Congrats to Cleo's Chocolate Candle Winner!

Congrats to the winner of my Tuesday
instant giveaway. By random number generator, the winner is...

CindyD

Cindy, you've won the Hershey's Chocolate-Scented Candle, just in time for the Festival of Lights. Congratulations!

Just contact me at CleoCoyle at Gmail.com with your name and address and I'll have the candle sent right out to you.

Thanks to everyone for leaving such wonderful comments for me and Connor on my Tuesday blog post! Be sure to follow this blog so you don't miss your next chance to enter our fun giveaways.

And don't forget about Krista Davis's Christmas Cookie Contest to celebrate the release of her new holiday mystery: THE DIVA COOKS A GOOSE!

There's still plenty of time to send her your favorite recipe (Krista at KristaDavis dot com). If she picks your recipe and bakes it, you'll win a fun prize. Find out more by clicking here...

Happy Chanukah,
everyone!

~ Cleo Coyle, author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries

Special Chanukah Latkes from a teen Iron Chef by Cleo Coyle

A few weeks ago on Facebook, Nancy Prior Phillips, one of our wonderful followers, mentioned that her teenage son, Connor, whipped up my Autumn Potatoes recipe (a mashed potato makeover, adding flavor and nutrition to your classic mashed via garlic and carrots).

I was delighted to hear that Connor, an aspiring chef, was inspired by my recipe to take it one step further. He added a few ingredients and fried them up as pancakes! Brilliant!

The result is a delicious latke recipe that my husband and I inhaled the day we tried them. I hope you enjoy them, too. Connor even gave us a sweet variation. Go, Chef Connor! You’re on your way to becoming the next Iron Chef!


Wednesday evening, December 1st, of course, brings us the first night of Chanukah, and latkes (potato pancakes) are a tasty, traditional Chanukah food.

The Jewish custom of eating foods fried or baked in oil comes from the original miracle of the Chanukah menorah, which involved the discovery of a small flask of oil that lasted many more days than it should have. Consequently, the “Festival of Lights” is eight days long and marked each night by the lighting of a new candle.

My barista character, Esther, has her own unique spin on her mother’s traditional latke recipe. In Holiday Grind, I share her recipe with readers. For today’s post, I am delighted to share…

Connor Phillips’
Chanukah Latkes (2 Ways!)

To print, save, or share this recipe in a PDF document, click here.  The PDF includes Connor's Latke recipe along with Cleo's Autumn Potatoes.





Garlic-Carrot Potato Latkes
with Dill, topped with
Ginger Sour Cream 

Servings: 6 pancakes

1 egg, well beaten
1 tablespoon Wondra flour
2 teaspoons dried dill
3 cups of Cleo Coyle's Autumn Potatoes (click here to get Cleo's free PDF of her recipe, which will give you 3 cups of garlic-carrot mashed potatoes) 
Olive oil (enough for 1/2 inch in frying pan)

For Topping:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (or to your own taste)

Directions: Mix together Cleo's Autumn Potatoes, egg, flour, and dried dill. Now heat 1/2 inch of olive oil in a cast iron skillet (or frying pan) until it shimmers. (Be sure oil is nice and hot or the results will be greasy.) Using an ice cream scoop, carefully place mounds of the batter into the hot oil. Flatten with a spatula. Cook these small pancakes until they brown and form crunchy crusts (5 or 6 minutes on one side), then flip over and continue until the other side is similar (another 5 or 6 minutes). Remove the pancakes from the pan and drain on paper towels. Serve with ginger sour cream.


Sweet Latkes with
Cinnamon and Apple Sauce 

Servings: 6 pancakes

1 egg, well beaten 
1 tablespoon Wondra flour
2 teaspoons nutmeg or cinnamon 
3 cups of Cleo Coyle's Autumn Potatoes (click here for Cleo's free PDF of her recipe, which will give you 3 cups of garlic-carrot mashed potatoes)
Olive oil (enough for 1/2 inch in frying pan)

Directions: Follow cooking instructions in previous latke recipe. Top with cinnamon apple sauce (Connor used the chunky kind). You can also use vanilla yogurt or sour cream swirled with vanilla and cinnamon.

