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.
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| Signing books! |
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| 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!
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| 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.
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
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
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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
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.
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