Please welcome guest Mary Karnes! #Recipes and #giveaways

 

Please welcome today’s guest author, Mary Karnes! She’s a professional wedding planner and writes the Wedding Planner Mysteries, where not only do murder and mayhem occur on the page, but wedding mishaps ensue. Mary is sharing two recipes, the first for preserving the top tier of the wedding cake for the first anniversary. I like that the method can be used for any cake that you want to make ahead of time. And the second recipe is for healthy breakfast muffins, which appeared in her first book, WEDDING BRIDE AND DOOM. Many thanks to Mary for offering both books in the series as a double giveaway today! ~ Kim Davis

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Here’s Mary Karnes to tell us more:

What’s your favorite part of a wedding? Mine is the wedding cake. As a wedding planner, I see a lot of wedding cakes. My two favorites are my own daughters’ cakes.

               

Some couples splurge on flowers or lighting décor to make their venues pop. I’m of the opinion that a wedding cake is the way to make the most of your decorating budget. You have to provide a dessert for your guests, so why not choose something that does double duty as dessert and an iconic symbol of a wedding?

Are you familiar with the old-fashioned custom of freezing the top layer of your wedding cake? I actually froze my own wedding cake forty-one years ago…and it was awful. But when my second of four daughters got married eleven years ago, I decided to give it another try. I did a little research on the best way to freeze pastries long term. Below are the supplies needed and the steps to take.

Materials needed:

Wedding Cake
Flat cardboard larger than the diameter of the cake
Plastic Wrap
Foil
A large plastic container with a lid
Masking or duct tape
Plenty of freezer space for the bowl

 

Instructions:

Place the cake on cardboard and cover it loosely with plastic wrap, then wrap in foil. 

Place the cake in a plastic bowl and secure the lid with tape. Put into the freezer. Wait a year!

When it’s time to defrost, take the bowl out of the freezer, remove the cake from the bowl and take off the foil wrap. Let the cake sit on the countertop defrosting for six to eight hours, wrapped loosely in plastic. Slice and enjoy!

 

 

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After wedding planner Kate Ludlow has several hectic days of work and investigating, her teen daughter, Ellis, treats her to breakfast in bed serving these nutrient-rich muffins alongside honey-laced tea.

Moon Rock Muffins

 These are dense muffins but quite moist. A tasty way to get fiber and fruit into your diet!

Makes 22 to 24 muffins

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ripe bananas
Fifteen pitted prunes*
1 apple, peeled, cored and roughly chopped (or 1/2-cup applesauce)
1-1/4 (5.5 ounces) cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup (2.5 ounces) ground flaxseed
1/2 cup (2.5 ounces) oat bran
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup semi-sweet mini-chocolate chips
1 cup Craisins or raisins (or a combination)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake wrappers and spritz wrappers with cooking spray.

Whisk flour, flaxseed, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.

Place oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, bananas, prunes and apple into a large mixing bowl. Using a hand-held immersion stick blender, puree until the mixture is blended and the apples and prunes are very tiny pieces. (Alternately you can use a food processor to puree the ingredients together.)

Add dry ingredients to the fruit mixture and stir by hand just until moistened.

Add chocolate chips and Craisins/raisins and gently stir until incorporated.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full with the batter. I like to use a spring loaded ice cream scoop for this.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking period. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. 

These will keep for five days stored in an airtight container. If you live in a hot and/or humid place, store in the refrigerator. Alternatively, wrap individual muffins in plastic wrap or foil and place in a freezer-safe plastic bag. Freeze for up to four months. Remove muffins from the freezer as needed, leaving the plastic wrap on, and thaw until room temperature. Reheat in the microwave for a few seconds and enjoy!

*If you don’t have an immersion blender or food processor, place prunes in a heatproof dish with 2 tablespoons of water and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 1-1/2 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly, then finely mince before adding to the recipe. Either use applesauce or grate an apple and mash the bananas with a fork before proceeding with mixing the wet ingredients together.

 

                          💕 Click here for a free printable PDF of the muffin recipe!💕

    

 

WEDDING BRIDE AND DOOM

California wedding planner, Kate Ludlow, moves back home to New England after her marriage implodes. In tow is her teen daughter Ellis, unhappy and nervous about the move. Suddenly, Kate’s responsible for turning her part-time wedding planner gig into a full-time business. Kate’s off to a good start, too, when she books the society wedding of the year. The prosperity of her business is dependent on the success of Marcy Simpson’s wedding. The joy of an unlimited wedding business is intoxicating. But when Kate’s best florist is murdered, her focus changes from pulling off the year’s most glamorous wedding to saving her own skin—for Kate’s suspect number one for the murder. Further complicating her life, Kate’s old high school flame, Brian McAllister, is the police detective assigned to the murder case. The spark is definitely not gone from their connection, as they have unfinished feelings. Throw in a scavenger hunt for an antique missing family ring, the job transfer of Kate’s ex to New England, and quirky and endearing townsfolk, Kate has more than she can handle—almost.

SAVE THE FATE

Wedding Planner Kate Ludlow is back with her fun circle of small-town New England friends. Life is clipping along well for Kate. Her wedding season is off to a great start; she has reconnected with her former high school boyfriend, and her teen daughter is happy and looking forward to a fun summer. At the town’s traditional kick-off to summer party, “Strawberry Moon,” Jack Malone, the town’s prodigal son, surprises the population with his appearance. He’s the best baseball player the whole of New England has ever produced, and he now plays professional baseball in Los Angeles. He hasn’t been home in years but has returned home to marry a local girl. He taps Kate to be his wedding planner, and she couldn’t be happier; what a boon this will be for her business!

Jack reconnects with old friends and, apparently, old enemies, too, as his body is found in the Connecticut River on his third day home. Jack’s high school girlfriend and Kate’s best friend, Jen, is the prime suspect. She can’t or won’t give an alibi for the time of Jack’s death. But she’s not the only person who looks guilty. A new business partner has come to Eastbury looking for Jack, claiming Jack cheated him in a business deal gone wrong. Then there’s the high school rival who lost everything in a decade’s old confrontation with Jack. The state police leading the investigation into Jack’s death feel certain Jen is their killer, so Kate has to act. If Jen won’t help herself, Kate will have to step in to save her, but this won’t help her fledgling relationship with her old/new love, Brian, who is Eastbury’s lead detective.

Mary Karnes, a college English major and former teacher, is the mother of four who raised her family through six corporate moves. She always dreamed of being an author and dabbled with writing throughout the years. Once the children were grown and out of the house, she started a wedding planning business while simultaneously chasing her dream of being a traditionally published author. Her ‘Wedding Planner Mystery Series’ was born, with her business providing delicious subject matter for her books.  

The first in the Wedding Planner Mystery Series, WEDDNG BRIDE AND DOOM, debuted August 2023, and the second in the series, SAVE THE FATE, published October 2024. Book Three, UNVEILED SECRETS, will be published in September 2025.  

Mary resides in New England with her husband, Ken, and her mini-dachshund, Lucky. She is hard at work on something a little different, a stand-alone domestic thriller. Her door is a revolving one with her children and grandchildren visiting frequently. 

Connect with Mary:

Website * Facebook * Goodreads * Bookbub * Instagram * Amazon Author Page

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Book Giveaways! 

Two winners will receive either a copy of WEDDING BRIDE AND DOOM or SAVE THE FATE! 

To enter, comment below and tell me if you have any tips on preserving your baked goods for eating later, or if desserts never last long enough for there to be a need. Be sure to include your email address!  

Contest is limited to U.S. residents only and will be open through Wednesday, August 20, 2025.