  

Cleo's Tip #1:

For best results, be sure to use 1/2 inch of olive oil. Don't skimp. Remember: It's the temperature of the oil that will give you greasy latkes and not the amount.

Just make sure the oil is hot enough before you plop in your first scoop of batter. As Connor advises, wait until the oil "shimmers." (As Esther advises, "It's the oil that's the mitzvah, so don't be stingy with it!") 

Plopping scoops of latke
batter into the hot oil.

Flatten with spatula.

Cleo's Tip #2:

Be patient. The pancakes will take 5 or 6 minutes to cook per side. The oil needs to be nice and hot (note the bubbling in the photo).

Flip with care: Allow the latkes to cook until nice and crispy on one side before flipping to the other or they may fall apart on you. And don't flip more than once. Just fry until crispy. Flip. Fry until crispy, and you're done.

When finished frying, drain them on a paper towel,
plate them up, add a little sour cream, and...

Eat with joy!

Delicious...

Thank you,
Connor!

Happy Chanukah,

everyone!

~ Cleo Coyle, author
of The Coffeehouse Mysteries

To get more of my recipes, find out more about my books, or sign up to win free coffee, visit my *virtual* coffeehouse at...

Coffeehouse Mystery.com

     

HOLIDAY GRIND
by Cleo Coyle

Holiday Grind: 
A Coffeehouse Mystery,

“Fun and gripping…” —The Huffington Post 

“Some of the most vibrant characters I've ever read. Coyle also is a master of misdirection and red herrings. I challenge any reader to figure out whodunit before Coyle reveals all.” —Mystery Scene

Pumpkin Nut Cookies!

The winner of week three of the Christmas Cookie Contest is Joy Isley for her Pumpkin Nut Cookies!






First, a few updates about the contest. Please keep sending recipes! There's an ingredient that hasn't shown up yet. I'm quite surprised. Hints: writers eat this a lot; it's mentioned in today's recipe; and Lynn in Texas guessed it correctly last week.

I had company over Thanksgiving and they asked where the ?? cookies were. Another famous Christmas cookie that hasn't shown up among the recipes submitted.

So, please keep submitting. Send your recipes to Krista at KristaDavis dot com. And if you haven't won yet, don't despair. All previously submitted recipes are still in the running.

Dave's lacy pecan cookies didn't last long enough to tell you how well they keep. However, I popped the Raggedy Anne cookies into a freezer bag and froze them last week. Not only were they wonderful when served over Thanksgiving, one of my guests said they're just as good straight from the freezer!

And now to this week's winner. Here's Joy's recipe ~

PUMPKIN NUT COOKIES

For as long as I can remember, my family has always baked these cookies for the holidays.

1/4 C sugar
1/2 C shortening
1 egg beaten
1/2 C pumpkin (canned pumpkin)
1 C all-purpose flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
a pinch of ginger
1/2 C raisins
1/2 C nuts, chopped

Cream together shortening and sugar. Add egg and pumpkin and mix well.

In another bowl, sift together flour, spices, baking powder and salt. Stir dry ingredients into moist mixture. When blended, add raisins and nuts

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

I have substituted the raisins for a few chocolate chips or candied fruits. I have also put a fine powdered sugar glaze on them and added lemon zest on top.


Krista's take ~

This is a nice easy drop cookie recipe. On our scale of one to three, I'd have to put it at a one. Another Nina Reid Norwood cookie that's easy to make. The dough beats nicely to a thick consistency.

The recipe says to drop by teaspoons. I tried patting them down a little to make them more uniform, but gave up. The dough is sticky and the nuts and raisins just give them unique shapes.

The afternoon sun peeked in to give the baked cookies a golden glow. They're actually sort of pumpkin colored.

Joy mentioned making a sugar glaze for them. I mixed 1/3 cup powdered sugar with 2 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice and drizzled it over them. While the glaze was still wet, I sprinkled them with a few sugar sprinkles (just sugar in bigger chunks).

