Anastasia and the gang wish you all a wonderful year ahead. May 2018 be filled with peace, joy, love, and good health for everyone!
the blog of Anastasia Pollack, crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Thursday, December 28, 2017
BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR TERRY SHAMES
Terry
Shames is the author of the award-winning Samuel Craddock series. Her latest, A Reckoning in the Back Country comes out January 9 and is available for
pre-order now. Learn more about Terry and her books at her website.
New Year’s
Resolutions…again
I know, I know New Year’s resolutions are a sucker’s
pastime. You know you aren’t going to do what you say you’re going to do, so
why bother? You may start out well, determined to:
-lose x pounds (you fill in the number)
-be nice to your neighbor, even when his dog….well, you know
-clean out your closets
-write a zillion words a day
-clean off your desk
-start developing that idea for a book that you know will be
“the one”
Any of those sound familiar? Sure they do. And so do your
excuses for not doing them. (My dog ate my manuscript doesn’t count!)
But I contend that it isn’t the completion of the resolution
that’s important; it’s the making of them. Every year thinking of resolutions
makes me take stock of where I am versus where I want to be.
Here are the things I managed to do:
-I didn’t write as many words as I wanted, but wrote a book,
and it comes out January 9.
-I wrote the first draft of another book
-I decided to let the past fall away and be friendly to our
neighbors. It paid off. We are cordial.
-I didn’t lose 15 pounds, but I lost 5.
-I cleaned out my desk—several times.
As for cleaning out my closet, that’s one resolution from
last year that turned out well, and that I think has meaning in other areas,
but not for obvious reasons. A little background: When I’m flustered or feeling
unattractive or in a big hurry, I sometimes start getting dressed and before I
know it half the things in my closet are on the floor, while I try in vain for
just the right thing to wear (sound familiar?) I realized that every time this
happened I was trying on the same things again and again and rejecting them.
Thus my idea: If I tried on something and rejected it, I had to get rid of it. There
were exceptions: I could have a “trial try on.” For example, if I wasn’t sure a
sweater was the right color to wear with a pair of slacks I wanted to wear, I
could try on a couple of different things.
I can’t tell you how much this helped. Instead of flinging on
things that I hated, it made me really think about what I was going to
wear….and then wear it. Otherwise, it was gone. In the end it saved me a lot of
time and I got rid of some things I truly disliked and wondered why I had ever
purchased. This allowed me a way to acknowledge my purchasing mistakes and move
on.
And that seems like a pretty good way of looking at my
writing: maybe that book I started wasn’t such a good idea after all. I tried
it on, and it doesn’t “look good.” Maybe it needs to be thrown out. Or maybe I just
need to modify it. Either way will work to clean out the clutter.
I’ll be making resolutions again this year—some that will
make a difference, and others that I’ll “forget.” I’d like to know what
resolutions others have made in the past that meant something—and which ones do
you make year after year and never seem to keep?
In keeping with one of my resolutions this year, to be
better at promoting my books, here’s something to tantalize you about A Reckoning in the Back Country, which
comes out January 9: read it to find how Samuel Craddock gets a puppy. And to
find out how his love life takes a dramatic turn.
Also, one of my resolutions last year was to update my
website. I just squeaked in under the wire. Have a look.
www.Terryshames.com
Reckoning
in the Back Country, A Samuel Craddock Mystery
Acting Police Chief Samuel Craddock investigates the murder
of a visiting physician, whose mangled body is found in the woods.
When Lewis Wilkins, a physician with a vacation home in Jarrett
Creek, is attacked by vicious dogs, and several pet dogs in the area around
Jarrett Creek disappear, Police Chief Samuel Craddock suspects that a dog
fighting ring is operating in his territory. He has to tread carefully in his
investigation, since lawmen who meddle in dog fighting put their lives at risk.
The investigation is hampered because Wilkins is not a local.
Craddock’s focus on the investigation is thrown off by the
appearance of a new woman in his life, as well as his accidental acquisition of
a puppy.
Digging deeper, Craddock discovers that the public face
Wilkins presented was at odds with his private actions. A terrible mistake led
to his disgrace as a physician, and far from being a stranger, he has ongoing
acquaintances with a number of county residents who play fast and loose with
the law.
