Scrumptious Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies by @AuthorDarciHannnah

 Hi, DARCI HANNAH, here. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day last Saturday! Ours was lovely but quiet, since my husband and I have just come home from a chilly but nice visit to Florida. We went there for a Kensington Cozy Con. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a day-long event for cozy mystery lovers put on by Kensington Publishing and held in various parts of the country. They’re so much fun, very reader-focused, and many wonderful authors attend. When I learned that this year’s first Cozy Con was going to be at The Villages in Florida—at the end of January—I had to sign up. Living in Michigan, you tend to find any excuse to get out of the cold. Besides, my second Food & Spirits mystery, A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle, came out that same week, and what better place to spread the news than at The Villages.

The Cozy Con was a blast. Not only did I get to reconnect with some of my lovely author friends, but the readers who came out to share in the fun were absolutely amazing. 

Signing books!

I'm with Lynn Cahoon, Traci Hall, and the lovely
owner of Bound to Happen Books

Also, I was totally into all the personalized golf carts there. Clearly, the residents are living large and enjoying life. One night a group of us went to this hopping place called Brownwood Paddock Square to have dinner. There were so many golf carts parked along the village square that I was a little jealous we weren’t driving one too. There was live music, and the food was great. Here’s a picture of the chicken pot pie I ordered. Yes, it was delicious. I have a great recipe for one too… but that’s a subject for another day!

Chicken Pot Pie 

Okay, now to my recipe: Scrumptious Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies! 

These lovely cookies were our Valentine’s Day treats this year, because I had made so many of them for my book launch at the end of January. Whenever I have a new book out, I love bringing treats so that everyone can sample a recipe from the book. However, I didn’t include this recipe in A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle. It was printed in another book, one of my Beacon Bakeshop mysteries, Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off. I do have a lot of great recipes in Dundoon Castle, but I thought nothing says Scotland like a shortbread cookies. The brown butter in these really make this cookie shine. Besides, they travel well and last months in the freezer. 

What you're going to need:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  

Place rack in middle position. 

Prep time 40 minutes. Cook time 50 minutes. 

Makes one 9 x 9 pan of cookies 

For the dough: 

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of salted butter, (Irish butter is recommended but not necessary)

2 tablespoons of milk 

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted 

teaspoon vanilla extract 

cups all-purpose flour 

For the topping: 

6 oz. milk chocolate (may use dark chocolate if you prefer) 

Directions:

To brown the butter: Prepare an ice-water bath with a medium metal bowl set inside. 

Put butter in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.  The butter will start to foam and turn brown. Continue stirring and cooking until the butter turns a nice deep golden brown. Be careful not to cook it too far or butter will burn. 

Remove butter mixture from heat and pour into bowl in the ice-water bath. Whisk in milk. Using a rubber spatula, stir continuously while scraping sides. The brown butter will start to thicken. When butter is thick and stiff, remove from ice-bath and set aside.  Allow butter to rest until it reaches room temperature. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat brown butter until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in powdered sugar and vanilla. Reduce speed and beat in flour.  

Line 9 x 9 pan with parchment paper. Press dough evenly in the bottom of the pan. Using a knife, score dough, creating even lines every 2 ¼ inches (to make 16 square cookies). Using a fork prick dough twice on every square. 

Bake in preheated 300 degrees oven for 50 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from heat and let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Using parchment paper, remove from pan and cut score marks with knife. Place on cooling rack and cool completely.  

When cookies are completely cooled, make the chocolate drizzle. If not using chocolate chips, break chocolate into chunks and place in a small, microwave safe bowl. Microwave the chocolate for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating until chocolate is smooth. Dip a fork into the melted chocolate and drizzle over each cookie. Or dip the entire cookie in chocolate! It's up to you. Let cool on wire rack. Enjoy!     

 Note: If you don’t want chocolate on your shortbread, try dusting it with powdered sugar before serving. Enjoy!

Here's a question for you. Browning butter is an interesting technique that adds a rich, toffee-like flavor to the butter. Have you ever browned butter before? If so, what did you use it in? Please scroll to the bottom to leave your comment. Thank you!

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

Purchase link

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

Purchase Link

While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .

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

Preorder today!

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.

