GET IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT WITH COOKIES!

 By Caroline Clemmons

Creating my story, HOLIDAY HEARTS, was such fun work. I usually write historical romance but enjoy the occasional venture into contemporary. I’ve never enjoyed writing anything contemporary as much as this novella. I was actually sorry when the story ended and I had to leave my friends, the characters. I hope readers love them as much as I do—oh, except for mean girl Celia, of course.

Here’s the link https://www.amazon.com/Holiday-Hearts-Caroline-Clemmons-ebook/dp/B09K4M291F/   

The story takes place in Dickens, a quaint New England town bustling with excitement and anticipation for the upcoming Christmas holiday. Events include the annual tree lighting in the town square, a snowman building competition, ice skating on Grosvenor’s Pond, and horse-drawn sleigh rides. You’re welcome to cut down your own Christmas tree at Gridley Meadows Tree Farm, or join in the caroling on the Common. You can find numerous other stories of Christmas time in Dickens by other authors at the Romance Gems Facebook group.

In my story, Laura “Birdie” Jordan serves Snickerdoodle cookies. Growing up, our daughters loved helping make Snickerdoodles. They’re definitely a hands-on baking project. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t love this cookie—they’re family favorites at our house.

 

Snickerdoodles

 

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

2 ¾ cups presifted flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cream of tartar

½ tsp. salt

Mixture of sugar and cinnamon

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Grease baking sheets.

Cream butter and 1 ½ cups sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat in eggs.

Add flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix to make a firm dough.

Shape dough into balls about ¾ inch in diameter. Roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture.  Arrange on baking sheets. Flatten with bottom of glass dipped in sugar mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Serves: 4 dozen cookies

 

You can also download IT’S A DICKENS OF A COOKIE recipe book FREE! (my favorite price) The book includes 20 cookie recipes with a little about each author and her book. All of the recipes sound delicious! In fact, I know my two are. I may have, um, tested them before submitting the recipe. Ahem, that was only fair, right?

Here is the link https://www.amazon.com/Its-Dickens-Cookie-Companion-Christmas-ebook/dp/B08KFQXCJ3/

Stay safe and keep reading—and baking!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I suspect each of you do also. No matter how perilous life seems at times, we are much better off than many others. Our daughters will be joining us to celebrate a traditional dinner with turkey, cornbread dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, spinach souffle, asparagus casserole, and pecan pie with ice cream for dessert. Oh, dear, I think I gained weight just writing the menu. Hero is preparing dinner, except for the pie which Darling Daughter 2 is bringing. I'm bringing my appetite. ☺ DD2 is gluten free and vegetarian, and DD1 has allergies. Both are allergic to sweet potatoes in case you wondered why they aren't on the menu. I'm allergic to pumpkin. For years I cooked with those things in mind but now I've turned the kitchen over to Hero. He takes all that into consideration when he plans the meal. Impossible to have every dish suit every person, but he does an amazing job. The gravy and dressing are made with vegetable stock, so our vegetarian can eat it.

Are you one of those brave souls entering the Black Friday crush? Darling Daughter 2 and I will be plotting our shopping strategy. We will venture out and bravely wend our way through throngs to get the gift for which Hero had dropped hints. Hints? They would have broken my foot if they had landed there. ☺

We won't forget to give thanks for all the blessings that have come our way this year.

Thanks to those of you who have read my books, told friends about them, and have left reviews. You are the best! 

I am so lucky to be doing what I love day after day. 

Me doing what I love

In the meantime, here are my literary accomplishments this year:

(hint, hint) Books make lovely gifts and can save all that weaving through crowds.

Just order online from Amazon for print and ebook and from Smashwords and others for ebooks. The print book will arrive in your mail box and you don't have to spend gasoline, time, and energy. You'll please the recipient while you save yourself all that bother.

BLUEBONNET BRIDE has proven one of my most popular books and stayed in Amazon's top 100 western romances for many weeks. It's the third in my Men of Stone Mountain series. My friend Nelda Liles generously gave me the bluebonnet photo from shots she took at the Ennis Bluebonnet Trail. The woman's photos is from iStock and Hero combined the two.