These cookies are soft when you bite into them, a nice switch from crunchy textures. In addition, the cookies are not overly sweet. If you have a family member or friend whose first comment is always "oh, it's too sweet!" then this is the cookie for her!

Congratulations, Joy!

A Thankful Holiday

Hi y’all. I’m doing a special Sunday edition of Mystery Lovers Kitchen. I’m still in Thanksgiving mode on this holiday weekend, and thinking about some of the things I’m thankful for.

There are a lot of things, actually, that make my list—family, friends, my community.

One thing that grows more and more important to me each year is my love of books and writing. Days when I can’t write, for whatever reason, I really just don’t feel satisfied. When I’m not writing, I’m sure to have a book in my hand or somewhere close by—there’s just nothing like escaping with a good book!

And there’s something special about connecting with other writers, too. I can’t imagine writing before the internet. Writing is such a solitary activity…but with the magic of the internet, we can connect with each other and share our successes and challenges.

So on this Thanksgiving weekend, I’m giving a shout-out to my fellow mystery-loving cooks—and their wonderful books, which have entertained me so much! They’ve provided a terrific year of reading for me, so my hat’s off to them:

Avery Cleo Jenn Julie Krista

Thanks, y’all, for a wonderful past year on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen!

So now, it’s your turn—what are you thankful for?

Hope you’ve had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Riley/Elizabeth
Delicious and Suspicious (July 6, 2010) Riley Adams
Pretty is as Pretty Dies –Elizabeth Spann Craig

Baked French Toast with Apples!

ACK, the holidays are coming!
I don't know about you but I
love recipes that I can prep ahead
that give me breathing room for the
main event.

I've gotten variations of this
recipe from several people and it
is virtually impossible to mess
up. It is delicious and when you're
in a time crunch to prep the bird, ham

or tofu roast beast and all of the sides,

it's nice to have something that you made

the night before that you can pop into the

oven and get breakfast off of your hands.

I give you: Baked French Toast with Apples!

Ingredients:

5 thick slices cinnamon bread
1/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs
4 egg whites
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons allspice
2 medium apples (sliced thin)
powdered sugar

Cut cinnamon bread into small chunks, place in a large bowl and set aside. In a another bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, vanilla and milk. Sprinkle sugar over bread and then add egg mixture. Stir in cinnamon and apples. Pour into a greased 13×9 baking dish and let sit in the fridge overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes or until set. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve with maple syrup.

Happy Insane Holiday Season, Everyone!

Jenn

www.jennmckinlay.com

BUTTERCREAM BUMP OFF coming January 2011

Cucumber Sandwiches: My Go-To

Thanksgiving leftovers -- heck, leftovers from any holiday -- are wonderful. I look forward to leftovers almost more than I do the actual meal. Weird? I bet I'm not alone.

Because you and I are sitting back enjoying our leftovers today, I'm not going to post a multi-step, intricate recipe. I'm taking it easy. Post-Thanksgiving is meant to be savored, don't you think? The day after Thanksgiving is so great. Still lots of family time, but a whole lot less cooking. Rather than scurry out and shop, we prefer to open our boxes of holiday decor and pick out our tree.

To celebrate today being a laid-back day, then, I'm sharing one of my top Go-To recipes. Over the years, we discovered that one of our favorite holiday leftovers is actually an appetizer. We all like it so much, we stopped serving it only on holidays and at parties, and now we make it at the drop of a hat. Here's the excuse we used this time: Our three daughters are home this week!

Super, super easy, this one comes from Pampered Chef. We changed it ever so slightly, but I gotta give them credit. They've really mastered making yummy food fast. I might have mentioned that I used to be a Pampered Chef lady (you know, the one who comes to your house and shows you all the great gadgets?), so I have a houseful of fun toys to play with.

This is *not* a Pampered Chef commercial -- just a little back story. It's been years since I've even been to a party. But I still love this recipe!

