#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR JACKIE KING AND CRANBERRY-NUT #COOKIES

Jackie King spent many years in the corporate world and now writes full time. Her apartment in Tulsa, Oklahoma looks out onto Riverside Parkway, and just beyond the treetops she can see the Arkansas River. Her latest hobby is watching the changes in foliage and the nesting of Eagles. Learn more about Jackie and her books at her website and the Murderous Musings blog.

One of the great joys of writing is recycling a happy memory from my own life in a scene I create. Like most authors, I use personal experience to spin my fictional stories. For example, I drew from my own blissful memories of cookie baking to portray Grace Cassidy’s pleasure when she baked cookies for her guests in a B&B.

I suppose that I’d better add (tongue in cheek) that all of my murders so far have been vicarious. I have enjoyed murdering my ex-husband several times on paper. And for anyone, male or female, who has been dumped unceremoniously by a long-time spouse (31 years for me), I must say that this is a most therapeutic exercise.

The Bed and Breakfast mystery series I write has the word “corpse” in the title of each book. In Book one, Grace starts out as a somewhat spoiled, very naïve woman from a wealthy background. When everything she depends on in her life is gone, necessity forces her to evolve into a stronger, more resourceful woman. She finds she never really knew her authentic self before, and sets out on a journey to explore her own strengths and weaknesses. She develops her skills with each book while dealing with murder and mayhem.

In The Inconvenient Corpse Grace finds a dead body in her B&B room. Stranded with no money, she turns to inn-sitting (temporary help for owners needing a break) to support herself. In the midst of a murder investigation, she rediscovers the satisfaction of baking cookies. (See her newest recipe below.)

With one solved murder under her belt Grace continues changing from the lady-like people-pleaser she has always been into someone she likes better. In The Corpse Who Walked in the Door her son is accused of attempted murder and rape; and Trouble, her cat, finds a dead body in the bathtub. As if that isn’t enough, her ex-husband Charlie returns and wants to reconcile.

Grace’s newest adventure takes her back to her hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. In The Corspe and the Geezer Brigade Grace struggles through a quagmire of murder stemming from a 50-year-old agreement between her father and his buddies. She learns more than she ever wanted to know about her parents’ past and faces danger once again.

When dead bodies show up in Grace Cassidy’s life, she bakes cookies to relieve the stress. Like me, Grace’s specialty is chocolate chip-pecan cookies. However she also enjoys discovering new recipes. Below is her newest recipe, cranberry-macadamia nut cookies, the newest sensation at the B&B. She will bake a huge batch to serve on Thanksgiving.

Grace’s Cranberry-Nut Cookies

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 sticks butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. orange extract
2-1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
12 oz. pkg. white chocolate chips
1/2 cup macadamia nuts chopped
1 cup dried cranberries

Mix butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and orange extract. Add in flour, baking soda, salt, white chocolate chips, nuts and dried cranberries.

Beat until mixed. Bake at 325 degrees for 13-16 minutes or until golden brown.

Grace and I wish everyone in cyberland a very happy Thanksgiving!

The Corpse and the Geezer Brigade

In the heady atmosphere of testosterone and too much booze, ten new fathers make a solemn pact that benefits those who live longest. As the day of reckoning approaches, the survivors are being murdered one by one. Grace Cassidy’s son is on the list. Can she solve the mystery in time to save his life?

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