Buy Links
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
STEPPING BACK IN HISTORY TO ANCIENT ROME WITH AUTHOR ZARA ALTAIR
Zara Altair
writes traditional mysteries set in the time of Ostrogoth Rule in Italy in The
Argolicus Mysteries. Learn more about her and her books at her website.
The New
Year: A Time for Games In Ancient Rome
The latest Argolicus mystery, The Roman Heir, is set in Ostia just outside Rome in January 512
CE. The young heir thinks his greatest problem is getting his father to let him
go to the new year Games hosted by the new Consul. His father is viciously
murdered and the young man changes from teenager to adult.
The games were extravagant events that went on for
days. They were entirely free to the public but cost politicians so much they
often went deeply into debt. Chariot races were the main event held at the
Circus Maximus, which could hold 250,000 spectators. Aside from the cost of
horses, chariots, charioteers, and all of their attendant grooms, the games
also provided entertainment with musicians, wild animal hunts, acrobats, and
other acts all paid for by the politician.
Even though the Games were held in January, inclement
weather like rain or snow did not stop the Games. Whatever the weather, people
flocked to the Games for the annual holiday.
Charioteers were like famous sports personalities
today, gaining popular support with the people. They belonged to Factions represented
by colors. By the time of the story, there were two main Factions - the Greens
and the Blues. Loyalty to Factions was strong, often passed down through
generations. Enthusiasm and support for Factions was high-strung resulting in
fistfights in pubs and street fights much like soccer team support today. The
closest modern day example of the fervor is the Palio horserace in Siena,
Italy, where faction loyalty consumes the city.
The charioteers wore Faction colored jackets over
their tunics so they were easily identified by the spectators. Around their
waist was an arrangement of leather straps that protected them from the reins
of the four horses. The reins wrapped around the charioteer’s waist. He guided
the horses around the dangerous turns at each end of the Circus Maximus by
leaning his body.
The Passion
of the Games
The passion of the games were a mammoth spectacle
that began with a parade of the game’s sponsor with musicians, acrobats,
mounted guards, etc. Faction members held traditional positions to spur the
crowd to cheers with chants and loud noisemakers.
Crowds loved the chariot races as there were no lanes
and no rules. With 24 races every day, the Games were filled with excitement,
drawing people from outside the city to celebrate the holidays. Chariot races
were filled with danger. Wheels fell off, and charioteers lost their balance on
the lightweight wood and leather chariots and were dragged behind the running
horses by the reins wrapped around their body.
A
Teenager’s Freedom
Teenagers enjoyed the Games as a time of
no-holds-barred excitement much like young people in Europe today flock to the
running of the bulls at the Feast of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain. They went
not just for the event but for the freedom from usual social constraints. The
Games offered an environment for young men and women to meet without the usual
Roman parental guidance.
Philo, the Roman heir, gives up his dream of going to
the Games as Argolicus searches for clues. The Games are background to the mystery.
I hope you are tempted to add this story to your New Year’s reading.
Happy New Year!
The Roman
Heir, An Argolicus Mystery
A naive
teenager. A sister with secrets. A corrupt patrician. Argolicus unravels the
threads.
Argolicus and Nikolaos deliver a gift but arrive
hours after a brutal murder. They look for an answer until they find that a
man’s secrets do not go with him to the grave.
With just days to find the killer before his ship
leaves port, Argolicus must probe the politics of the dying town. But with
every investigation he makes, the circle of possibilities grows. Success seems
out of reach and he must disappoint the family until a ruffian accosts him and
pieces fall into place.
Buy Links
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
HOME IMPROVEMENT IDEAS WITH GUEST CONTRIBUTOR JACKIE WATERS
Jackie
Waters is the creator of Hyper-tidy.com where she offers tips on
creating a tidy, happy, healthy home through focusing on sustainability and
practicing simplicity.
