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| On a wintery hike with my pups, Ripley & Finn |
DARCI HANNAH: Happy 2026! I hope everyone is staying warm and cozy. Here in Michigan, it's a typical snowy winter. And what an honor it is to be the newest member of the Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen! I want to thank all the members for being so welcoming. Not only are they wonderful writers and food bloggers, but they’ve also been so kind and patient with me as I learn the ropes of this long running, beloved blog.
I’m going to be honest. I’ve always loved being a guest on the MLK blog. I mean, how can I not with so many bestselling mystery writers who love sharing their recipes? Kindred spirits, I call them! As I’ve said, being a guest is wonderful. However, being a part of this fan-favorite, wide-reaching mystery blog was never on my radar. Not until the middle of January, when the wonderful Kim Davis sent me an email inviting me to join.
Oddly enough, at the time I just happened to be in Charlotte, NC, knee-deep in boxes with a lot of guy stuff strewn around me. I was in the middle of moving my son, Matt (the youngest of my three sons), back to Michigan after getting laid off from his job right before Christmas. Poor Matt. It was his first out-of-state job since graduating. Being a good mom, when he told me he was going to look for a job in Michigan, I said, “Let’s do this!”
Due to our little adventure, I hadn’t checked my email in days. However, when I saw Kim’s email inviting me to join the blog, I was so honored by the invitation, and yet a little terrified as well. Yes, Mystery Lovers' Kitchen is my favorite cozy mystery blog, but blogs require commitment! I was in a mess and couldn't think straight. My son was moving back in with us--and bringing so much stuff back to the house! Then I remembered that I had a book launch at the end of the month, January 27th to be exact, and a Cozy Con in Florida on the 31st. Yikes! Things were crazy. However, after a good night's sleep, and after all the boxes had been loaded into the truck, I thought, how can I not say yes to being a part of the Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen blog? And so, I sent Kim an email saying, “Yes! I’m in!” And I'm really happy about it too!
I'm back home now and still surrounded by boxes and guy stuff. And dog hair. It's kinda my life these days. But things are coming together, as they always do. I find that I'm really looking forward to this new Mystery Lovers' Kitchen adventure, and to be a part of this prolific blog.
For my first recipe, I’m excited to share one of my favorite recipes from my new release, A SPIRITED SUPPER AT DUNDOON CASTLE. Since the book is set in Scotland, I just had to include one of my favorite British treats, authentic Scottish scones. Unlike most of the scones I make (and I make a lot) British-style scones are surprisingly simple. They’re not stuffed with fruit or covered with glaze. They’re like a slightly sweet biscuits. They’re crisp on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. The real magic happens when you cut them open, still warm from the oven, and fill them with strawberry jam and a dollop of clotted cream. Yum! Sound good? Let’s get baking!
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| Ingredients |
• 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup sugar (plus extra for sprinkling on top)
• ½ cup (1 stick) chilled butter, cubed
• 1 cup half and half, plus extra for brushing on top of scone
• Fruit jam
• Whipping cream
Helpful equipment:
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
2 ½ -inch biscuit cutter
Directions: Preheat oven to 425° F.
In a large mixing bowl sift together flour, baking powered, salt, and sugar.
Add chilled cubed butter and rub it into the flour mixture using your fingertips. You can use a pastry cutter for this as well. Mix until it resembles fine bread crumbs.
Add the half and half to the mixture and mix until a soft dough forms.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly to form a ball. Roll the dough out on the floured surface until it is one inch thick.
Using a 2 1/2 -inch biscuit cutter, cut the dough into 7 or 8 scones. This depends on how thick the dough was rolled out. I can usually get at least 7 good scones out of this!
Place scones on parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with half and half, then sprinkle a little sugar on top of each one. Place scones in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until scones have risen nicely and the tops turn golden brown.
Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. See my little hack below for the perfect scone.
*Darci’s little hack:
These scones bake at a hot temperature. To prevent bottoms from burning, which they tend to do, I place an extra cookie sheet or shallow pan on the rack below the scones and add about a cup of water to the pan before baking. The pan reflects some of the heat while the steaming water adding moisture to create perfectly baked scones.
Serve scones with fruit jam and fake clotted cream. Enjoy!
Scones are a staple at a traditional English or Scottish tea, which is often called a cream tea. Do you like tea parties? What's your favorite tea party treat?
*Please scroll to the end of the post to leave a comment. Be sure to leave your email address to win a copy of A SPIRITED SUPPER AT DUNDOON CASTLE
*Continental U.S. residents only, please.
Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you.
Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com
Instagram: @authordarcihannah
Facebook: @Author Darci Hannah
Just Released!
A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle
By Darci Hannah
Book #2 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .
Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well.
After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .
Trade Paperback Release!
A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor
By Darci Hannah
Book #1 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
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It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.
Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!
Coming this July!
Murder at the Campfire Cookout
By Darci Hannah
Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series
When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .
Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.
Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.
But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire . . .
Because no one is out of the woods yet.
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