#COOKING WITH CLORIS--AUTHOR GWEN MAYO WHIPS UP HISTORICAL STRAWBERRY CHARLOTTE RUSSE

Author Gwen Mayo is passionate about blending the colorful history of her native Kentucky with her love for mystery fiction. Her stories have appeared in anthologies, at online short fiction sites, and in micro-fiction collections. She co-writes The Three Snowbirds Mysteries with fellow author Sarah E. Glenn. (Interesting side note: Gwen was a brakeman and railroad engineer from 1983 – 1987.) Learn more about Gwen and her books at her website.  

At the time of our story, refrigerator cakes were all the rage and almost any top restaurant had at least one on the dessert menu. Charlotte russes were among the most popular in the 1920s and contained a variety of fruits and berries. Thanks to the television series Downton Abbey, they have made a resurgence in this decade. Of course, the Strawberry Charlotte on Downton Abbey was made of soft lady fingers and filled with strawberry ice cream.

Anyone who has read the Three Snowbirds series knows that I am a stickler for historical accuracy. In the Roaring Twenties in America, almost every recipe for a Charlotte russe starts with the traditional sponge cake. For Murder at the Million Dollar Pier, we are at the height of strawberry season, and I am sure the Professor, Teddy and Cornelia would have delighted in devouring this Strawberry Charlotte Russe. My family and friends certainly did.

Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup cake flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10-inch cake pan. Then line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. 

While the oven is heating, beat the eggs and sugar until thick, fluffy, and pale yellow in color. When beaten to the right consistency, the mix should flow off the beater into the bowl in a smooth ribbon. 

Add the vanilla and stir until blended. 

In a small bowl, mix the flour and salt, then slowly fold the blend into the batter about one third at a time. 

Bake until slightly golden, about 12 minutes. The cake should spring back when touched. 

Turn the cake out on a wire rack to cool. Remove and discard the parchment paper. When cooled, place in spring form pan to assemble the rest of the Charlotte.

Strawberry Layer

Ingredients:

1/3 cup of strawberry sauce (below)

1 quart of strawberries 

Spread 1/3 cup of strawberry sauce on top of the sponge cake. Halve about 10 evenly sized strawberries, enough to go around the edge of the cake, and turn cut side out in the cake mold. Slice the remaining berries and layer them into the center of the strawberry ring. 

Strawberry Sauce

Ingredients:

12 ounces of strawberries, about 30 medium sized berries

1/3 cup of sugar

Puree or crush the berries. Add sugar and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Chill until ready to use.

Strawberry Cream

Ingredients:

3/4 cup strawberry sauce (recipe above)

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1 cup cold heavy whipping cream 

1-2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Chill your mixing bowl and whisk at least 15 minutes. Dissolve gelatin in 1/4 cup of boiling water. Stir the gelatin into the pureed strawberry sauce. Set aside while you whip the cream. 

Beat the cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Add the strawberry sauce mixture and beat until thoroughly blended. Taste and fold in a little more sugar, if needed.

Spread the strawberry whipped cream over the cake, garnish with a fresh berry or two. Cover loosely and chill overnight to allow the cream to set. 

Remove the spring form pan and refrigerate the cake until ready to serve. 

Murder at the Million Dollar Pier

A Three Snowbirds Mystery, Book 2

"Never waste good rum on a bad night." - Teddy Lawless, February 1926.

There are many bad nights ahead for Teddy. Shortly after she arrives at the newly opened Vinoy Hotel in Saint Petersburg, she comes face to face with her ex-fiancé, Ansel Stevens, in the dining room. Cue the slap that was thirty years in the making.

Unfortunately, her ex-fiancé dies during a yacht race shortly thereafter. Conclusion of the authorities: poison.

His family closes ranks, leaving Teddy as the prime suspect. Worse, Teddy's hair comb is found on the deck of Ansel's boat, leading to her swift arrest. Can Cornelia Pettijohn and Uncle Percival save fun-loving Teddy before she goes from the grand hotel to the big house?

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--MYSTERY AUTHOR SARAH E. GLENN ON BOOZY RESEARCH & A BEE'S KNEES COCKTAIL

A very classy Bee’s Knees, courtesy of the Vinoy Hotel

Sarah E. Glenn, a Jane-of-all-trades, has a B.S. in Journalism. She loves reading and writing mystery and horror stories, often with a sidecar of funny. Interesting tidbit: Sarah worked the Reports Desk for her local police department, and she can attest that criminals are dumb. Learn more about Sarah and her books at her website. 

Boozy Research

By Sarah Glenn and Gwen Mayo

I have an interesting conundrum: I don’t drink, but I’m writing a confirmed tippler. Teddy Lawless loves her drinks, especially cocktails. When I wrote my trunk novel, I researched gardening. When I wrote my vampire satire, I researched Irvine, California (the setting). Now, I’m exploring some of the older drinking establishments in Saint Petersburg, including one featured in Murder at the Million Dollar Pier.

The Jungle Prada Tavern

The Gangplank, built in 1924, was Saint Petersburg’s first night club, located in the then exclusive Jungle Prada area. It overlooked Boca Ciega Bay and would later have a splendid view of the Don Cesar Hotel. During Prohibition, rumrunners’ boats docked at the small pier a short distance from the building. From there, the booze was taken through a tunnel that opened in the fireplace of the club, keeping the Gangplank well supplied with high quality alcohol from the Caribbean. Al Capone was rumored to be one of the investors.

It was a must for our book. We discovered there was still a bar on the old site, the Jungle Prada Tavern, and we made a pilgrimage to Boca Ciega to see what was left of the club. The original complex has been broken into multiple buildings, but we still found remnants of the bandstand and the dance floor, shaped like the prow of a ship. In the 1920s, bright striped canvas awnings covered the open-air dance floor. 

