by Judith Arnold
Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Happy Spring! I’m so grateful
to Sheila Connolly for inviting me to hang out with the talented author-chefs
in the Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen.
Although I’ve written more than ninety romance and women’s
fiction novels, I’m a rookie when it comes to mysteries. My debut mystery, Dead Ball, is out now. The first book in
the “Still Kicking” mystery series, Dead
Ball has as its heroine Lainie Lovett, a middle-aged widow with two children
teetering on the edge of adulthood, a job she loves teaching fourth grade, and
a passion for playing soccer. Her life gets absurdly complicated when she sees
the husband of one of her teammates canoodling with a woman who’s not his wife—and
he subsequently turns up dead. Lainie doesn’t do too much cooking in Dead Ball, although at one point, in a
spasm of maternal sentiment, she bakes a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Her
daughter Karen, who has moved back home after graduating from college and discovering
that her degree in classics has rendered her virtually unemployable, finds that
cooking is good therapy when she has romantic troubles. At one point,
infuriated by her boyfriend, she vents her rage by flattening raw chicken
breasts with a mallet from Lainie’s tool box. In the second book of the “Still
Kicking” series, Karen tackles more challenging recipes, including butterfly
shrimp and tacos from scratch.
That book is currently sitting on my editor’s desk. I’ve
just gotten started writing the third book in the series, in which the murder
weapon has something to do with chocolate—which is why I’ve decided to share my
recipe for Death-By-Chocolate Cookies.
I should add here that I am better at writing than at baking.
But these cookies are blessedly simple to make. The only difficult thing about
them is trying to limit your consumption of them. And really, if you’re going
to be killed by something, it might as well be chocolate. At least you’ll die
with a smile on your face!
Death-By-Chocolate
Cookies:
1 package (8 oz.) semisweet baking chocolate
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup flour
¼ tsp. baking powder
1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts
Microwave the baking chocolate on high for 2 minutes,
melting the chocolate into a thick liquid. Stir until smooth. Blend in the
brown sugar, softened butter, eggs and vanilla. Then slowly add the flour,
baking powder, chocolate chips and walnuts. Mix thoroughly. Drop onto ungreased
cookie sheets and bake at 350° for 12-13 minutes, until cookies look puffed and
set. Cool and store in a tight container.
As you can see from the photo, they aren’t the prettiest
cookies you’ll ever bake. It doesn’t matter. Sometimes beauty is in the eye of
the beholder, and sometimes it’s on the tongue of the chocolate-lover. Enjoy!
USA
Today bestselling author Judith Arnold has won awards and
recognition from Publishers Weekly, Romance
Writers of America, RT Magazine, EPIC
(the Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition), and New England Chapter-RWA. Married
and a mother of two sons, Judith lives near Boston in a house with four guitars,
three pianos, a violin, an electric keyboard, a balalaika, a kazoo, and a set
of bongo drums. She stays connected with friends and fans via her website <www.juditharnold.com >,
Twitter <https://twitter.com/Judith_Arnold>,and her newsletter <http://mad.ly/signups/60624/join>.
Dead Ball Blurb:
Lainie Lovett’s got to solve this
murder—her soccer team's schedule depends on it!
Who pulled the trigger of the nail gun that killed her teammate’s husband, construction tycoon Arthur Cavanagh? His widow, who'd sworn to kill him if he ever cheated on her? His hostile teenage son, who felt neglected by his father? His sexy foreman, who'd regularly fought with him? The angry environmentalists, protesting his latest development? Or the blond mystery woman who'd been seen with him the night of his death? Lainie needs to find the culprit or the bumbling local police will charge her with the murder. It doesn’t take long before she’s up to her shin guards in trouble.
Who pulled the trigger of the nail gun that killed her teammate’s husband, construction tycoon Arthur Cavanagh? His widow, who'd sworn to kill him if he ever cheated on her? His hostile teenage son, who felt neglected by his father? His sexy foreman, who'd regularly fought with him? The angry environmentalists, protesting his latest development? Or the blond mystery woman who'd been seen with him the night of his death? Lainie needs to find the culprit or the bumbling local police will charge her with the murder. It doesn’t take long before she’s up to her shin guards in trouble.
Welcome to MLK! You have been busy--no wonder you don't have much time to cook. Thanks for the chocolate and look forward to your mysteries! Lucy
ReplyDeleteSo nice to have you here at MLK, Judith. Your cookies sound delicious and so do your mysteries.
ReplyDeleteAll the best,
MJ aka Victoria Abbott
Happy Easter, everyone, and a big warm chocolate welcome to you, Judith! Thanks for sharing with us today. DEAD BALL sounds like a terrific read, and those cookies are def. to die for--easy, tasty, and drenched in the perfect flavor for Easter. Chocolate cheers and have a great day...
ReplyDelete~ Cleo
Welcome, Judith! What an extensive car eery you've had. Thanks for sharing a deadly chocolate recipe. :) Happy Easter to all!
ReplyDeleteDaryl / Avery
I wish you lots of success with the mysteries. Thanks for the cookie recipe. Mmm. The recipe looks delicious. Happy Easter everyone.
ReplyDeleteAs they say in Maine, these look wicked good!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this recipe would be good with peanuts. My boys would probably like that better.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the welcome, everyone! I figure folks are going to run out of chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs sooner or later, so you'll need some chocolate back-up to avoid withdrawal. Angie, I'm sure you could substitute peanuts. I'd go with unsalted, not salted.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Mystery Lovers' Kitchen, Judith! We love chocolate! And cookies. Sounds like the perfect combination.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter, Everyone!
~Krista
This is so unfair. I just got of my exercise bike and I read this scrumptious recipe. Sounds, wonderful, Judith, and as someone who is reading Dead Ball right now, I can see that you're multi-talented ;) Happy Easter, everyone.
ReplyDelete