TABITHA'S JOURNEY is a novella I enjoyed writing and received excellent reviews. It's the first novella I've written in a few years, and is a spin off of the Men of Stone Mountain series. Many readers enjoy a shorter read. Do you think the girl on the cover looks as if she's a proper Boston beauty who traveled west? She's a mail-order bride. I've always wanted to write a mail-order bride story, and this one has a twist.

Frankly, I like writing longer books so I can include more devious machinations. I like lots of mayhem and murder in my books, don't you? Oh yes, and always a happy ending.

For the first time I bundled three books into a boxed set at a reduced cost to the reader in the MEN OF STONE MOUNTAIN set. This set contains two award winning books, BRAZOS BRIDE and HIGH STAKES BRIDE..

THE MOST UNSUITABLE COURTSHIP received excellent reviews and I'm still promoting it. If you haven't read this third book in the Kincaid series, please do so now. The hero of this story is Storm Kincaid, younger half brother of the sisters in the first two books. The heroine is a bit different, as she is from Bavaria and has just learned English. This cover is by Kim Killion.

At www.audible.com, BRAZOS BRIDE, narrated by Valerie Gilbert, is available. It's also available from Amazon. I love the way Valerie has brought the story to life. This is the first time I've had an audio book. I'll be telling you more about that with an audio sample next week. As I mentioned above, this is an award winning book.

Eight friends and I also bundled a boxed set of our books titled NINE WAYS TO FALL IN LOVE. We had so much fun with a month long launch party and met some wonderful readers.

Thanksgiving turkey in Stetson courtesy of Lyn Horner

On a personal note, I'm thankful we moved into a snug little home near many of my friends and near stores and restaurants and everything we need. I love our house and location. Now, if I could just get everything unpacked and in its place, I'll be even more thankful.

Our current home is an hour closer to Darling Daughter 1 and thirty minutes closer to Darling Daughter 2, so we see both of them more often. Another reason to be thankful!

I hope recalling your year brings smiles to your face and happiness to your heart. I wish you a bountiful year to come.

Thanks for stopping by!

IS IT HERE YET?

When I was a kid, the Christmas catalogs came about the middle of September and coincided with my birthday. That was the first clue that fall was here. We wouldn't see decorations up until the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Being a kid, it never occurred to me that a lot of people worked while I was overeating turkey and dessert at my aunt and uncle's house. Nope, the stores just magically had Christmas displays the day after Thanksgiving. Oh, I did see men hanging the street decorations, but the lighted ones were never turned on until the day we now call Black Friday.

Whew, how times have changed. As soon as school classes are in session, out comes the Hallowe'en and Christmas decorations. Poor Thanksgiving doesn't warrant much space.

Don't think I mind. Fall is my favorite time of year and the holidays are a joy for me. For many years we lived in a rural area and had no trick or treaters. I look forward to having them this year. Have my wreath and plan to get a pumpkin or two this weekend.

We have a small family now, so our celebrations are laid back.

Except for Christmas!

I am a certifiable nut about Christmas. Not the day.
The preparation.
The decorations.
The gifts.
The cards.
On the day, there's a let down. All the fun is in the anticipation.

Yes, I know it's a religious holiday. I get all that. We observe the meaning as well as the secular traditions. We read the Christmas story from the Bible before we open gifts to remind us of why we give them. We give thanks for our many blessings. And I am grateful for all the true meaning of Christmas. Truly I am.

But giving gifts is so much fun. Choosing the perfect gift for each person is important. Not just a gift card, although those are nice. No, a gift I picked out because I knew the person who received it would love that particular thing. A gift I receive that proves the giver knows me and planned for my gift.

And I shop all year, of course. (Sadly, I usually forget where I've stashed a few gifts and find them about February. ☺ )

So, when I ask "Is it here yet?" I mean the Christmas season.
Can I decorate the tree?
Put out the yard decorations?
Hang the stockings?

Just for you, I'll wait until after Thanksgiving.

Thanks for stopping by!

FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree...

The photo above includes my little N gauge train set and the snow village Darling Daughter One started for me. She and I have added to it over the years until there are more than four dozen buildings. Our Christmas tree is artificial and covered with ornaments. Each year I purchase a few new decorations, but love the older ones that call up happy memories. We always put our tree in the alcove created by the bay window. Our cat, Sebastian, loves to look at the ornaments and gifts, but so far hasn't destroyed anything since his first year when he had a fetish for bows. Now he's six and has mellowed a little.