Moroccan Lentil Soup -- a #recipe for winter warmth from @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  Friends, here in the Kitchen, we take food seriously. We have fun with food; like our characters, we believe in the power of food to express love and joy, nurture community, and be a force for good. In our books, we share recipes we’ve created ourselves, inherited, or adapted from another source enough that we can legally and morally call it our own. Here on the blog, we may share a recipe from another source—a cookbook, a newspaper, a TV chef—but always with credit where credit is due.

So we want to alert you to an alarming trend, discussed by food blogger Adam Gallagher of Inspired Taste in this piece that aired last month on NPR.  Turns out that if you ask an AI program for a recipe for dinner, what you get might be a compilation—a Frankenstein recipe, as Gallagher calls it—mashed together from recipes the LLM or large language model has scanned and digested. AI slop, the experts call this---and it's not limited to recipes. Too often, Gallagher has found, this slop makes no sense; it doesn't turn out well. That’s a waste of your time, money, and food—and does nothing to put dinner on the table.

It does nothing to ensure good, healthy food, or to preserve the food culture we all love and respect. What can you do? Refer only to reliable sources. To cookbooks created by humans. To magazines and newspapers with dedicated food writers. To reliable bloggers like—well, like us. 

Because at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, the only slop you’ll find is a Sloppy Joe. In fact, we have two recipes for that American classic, this turkey version from Peg Cochran and a ground beef classic from Valerie  Burns. 

Now for today's food fun. 

Last fall, I met my friend, suspense writer Christine Carbo, who lives across the valley, for lunch. It was a chilly day and the Moroccan lentil soup offered as the day’s special sounded like just the right thing to warm me up. 

And it was. The spicery was particularly tasty. Alas, I forgot to ask on my way out if anyone could tell me what spices the kitchen had used. So I had to make it up for myself.

I found a basic recipe online. As I cooked, I tasted, trying to conjure up the flavors that I’d liked so much. I ended up changing the source recipe quite a bit, adding cinnamon and red wine vinegar. Some folks can’t tolerate cilantro, although oddly, coriander seed—the seed from the same plant—doesn’t seem to bother them. Cilantro is key to getting that Moroccan flavor, so if you’re cilantro-averse, well, this may not be the recipe for you! I will, however, allow you to eliminate the chili flakes if you’re concerned that the flavor will be too hot. Using sweet paprika instead of hot or smoked keeps the heat level down as well. 

We served this with toasted naan; pita bread or a crunchy French bread would work nicely, too.

PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing. 

Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Moroccan Lentil Soup

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium or 1/2 white large onion, chopped

1 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced

2 tablespoons cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

1 cup dry green lentils

1 cup diced tomatoes (canned tomatoes work well) 

3 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar 

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric 

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)

1/4 teaspoon Hungarian or sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

salt to taste

fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

In a small stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the onion, garlic, and 2 tablespoons cilantro. Cook, stirring regularly, until the onions become translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add more oil as the onions cook, if necessary. 

Add the lentils, tomatoes, and broth. Stir well. 

Add the vinegar, cumin, turmeric, black pepper, chili flakes, paprika, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine the spices. Increase heat and bring to a simmer, just below a boil. 

Reduce heat, cover loosely, and simmer 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender. Taste and adjust seasonings. The lentils will absorb quite a bit of liquid; add more broth or water if the soup isn’t soupy enough for you. 

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve with bread. 

Enjoy!

Makes 4-6 servings. 

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .  

Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills. 

Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket. 

Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf. 

As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook 

Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.  

“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.

A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine. 

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.

A Restaurant Memory, Reimagined at Home—Fennel, Pear, and Strawberry Salad with Gorgonzola by Ang Pompano—Plus a book giveaway!

Ang Pompano: Several years ago, Annette and I were at one of our favorite restaurants in Wooster Square, New Haven’s Little Italy. It’s the kind of place where the pasta is made in-house, the ingredients are chosen with care, and the food respects tradition while quietly kicking things up a notch. That night I had a fantastic fennel salad with pears, gorgonzola, and olive oil, and I’ve never forgotten it.

I thought of that salad this week while reading a WIP by our own Lucy Burdette, in which she quoted a famous chef, who said that no one should try to prepare restaurant food at home.

Lucky for me, ignorance is bliss, because not only did we prepare it, we “improved” it. Or at least doctored it to our taste. After all, isn’t that what cooking is about? Making food that pleases you, not some food critic.

