BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR CRICKET McRAE

Today’s Book Club Friday guest is mystery author Cricket McRae. A former resident of the Pacific Northwest where her novels are set, Cricket McRae has always dabbled in the kind of practical home crafts that were once necessary to everyday life. The magical chemistry of making soap, the satisfaction of canning garden produce, and the sensuous side of fiber arts like spinning and knitting are just of few of the reasons these activities have fascinated her since childhood. As a girl she was as much a fan of Nancy Drew as of Laura Ingalls Wilder, so it's no surprise that her contemporary cozy series features a soap maker with a nose for investigation. For more information about Cricket or the Home Crafting Mystery Series, check out www.cricketmcrae.com or her Hearth Cricket blog at www.hearthcricket.com.

Cricket is offering a copy of Wined and Died, her newest release, to one lucky reader who posts a comment to the blog this week. Check back on Sunday to learn who the winner is. -- AP

I’m so happy to be back at Killer Crafts and Crafty Killers!

In my fifth Home Crafting Mystery, Wined and Died, the ancient craft of mead making provides the milieu for mayhem. A dead psychotherapist’s notes indicate a murder is about to occur. It involves the family who owns the Grendel Meadery, and Sophie Mae races to solve the puzzle before the killer strikes. 

Arguably the oldest alcoholic beverage, mead is simply honey wine. It developed independently all over the world and is the national drink of Ethiopia where it is called T’ej. For centuries, mead was the only type of wine in regions where grapes and other wine-making fruits don’t grow.

Of course, at the heart of mead is honey. You can add any number of fruits, spices, herbs, and even grapes to make different varieties of mead, but they all contain honey. Like grapes, the kind of honey used creates the unique flavor of any given mead.

Honey is really pretty amazing. Raw honey, that is. Heat it and you destroy many of its beneficial qualities. Honey is a natural preservative. You can leave it on the shelf for ten years, and it doesn’t go bad, so the idea of pasteurizing it to kill bacteria is a bit nonsensical. Wine made with honey doesn’t require the addition of sulfates or other preservatives. If you avoid wine because even one glass can give you a headache, try mead instead.

Honey is chock full of antioxidants and has a comparatively low glycemic index. Diabetics tolerate honey better than sugar, and it’s been proven to actually lower cholesterol and benefit vascular health.

In two different studies I found, honey was shown to be a more effective cough suppressant for children ages 2-18 than dextromethorphan (which is found in most over-the-counter cough suppressants).

For centuries honey has been used as an antiseptic for the treatment of burns and wounds. It's a humectant, which means it absorbs moisture, so it’s great for treating poison ivy, poison oak and the like. It also contains glucose oxidase, an enzyme which produces hydrogen peroxide when combined with water. No wonder it’s antiseptic! There’s more: An antibacterial antioxidant unique to honey (called pinocembrin) has been proven to inhibit E-coli.

Eating local honey may help allergies, as well, serving as a kind of vaccination against pollen prevalent in the area where it was harvested.

It’s great to eat, but also good for your skin. Mild alphy hydroxy acids in honey make it an effective exfoliant while balancing out oily skin and stimulating the production of collagen. Pretty cool, huh?

Sophie Mae, my amateur sleuth, has a handmade toiletry business, and one of her favorite simple facial cleansers contains honey. Just mix 1 Tablespoon of honey with 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice and 2 Tablespoons finely ground nuts – almonds are good. Rub the mixture onto your face, leave for a few minutes, and rinse with warm water.

Or, simply add 1/4 cup of honey to your bath water for a luxurious soak!

One quick word of warning though: You should NOT feed honey to children under the age of one, as it may contain a specific form of botulism spore that can cause infant botulism. Honey is safe for children older than twelve months old, though.

I learned so many interesting tidbits as I researched Wined and Died. Thanks for letting me share some of them with your readers, Anastasia!

Thanks for sharing, Cricket. I’m off to mix up that honey cleanser. How about you readers? Comment for a chance to win a copy of Wined and Died. -- AP