6 Easy, Green and
Affordable “Home Mod” Projects for Accessibility
Your home is your
castle—or is it? When your home seems to be working against you and you’re
craving more accessibility, it can seem a bit more like a prison than a
respite. Upgrading your home to become more accessible, whether via the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standard or not, comes with a slew of
benefits. If you or someone in your home needs, or would benefit from,
accessible features, the house will become a home. If you’re planning to sell
the property, baby boomers are moving into the senior living category at a fast
clip, and accessibility is more in demand than ever.
From increasing the
desirability and value of your home to making it cozier for you, not all home
modification projects for accessibility need to break the bank. Here are
a few to consider:
1. Adding grips and handrails in the bathroom. These
“handy” tools can be added next to toilets, bathtubs, in showers, and just
about anywhere else in the home where getting up and down can be a struggle.
They can be permanent solutions, or there are a variety of removable yet very
sturdy options that allow you to change and customize placement as you wish.
Disabilities, chronic conditions, temporary injuries and sheer age can all make
getting up and down a challenge. Increase safety with these very low-cost
add-ons.
2. Consider “comfort height” toilets.
The ADA calls “comfort height” between 17 – 19 inches, whereas standard toilet
heights are about 14 inches. As you can see, there’s a big difference! Toilets
are a surprisingly affordable upgrade, and you can add on a low-flush option if you want to green up the
home, too. The higher a seat is, the lower a person has to squat, therefore
it’s easier to get up and down.
3. Build a ramp for exterior stairs.
Ramps aren’t just for wheelchairs. Many people find it difficult to climb up
and down stairs for a variety of reasons. You don’t need to replace stairs with
a ramp, but adding one in addition to stairs can make accessing the home much
easier. The cost of a ramp can vary drastically depending on numerous factors
including grade, materials, labor costs and current conditions of the home.
Shop around to get the best quote.
4. Swap out your sink for a better height.
The average counter is 36 inches high, which can work for some people but not
all. It’s, of course, very costly to get new cabinets and counters, but
swapping out a sink is a more affordable option. Whether you need a shorter or
higher sink for accessibility, you can often achieve that without changing the
counter or base. While you’re at it, you can add on water-saving features for a
greener kitchen.
5. Get an ADA-compliant dishwasher. A
lot of people are surprised to discover there’s such a thing as an ADA
dishwasher, but they can make a big difference with both accessibility and
eco-friendliness. Plus, dishwashers are on the more affordable side of
appliances. An accessible dishwasher always has buttons on the front and sits
14 – 38 inches above the floor. That’s a big range, so the real goal is
ensuring it will sit at the right height that’s comfortable for you or the
person who needs a compliant dishwasher. As an added bonus, you’re likely to
get a greener dishwasher these days than what you currently have installed.
6. Put a nonslip mat in the tub and shower.
This one’s extremely basic and cheap, but a common oversight. Slips and falls
can be very dangerous, especially for the elderly,
and wet skin on a slick surface is asking for trouble.
Making your home more
ADA-friendly is a great way to increase safety, comfort and even the value of
your home. Get creative, and always see if you can green up the upgrade while
you’re at it.
Monday, December 25, 2017
#COOKING WITH CLORIS--APPLE CRANBERRY BUNDT CAKE
Having a New Year’s Day open house or
going to one? Bring along this Apple Cranberry Bundt Cake.
Apple
Cranberry Bundt Cake
Ingredients:
5 cooking apples
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2-1/4 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup pecans
1 cup walnuts
1 cup + 4 T. butter
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup apple cider
4 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
zest of one lemon
1 cup dried cranberries
Peel and slice apples. Place in bowl.
Add cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar. Mix to coat apples. Set aside.
Grease bundt pan and dust with flour or
use baking spray with flour.
Pulse nuts, brown sugar, and 4 T.
butter until crumbly. Distribute evenly in bundt pan.
Cream remaining butter and sugar. Mix
all other dry ingredients together. Slowly add dry ingredients to butter/sugar
mixture.
Combine eggs, apple cider, vanilla,
almond extract, and lemon zest. Slowly add to other ingredients as you continue
to mix. Batter will be thick. Fold in cranberries.
Place small amount of batter over
streusel topping. Add a layer of apples. Continue layering batter and apples,
with batter as last layer.
Back at 350 degrees for 1-1/2 hours or
until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Baking time will vary, depending on depth of your bundt pan. Check doneness after 1 hr.) Cool on wire rack 15-20 minutes.