Entering the bar was like stepping into a time machine. The bar where Babe Ruth was married and countless illegal bottles of rum were consumed, is much the same, though the fireplace is gone. The current drink menu features several cocktails inspired by 1920s recipes. We asked them to make watered-down versions for us, but they curled my hair anyway. I’m not ready to be a full-fledged flapper yet. 

The Bee’s Knees

(featured cocktail in Murder at the Million Dollar Pier)

In the 1920s, “the bee’s knees” was slang that meant “the best.” The Prohibition-era cocktail was a gin sour blend of lemon juice and honey that was created to mask the harsh “bathtub gin” smell. The earliest book to publish the recipe was the 1930 edition of San Francisco bartender and author Bill Boothby’s cocktail compendium World Drinks and How to Mix Them. However, the blend is believed to have originated in post-World War I Paris, where sugar was in short supply. The true origin of the drink is the subject of much debate and so far, there is no definitive answer.

There are several existing versions of The Bee’s Knees, including one that is still served at the Vinoy Park Hotel. They differ in some ways, but all of them agree on three basic ingredients: honey syrup, gin, and lemon juice. I’m partial to the version they serve at the Vinoy: so sweet, you could have it as dessert.

Ingredients:

1 cocktail shaker of crushed ice 

2 oz. gin 

1 oz. honey syrup  

1 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice 

Shake the liquids with crushed ice and strain the drink into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon or orange twist and/or a sprig of fresh basil. 

(Honey syrup is made by thinning honey with hot water. I recommend every 3 ounces of honey be thinned with one ounce of hot water. If you prefer a less sweet drink use honey and hot water in a 1 to 1 ratio.) 

Murder at the Million Dollar Pier

Three Snowbirds, Book 2

Shortly after Teddy Lawless arrives at the newly opened Vinoy Hotel in Saint Petersburg, she comes face to face with her ex-fiancé, Ansel Stevens, in the dining room. Cue the slap that was thirty years in the making. Her ex-fiancé dies during a yacht race shortly thereafter. Conclusion of the authorities: poison. Teddy is arrested after her hair comb is found on the deck of the vessel. Can Cornelia Pettijohn and Uncle Percival save fun-loving Teddy before she goes from the grand hotel to the big house?

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GUEST AUTHOR AND HISTORY JUNKIE GWEN MAYO

Civil War Army Field Surgery Kit

Gwen Mayo is passionate about blending the colorful history of her native Kentucky with her love for mystery fiction. Interesting fact: Gwen was a brakeman and railroad engineer from 1983 - 1987. Learn more about her and her books at her website and blog.

Confessions of a History Junkie

One of the definitions of a “junkie” is a person who gets an unusual amount of pleasure from or has an unusual amount of interest in something. For me, that something is history. Thanks to the Internet, I can indulge my passion any time I please. I have a list of sites longer than my arm, but as wonderful as the web can be, nothing replaces an up close look into the past. 

My spouse and I have spent many happy days looking for towns that no longer exist. Some of those towns wind up in stories or blog posts. My historical wandering brought the White House cookbook from the Lincoln administration into my possession. A trip to the Walter Reed Medical Center Museum let me get a good look at the Civil War Union Army Field Surgery Kit. That piece of history turned up in one of my Nessa Donnelly mysteries. I also spent a lovely summer researching the history of Kentucky bourbon.

Mary Todd Lincoln's Family Home 

I know history isn’t considered a sexy topic, but it can be. Lexington, Kentucky has a historic home that was once owned by Mary Todd Lincoln’s family. The same house was later Jenny Hill’s Bawdyhouse. Belle Brezing, Lexington’s most famous madam, lived there for a couple of years before buying her own house. 

Still, when I talk about my favorite pastime, I get a lot of eye-rolls. Kids who hated memorizing dates for a history test often grow up to be adults who think history is boring. Why wouldn’t they? Their only exposure to history has been a bunch of dull facts delivered by a teacher with no real interest in the subject.

History, real history, isn’t the dry facts of an event; it is a group of individual stories that narrow an event to only one outcome. History is made up of hundreds of ‘what if’ stories. For instance, would the outcome of WWII have been different if Hitler had not taken a sleeping pill before the Allies landed on Normandy’s beaches? The question opens a whole range of alternate histories. Our reality is that Hitler slept until noon, and Field Marshall Rundstedt did not get the support he requested. The history of the world may have turned on a sleeping pill.

Concealed in Ash

Former Pinkerton Agent Nessa Donnelly has nearly forgotten life before trading in her skirts for her brother's suit. She's left her impoverished past behind to become Kentucky's most prominent detective. Now a charred body discovered in the ashes of the Phoenix Hotel, and its connection to the schoolmarm who has charmed both her and Doc Haydon, threatens her house of lies.

Rival forces are threatening to pull the city apart as the murder ignites old hatreds. Klansmen attack a local police sergeant with family ties to O'Brien. The vigilante Red Strings steal O’Brien’s body from Doc Haydon’s basement and murder a policeman. The arrest of a colored boy sparks racial violence. Nessa’s investigation uncovers O’Brien’s involvement in the Red Strings and a multitude of other motives for his murder.

The lad had ample reason to murder O’Brien, but his benefactor, the quirky inventor Professor Percival Pettijohn, is certain of his innocence. Nessa is tempted to ignore his pleas until she discovers that Pettijohn's assistant is the grandson of her beloved housekeeper.

Nessa refuses to choose between protecting Mary Katherine and saving Beulah’s grandson. Instead she, Haydon, and Pettijohn put their lives on the line to find the real killer and stop the violence.

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