Cucumber Sandwiches

1 cucumber

1 8-oz cream cheese

1 cup mayo

1 envelope dry Italian dressing mix (like Good Seasons. I use the store house brand and I buy them in 4 packs -- less expensive when you make it as often as we do!)

Bread

I like to soften my cream cheese a little before mixing. I put it in a glass bowl and pop it into the microwave for about 10 - 15 seconds, or maybe even a little more.

Add dry Italian dressing mix. Add mayo. Use hand mixer until smooth.

Put this in the fridge. I always find the taste improves after I've given the mix time to set and allow the flavors to combine.

In the meantime, slice cucumber into very thin slices. I have a mandolin-thing from Pampered Chef. Can't remember what they call it, but it has different slicing/shredding blades that pop in and out. Perfect for slicing cucumbers ultra thin.

Bread: The original recipe encouraged us to bake our own bread in bread tubes. I did that for a while but it got very old very fast. Plus the breads were relatively small and these little sandwiches would disappear quicker than I could keep up. I would make four loaves and it still wouldn't be enough.

What I do now is go to my local supermarket (Jewel), find the twin French loaves, and ask the friendly ladies behind the counter to slice them for me. Voila. Perfect! And plenty. I still wind up buying four (two 2-packs) at a time, but they're much bigger than the ones I made myself.

Spread mix on bread slice, top with cucumber. Repeat, repeat, repeat....

(I like to cut the cuke slice about halfway up, then twist before placing atop the bread. Pretty!)

Serve!

Just an easy and very, very delicious appetizer that everyone seems to love. I can't believe how often I get compliments on these. Or how much my kids still love them. It's been over 10 years and they haven't gotten tired of them yet!

This is one of my favorite Go-To recipes.

What's one of yours?

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Julie

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Thanksgiving wish...

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

From all of us at Mystery Lovers Kitchen.

May you find laughter, joy and love in the coming season.

May you be adored by your loved ones.

May you adore them.

May you be healthy.

May your differences be resolved.

May you find a moment for a good cup of tea (or coffee, Cleo)

May you find time to read a chapter from one of your favorite books

(hopefully one of ours).

May you enjoy every moment of every meal.

The preparation, the presentation, the flavors, the aromas.

Here are some links to previous recipes over the past year that will be useful on Thanksgiving...just in case you don't have your menu in place. And if not for today, then refer to them during the next few weeks.

202 Tips from Cleo (and Mark)

Sweet Potatoes

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Pumpkin Souffle

A choice of Cheesecakes (including Pumpkin Cheesecake)

And may you all enjoy this sweet reminder of childhood:

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on youtube.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

Love to all.

Avery

* * *

If you'd like to know more about A Cheese Shop Mystery series and want to download a few other recipes from me (on recipe cards), click on this link to my website: Avery Aames. I've posted recipes in the "morsels" section. Check out the Apple Pie with Cheddar Cheese Crust. There's lots of other fun stuff, as well. And sign up for the mailing list to get in on the next contest...coming soon.

Some Cranberries—for Drinking!

While food gets the top billing for Thanksgiving, I’d like to also give a shout-out to the drinks that help make the holiday special, too.

We rotate the hosting responsibilities for Thanksgiving from year to year. Usually, whoever isn’t hosting brings some new wines to try—and probably a new winter beer for me to try, since I’m a beer fan.

But it’s also fun to try some festive drinks that tie into the holiday. Which is why I’ll focus on cranberries as a drink option today. :)

Because my children always feel left out if they don’t have their own, special, non-alcoholic holiday drink, I’m including a recipe for a cranberry punch, too.

First of all, the loaded stuff— :)

Cranberry Vodka

2 oz vodka
4oz cranberry juice
2 oz ginger ale

Mix together and serve over ice.

And now one for anyone who doesn’t want the vodka--

Cranberry Pineapple Punch
1 can (19 oz) unsweetened pineapple chunks (keep the juice)
1 bottle (40 oz) cranberry cocktail
1 L bottle chilled ginger ale

Combine pineapple and cocktail in a punch bowl.

