Wednesday, February 5, 2014

DAYS OF WINE AND ROQUEFORT is out!

CONGRATS TO MY BLOGMATES, Meg/Peg, Lucy and Sheila for their new releases!


A FATAL SLIP
MURDER WITH GANACHE
SCANDAL IN SKIBBEREEN


DAYS OF WINE AND ROQUEFORT
is also a new release,
as of yesterday!


What a lot of fun reading our fans will have!!


 I hope you'll all buy a copy of each book. If you can't buy one, mention the titles to your librarian.


Last week's MLK winner:

Antonette!

My NEWSLETTER winner:

Sandy C!

Our FACEBOOK CONTEST winners (from Lucy, Sheila, and Meg/Peg)

Jess D & Gayle T!

And check out my event calendar, because I'm doing a  number of blogs 
this week (a virtual blog tour). 
Click on the links so you can read reviews (some really great ones!) 
or an interview or two, and enter the giveaways!


I'm excited about this new episode in the Cheese Shop Mystery series. I had so much fun throwing wrenches into Charlotte's life! That's what we, as authors, do. We can't let our characters live normal, simple, uneventful lives. 

I also had fun doing my cheese and, for this book, wine research. I especially had fun consulting my wine expert. He is so knowledgeable. By the way, there's nothing quite as relaxing as wine tasting while getting educated...unless, of course, it's sitting on a beach, reading a book, in utter and complete silence! Ah, bliss!

As always, because these are culinary cozy mysteries, I put together some fun recipes that are included in the book. I'd like to share one with you today. It's one of my all-time favorite cheesecakes. It's a dessert offered at the fictional Café au Lait coffee shop in Providence. (**This recipe is gluten-free, because it uses rice flour and xanthan gum, and gluten-free chocolate cream cookies for the crust. If you so desire, you can make it with regular flour; omit the xanthan gum, and use regular Oreos.)





Chocko-Socko Cheesecake
Serves 8-12


1 pound (16 ounces) ricotta cheese
¼ cup rice flour
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
4 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
1 pound (16 ounces) cream cheese
½ cup sour cream
4 egg whites (no yolks!)
½ cup MORE sugar
½ cup crushed chocolate cream cookies
2 tablespoons butter

Topping:
4 extra tablespoons sour cream
1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup chocolate chips


Mix ricotta cheese, rice flour, xantham gum, egg yolks, ½ cup sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, salt until well blended.

Add cream cheese and sour cream and mix well.

Mix separately:  egg whites (with no egg yolks in them) and ½ cup MORE sugar until the egg whites form a soft peak (about 6-8 minutes).

Fold the egg white mixture gently into the cheese mixture.

In a springform pan, lay out the crushed chocolate cream cookies.  Drizzle with 2 tablespoons butter and press with your fingertips to create a “crust.” Pour cheese mixture on top of cookie crust.



Bake at 300 degrees for 1- 1 ¼ hour.  Let STAND IN OVEN, with the oven turned off, for 2 hours so the cheesecake will set. This will prevent drooping in the middle of the cake.


Remove cake from oven. Let cool another hour. Run a knife around the cake and remove the springform pan. Then run a knife between the parchment paper and the bottom of the springform pan. Slide the cake onto a cake plate.

To decorate the cake, spread the extra 4 tablespoons of sour cream onto the top of the cake. Sprinkle cocoa on the sour cream and dot with chocolate chips.  Store the cake in the refrigerator. Serve cold.



And now, to prepare for the launch of INHERIT THE WORD, which comes out NEXT month…


yipes! another book coming out? yipes!

I should let you know that I'll be giving away copies of FINAL SENTENCE this month, each week, and I'll be having more Facebook contests, too.
You have lots of chances to win!


Leave a comment today, answering the question below, and remember to include your email included to be entered in this week's giveaway!! It will go all week long so you have almost 7 days to enter!!


Question: do you like reading culinary mysteries?
I know, you're a trapped audience…but if you do like them,
what is your favorite theme?
What theme would you like to read about?

Okay, go!

******************

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Check out our website.

Next up: 
Days of Wine and Roquefort 
order here

                    Inherit the Word 
                     March 2014preorder here

If you haven't done so, sign up for the mailing list 
so you can learn about upcoming events, releases, and contests! 



28 comments:

  1. It's funny because as a guy, I don't do a lot of cooking. Yet I love culinary mysteries. Other themes don't appeal to me, but this one does. I think it's because I love food, and in the good culinary mysteries, I can taste what the characters are enjoying and my mouth waters.

