salt pretzel snacks, slices, chocolate crackles…although, over the years, the proportion of gingerbread has got larger and larger, because people do love it so! Freshly made gingerbread is so much nicer than store-bought.
My contribution to the big Christmas lunch is the pudding, which I make weeks before in my great-grandmother’s cauldron, so instead of rushing around to the shops trying frantically to find last minute gifts, I spend the two days before Christmas happily and calmly baking and making up baskets. It’s taken a lot of stress out of the holiday season, and the family is delighted.
If you’re madly trying to find a last-minute present, here’s the quickest and easiest recipe:
I pkt mixed peel
Chocolate (whatever kind you like – milk or dark or white or all three!).
Put baking paper on a tray. Put one teaspoon of mixed peel on the tray. Repeat for as many chocolates as you want to make. Melt chocolate in microwave. Pour one teaspoon of chocolate over each pile of mixed peel. Wait until it hardens, then put it into a nice box or little basket, and voila!
Even better if you soak the mixed peel in rum or brandy overnight first.
You can do this with mixes of nuts and dried fruit, too, with a nut on top (walnuts look best). The chocolates won’t be shiny unless you temper the chocolate, but frankly no one ever notices that!
What is a fun fact you discovered while researching your story?
That the reason the Scots Greys Regiment were called that is because they only use grey horses! I thought it had to do with their uniform, but no.
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