Welcome our guest Hannah Dennison + book #giveaway!

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British transplant Hannah Dennison is the author of The Vicky Hill Mysteries (Constable Crime) and The Honeychurch Hall Mysteries (Minotaur), both set in the wilds of the Devonshire countryside. Hannah originally moved to Los Angeles to pursue screenwriting. She has been an obituary reporter, antique dealer, private jet flight attendant and Hollywood story analyst. Hannah has served on numerous judging committees for Mystery Writers of America and is currently serving on the MWA board for 2016-2018. 

Now living in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two insane Vizsla dogs, Hannah’s heart remains in England. She is a passionate supporter of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, the Historic Houses Association, and the National Trust. She enjoys all country pursuits, movies, theater and seriously good chocolate. 

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Don't miss Hannah's giveaway below!

Lemon Drizzle Cake (Without The Drizzle)

It’s great to be back at Mystery Lover's Kitchen once again. 

I hope your readers will enjoy the recipe for my quintessentially English Lemon Drizzle Cake—although the moment my American husband spied it cooling in the kitchen he asked, “Where is the frosting?”  He has a good point. If you make this cake the traditional old-fashioned way, there is no frosting. But of course you can always sprinkle it with confectioners sugar (we call it “Icing Sugar” in the UK) or even whip up some sugar, butter and a tiny bit of milk to make a buttercream frosting if that’s what suits your fancy.

I picked Lemon Drizzle Cake in honor of Jane Wynne, who owns Dundridge Stables in Harberton, Devon. That’s the setting for Iris Stanford’s carriage house that is featured in The Honeychurch Hall Mysteries. Jane invited me to tea and baked the most delicious Lemon Drizzle Cake, and I’ve never forgotten it.

I have to say however, that the recipe here comes from Warren Williams, a fellow Brit whose fabulous technique ensures that the lemon syrup soaks into the cake itself, which is why this one really does not need any frosting. Yum!

Ingredients for the cake

6oz self-raising flour (it really is available in the USA if you look)

1 level tsp. of baking powder

6oz of softened butter

6oz of caster sugar (i.e. superfine, not powdered)

3 medium eggs

2 tbsp. of semi-skimmed milk

The finely grated rind of 3 lemons—must be finely grated

Ingredients for the Lemon syrup

The juice of 3 lemons, strained

4oz of caster sugar (i.e. superfine, not powdered)

Method

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl, add the remaining cake ingredients and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. I cheated and used my Cuisinart.

 Spoon the mixture into a greased and base-lined 2lb loaf tin. You really want to line it with parchment paper otherwise the cake can stick to the bottom and it will be hard to get out.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C or 350F for 1 hour or until cooked. You’ll know when it’s done when the cake seems to come away from the sides of the tin.

Keep the cake in the tin to cool whilst you make the syrup. Basically you’re just going to gently warm the lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved.

Next, use a skewer to pierce the top of the cake (still in the loaf tin) with deep holes. Pour the warm syrup over whilst the cake is still warm. Let it cool in the tin. This helps keep the syrup in the cake until it has all cooled down.

Turn out onto a wire tray.

When completely cool, slice and serve.

I had planned on garnishing my effort but the moment my back was turned … my husband cut a slice.

Enjoy!

Remember to line the pan with parchment paper.

GIVEAWAY

I am offering  a trade paperback of DEADLY DESIRES AT HONEYCHURCH HALL, 

the first Honeychurch Hall mystery, to one commenter. Leave your email so I can get in touch!  And tell me, do you enjoy history or mysteries set in historical places?

Learn more about Hannah on her website, and follow her on all her social media places!

Links:

Hannah Dennison

https://www.facebook.com/HannahDennisonBooks

https://www.instagram.com/hannahldennison

https://twitter.com/HannahLDennison

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Mrs. Smith's Orange Cake #Recipe @PegCochran

This cake is known in the family as "Mrs. Smith's Orange Cake--Fletcher's Favorite."  Fletcher is my husband and this recipe comes from his high school girlfriend's grandmother!  So it's been around a loooong time!

I made this for Easter, and it's light and lovely with a hint of orange.  Next time I think I would add some orange zest to the batter for a stronger orange flavor.  But we enjoyed it as is!


CAKE

5 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 tsp. baking powder

Separate eggs and beat yolks until lemon colored.  Add the sugar a little at a time.

Mix and sift baking powder, flour and salt.

Add flour mixture and orange juice to batter, alternating between them.

Beat egg whites until they hold soft peaks and fold into the batter.

Pour batter into an *ungreased* angel food pan (a tube pan.)

Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. 

Invert and cool completely.

ICING

Mix together:
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups confectioner's sugar
Add enough orange juice until spreading consistency (about 1/2 cup)

GIVEAWAY!!!

I am giving away TWO copies of Dead and Berried, 

#3 in my Cranberry Cove Series.  