Our stockings are hung by the mantel with care...

At the right, you can see the shelves holding a few of the nativity sets and angels I’ve collected, including a nativity set Hero brought me from Bethlehem. At the left side of the mantel is the Quan Yin statue I bought years ago at an antique store. The nutcracker was a gift from Darling Daughter One. The large cross on the right side of the mantel before the shelves is a scrollwork cross made by Darling Daughter Two. The center painting was done by Daisy Springer, of Rockwall, Texas. You can't see in this photo, but there are bluebonnets and Indian paint brush in the foreground with that Texas live oak on the right. On the mantel's center, the four little choir girls are antiques. Actually, I suppose they're collectibles, since they aren't valuable enough to be called antiques. ☺ I love them, though.

Christmas is my favorite time of year, right up until the day after Christmas. There's a huge let down for me when the big day is over and the anticipation is no more. Even though the tree looks sad with no gifts underneath, we leave our tree up until Twelfth Night. I enjoy seeing the lights and ornaments. The sight reminds me of happy times in the past and kindles hope for the future.

My wish for you is for peace to surround you, love to fill your heart, and songs of joy to pour from your lips this holy holiday. 

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by

PASS THE FUDGE, PLEASE...

Before I launch into my post for today, the winners of the last day of our Black Friday Mini-Blog Hop are Irene and Sue. Congratulations, ladies. Thanks to both of you for leaving your comment.

Just last week I came across the large old red White Swan storage tin my mom always used to keep her candy fresh, separating layers with waxed paper. She would make batch after batch of divinity fudge and chocolate fudge to give to my brother's family and mine, with little packages of divinity for her granddaughters. Once the White Swan can was filled, she had old Collin Street Bakery (of Corsicana, Texas) fruitcake tins she used.

My mom was not that great a cook overall, but she made truly wonderful pies and candies! Her family-famous divinity fudge is more than I can master. I have no idea what I do wrong, but it never tastes as good as hers did. She usually lightly colored half the divinity with red food coloring so it was pale pink. When I was a small girl, I was always certain the pink tasted better than the plain white. When we lived in California, Mother used walnuts, but switched back to pecans in Texas.

I also make my Aunt Elizabeth’s Million Dollar Fudge. I’ll share both recipes with you, as well as tell you about a wonderful recipe book free from The Wild Rose Press.


                        AUNT ELIZABETH'S
                 MILLION DOLLAR FUDGE

Aunt Elizabeth added the nuts
to the fudge, but this looks yummy!

4 1/2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1 large can evaporated milk (12 1/2 oz)
1-12oz. package chocolate chips
1 jar marshmallow crème
Nuts chopped

1. Pour chocolate chips and marshmallow creme into a large bowl. (My aunt used a crockery bowl)

2. Boil sugar, butter, milk together for 7 minutes after first bubbles come, or until soft ball stage is reached. Take it off stove and pour syrup over chocolate chips and marshmallow creme.

3. Stir until chocolate is dissolved. Add nuts if desired. Beat until cool and creamy. Pour onto a buttered pan.

4. Cool and cut. Keep with waxed paper between layers and store in airtight container until served.


This candy is suitable for vegetarians provided you insure the marshmallow creme does not contain animal products as marshmallows do.

   MAMAW'S DIVINITY FUDGE

Divinity Fudge (photo
from
www.ChoosingVoluntarySimplicty.com
but this looks
just like my mom's divinity)

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup whie Karo syrup
2 large egg whites, beaten stiff
1/2 cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Adam's Best vanilla
1/8 tspn. cream of tartar
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts
Food coloring optional

Beat egg whites until stiff and set aside. Cook sugar, Karo, water, salt and cream of tartar until it forms a hard ball in cold water. Pour over stiffly beaten egg whites. Add vanilla, nuts, and coloring if desired. Beat and pour into a lightly buttered bowl to harden. When cool, cut into squares and store in an air-tight container.

