Baby, It's Cold Outside by @JoanReeves #SmartGirlsReadRomance

I don't know about you, but I don't like cold weather.

Houston, Texas, is having a very cold winter. Very cold here means high 20's to low 30's Fahrenheit at night and low 40's to low 50's in the daytime.

Normally, this kind of weather lasts a day or two. During Christmas, we had a solid week of that. Unbelievable!

Now, we're in for another round of this miserable cold, sleet, and maybe more snow. We had 2 inches of snow in early December.

The Reading Angel caught the snow.

Quit Snickering

Now, if you live in cold country, I'm sure you're rolling your eyes at what you probably think sounds like a week in the tropics compared to Chicago, Detroit, or Calgary.

Go ahead, feel smug. I understand. I lived in the Dakotas for a year when the temperature in November never went above forty below zero. Finally, it warmed up one day to zero, and all of us were outside in our shirt sleeves!

Passing The Time

When it's cold, I like to make soups and stews and bake cornbread to go with those and hot muffins to slather with butter for teatime. (I've always thought 3:00 tea was a delightful custom I'm pleased to copy from the British.)

Yummy, Hot, and Delicious

This morning I made Raisin Bran Muffins which were amazing with my morning cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee. (Hey, Mr./Ms. Dunkin Donuts, call me any time if you'd like to pay for product endorsement. *g*)

Photo: Muffins, Image: 168822 by George

PublicDomainPictures.net

Raisin Bran Muffins

1/1/4 cups milk
2 1/2 cups Post Raisin Bran (Darling Hubby's favorite)
1/4 to 1/2 cup raisins (I love lots of plump moist raisins in them.)
1 1/2 cups Bisquick Baking Mix
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons sunflower oil or another vegetable oil
1 egg

Heat over to 400 degrees. Place paper liners in each of the 12 "cups" in a muffin tin or grease each with a little vegetable oil. (Keep paper liners in the pantry. They're so much easier than scrubbing those little cups in a muffin tin.)

Place the Raisin Bran in a bowl and pour the milk over it. Let it set while you mix the rest up.

In a larger bowl, beat the egg well, add the brown sugar and the oil and blend well. To this, stir in the Bisquick, blend well but don't beat it to death. Add the extra raisins at this point.

Now, pour the Raisin Bran-milk mixture over the Bisquick mixture and combine well. It will be a bit lumpy and thick.

Scoop into the muffin tin cups. An ice cream scoop works well for the thick batter.

Bake until golden brown and firm which takes about 20 to 25 minutes.

Makes 12 really delicious and fairly healthy muffins. Split, butter, and enjoy with your favorite beverage for breakfast or for 3:00 teatime.

Romance Will Warm You Up!

Now that we're nice and warm on the inside, let me tell you about Last Chance New Year, one of the stories in my A Moment in Time Romance series.

In this romance short story, a woman decides to take a leap of faith and reveal her feelings to the man she loves. What better time to yield to a bit of craziness like this than New Year's Eve?

Last Chance New Year is only 99 cents so that's a modest way to start your reading this year.

I'll be publishing at least 2 more short stories in this series in 2018. Each story is linked by a chain of relationships.

Some stories are funny, some are thoughtful, and all are romantic and sexy. Pick one up today.

Wishing you a New Year full of dreams that become reality, more good times than bad, lots of fun and the good kind of excitement.

Joan Reeves is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Sassy, Sexy Contemporary Romance. Her books are available in audio, ebook, and print. All of her books have the same underlying theme: It's never too late to live happily ever after.

Joan lives her Happily Ever After with her hero, her husband, in the Lone Star State. Visit Joan online: Blog * Website and Follow her on  Facebook * Twitter * YouTube * Amazon Author Page * BookBub Author Page.