Joyce and Cleo are celebrating their new December mystery releases with a joint recipe post and giveaway.
Congrats to our winner - "Amanda"!
You first party host is Joyce Tremel!
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To learn more about Joyce, click here. |
First I want to say thank you to Cleo for asking me back, and especially for sharing her blog day with me. I’m honored to share a release day with her, too! When I visited here back in September 2014, the launch of To Brew Or Not To Brew seemed so far away, but the time since then has just flown by. It seems like yesterday that I got the call from my agent that the proposal had been accepted, and now I’m actually working on the third book in the series!
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To learn more about To Brew or Not To Brew: A Brewing Trouble Mystery, click here. |
To Brew or Not to Brew is a cozy mystery and features a female brewmaster named Maxine “Max” O’Hara who is opening a brewpub in Pittsburgh. And when she finds the body of her assistant in an empty beer tank…well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out what happens!
The book also features a couple of recipes. Max’s hunky new chef Jake comes up with his own twist on a Pittsburgh favorite: Pierogies. They are delicious if I do say so myself. The recipe is in the book but I’ll repeat it here.
BUFFALO CHICKEN PIEROGIES

Jake’s Filling

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked shredded chicken (or 1 can of chunk chicken)
1/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot (or other hot sauce)
1 – 8oz pkg. cream cheese
½ cup ranch dressing
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Directions: Heat chicken and hot sauce in saucepan. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing and heat until cream cheese is melted and mixture is hot. Mix in cheddar cheese and heat until cheese is melted and mixture is hot and bubbly.
Basic Pierogi Dough
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup butter softened
Directions: Mix flour and salt. Beat egg and add to flour mixture. Add sour cream and butter and work until dough loses stickiness. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Boil water in large pot. Roll dough on floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Using a large glass or cookie cutter (3-4 inch diameter), cut dough into circles. Place 1 tablespoon of filling on each circle. Wet edges of circle, fold, and seal completely using fingers or tines of a fork.
Place pierogies in boiling water. When they float to the top, remove with slotted spoon and drain. (At this point, they can be frozen until later, if desired. Place in boiling water again to defrost.)
Heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil in a non-stick pan. Add pierogies and brown on each side. Drain on paper towels.
Arrange on a plate and serve with ranch dressing for dipping.
The filling used in the pierogies also makes an excellent dip for tortilla chips or spread on crackers. I usually make a batch and keep in warm in my mini-crockpot. Yum!
Thanks so much for having me here, and I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Find Joyce on Facebook here.
Follow Joyce on Twitter here.
You second party host is Cleo Coyle!
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To learn more about Cleo and her husband (and partner in crime-writing) click here. |
As most of you know, I collaborate with my husband to write The Coffeehouse Mysteries, a long-running series of amateur sleuth mysteries set in a charming Greenwich Village coffeehouse.
In DEAD TO THE LAST DROP, we take our hardworking single mom and coffeehouse manager to Washington where she attempts to successfully open a new branch of her beloved Village Blend.
It's an exciting time for Clare, especially when the college-age daughter of the US President becomes a fan of her coffee and the relaxed Jazz Space on the shop's second floor. Then the First Lady befriends her and even arranges for her to contribute ideas to a temporary Smithsonian exhibit on Coffee in America.
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To learn more about Dead to the Last Drop: A Coffeehouse Mystery, click here and scroll down. |
But when a State Department employee suspiciously collapses in her shop and the President's daughter goes missing, Clare finds herself wanted for murder and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Now she must solve both mysteries—and discover who framed her—or she may find out firsthand that Washington is murder.
If you are new to our Coffeehouse books, don’t hesitate to pick up DEAD TO THE LAST DROP. You can read it as a stand-alone story, and if you like the read, you have fourteen more in our series to enjoy. But don’t miss this Washington entry. It’s embedded with twists, turns, and hidden secrets about our nation’s capital that were inspired by my own experiences while living, studying, and working in D.C.
DEAD TO THE LAST DROP is also a culinary mystery, with an appendix of more than 25 wonderful recipes.
And speaking of recipes, I have a holiday favorite for you today, my easy Candy Cane Frosting that quickly brings Christmas cheer to any plain old cake, cupcake, cookie, or pan of brownies...
The Origin of Candy Canes
In 1670, in Cologne, Germany, a choirmaster wanted to solve the problem of noise caused by children in his church during Christmas Eve services. He asked a local candy maker for some sweet sticks for them. In order to justify the practice of giving candy to children during worship services, he asked the candy maker to add a crook to the top of each stick, which would help children remember the shepherds who paid visit to the baby Jesus. From Germany, the candy canes spread to other parts of Europe. Around 1882, people began hanging them on Christmas trees and in the early 1920s, Chicago confectioners the Bunte Brothers filed the earliest patents for candy cane making machines.
Congratulations to "Amanda"
who won the signed copies of
who won the signed copies of
Joyce and Cleo's new books!
I love the Coffeehouse Mystery series, and how it renewed my passion with coffee. But, I am so excited to learn more about Joyce Tremel's writing...a brew pub? I'm am so in! What a wonderful start toward renewing my passion with pilsners, ales, and microbrews! Christmas cheer! kat8762@aol.com
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of them or read any of these book's,but from what I have read from the description,they sound like very awesome reads!!!!please enter me to win them..thank you so much..