Remove cake from pan.
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Thursday, December 21, 2017
BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR PAT STOLTEY
Pat (Patricia) Stoltey is the author of
four novels. She lives in Northern Colorado with her husband Bill, Sassy Dog,
and Katie Cat. Learn more about Pat at her website/blog.
Wishing
Caswell Dead is Not a Cozy
The characters in my new novel are
about as un-cozy a bunch as you’d ever want to meet. Or not want to meet, to be
more precise.
I created a little fictitious
village called Sangamon that sits on a river in east central Illinois in
1833-1834. Young Jo Mae Proud lives there in a run-down log cabin with a
down-on-her-luck mother and much-older half-brother Caswell. I gave Jo Mae a
monumental challenge, then surrounded her with flawed, not-so-nice adults. Bad
things happen to Jo Mae along the way. The worst character in the book,
Caswell, is murdered. But we know there’s always good to be found, even when
evil seems to rule the times. Jo Mae finds the good in the old Kickapoo Indian
named Fish and escapes Sangamon in search of a better life.
Bringing a story like this to Killer
Crafts & Crafty Killers might seem odd, but during my research, I found
mention of so many early American crafts. The big loom that appears in one home
in the story is something I saw in a museum.
Jo Mae’s home had not so much as
a needle or even a bar of soap, and her best dress was fashioned from a printed
feed sack. How many of you are even old enough to remember what those old feed
sacks printed with tiny flowers looked like?
No fancy cooking went on in the
Proud household. Boiling a small piece of meat or fish with vegetables was the
best Jo Mae’s mother could do. When Jo Mae goes to live with the old Kickapoo
Indian in his camp by the river, she learns a little more about eating good
food. She also learns not to throw a handful of dried apples into the stew. The
apples were windfalls…and they were wormy. Once tossed into the cookpot, the
worms floated to the top, a very unappetizing sight.
Drying foods is a good way to
preserve an overabundance of fruits or vegetables in today’s world, too. I’d
recommend not using wormy apples. Slice them very thin (as with a mandolin, if
you dare), and dry them in your oven. There are directions online for the
process as well as recipes for using the dried fruits.
When researching this type of
information for Wishing Caswell Dead,
I visited the Museum of the Grand Prairie in Mahomet, Illinois. There was a wealth of information,
including hand-quilted goods and needlework, tools, machines, and items used in
homes and for cooking. I was most interested in quilting, something I’d like to
try for myself one of these days.
I have an antique quilt that I’m
afraid to display for fear it will be damaged in some way, especially as I have
a cat with claws and a dog who loves to cuddle into cozy blankets. At present,
I take the quilt out from time to time and refold or roll it to avoid permanent
creases. The quilt came from Illinois originally and its age was authenticated
by the Illinois State Museum. It’s not quite as old as the quilts that
characters in the Village of Sangamon would use, but it’s certainly
representative of the style and design of those times.
I’d love to know if any of you
are expert quilters, and if you quilt by hand or by sewing machine. Any weavers
with a loom at home? What about cooks who dry fruits and veggies for use later?
I won’t pretend Wishing Caswell Dead is full of
killer crafts, but that historical period offers excellent ideas for today’s
crafty reader looking for new projects…or for the crafty cozy writer looking
for new plots and characters.
Wishing
Caswell Dead:
In the early 1800s in a village on the
Illinois frontier, young Jo Mae Proud wishes her cruel brother dead. Forced
into prostitution by Caswell, Jo Mae discovers she is pregnant and vows to
escape. When Caswell is injured by a near lightning hit, he becomes more
dangerous, and more hated. The flawed residents of the Village of Sangamon
harbor many secrets. Caswell knows them all. Will he tell? Jo Mae runs away and
eventually finds shelter with Fish, the old Kickapoo Indian who camps by the
river. Wishing Caswell Dead
is an historical mystery about the evil that hides within a village, one girl
who is determined to save herself and her child, and a violent murder no one
wants to solve.