The Wild Rose Press has a gift for all readers who love to cook at http://www.thewildrosepress.com/ to download the pdf cookbook...OR just click on the image in the upper right sidebar to be taken to the download page. Due to my daughter's hospitalization, I missed the deadline for this year's book, but included in the 2011 edition are delicious-sounding recipes by some of my favorite authors. Yum!

Thanks for stopping by!

LILLY GAYLE SHARES A FAMILY HOLIDAY RECIPE

Lilly Gayle, Author

Please welcome my new friend and fellow The Wild Rose Press author, Lilly Gayle, lives in North Carolina with her husband of thirty years, her youngest daughter who's still in college, a dog, a cat, and various critters both dead and alive that the cat occasionally drags through the doggie door. When not writing or working as a mammogapher, she spends time with her husband at the beach. OUT OF THE DARKNESS, a paranormal romance is her first published novel. A historical, SLIGHTLY TARNISHED, should be released sometime next year. Lilly’s going to share part of her holiday tradition, including a family recipe.



Lilly: Hi Caroline. Thanks for having me on your blog today and for allowing me to “dish” about my favorite holiday foods and recipes.


I have to say, I eat a lot around the holidays. And I’m also big on tradition, even if it’s the tradition of creating a new tradition. You just can’t have Christmas without my father’s country cured ham, preferably from Virginia. There’s nothing like Virginia ham, aged to perfection and slow cooked. But boy, will it make you thirsty! And it’s probably not real good for your blood pressure either, but hey---It’s the holidays. Right?

I also have a great recipe for a candy my grandmother used to make. When I was little, my dad’s mom always made Frying Pan Balls. I don’t know where the original recipe came from, but she gave it to me when I got married and also published it in her church’s cookbook just before she died.


When my daughters were little, we’d make the Frying Pan Balls together and even my daughter who hates coconut loved them. The one year I forgot to make them, my children got upset. So, never a holiday season passes when I don’t make these sweet treats.

I even contributed the recipe to The Wild Rose Press’s holiday cookbook. And now, I’m going to share it with you and your readers.

    Ruth Winston's Frying Pan Balls


You'll need:


1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped dates
2 eggs
2 cups Rice Krispie cereal™
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup candied cherries or mixed fruit used in
       fruit cakes
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Grated coconut


Cooking instructions:
*Best if cooked in an electric frying pan.*


Cream sugar and eggs together. Set aside.
Heat frying pan to 220 degrees or warm frying pan on top of stove.
Melt butter and dates together, stirring constantly.
Add sugar and egg mixture.
Cook until thick.
Add fruit and nuts.
Blend well.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Add Rice Krispies™.
Butter hands and form into balls.
Roll balls in coconut.
Put in cookie tins or Tupperware™. Keeps for weeks.


Caroline: That gives a new dimension to the Rice Krispie treats, doesn’t it? Sounds yummy and something which children can help prepare. Reminds me of the days when everyone used an electric skillet and I actually cooked. LOL Now let’s move on to Lilly’s latest release, OUT OF THE DARKNESS, a paranormal vampire romance.

Buy link for OUT OF THE DARKNESS: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/out-of-the-darkness-p-4039.html




Available from The Wild Rose Press

 Lilly: Blurb for OUT OF THE DARKNESS:


Her research could cure his dark hunger if a covert government agent doesn't get to her first.

Vincent Maxwell is a vampire with a conscience seeking a cure to his dark hunger. But when a scientist looking to create vampire soldiers captures and kills a fellow vampire, Vincent seeks out Dr. Megan Harper, a research scientist who discovered a link between a genetic light sensitivity disorder and vampirism. Dr. Harper could hold a key to a cure and the answers to Gerard’s death. But getting close to the beautiful scientist could endanger both their lives.

When Megan meets Vincent she believes he suffers from xeroderma pigmentosum, the genetic disease that killed her sister. Sensing a deep loneliness within the handsome man, she offers friendship and access to her research files. But she and Vincent soon become more than friends and Megan learns the horrifying truth. She's entered the dark and unseen world of vampires and Vincent is her only hope of survival.


Caroline: Oooohhh, intriguing. Great premise for a vampire novel. How about an excerpt to chill us more?

Lilly: Certainly, here's an excerpt for OUT OF THE DARKNESS:

Vincent didn’t spare her a second glance as he opened the basement door and stepped down. The sound of his boot heel striking wood echoed up the steps as he disappeared into the darkness.