It will be out on May 2nd!

Leave a comment below to be entered to win!

Amazon

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Ginger Lemonade

Recently I was at a bookstore with a nice café for a signing. Since I was supposed to read something and I was thirsty, I ordered a cold drink. I was in a daring mood and asked for a ginger lemonade, which I’d never tried. And I really liked it!

I’m trying to find alternatives to caffeinated drinks—I confess that I love coffee and tea and various forms of iced tea, but that can add up to a lot of caffeine. But I haven’t been impressed by the non-caffeine commercial varieties of drinks. This, however, fit the bill nicely.

So I went looking for recipes for ginger lemonade. (I admit that you can always go the easy route: buy a gallon plastic jug of supermarket lemonade and a bottle of ginger syrup (if you can find or order one), mix and pour over ice. Done.) But where’s the fun of that? And how many preservatives come along for the ride? Ginger lemonade is pretty simple to make.

I was surprised to find a range of possible recipes online, and no two were the same. although they all boil down (a pun!) to making some sort of ginger/lemon syrup.

Variations include: how to deal with the ginger (slice or grate), what ratio of lemon juice to water to use, whether or not to include lemon peel, and what kind of sweetener to use and how much. But no matter how you make it, it makes a great drink for a hot day. Me, I opted for simple (I hate to grate anything—I’m always sure I’ll grate my fingers).


Ginger Lemonade

Ingredients:

That thing in the middle is my lemon squeezer

6 cups water

1-1/4 cup sugar
2 ounces of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced 

     (you should have about 1/3 cup of slices)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (three large lemons)

Sliced ginger

Instructions:

Steeped ginger and sugar

Combine one cup of water, the sugar and the sliced ginger in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and let cool (the longer it sits, the more intense the ginger flavor).

Juice from three lemons

Strain the mixture through a sieve into a pitcher. Add the remaining 5 cups of water and the lemon juice and stir. Serve over ice.

I was happy with the results. It might taste a bit sweet to some people at first, but if you add ice it will get diluted. I thought the juice:water ratio was just right. Feel free to experiment, especially on hot summer days!

One interesting point: I have a lot of vintage cookbooks, so I went looking in them to see if there was a ginger lemonade recipe from the past. I couldn’t find one. There are plenty of gingerbread or ginger cookie recipes, going back centuries, but nothing using fresh ginger. And then it hit me: it probably wasn’t available. Powdered ginger is easy to make and ship, but most ginger grows in exotic and distance places, and the fresh kind wouldn’t last over a long ocean voyage. So oddly enough, ginger lemonade seems to be a relatively modern recipe.

A note to my readers: I will be attending the Malice Domestic mystery conference in Maryland for a few days, along with many of my writer friends. If I don't respond to your comments immediately, that's my excuse! But I will read them when I return, I promise!

And if you're looking for summer reading and it's hot, try my County Cork series--the weather is pleasantly cool there all summer. The most recent book, Cruel Winter, takes place during a snowstorm!

www.sheilaconnolly.com

Roasted Veggies on a bed of Spinach, #recipe from Linda Wiken, author

Spinach is my new favorite veggie. It must be. I use it all the time. I have it steamed or sauted at least once or twice a week; I sometimes have it for breakfast with a poached egg on top; and sometimes, I come up with something new.

Like this recipe. It may be based on something I read on one of the blog sites I regularly go to:  Food 52, Bon Appetit, Add a Pinch to name a few. Or maybe it’s from the newspaper or one of the food magazines I subscribe to -that would be a total of  four, with another two I pick up at the store whenever the front cover entices me to take it home.

I think this recipe would go great with anything – meat, fish, other veggies. And, it’s so easy to switch out the veggies you choose to include.

Let me know what you serve it with if you try it, please. I’m interested.

Here’s what I used: (for two servings)

8 medium sized mushrooms, quartered

2 sweet orange peppers, sliced

2 sweet yellow peppers, sliced

1 fennel, cut in half then sliced; use the fern part as garnish

1 lb. fresh spinach

virgin olive oil (about 2 tbsp)

regular olive oil (about 3 tbsp)

Mrs. Dash or another herb mixture to taste

What to do: 

1.  Preheat oven to 400 F.

2.  Wash then slice the veggies, except for the spinach, placing them in a large bowl. Add enough virgin olive oil to cover; add Mrs. Dash or whatever herb mixture you're using and toss.  

3.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange veggies on it. When oven is ready, place inside for about 20 minutes.

 

3. Wash the spinach, taking care to remove any sand; remove long stems; set aside.

4. When time remaining for the veggies is 5 minutes, heat regular olive oil in skillet (enough to coat the bottom) and saute the spinach for about 3 minutes. 

5. When everything is ready, place the spinach in the bottom of a serving dish and arrange the roasted veggies on top. Garnish with the fern portion of the fennel.