Buy Links
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
GUEST AUTHOR JULIE MOFFETT'S HOLIDAY GUIDE TO GEEK GIFTS
Award-winning and bestselling author Julie Moffett writes
mystery, young adult, historical romance and paranormal romance books. Continue
reading to learn how you can win e-copies of two of Julie’s books. Learn more
about her and her books at her website.
Hi, everyone and Happy Holidays! I’m mystery author
Julie Moffett and I write humorous, geeky, mysteries. My Lexi Carmichael series
has nine books out now with the tenth book, No Regrets, releasing January 8th.
But today, I’m celebrating the release of the first book in a brand new geeky,
mystery series titled White Knights.
The novel features Angel Sinclair, a brilliant geek girl who wants nothing more
than to be left in peace, but goes to war with some kids in her high school,
and gets mixed up in international intrigue—all on the first day of her last
day of high school.
So, how many of you have a geek in your life?
Daughter, son, niece, grandson, neighbor? Husband, co-worker or significant
other? Well, no worries because I’m here to help you out! Listed below is a
Geek Gift Suggestion Guide with my top five picks for the holiday season.
Hopefully there is something here for every geek in your life!
Feel free to comment on the post, because I’m giving
away an e-book of White Knights and No One Lives Twice (the 1st book in the
Lexi Carmichael series) to a random commenter to celebrate my new release! Good
luck!!
Fun Geek
Gifts
The Sum of
All Your Particles
It’s a puzzle! Take the wooden particle apart and
then try to rebuild it without sneaking a peek at the solution. But watch out,
recognizing spatial relationships and spotting the solution is about as easy as
seeing an atom, particle, cell or molecule with the naked eye. And you thought
passing chemistry was tough!
Paste Not
Waste
Squeeze up to 35% more out of your household supplies
with this forearm and time-saving device designed to make tubes good to the
last drop. It's simple, sturdy and effective. Ideal for everyday use.
Head of the
Glass
Display your mathematical prowess with every pour
when you serve drinks in this numerically inclined glass set that features
equivalent mathematical constants in addition to standard ounces. Whether they
join you with water during class or with something a little stronger as you
celebrate cracking your latest conundrum, you'll be glad you got your digits
around these endlessly entertaining glasses.
Taking Games to New Heights
Hoverkraft is a game where players take turns
stacking pieces on a platform that levitates. Using magnetic repulsion, the
game board defies gravity. Stack translucent game pieces higher and higher or
remove them as the die dictates. The last player to place a block without
causing the platform to tumble wins.
Wear Your
Geek Pride
You can’t go wrong with a T-shirt—a geek staple.
Great geeky sayings abound (like the one at the top of this blog), so the choice is yours.
Of course, don’t forget to pick up White Knights or a set of the Lexi
Carmichael books to go along with your choice! Let me know which geeky presents
intrigue you or add any good ones I may have missed.
Happy Holidays and be sure to comment below to be
automatically entered to win an ebook of White
Knights and No One Lives Twice.
White
Knights
Geek Girls Rule! My name is Angel Sinclair. I’m the
youngest senior at Excalibur Academy for the Technologically Gifted and
Talented in Washington, DC. I was pushed ahead a year because of my high IQ and
considerable prowess behind the keyboard, making me an outcast even among my
own peers.
I’ve been looking for my dad all my life. A brilliant
mathematician and cryptographer, he disappeared under mysterious circumstances
when I was eighteen months old. Although my mom tells me I must put him in my
past, it only makes me more determined to find out what happened to him. When
weird accidents start happening at my school and the vice principal is involved
in a deadly incident, I don’t see it as a coincidence.
After launching my own investigation, with the aid of
an unexpected set of allies calling themselves the White Knights, I discover a
threat far greater than I ever could have imagined. I could take my discoveries
to the authorities, but my own investigative methods would be at risk. Can
anyone say hacking? No, it’s up to me to set things right. My objectives are
straightforward: clear the name of the vice principal, learn the truth about my
father, and stay alive. In other words, save the day and try not to look too
much like a dork while doing it.
Buy Links
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
GUEST AUTHOR PEGGY GAFFNEY SHARES A CHRISTMAS SHORT STORY
Peggy Gaffney is the author of
the Kate Killoy Mysteries of Suspense for the Dog Lover, which have been
described as Die Hard meets Best in Show.