“But—” Megan switched on the light and hurried after him.


“The first thing you need down here is a table and some chairs,” he said when he saw the stacks of unorganized data and reams of paper scattered across the floor. “Do you mind if I bring the ones down from the kitchen?”


“No.” She turned back toward the stairs. “I’ll help you bring them down.” It would give her something to do while she sorted through the confused thoughts and emotions tumbling around inside her head.


Vincent touched her arm and heat shot straight to her belly, turning her insides all warm and fuzzy.


Warm and fuzzy was not good.


Warm and fuzzy made her think of more than just heated sex. It made her think of cozy evenings snuggled up under a blanket and shared feelings. It made her long for an emotional connection she couldn’t risk. Not with Vincent. Not with a man who could potentially die a slow, lingering death.


“I’ll get it.” He let go of her arm and stepped back. “You start going through those papers and find that report you wrote comparing XP to vampire myths and legends. I’d be interested in
seeing if you still have it.”


He turned to go back up the stairs and Megan shivered. Why had Steve mentioned the vampire report to Vincent? And why was Vincent so interested in seeing it?


Vincent the Vampire.


Caroline: Whoa, Lilly, this sounds like a vampire novel I could love. Give us your other links.

Lilly: My website is www.lillygayle.com and my blog http://lillygayleromance.blogspot.com

Christmas Blog Tour and Prizes!

Caroline: Thank you, Lilly, for sharing with us. Please check our Christmas blog tour for author dates and prizes. After today, the blog dates are December 8 and December 15. Leavc a comment to be entered in the drawing. The list of blogs is at the Christmas blog link above. The more you comment, the greater your chance to win!

Readers, please return on the 3rd to learn about the fascinating Amber Polo.

AMY CORWIN'S HOLIDAY "TO BE READ" STACK PLUS PRIZES!!!

Prizes? Prizes? The information is at the bottom of this post. Please also read the post about Amy. 

Amy Corwin, Author

 Welcome Amy Corwin who will tell us about her stack of to-be-read novels for the holidays. Amy Corwin is a charter member of the Romance Writers of America and has been writing for the last ten years and managing a career as an enterprise systems administrator in the computer industry. She writes Regencies/historicals, mysteries, and contemporary paranormals. To be truthful, most of her books include a bit of murder and mayhem since she discovered that killing off at least one character is a highly effective way to make the remaining ones toe the plot line.

Available Now!

Amy’s books include the Regency, SMUGGLED ROSE; three Regency romantic mysteries, I BID ONE AMERICAN, THE BRICKLAYER’S HELPER, and THE NECKLACE, and her first paranormal, VAMPIRE PROTECTOR. These are all available at the Wild Rose Press


Amy Corwin’s “To Be Read” Pile of Books


I hope readers won’t be too disappointed to learn that my reading habits are very…seasonal. Starting around September and lasting until January, my taste for creepy, spooky stories and mysteries is irresistible. The long nights and falling temperatures, combined with the evening fire in our fireplace make me long for ghost stories and the occasional mystery. Oh, not horror—I dislike the current blood-and-gore fests that are the typical horror fare these days—but atmospheric, spooky stories. What I crave are ghostly tales such as “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson, or Barbara Michaels’s “Aimee Come Home.”

Available Now!

If only they still sold Gothics. Sigh.


During the spring and summer, I turn my attention back to lighter romances, like those by Crusie and Mayer, but for now, my TBR pile is filled mysteries and ghost stories.


So, if I haven’t lost your attention, here is my current TBR pile. I should note that I just finished a terrific vampire story by fellow TWRP Lilly Gayle, called “Out of the Darkness” and it was wonderful!


“Dark Whispers” by Marie Kenward (another TWRP author)

“The Mammoth Book of Modern Ghost Stories”

“The Ghostly Tales of Joseph Sheridan”
“Bryant and May Off The Rails” by Christopher Fowler

Regency Available Now!

If you like British cozy mysteries, then check out Fowler. He’s absolutely terrific. I’ve read several other Bryant and May mysteries and I’m really looking forward to this one. The two old codgers who “star” in this book are wonderful old, grumpy gents I wouldn’t mind having to tea one day.


