Roasted Apricot and Ricotta Toast from Leslie Budewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  Move over, Avocado Toast, and make room for a new friend. 

Readers sometimes ask where we get our recipes, and my usual answer is something like “anywhere and everywhere.” I found this one in a free magazine I picked up at the natural food store. It’s easy and yummy. We served it with dinner the first time, and since I had a little ricotta and two roasted apricot halves left over, I plopped them onto toast the next morning. They are also terrific for an easy summer brunch. 

Zest is one of those small things that pack a big flavor punch. A few years ago, my BFF was visiting and sat at my kitchen counter while I cooked. Could she help, she asked. Zest this orange, I replied, and handed her a cutting board, an orange, and a box grater. She was not impressed. The next day, she and her husband visited the local kitchen shop and brought me a microplane. This is why we’ve been BFF since we met at 19. 

Save a beauty like this Avocado Toast for another day -- and season!

I popped the toast into the oven after the fruit came out, but used a regular toaster the next morning; both worked beautifully. Some recipes I’ve seen call for oiling the toast before topping. Not necessary, though if I were following another recipe suggestion and using prosciutto, I’d oil the hot toast, lay down the prosciutto, then spread the ricotta and top with fruit and thyme. If we had a toaster oven, I’d use it for both the fruit and the toast, and oil the bread first.  

If your loaf of bread is bigger than mine, you may fit more apricot halves on each slice. We’re now making extra and planning ahead while fresh apricots are still available! 

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

Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Roasted Apricot and Ricotta Toast 

For the apricots: 

4 fresh apricots, halved and pitted

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

4 sprigs fresh thyme

For the ricotta:

1/2 cup ricotta, whole or part-skim 

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 slices sourdough bread, toasted

Heat oven to 375 degrees. (A toaster oven would work nicely.) 

Place apricots on a small baking sheet, cut-side up. Drizzle with oil and honey. Top with the thyme sprigs. Roast until the fruit is soft and lightly caramelized, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven. 

While the fruit is roasting, place the ricotta in a mall bowl. Add the honey and zest and mix well.

Toast the bread. 

Spread with ricotta and top with roasted fruit. Use your fingers to strip the thyme leaves onto the fruit. (They might seem too dry and crunchy to eat, but they soften quickly.) 

Enjoy -- and repeat! 

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .  

Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills. 

Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket. 

Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf. 

As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

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!

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. Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.

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. 

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.

Lobster Roll. Whatever you do, don’t use mayonnaise! by Ang Pompano

Ang Pompano: We’re pretty particular about lobster rolls here in Connecticut. I was raised here, and when I was young, I worked lobster traps with my cousins. The recipe was practically encoded in my DNA.

A Connecticut lobster roll features warm chunks of lobster meat served on a toasted, buttered split-top hot dog bun, with plenty of melted butter to bring out the meat’s natural sweetness and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Pair it with a fresh ear of corn, and you’re in heaven.

Head north to Maine, however, and the story changes. Maine certainly produces incredible mystery writers, but when it comes to lobster rolls, I'm afraid the evidence points elsewhere. Order one up there, and you’ll be handed cold lobster meat mixed with celery, pickle relish, and mayonnaise. With all due respect to Vacationland, that isn’t a lobster roll. That’s a lobster salad sandwich.

As I said, some Nutmeggers are purists. In fact, the first time I drafted this post, lobster was out of season, so I substituted langostino. Since langostino tastes remarkably similar to lobster, I was feeling pretty resourcefully proud of myself until a friend set me straight.

“Langostino isn’t lobster,” they pointed out.

I scrapped the post on the spot and waited for lobster season. Having now made the real thing, I’ll admit there’s no substitute. But if you’re ever in a pinch and genuine lobster is out of reach, give langostino a try until you can get the real deal.

Just whatever you do, don't use mayonnaise!

Ingredients (Makes 2 rolls)

The photo shows enough for four even though my recipe is for two.

 2 cooked lobster tails, the meat chopped into bite-sized chunks

 ½ stick unsalted butter (plus extra for spreading on the buns)

2 New England-style flat-sided split-top buns

 A fresh lemon

 Salt and fresh black pepper to taste

Preparation Steps

Toast the Buns: Set aside on serving plates.

I  couldn’t find the New England-style flat-sided split-top buns, so I used regular hot dog buns. (So much for being a purist.)

 Cook the Lobster in boiling water until red. Then pull the meat from the tail and chop into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

 Melt the ½ stick of butter in a saucepan over low heat.

Add the lobster meat and gently toss until warmed through (about 2–3 minutes). Do not overcook

Assemble: 

Divide the warm, buttered lobster evenly between the toasted buns. 

Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top and a light pinch of salt and pepper.

Spoon any remaining liquid butter over top. 

Serve warm with an ear of corn.

Readers, what about you? Is there a dish you’re a purist about? Tell us below and leave your email address to be entered in a drawing for a copy of Diet of Death, the first in the Reluctant Food Columnist series. 

And don't forget Simmering Secrets, the second book in the series, will drop November 3. 

Ang Pompano is a mystery author, editor, publisher, and blogger. He writes the Blue Palmetto Detective Agency, and the Reluctant Food Columnist series, both published by Level Best Books. In addition to his writing, Ang is a co-founder of Crime Spell Books and serves as co-editor of the Best New England Crime Stories anthology. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Annette, an artist, and their two rescue dogs, Dexter and Alfie.

Diet of Death

by Ang Pompano

The first in the Reluctant Food Columnist Series

Betty Ann Green is a beloved culinary icon…who doesn’t exist. She is the brilliant, beautiful illusion created by two unlikely collaborators. Behind the façade is Quincy Lazzaro, a culinarily challenged writer whose witty, sharp prose is the public face of Betty, while those flawless, genius recipes are all thanks to his octogenarian neighbor, Mary Ticarelli.

When the arrogant diet guru, Dr. Alan Tolzer, inventor of the Westport Diet, demands a face-to-face interview, Quincy reluctantly steps in as Betty’s frontman, only for Tolzer to drop dead. The police call it natural causes, but Quincy knows better. He sees it as the investigative break he’s been waiting for.

Now, caught between a crime-solving grandma, a no-nonsense detective girlfriend, and a killer who may be one step ahead, Quincy must unravel the mystery before the killer strikes again.

Simmering Secrets

by

Ang Pompano

Book Two in the Reluctant Food Columnist Series

Coming November 3, 2026

When celebrity chef Connie Langston collapses dead during a glittering anniversary gala at the prestigious Langston Culinary Arts Academy, struggling investigative reporter Quincy Lazzaro suspects there’s more on the menu than champagne and truffle risotto.

Unfortunately, Quincy has problems of his own. He’s secretly ghostwriting a wildly successful food column under the fake name Betty Ann Green, dodging anonymous texts from someone threatening to expose him, and trying to save his friends’ beloved South Norwalk luncheonette from ruthless developers. Now, against the warnings of the police and his detective girlfriend, Quincy finds himself pulled into a world of celebrity chefs, hidden rivalries, illegal luxury ingredients, and private dinners where the ultra-wealthy will pay fortunes to consume the forbidden.

With the help of his sharp-tongued elderly neighbor Mary Ticcarelli, Quincy uncovers a web of simmering secrets stretching from elite culinary circles to dangerous underground supply networks tied to powerful people who will kill to protect their appetites.

As the bodies pile up and the anonymous watcher closes in, Quincy must decide how far he’s willing to go for the truth before his own carefully constructed life boils over.

Perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Carl Hiaasen, and culinary mysteries with bite, Simmering Secrets serves up murder, dark humor, found family, and a generous helping of Connecticut coastal charm. 

When It’s Time for Leaving

by Ang Pompano

The first in the Blue Palmetto Detective Agency Series

Buy Link

Al DeLucia walked away from the police—and his past. But when his long-lost father leaves him a detective agency in Savannah, Al finds himself trapped between family secrets and a murder on the agency’s dock. Partnered with Maxine Brophy, a fierce detective who doesn’t trust him, Al is pulled into a deadly search through Savannah and the Okefenokee Swamp—where the truth about the case, and his father, may cost him everything.

Blood Ties and Deadly Lies

by Ang Pompano

Book Two in the Blue Palmetto Detective Agency Series

Buy Link

Al DeLucia returns to Sachem Creek expecting a kayak race and a chance to confront his childhood bully, Abe Cromwell. Instead, he finds a dead lawyer, a web of deceit, and Abe claiming they’re brothers by DNA. Reluctantly joined by Maxine Brophy, his formidable partner and girlfriend, Al dives into a murder investigation that exposes land swindles, hidden maps, and buried family secrets. In a town where the past won’t stay buried, Al must face truths that could upend everything.

Snakeberry: Best New England Crime Stories 2025

Edited by

Christine Bagley, Susan Oleksiw, Ang Pompano, and Leslie Wheeler

BUY LINK

Every year the anthology brings welcome surprises and satisfactions, and this year is no different, featuring stories by 21 of New England’s best crime writers.

Includes “Minnie the Air Raid Warden” by Ang Pompano.