Today she offers us a short story from the series. Learn more about Peggy and
her books at her website.
The Christmas
Tree
A Kate Killoy Short Story
Kate
had been fighting months of grief since the deaths of her father and
grandfather. However, she had woken that morning, realized it was Christmas Eve
and suddenly found herself resolved to get into the holiday spirit. This would
be her first Christmas in her little house next to her kennel. She’d be going
to her mother’s for Christmas dinner, but she suddenly wanted to bring the
spirit of the holiday into her new home.
Getting
a tree wasn’t a problem. When you own fourteen wooded acres, what you do is
grab a hatchet and crosscut saw, ropes, a dog-sled and a dog. Though most of
the Samoyeds in her kennel were trained for the show ring, Dillon had also been
training on a sled team for more than a year and would be the best answer to
getting the tree home. She found the perfect tree after just half an hour of looking.
The cutting and loading went quickly. Dillon thought this was great since there
was nothing he enjoyed more in winter than racing through the snowy wooded
trails pulling a sled.
Back
in her cottage, she realized that some of her younger Sammy helpers needed to
learn the difference between outdoor and indoor trees. She made a quick save
with a fast grab for two male puppies and tucking each under an arm, called the
adult dogs to follow, and sent them all out into the yard to kept the tree from
being marked.
Back
at work, she pulled the lights her grandmother had given her from the bin. As
she set about untangling the string, she thought she saw movement. A glance
around the room showed nothing. Attaching the beginning of the strand to the
top of the tree, she caught a movement and saw the other end moving silently
across the floor and disappearing. Going hand over hand, she followed the
strand and gazed into the darkness behind the sofa. Tugging on her end she felt
a quick tug in the other direction, and two golden eyes stared out at her. Her
‘invisible’ Chartreux cat, Macbeth, was using her charcoal-gray/blue coloring
to hide her theft in the semi-dark room. Laughing, she reeled in the strand,
grabbed the cat and after a snuggle, put her on the sofa and finished adding
the light to the tree.
She
turned on the radio and set it to the station playing Christmas music and hummed
as she reached for the blue box of ornaments. Its contents moved and the angel
which would be placed on tree-top, jumped from the box and started moving
unsteadily across the room. Kate reached for the ponytail dangling from the
angel’s hair and lifting, saw white fuzzy feet sticking out the bottom.
Suddenly her white and marmalade kitten popped out of the bottom. She scooped
her up, put her onto the overstuffed chair by the fireplace and prayed both her
helpers would stay put. Amazingly, they did but were quite vocal in their
meowing critiques as the rest of the decorating came together.
After
she finished putting on the last ornament, she went into her bedroom and
gathered up armloads of wrapped packages and arranged them around the tree.
Then, opening the door to the yard, she invited her ‘helpers’ together as she
plugged in the lights. She let the cats explore the boxes as the dogs settled
in to watch the sparkling lights highlight each ornament, and for the first
time in many months, Kate felt a quiet peace settle over her. In fact, she could
swear she felt her father and grandfather’s comforting hands resting on her
shoulders just as they always had done when she was going into the ring to show
her dogs. She looked at the dogs and cats around her and let their comfort lift
the grief from her heart and replace it with the joy of the season.
National Security, a Kate Killoy
Mystery
The
third book in the Kate Killoy Mystery series of Suspense for the Dog Lover,
begins when Kate and her fiancé Harry Foyle, a former geek for the FBI, prepare
to leave with Kate’s Samoyed dogs for the National where they and hundreds of
others will compete for best. Kate gets a card from a friend saying she’ll meet
her at the show to share something secret and vital. On the way to the show,
they find out her friend has been murdered.
Kate
is determined to find her friend’s killer, but the NSA and the FBI are more
interested in the secret they are sure has been given to Kate. They don’t
believe her when she says she didn’t get anything from her friend that was
important to national security.
The
agents tend to doubt her, even more, when someone tries to kill her at every
opportunity. While Harry and her friends are trying to keep her alive, Kate’s
determined to solve the puzzle of the vital secret. Kate recruits a former
Russian spy to help.