Add ice and gently stir in ginger ale.

Because cranberries aren’t just for eating! :)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Riley Adams/Elizabeth Spann Craig

Delicious and Suspicious (July 6 2010) Riley Adams

Pretty is as Pretty Dies –Elizabeth Spann Craig

Remember to enter Krista's Christmas Cookie Contest!

Krista's Christmas
Cookie Contest!

Krista Davis is celebrating the upcoming release
of her new holiday mystery, The Diva Cooks a Goose.
She's holding a delicious contest! Send Krista your favorite cookie recipe
at Krista at KristaDavis dot com and you might win!
Find out more by clicking here

Sweet Potato Casserole and a big Thank You from Cleo Coyle

SWEET NEWS! I can't believe it, but my little Coffeehouse Mystery reprint, Holiday Grind, has once again made the Top-20 bestsellers list of all mass market paperbacks at Barnes and Noble stores across the country! Three weeks running! YES!


Thankful is such an important word this week, and I am incredibly thankful to all of you who have supported this book--readers, reviewers, bloggers, including (and especially) my fellow mystery writing cooks. Sending love, blessings, and heartfelt thanks your way.

And now for today's tasty post...

This blog post was chosen by Foodbuzz, a wonderful international community of foodie bloggers, as one of their Top-9 Picks for Thanksgiving Day 2010. Thank you, Foodbuzz!


Still looking for a delicious side dish for Thursday? Look no more. "Sweet Potato Casserole is what I'm asked to bring time and time again," wrote Pam Bigham Fulk in her comment on my Mashed Potato Makeover post last week. "I never come home with leftovers! Enjoy!"

Cleo Coyle, who believes
every cat should have
3 names, is author of the
Coffeehouse Mysteries.

Thank you to Pam for sharing this classic, comfort food recipe. With so many of you commenting that your favorite Thanksgiving side dish was sweet potatoes (no marshmallows!), I just couldn't resist making and photographing this one for today's post.

So here we go: Pam Fulk's Sweet Potato Casserole recipe (no marshmallows!)...with a little help from my cat Spunky (aka "Otis" aka "Otis Spunkmeyer" because every cat should have at least three names).





 

 

SWEET POTATO
CASSEROLE

Thanks to Pam Fulk for sharing
her foodie love of this classic...


Ingredients:

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (see Cleo’s note)
1 cup brown sugar  
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)

Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar 
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
1 cup chopped pecans

Cleo Coyle's Note #1: Now you know freshly boiled and mashed sweet potatoes are going to taste much better than canned. Simply peel 3 medium sweet potatoes (between 1-1/2 to 2 pounds in total weight).

Slice them up and throw them into water that's been brought to a rolling boil. Cook them 20 minutes, uncovered in the boiling water. Drain well and mash. Do it the night before, store in the fridge, and you're all set to throw together this casserole on Thanksgiving day.

Mashing fresh potatoes always tastes better than canned. And you get a free session of primal smashing therapy--just before the in-laws arrive! Priceless. 

Casserole Preparation:

Combine first 6 ingredients. Pour into a buttered 1 1/2 to 2-quart casserole dish. (In my photos below, I used a 1-1/2 quart dish). Mix remaining ingredients together and sprinkle over top. Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes, until hot and browned.

Cleo's note #2: This is one delicious casserole. Thank you, Pam! Only one small note of warning here. With the amount of butter and sugar in this baby, this is also one very rich casserole. But, hey, it's once a year, right?

Still, I think this casserole would taste just as good with the amount of butter reduced. Next time I make it, I'm going to reduce the butter by half, cutting it back to 1/4 cup each in the potatoes and topping. (1/4 cup = 1/2 stick so that would be a total of one stick of butter for the entire recipe instead of two.)

With thanks again to Pam,
I present my photos of her recipe...



Sweet Potato Casserole -
unbaked in 1-1/2 quart casserole dish...

Still unbaked with brown sugar
(I used dark brown) and
pecan topping added...



 

Baked and cooling casserole
on Cleo's back porch...

