CHRISTMAS WITH MAGGIE & BROOKE PLUS A LOVELY GIVEAWAY

Today I am very excited to introduce Brooke and Maggie, authors of the Love of Cooking cookbook series.  Brooke and Maggie are a mother daughter team and Award Winning authors of 11 cookbooks and counting. Recently Brooke and Maggie were kind enough to answer a few questions and share some of their entertaining tips and tricks as well as their recipe for creating the perfect turkey gravy. Here’s what they had to say;

The Love of Cooking Cookbook Series is made up of a group of recipes that we have been collecting for years mixed with recipes from family & friends.  As the number of books grows (11 so far) we find ourselves asking for recipes wherever we go. We have found that almost anyone will give you a recipe if you ask because it is a real compliment to the cook. The first volume is made up of 5 books, each sold as ebooks. Appetizers, Salads, Sides, Soups & Main Dishes. You can buy them separately or in the volume.  We also have 4 books in our Holiday Series. 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving & now Christmas.

Mom & I have always loved to cook & loved to cook together. We also have been looking for a project to do for years. When we discovered that we could write & publish ebooks ourselves it was a perfect fit for us. We love to cook & know that it is not easy for everyone. We want folks to fall in love with cooking again & not just run through the drive thru. We have written these books like we are telling a friend how to make a dish. We like to say that they are easy enough for a beginner but delicious enough for even a seasoned cook to enjoy. We encourage cooks to find their way around the kitchen by feeling free to try different spices, or amounts of spices in a dish to suit their taste. Don’t be afraid to mess up. We all make dishes that end up in the dogs dish. Start with a basic dish & play with it. The more you try the easier it will get. Our recipes are a good starting point to get you used to being a success in the kitchen. We absolutely love to find a recipe & add or change an ingredient & make it our own. So many of our recipes are what we call cleaning out the frig recipes. Something has to be made with the fresh spinach that is going to go bad soon. So we make a new dish with spinach. It is so fun to create a new dish & anyone can do it.

Festive Entertaining Tips & Tricks:

Christmas is just around the corner. Getting ready can be daunting. Especially if you are in charge of Christmas dinner. We are big on making list. 1st: decide on a menu. 2nd: take each dish you are planing to make & figure out what you need. Make a list of what you need for each. 3rd: shop in your own pantry to see what you already have (it is expensive when you double buy). 4th: go get the rest at the store. Go early for non-perishables & then last minute for fresh stuff (a quick in & out ). We have lots of meal & snack ideas in the Christmas book, but our Appetizer book is just loaded with starters if you are having a holiday party & just  serving snacks (or you need to bring one).

Maggie Brooks recipe for the perfect Turkey Gravy:

“*The secret to making the perfect turkey gravy is using homemade turkey stock rather than chicken broth from a can.”

What you will need:
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 c defatted drippings from turkey
4 c turkey stock*
Salt & Pepper

What to do:
Melt butter in a medium  skillet. Add flour, stirring constantly. Add the drippings from your turkey. This is what gives your gravy a rich taste & colour. You can put this in a cup & skim off the fat. The easier way is to use a kitchen tool called a gravy separator. It is a measuring cup with the spout at the bottom so you can leave the fat at the top & pour out the good drippings. Slowly add stock and stir until slightly thickened. Turkey gravy is not as thick as cream gravy.  be sure to add salt & pepper to taste and you’e done.

Easy HomemadeTurkey Stock:

What you will need:
4 lb pkg turkey wings
12 c water
1 med onion, cut into chunks
2 carrots, cut into chunks
4 stalks celery, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

What to do:
Put all ingredients in a large stock pot. Bring to your mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat & simmer for about 2 hours. Stir often & add more water as the liquid cooks down. Put a colander on top of another stock pot and strain the stock. If you like meat in your stock, de-bone the wings & add the meat to the strained stock.

A chance to win your favourite Maggie Brooks Cookbook!

Brooke and Maggie recently launched a new website; Love of Cooking Christmas, which offers sneak peaks into their recently released Christmas Cookbook . The website also offers free instructional videos for making your favourite desserts and treats including; Chocolate Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies and Raspberry English Triffle. To gain access to these free videos all you need to do is subscribe and check your inbox for the link. To celebrate the new website Brooke and Maggie are offering 2 lucky readers the chance to win a copy of their favourite Maggie Brooks e-book.

To enter simply subscribe to the fore-mentioned videos and comment below with the title of the book you would like to win.

Competition is open worldwide and closes 21st December. Winners will be notified by email the following day. Good luck!

Tags: books, Giveaways, recipes