    But really, who doesn't love food?

    carstairs38@gmail.com

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    1. Mark, my husband is much like you. He doesn't do the cooking, but he likes reading about food. I'm thrilled that you're enjoying this series so much. Thanks!

      Avery / Daryl

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  2. I purchased my copy of "Days of Wine and Roquefort" yesterday and can't wait to start reading it. I do love to read culinary mysteries and I especially enjoy the descriptions of the food that is prepared. It often gives me ideas for my own meal preparations. I like the recipes that are included and I actually make many of them!!!!

    sharonquilts@yahoo.com

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    Replies
    1. Sharon, so glad you've got it. Enjoy! I'm always excited to hear that people make the recipes included. One person made a recipe from The Long Quiche Godobye and wrote me a critique on it. We chatted back and forth trying to figure out why hers didn't work like mine and finally figured out she lived in high altitudes. It needed more moisture. Go figure! LOL

      Daryl / Avery

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  3. Fun having recipes included, even though I will probably never make the stuff. I also enjoy reading about the meals and beverages consumed. Gives me ideas, just as the recipes do. I have tried products that have been in books, especially alcohol. More subtle than TV commercials or product placement, but works on me.

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  4. I love culinary mysteries, or mysteries that have food and drink in them. (Case in point, the Lord Peter Whimsey stories by Dorothy Sayers. When reading those I found myself heading for the kitchen to make tea and look for scones [somehow, they were rarely to be found] and thinking about a glass of fine port.)
    Reading a cookbook is fun for me because I can imagine the end product, so a mystery with food is "icing on the cake"!
    libbydodd@comcast.net

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    Replies
    1. Ah, Libby, that's nice. The icing on the cake. I love that!

      Avery / Daryl

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    2. Thanks to Dorothy Sayers and Lord Peter, I did get a "claret coloured frock". It was lovely.

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    3. Claret coloured frock. How sweet. :)

      ~Daryl / Avery

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  5. This is a fabulous! I love it and will know go alert my friends who need gluten-free treats.

    Happy release week.

    XOXO

    MJ

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  6. Joining Mary Jane in wishing you a happy release week!

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  7. Wow. That looks incredible! Pass a piece, please. Congrats on your new release, Avery. Can't wait to read it!

    ~Krista

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Krista. I really really enjoyed making…eating this cake!

      Hugs,
      Daryl / Avery

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  8. I do like culinary mysteries. Easy desserts are my favorite recipes, especially cake. I also like soup recipes.

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    Replies
    1. Nancy, I'm with you. Easy desserts. A Dove chocolate or Hershey's Kiss works, too. LOL

      Daryl / Avery

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  9. I love this series, I would love to win, but if not will buy.

    kaye.killgore@comcast.net

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  10. I like to read them and I love the recipes, too. I especially like the dessert themes.

    lkish77123 at gmail dot com

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    Replies
    1. Dessert themes. Yes, those seem to be popular. Chocolate, pies, cakes. Yum!

      Daryl / Avery

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  11. I do love culinary mysteries and I like the baking recipes best. Not that I ever make them much because I don't each many sweets. But I love reading about them. Like my husband likes watching the Food Network. Keep it up!

    ElaineE246 at msn dot com

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    1. Elaine, isn't it interesting that watching or reading about food sometimes is enough of a thrill? You don't always need to eat it. Good for a diet. LOL

      ~Daryl / Avery

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  12. I love culinary mysteries but don't have a favorite theme. The Cheese Shop mysteries, Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse mysteries, and Jessica Beck's Donut Shop mysteries are just a few of my faves.

    dotkel50 at comcast dot net

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    Replies
    1. Ah, Dotty, a gal after my own heart. I love all those, too. I think you can make a meal out of those three. Add a few more from our blog and it's a party!

      Daryl / Avery

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  13. Culinary mysteries are definitely my favorite thing to read. I don't really have a favorite. I like to read the books and find some great recipes, but I don't like to cook. My husband is our cook, so I pass the recipes on to him. It's a great system!
    As far as what theme I would like to read about-- maybe something about wine that takes place in the Napa Valley, or something else that takes place on the west coast.

    18LMMS@gmail.com

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    Replies
    1. Lori, how about reading about a cookbook store on the west coast, by the seashore? :) Hint, hint.

      There is a wine mystery. The Merlot Murders by Ellen Crosby. Check them out Nice.

      Daryl / Avery

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