Judy Penz Sheluk’s debut mystery novel, The Hanged Man’s Noose was published in July 2015. Skeletons in the Attic, is the first book in her Marketville
Mystery Series. Her short crime fiction appears in several anthologies. Learn
more about Judy and her books at her website/blog.
I love cookies. There I’ve
admitted it. I can pass up a piece of cake (okay, maybe not carrot cake with
cream cheese icing, but surely that could be counted as a vegetable?), and I’ve
been known to exhibit moderate willpower when it comes to pie. Potato chips?
Yes, I can actually stop at one. But cookies…love them. I’ve even been known to
eat an entire box of Girl Guide cookies over the course of a weekend.
My passion for cookies
probably stems back to my childhood. My mom wasn’t much of a cook (a trait I
have sadly inherited), but she did make the best peanut butter cookies I’ve
ever tasted.
In my recent release, Skeletons in the Attic: A Marketville
Mystery, my protagonist, Calamity (Callie) Barnstable, is searching for
clues that might help her find out more about her mother—a woman who
disappeared thirty years earlier, when Callie was just six-years-old. As Callie
digs through a box of her mother’s belongings, she finds a peanut butter cookie
recipe that bears a striking resemblance to the recipe my mom used.
But this is Christmas time,
and it seemed only fitting to share a Christmas-y cookie recipe. For that, I
went to The Hanged Man’s Noose: A Glass
Dolphin Mystery, where Glass Dolphin antiques shop owner Arabella Carpenter
is known for her love of Scottish shortbread. I also love shortbread, though my
particular passion is for Almond Crescents. My mom used to make these every
Christmas. She would let me twist the dough into crescent shapes, and if I was
really, really good, she’d let me sprinkle powered sugar over them after they
were freshly baked.
PS: if you really want the
Peanut Butter Cookie recipe, email me at judy@judypenzsheluk.com and I’ll send
you the PDF!
Anneliese’s Almond Crescents
Makes 45 cookies
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, room
temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
(the real deal, not the artificial kind)
2 teaspoons almond extract
2-1⁄3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup ground almonds (bulk
food stores are a good place to find these)
1 cup powdered sugar (put in
a sifter for best results)
Preheat oven to 350
degrees. Grease cookie sheets (enough for 45 cookies.)
Mix together butter with
sugar and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and
almond extract. Continue beating until incorporated. Stir in the flour and
almonds. Work flour mixture into a firm dough.
Working with 1 tablespoon of
dough at a time, shape into logs. The log should be slightly thicker in the
middle than at both ends. Bend into a crescent shape. Place on greased cookie
sheets.
Bake 12-15 minutes or until
light brown. While the cookies are still warm sift crescents with powdered
sugar. Cool on racks.
Skeletons in the Attic
What goes on behind closed doors doesn’t always stay
there…
Calamity (Callie) Barnstable
isn’t surprised to learn she’s the sole beneficiary of her late father’s
estate, though she is shocked to discover she has inherited a house in the town
of Marketville—a house she didn’t know existed. However, there are conditions
attached to Callie’s inheritance: she must move to Marketville, live in the
house, and solve her mother’s murder.
Callie’s not keen on
dredging up a thirty-year-old mystery, but if she doesn’t do it, there’s a
scheming psychic named Misty Rivers who is more than happy to expose the
Barnstable family secrets. Determined to thwart Misty and fulfill her father’s
wishes, Callie accepts the challenge. But is she ready to face the skeletons
hidden in the attic?
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1 comment:
Thanks for hosting me today! I'm happy to answer any questions but as for baking -- you'll have to do that yourself!
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