All God's Sparrows is out today -- with an Apple Butter Pie! #recipe by @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  Today marks the publication of All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, bringing together three previously published short stories and a new novella, each focused on a remarkable figure in Montana history, Mary Fields. It’s been a passion project of mine, and I’m both excited and nervous to share it with you, at long last. 

In the novella, “A Bitter Wind,” set largely in 1897, Mary helps a newly-arrived picture bride, Amelia Morgan, solve the mysteries of her fiancé’s death, his homesteading neighbors’ bitterness, and her own future. Early in the story, Mary is about to leave St. Peter’s Mission, where Amelia has been staying with the Ursuline nuns, to continue her mail route. Amelia asks Mary to deliver a basket to her fiancé, George Reynolds, with a letter and an apple butter pie.

An apple butter pie? Where had that come from? I had no idea—in fact, I had to google it to see if such a thing really existed. 

Reader, make yourself an apple butter pie as soon as you can. The pie photographed uses apple cranberry butter, not something Amelia would have had unless she brought it west with her—but given the woman’s resourcefulness, I wouldn’t put it past her. Both apple and apple cranberry make for a quick, easy filling, bursting with rich fall flavor. It’s the texture of a custard or a pumpkin pie. I am happy to tell you that it also goes beautifully with coffee for what my sweet hunny calls “breakfast pie.”

What is your favorite pie? One lucky reader will win a signed copy of All God’s Sparrows.

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

Apple Butter Pie 

dough for a single crust 9" pie (I used the classic Williams Sonoma recipe)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup apple or apple cranberry butter

2 cups half and half

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare the pie dough and press into a 9" glass pie plate. Refrigerate while you make the filling, to keep the butter in the dough cold.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a whisk. Add the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and apple butter. Mix well. Whisk in the half and half. 

Pour the filling into the unbaked pie crust. 

Bake 55-60 minutes, turning half-way through. If the crust appears to be browning too quickly, cover with foil or a silicon pie shield. The pie is done with the filling is set but still a bit jiggly in the center. A knife inserted in the center should come out almost clean. 

Cool on a wire rack at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Store refrigerated. 

Enjoy!

                                         💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

Readers, talk to me about pie! One lucky reader will win a signed copy of All God's Sparrows. (Leave your email address for a chance to win. US and Canadian mailing addresses only. Winner to be chosen Friday, Sept 20.) 

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!

TO ERR IS CUMIN:A Spice Shop Mystery (Seventh St. Books, out now in paper, ebook, and audio)

From the cover: One person’s treasure is another’s trash. . .

Pepper Reece, owner of the Spice Shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, wants nothing more than to live a quiet life for a change, running her shop and working with customers eager to spice up their cooking. But when she finds an envelope stuffed with cash in a ratty old wingback left on the curb, she sets out to track down the owner.

Pepper soon concludes that the chair and its stash may belong to young Talia Cook, new in town and nowhere to be seen. Boz Bosworth, an unemployed chef Pepper’s tangled with in the past, shows up looking for the young woman, but Pepper refuses to help him search. When Boz is found floating in the Ship Canal, only a few blocks from Talia’s apartment, free furniture no longer seems like such a bargain.

On the hunt for Talia, Pepper discovers a web of connections threatening to ensnare her best customer. The more she probes, the harder it gets to tell who’s part of an unsavory scheme of corruption—and who might be the next victim.

Between her quest for an elusive herb, helping her parents remodel their new house, and setting up the Spice Shop’s first cooking class, Pepper’s got a full plate. Dogged by a sense of obligation to find the rightful owner of the hidden treasure, she keeps on showing up and asking questions.

One mistake, and she could find herself cashing out. . .

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. 

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, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

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.