It Shakes When He Laughs Like a Bowl Full of Jelly

I don't know what I love more, summer or Christmas.

I love summer because it's long, warm, I can have flowers outside, and I can enjoy the weather. Summer is beautiful and the season just makes me happy.

On the other hand, I also love Christmas and that holiday makes me so happy I sing. Not well, but I sing anyway.

Christmas might just be one day and in the cold dead of winter, but the festive spirit really brightens up the worst of those months in Canada. There's food, music, movies, stories, family time, traditions, and decorations.

I decorate more than the average person. To put it in perspective, let's put it this way - I live in a small apartment and have two huge overflowing storage boxes of Christmas decorations. Plus you've already seen the fact that I have an Easter tree. I think that says enough.

Alright. I've looked at what I've written and saw that my words about Christmas made me smile more than my words about summer. I think I might just like Christmas the most.

So because of my love for Christmas, I have incorporated the holiday into my book.

I've already told you that my book is about a chef and inn owner, but I haven't told you the name of the inn.

It's called the Nutcracker Inn and then to show off my, the main character's love for the holiday even further I decided to name each of the twelve guest rooms after the twelve days of Christmas.

I don't want to give too much more away just yet, but I promise more about my book will come.

So now onto a new recipe my mom encouraged me to try. She found it in the June 2011 Chatelaine magazine and I have to agree that it was great. You'll see I've changed the recipe a bit to include different fruit, but mostly I thought it was so good that I could leave it be.

White-Sangria Jellies

1/2 750 ml bottle of sweet and fruity white wine
1 envelope of envelope unflavoured gelatin powder (7.2 g)
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 cup white grape juice
1 peach or nectarine, chopped
1 plum, chopped
1/2 cup grapes, sliced in half
1/2 cup raspberries
1/4 cup fresh mint, sliced thin

1. Prepare your fruit and heat your wine in a pot on your stove at medium heat, just until it reaches a boil. As soon as it begins to boil, remove it from the heat and whisk in gelatin and sugar until dissolved.

2. Stir your grape juice into the mixture.

3.  Divide your fruit and mint into 4 medium glasses and pour in your wine mixture.

4. Refrigerate until set, about 3 - 4 hours. Enjoy!

I don't know if I would ever think to serve a dessert like this at Christmas, regardless of whether or not it resembled a jiggling belly like Santa's, but it is really tasty for summer.

Maybe Christmas in Australia though? Yum, I think that would be a perfect match!