So
between trips into the ring to compete in agility, obedience, and breed classes
with her dogs, and dodging bullets, Kate and Harry must figure out who is
behind a plot to destroy America and stop them. Though terrified and
exhausted, Kate is determined to do her best in the ring–to win.
Buy Links
Monday, December 18, 2017
#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR AND COOKIE BAKER KELLE Z. RILEY
Cozy mystery and
romance author Kelle Z. Riley is also a global traveler, Ph.D. chemist and
safety/martial arts expert. Today she adds baker to her list of accomplishments, sharing a holiday cookie recipe with us. Learn more about Kelle and her
books at her website.
The Sweetest Season of All
Ah the end of the year! Even in the south where I now live, we’ve seen
snow—and December snow always feels as festive as frosting on a cake.
What is your idea of a “perfect” holiday? What are your traditions? Do
your traditions ever change? Mine sure do! I celebrate Christmas, and as a
teen, the traditions included a small gathering of friends after Christmas Eve
church services and later that night, opening a single gift from our
overflowing stockings.
When I left home for my first job, traditions changed. Mostly they
involved figuring out how to schedule vacation and travel so I could be home for
the holidays.
When I married, traditions changed again. My husband “Baker” Tom had a
Christmas Eve tradition of a clam chowder supper, which we incorporated into
our celebrations.
Over the years Baker Tom and I developed another tradition: Holiday
Cookie Baking!
Usually we make festive variations of standard recipes (my favorite is
traditional shortbread). We’ve also made chocolates, lollipops (which turned
into “stained glass” candy—trust me it is much easier), and even mini pies and
cupcakes.
This year we created:
Peppermint Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients:
1-1/4 C all-purpose flour
3 T granulated sugar
1/2 C softened butter
1/2 - 1 tsp peppermint extract
1-2 tsp. crushed peppermint candies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Blend all ingredients together until a soft, crumbly dough forms. (Tip:
use clean hands rather than a spoon.) Shape the mixture into a ball and turn
onto a sugar dusted surface. Knead until smooth.
Roll the dough out to 1/2” thickness.
Using a cookie cutter, cut into shapes. (Tip: dip the cutter into sugar
to keep it from sticking. For added sweetness and shine, dust the bottoms and
tops of the cookies in a bit more sugar.) Place the cookies on a parchment
covered cookie sheet. The cookies don’t spread, so you can place them close
together.
Bake at 325° F for 10 minutes. The
cookies will be pale—not brown. (Tip: thinner cookies bake faster; not all
ovens are the same so pull them out the minute the edges start to turn golden.)
Remove from oven and cool.
Decorating tips: Add decorative sugar before baking. Peppermint
candy dust will melt and “glaze” the cookie. For intricate designs, make a template
from heavy, transparent paper. Draw the outline of the cookie cutter on the
sheet. Cut out areas using a sharp knife. Place the template over the cookie
and sprinkle sugar over the paper. It will fall through the cut-outs in the desired
designs. Or just try it freehand and have fun.
Now for the best part. Share the cookies with family, friends and even
strangers who you’d like to get to know better. People may celebrate different
holidays at the end of the year, but most of them will be delighted to share
cookies!
If you’d like more recipes, you can check out my “Undercover Cat”
mystery series where my cupcake-baking scientist mixes up edible fun while
unraveling a mystery. (“Baker” Tom helps with all of the recipes and taste
testing!)
Happy Reading!
Happy Baking!
And Happy Holidays!
Be careful
what you wish for . . .
Bree Watson traded her lab coat for a trench coat,
expecting the life of a spy to be fun. But when a body turns up on her
undercover mission, she’s forced to handle:
~A murdered woman with more enemies than meets the
eye
~A hunky handler posing as her fake boyfriend
~A sexy detective bent on wooing her—and wooing her
away from espionage
~A drop-out drug dog with a nose for trouble
~Her cranky cat, curious coworkers, a cupcake
challenge she can’t resist, and too many secrets, lies and cover identities to
keep straight…
In the whirlwind of investigations and undercover
operations, Bree develops a serious identity crisis. Who is she, really?
A spy
pretending to be a chemist? Or a chemist playing at being a spy?
Buy Links