ReplyDeleteI am glad to have some new authors to read. marlene.ezell@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI love the Coffeehouse mystery series! And too am interested in trying out Joyce Tremel' s series...my husband works for a brewery so it makes me giggle a bit!! The pierogies look intimidating to make , but may need a try. And one can never go wrong with candy cane!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ejbs3s@yahoo.com
Congratulations on your releases.
ReplyDeleteAnd Joyce, thanks for sharing your pirogi dough recipe. I'll have to try your version.
cspod21 AT gmail
Cleo, I made your Spelt Cornbread last night. It's always a winner! These two books and the recipes sound like winners, too. sssusieq@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks to everyone for leaving comments, Joyce and I appreciate your coming to our release party!
Deletesssusiq - So nice to hear you are enjoying my Spelt Cornbread recipe! Thanks for letting me know.
For anyone wondering what Spelt Cornbread is, "spelt" is an ancient grain with a deliciously nutty flavor that's easy to add to recipes for extra fiber and nutrition. It brings great flavor to baked goods, too!
For anyone who'd like my recipe or to learn more, just click here. And may you eat with joy!
~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
“Where coffee and crime are always brewing…”
Cleo Coyle on Twitter
www.CleoCoyleRecipes.com
Cool! New recipes. :)
ReplyDeleteThese books sounds amazing! Thank you for the chance to win.
myrifraf(at)gmail(dot)com
Both of theses books are on my wish list.
ReplyDeletesgiden at verizon(.)net
Congratulations on the book release and thank you for the recipes! dm_richards(at)yahoo(dot)net
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice welcome, everyone!
ReplyDeleteIf anyone is worried, the pierogies are time consuming, but they're really not hard. The dip I used for the filling takes no time at all. I make it a lot!
Jody, your husband works in a brewery? He can tell me everything I got wrong, lol!
He tells me things about beer making and I admit my eyes glaze over! He is a mechanic there but they are all trained about the process
DeleteI really enjoy the Coffee house mysteries and am looking forward to reading the new to me Brewing for Trouble mysteries. dbahn@iw.net
ReplyDeleteBoth excellent Mysteries! They need to make collaboration of a coffee flavored beer- that would make a really cool book with the two authors together! The pierogi dough is almost exactly the same one that we make every year & the peppermint icing sounds divine!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
Kelly Braun
Gaelicark@gmail.com
One of the breweries here shares a building with a coffee roaster/coffee house. Every once in awhile the brewer makes a coffee porter.
DeleteI am pretty excited about trying out that for the recipe. I am not big on candycane flavored anything, but the rest of my family is slightly psychotic for it. So, I have a feeling that we will be making that. Thank you both for offering up your books and these wonderful recipes! SherylHbooth@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI love food cozies!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read both of these. Thanks for the recipes. cheers@marjimmanor.com
ReplyDeleteThe candy cane frosting looks so good. Thanks for the chance. Lady.Janel@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteI already have Joyce's book in my TBR pile and am looking forward to reading this new series. I really enjoy Cleo's coffeehouse series and would love to win it. Both recipes look delicious. Thanks so much for the giveaways.
ReplyDeleteThese books look delightful! I'm especially interested to see how Clare gets into trouble so quickly in a new city (Washington D.C.); trouble has always followed her so readily in NYC! rebarger@bellsouth.net
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win! I really enjoy the coffeehouse series and have the brewmaster on my TBR list. Thanks again, annelovell12@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteThese look so yummy! And thank you for the chance!
ReplyDeletekaren(dot)kenyon(at)rogers(dot)com
How fun - I'd love to read both books! I had never heard the origin of candy canes - I'll be sharing that at the dinner table tonight. Merry holiday season! Nicole nicolev.girldetective@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteIt's all good...good eats, good reads.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to hear that Cleo's new book can be a stand alone! And I have Joyce's book already and it's divine!! Thank you ladies!!!
ReplyDeletebreannaherron@icloud.com
Oh I would Love Love Love to win both of these books!! Please enter me!! Thanks so much and Happy holidays!!
ReplyDeleteI just started Joyce's book and I'm halfway through and absolutely love it! I definitely need to check out Cleo's too. Congrats ladies!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm glad you like it so far!
DeleteWhat fun! A brew book and a brew book!
ReplyDeleteCleo, I just finished yours last night--you hit it out of the ball park!!! It is fabulous. I'll be posting reviews later today.
Both of those recipes look perfect for the holidays. I would love to win those books----fingers crossed.
ReplyDeletesuefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
I love the Coffee House mystery series. I am looking forward to reading Joyce's new book. Both rcipes sounds delicious. The pierogi's would be great with a good brew. dr(dot)oldsmobile(at)icloud(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThe recipes look great but the books look even better! Thanks for the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteElaineE246 at msn dot com
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI love the Coffeehouse Mysteries and am keeping my fingers crossed that I win both books for the holidays! Kuzlin at AOL.com
ReplyDeleteThese recipes sound like winners. I love the Coffee House Mysteries. Looking forward to reading both of these books
ReplyDeleteLhxp73@yahoo.com
Both books are on my TBR list and I would love to win them! Mfg20A@aol.com
ReplyDeleteSo much deliciousness with the recipes; and both books sound fabulous! EMS591@aol.com
ReplyDeleteCleo, the Coffeehouse has been a favorite spot to sit and relax with one of your special lattes. I can't wait to reading Joyce's new book and meeting Max and Jake.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to you both on your new releases. I am a long time fan of Clea Coyle's series and cant wait to start on To Brew. Dont need to win here, but wanted to thank you both for keeping us cozy lovers happy!
ReplyDelete