“The Crying Child” by Barbara Michaels


If anyone is looking for a spooky mystery with a romantic subplot, I really recommend the last one on my list, “The Crying Child” by Barbara Michaels. I haven’t read it for years, but I just got it downloaded on my Kindle and I’m looking forward to reading it again.


There aren’t too many nice things you can say about having a bad memory, but one of the nicest is that you can re-read books over and over again without recalling anything except the fact that you liked it the first time around. So Michaels book ought to be as good this time as it was when I read it back in the late 70’s.


So that’s it for the TBR pile. With luck, I’ll get a few more books added over the holidays, and then it’ll be time to think about adding some romances for my spring and summer season…


Website: http://www.amycorwin.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/amycorwin

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AmyCorwinAuthor
Blog: http://amycorwin.blogspot.com/

And now for the prize information! This Wednesday and for the next three Wednesdays, a few of the authors from The Wild Rose Press have a Christmas Blog Tour. A comment on any of the blogs qualifies you for once chance in the drawing. You're smart or you wouldn't be reading this blog (in my opinion), so you know more comments you leave on the participating blogs increases your chances.  The prizes and schedules can be found at

http://rosestour.blogspot.com/

All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Dia de los Muertos, Samhain

What do All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Dia de Los Muertos, and Samhain have in common? Each is a celebration of the dead.

I’m Protestant, but I love the first three celebrations because they are about respect for those who’ve gone before us. How could anyone who loves history and family history as much as I do fail to feel that way? Different Christian traditions define, remember, and respond to the departed in different ways. All Souls' Day is celebrated the first Sunday in November in the church to which I belong. In the morning church service, a candle is lighted for each person of the congregation who has died during the past year as that person’s name is read aloud. Following immediately, a minister offers a prayer of remembrance.


All Saints

 According to Wikipedia, All Saints' Day (in the Roman Catholic Church officially the Solemnity of All Saints and also called All Hallows or Hallowmas), often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated in honor of all the saints, both known and unknown. In Western Christianity the celebration is on November 1st. In Eastern Christianity, the observance is on the first Sunday after Pentecost. In many countries, All Saints Day is a federal holiday. 



"Day of the Dead" by
William Bougereau

All Souls' Day commemorates the faithful departed. In Western Christianity, this day is observed principally in the Catholic Church, although some churches of the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches also celebrate it. The Eastern Orthodox churches observe several All Souls' Days during the year. When they died, the souls had not yet attained full sanctification and moral perfection, a requirement for entrance into Heaven. This sanctification is carried out posthumously in Purgatory.

Catrinas

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a holiday celebrated by many in Mexico and by some Mexican Americans living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration occurs on November 2 in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. Due to occurring shortly after Halloween, the Day of the Dead is sometimes thought to be a similar holiday, although the two actually have little in common. The Day of the Dead is a time of celebration, where partying and eating is common.

Scholars trace the origins of the modern holiday to indigenous observances dating back thousands of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl. In Brazil, Dia de Finados is a public holiday that many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain, there are festivals and parades, and, at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe, and similarly themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures.

End Of The Harvest

Samhain ( /ˈsɑːwɪn/, /ˈsaʊ.ɪn/, or /ˈsaʊn/) is a Gaelic festival held on October 31–November 1. The Irish name Samhain is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end". A harvest festival with ancient roots in Celtic polytheism, it was linked to festivals held around the same time in other Celtic cultures, and continued to be celebrated in late medieval times. Due to its date it became associated with the Christian festival All Saints Day, and greatly influenced modern celebration of Halloween. Samhain marked the end of the harvest, the end of the lighter half of the year and beginning of the darker half. It was traditionally celebrated over the course of several days. Many scholars believe that it was the beginning of the Celtic year. It has some elements of a festival of the dead.

Witch at Samhain

Because so many plants and animals were dying, the Gaels believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhain. This it allowed the dead to reach back through the veil that separated them from the living. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. People and their livestock would often walk between two bonfires as a cleansing ritual, and the bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames. The Gaelic custom of wearing costumes and masks, was an attempt to copy the spirits or placate them.  I've no idea why Samhain became a time linked to Wicca, but I suppose (personal opinion only) it was linked because of Wicca's ties to nature.