"Spunky? Are you going to help me
taste this? Where are you, Spunky?"

It appears Spunky is busy
chasing falling leaves.
Looks like we're on our own.
That's okay. More casserole
for you and me! Dig in!

Happy
Thanksgiving,
Everyone!

Eat with joy!



Cleo's cat Spunky.
(Still holding out for turkey.)

~ Cleo Coyle, author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries 



HOLIDAY GRIND:
A Coffeehouse Mystery
The TOP-9 national
mystery bestseller in 
hardcover is now a 
TOP-4 national mystery
bestseller in paperback!

To get more of my recipes, sign up to win free coffee, and learn about my Coffeehouse Mysteries, visit my *virtual* coffeehouse at: CoffeehouseMystery.com

HOLIDAY GRIND

“Fun and gripping…” —The Huffington Post

“Some of the most vibrant characters I've ever read. Coyle also is a master of misdirection and red herrings. I challenge any reader to figure out whodunit before Coyle reveals all.”
—Mystery Scene

RAGGEDY ANNE COOKIES

And the winner of week two of Krista's Christmas Cookie Contest is . . .


Wait a minute. Hold everything. I haven't been here in an entire week.

Okay, I've been posting this everywhere, so a lot of you have probably seen it already. But, just in case there's still one person in the world who hasn't seen it -- here's the new book trailer for THE DIVA COOKS A GOOSE!

Don't forget that Cleo's HOLIDAY GRIND is available this year in paperback!

Cleo, congratulations on hitting #18 on the Barnes & Noble paperback bestseller list!





And now, back to Raggedy Anne Cookies. Our winner this week is Helena Georgette Mann, who sent a recipe using two ingredients that I love, but wouldn't have thought of combining -- maple and coconut.

Here's Helena's recipe ~

This cookie recipe comes from my mother. It is a tradition to have cookies with hot chocolate after decorating the Christmas tree. This is one of the three cookies we have. It's a dense cookie with the essence of maple, texture & taste of coconut & the sweetness of sugar. It's a delicious cookie!

RAGGEDY ANNE COOKIES

Ingredients
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup shortening
1 large egg
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
granulated sugar

Directions
Beat together brown sugar, shortening, egg & maple flavoring until fluffy. Add flour, baking powder & salt; mix well. Stir in coconut. Drop by spoonfuls, 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Grease bottom of glass with shortening & dip in granulated sugar. Press cookies flat with glass. Reapply shortening to glass as needed & dip in sugar. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.





Krista's take ~

On our difficulty scale of one to three, Raggedy Anne Cookies came in at less than a Nina Reid Norwood (a one). Anyone with a mixer and an oven can whip these cookies up. In fact, I think it took me twenty-five minutes from the time I pulled out the mixer to the time I pulled the first tray of baked cookies from the oven. These are great last minute cookies for those times when you need cookies fast.



The recipe says to drop by spoonfuls, but my dough was fairly thick, so I used my fingers to plop small rounded amounts onto the baking sheet.



I had to look for a glass with a flat bottom. Who knew so many of my glasses had concave bottoms? Greasing the glass, dipping it in sugar and flattening the cookies would be a wonderful job for little helpers. Don't twist when removing the glass, though, that makes it stick. Just lift straight up.



I thought the coconut might give these cookies a fuzzy look, sticking out at the edges, but it blended in very well. You can see a few of the slightly bigger pieces in the pictures.



The smell is heavenly! I found maple extract without any problem at all at my natural foods store. If you're a fan of maple, these are the cookies for you. They're also a great choice if you're making a lot of different kinds of cookies because they're not similar to anything else.

Thanks for sending me your recipe, Helena! Your tree trimming tradition is lovely and must be a lot of fun for the whole family.


If your recipe didn't win this week, don't worry. All recipes are still contenders. We have three weeks of recipes to go, so keep sending your favorite Christmas cookie recipes to Krista at KristaDavis dot com!




There's one popular cookie ingredient I haven't seen yet in any of the recipes . . .