So, we put together the salad as we remembered it. Good, I thought. 

Then Annette had the idea of adding a splash of orange juice, which made all the difference. Better. 

As a big fan of fennel’s licorice flavor, I suggested a drizzle of Sambuca. Great!

That is, it worked for me. Not so much for her. Now when either of us makes the salad, we hold off on the Sambuca until the end and add it if the mood strikes.

Ingredients

1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
2 pears, cored and sliced
2–3 strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup pecans cut
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon Sambuca (optional, or to taste)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Slice the fennel bulb into thin strips. Core the pear and cut it into bite-sized chunks. Roughly chop the pecans, slice the strawberries, and crumble the Gorgonzola.

• In a large bowl, combine the sliced fennel and pears.In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, orange juice, Dijon mustard, honey, and Sambuca (if using) until well blended.

• Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste.
• Pour the dressing over the fennel and pears and toss gently to coat.Transfer the salad to a serving platter or bowl.
• Arrange the sliced strawberries, pecans, and crumbled Gorgonzola on top.
• Serve immediately, or chill briefly before serving for a crisper, more refreshing salad.

Wooster Street’s historic Restaurant Row, the culinary heart of New Haven’s Little Italy

So, what about you? Do you agree that we should never prepare restaurant food at home? Or are you like me, trying to duplicate a favorite dish, or maybe even improve it? Let me know in the comments below. And don't forget to leave your email address to be entered in a drawing to win a copy of my book When It's Time for Leaving!

Reminder: Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen will be hosting a panel at Left Coast Crime with Leslie Budewitz (M), Kim Davis, Maddie Day, Leslie Karst, and Ang Pompano. If you’re there, we’d love it if you stopped by to say hi!

Ang Pompano is a mystery author, editor, publisher and blogger. He writes the Blue Palmetto Detective Agency, and the Reluctant Food Columnist series, both published by Level Best Books. In addition to his writing, Ang is a co-founder of Crime Spell Books and serves as co-editor of the Best New England Crime Stories anthology. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Annette, an artist, and their two rescue dogs, Dexter and Alfie.

Just Released!

Diet of Death

by Ang Pompano

The first in the Reluctant Food Columnist series.

Buy Link

Betty Ann Green is a beloved culinary icon…who doesn’t exist. She is the brilliant, beautiful illusion created by two unlikely collaborators. Behind the façade is Quincy Lazzaro, a culinarily challenged writer whose witty, sharp prose is the public face of Betty, while those flawless, genius recipes are all thanks to his octogenarian neighbor, Mary Ticarelli.

When the arrogant diet guru, Dr. Alan Tolzer, inventor of the Westport Diet, demands a face-to-face interview, Quincy reluctantly steps in as Betty’s frontman, only for Tolzer to drop dead. The police call it natural causes, but Quincy knows better. He sees it as the investigative break he’s been waiting for.

Now, caught between a crime-solving grandma, a no-nonsense detective girlfriend, and a killer who may be one step ahead, Quincy must unravel the mystery before the killer strikes again.

When It’s Time for Leaving

by Ang Pompano

Buy Link

Al DeLucia walked away from the police—and his past. But when his long-lost father leaves him a detective agency in Savannah, Al finds himself trapped between family secrets and a murder on the agency’s dock. Partnered with Maxine Brophy, a fierce detective who doesn’t trust him, Al is pulled into a deadly search through Savannah and the Okefenokee Swamp—where the truth about the case, and his father, may cost him everything.

Blood Ties and Deadly Lies

by Ang Pompano

Buy Link

Al DeLucia returns to Sachem Creek expecting a kayak race and a chance to confront his childhood bully, Abe Cromwell. Instead, he finds a dead lawyer, a web of deceit, and Abe claiming they’re brothers by DNA. Reluctantly joined by Maxine Brophy, his formidable partner and girlfriend, Al dives into a murder investigation that exposes land swindles, hidden maps, and buried family secrets. In a town where the past won’t stay buried, Al must face truths that could upend everything.

Snakeberry: Best New England Crime Stories 2025

Edited by

Christine Bagley, Susan Oleksiw, Ang Pompano, and Leslie Wheeler

BUY LINK

Every year the anthology brings welcome surprises and satisfactions, and this year is no different, featuring stories by 21 of New England’s best crime writers.

Includes “Minnie the Air Raid Warden” by Ang Pompano.