SPOTLIGHT ON GOODBYES with KORINA MOSS

 

New Release: Bait and Swiss

KORINA MOSS: Today the spotlight is on me and my Cheese Shop Mystery series. It’s also unfortunately, one of goodbyes. This will be my last post for Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen. I’ve loved getting closer to these culinary cozy mystery authors throughout my tenure here. I was a fan of most of their series before becoming published, so to be invited into this group was such an honor for me. I wish I had the time and skills to make each and every recipe they’ve put forth. They’ve inspired me with their writing and their food. The reason I’m leaving is simply that I have too many irons in the fire. Or to use a more apt metaphor – perhaps I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. Between my writing and freelance editing and… well, life, I have to scale back. When I do things, I like to put my all into them, so I wanted to leave before I found myself giving less than you deserve. Luckily, we have a wonderful replacement coming. I hope you’ve enjoyed my easy, peasy and often low sodium recipes and hearing more about my series. I’ve certainly enjoyed being here. 

The Mystery Lovers' Kitchen panel at Malice Domestic

The next goodbye is even harder than the first one. I’m also saying goodbye to my Cheese Shop Mystery series. Bait and Swiss, which released on April 29th, is the final book in the series. I’ve had an amazing time with my Team Cheese characters: Willa, Archie, Mrs. Schultz, and Baz. I’ve loved creating intricate murder mysteries in Yarrow Glen for them to solve. I’ve gained a new appreciation of cheese that I’ll have forever, as well as a deep appreciation for my readers. 

The Cheese Shop Mystery series

Although the series is complete, I will still be having Cheese Shop fun. This Thursday evening at 7pm, I’ll be at the Barnes & Noble in Enfield, CT hosting a book club chat for Bait and Swiss. If you’re in Connecticut, I hope you’ll join us. I have two fun events in October – I’ll be selling and signing my books at the popular Little Falls Cheese Festival in Little Falls, NY on October 4th and I’ll be a featured author at the Ashland Mystery Festival taking place October 16-19 in Ashland, OR. I’m still on Facebook and IG, so don’t be shy about connecting with me there. 

I'll be at B&N Enfield, CT on May 29th

Thanks to you, readers, and my terrific fellow Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen authors. It was fantastic getting to hang out with you around the kitchen table. 

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, which includes the winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead, and two novels short-listed for Best Contemporary Novel. Listed as one of USA Today’s “Best Cozy Mystery Series,” her books have also been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, and Writer’s Digest. To learn more or subscribe to her free monthly newsletter, visit her website korinamossauthor.com.

Korina is also a freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy and traditional mysteries. Using her experience writing her award-winning series for a Big 5 publisher, she has the inside track on what editors, agents, and readers are looking for in a cozy mystery.  Whether you're a new writer hoping to be traditionally or independently published, or you're an established writer wanting some guidance with a manuscript, she can help you strengthen your book. You can find more information on her website and contact her at korinamossauthor@gmail.com. 

A New Way to Eat Roasted Sweet Potatoes from Korina Moss

KORINA MOSS: I love sweet potatoes--baked, casserole, roasted, you name it. But dinner usually consists of me throwing something together in ten minutes. That's okay for a microwaved sweet potato but not conducive for bringing out the most flavor. It was only when I saw a breakfast bowl on a menu a few months ago that I realized I hadn't been stretching the bounds of my breakfasts the way I should be. Now, I roast a sweet potato when I have the time and use it for three days' worth of hearty breakfasts. 

INGREDIENTS FOR ROASTING SWEET POTATO:

Sweet potato

olive oil

garlic 

chili powder - This is really good for sweet potato fries too!

salt (not shown)

parchment paper (optional, not shown)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425°

Wash sweet potato and pat dry.

With skin on, cut it in cubes of fairly even sizes. 

Put in a bowl and drizzle 1 TBL (more or less depending on your preference) olive oil on them. Using your hands, gently toss sweet potatoes so olive oil is distributed. Some people drizzle the olive oil on the potatoes after putting them on the tray, but I find the oil is more evenly distributed this way. 

Sprinkle on chili powder, garlic, and salt. Toss again. You may need to sprinkle more on the pieces that didn't get any. 

Lay a piece of parchment paper on baking sheet. It's okay if you don't use parchment paper, but it makes clean up a lot easier and none of the potatoes stick. 

Bake in a preheated 425° oven for about 25 minutes. They should be browned and soft enough to eat but not mushy. 

If you want to use them to make a breakfast bowl, here are some INGREDIENT suggestions:

Egg(s) - make them the way you prefer. I like poached.

Vegetables - I always have frozen broccoli, corn, and edamame on hand, so I use them. They're crunchy  and their flavors go well with the smooth sweet potatoes. 

Kale - I like to add some uncooked kale (or a mix from a salad bag) for a little extra texture. I might put just a titch of olive oil on it. 

Avocado - I didn't have any this time, but I do love it. 

DIRECTIONS:

Cook your eggs the way you like them. 

Thaw frozen vegetables (or use fresh), then heat them in a tsp of olive oil in a stovetop pan. Add garlic and salt. Add some of the sweet potatoes if you've pre-roasted them. You're just doing it for a few minutes -- long enough to heat everything. For 1 serving, you don't need the entire sweet potato. 

Put a little kale mix in a bowl with a smidge of olive oil. Toss. 

Add cooked veggies and roasted sweet potatoes. Top with eggs. 

Add salt and pepper if desired. To go salt-free, I like Mrs. Dash Everything But the Salt.

Enjoy! 

Put the leftover roasted sweet potatoes in a tupperware. They keep well for about 5 days. Once you've got them roasted, this is an easy and tasty meal, filling enough for any time of the day. 

Chopped so you can see ingredients

Readers: How do you like your sweet potatoes? Have you ever had a breakfast bowl? 

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop cozy mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner of the Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead, and the Agatha Award finalist for Best Contemporary Novel for Case of the Bleus and Fondue or Die. Listed as one of USA Today’s Best Cozy Mystery series, her books have also been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, and Writer’s Digest. For more information or to subscribe to her free monthly Team Cheese newsletter, go to korinamossauthor.com

Cheese Shop Mystery #6 is now available. Buy here.

Korina is also a freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy and traditional mysteries. Using her experience writing her award-winning series for a Big 5 publisher, she has the inside track on what editors, agents, and readers are looking for in a mystery.  Whether you're a new writer hoping to be traditionally or independently published, or you're an established writer wanting some guidance with a manuscript, she can help you strengthen your book. You can find more information and client testimonials on her website and contact her at korinamossauthor@gmail.com. 

WHY STOP THERE OATMEAL BOWL from Korina Moss

The other day I was out and about and hankering for something for lunch. As I was scanning my phone for food places nearby where I could grab something quick but without too much sodium (quite a feat!), there were two places that caught my interest--Playa Bowls and Nautical Bowls. They're basically the same type of take-out restaurants that serve fruit bowls and smoothies with added choices of oatmeal and granola included. I've had a delicious Aloha smoothie from Playa before with pineapple, mango, banana and coconut milk. I wanted something more filling, so I looked into their oatmeal bowls, where they allow you to build your own bowl. On their ordering website, I began building my bowl with three added ingredients. It came out to $13, and I started thinking $13 for oatmeal? I can do this at home. And so I did, and since I was home, I added a lot more ingredients. Hence, the "Why stop there?" in the title of this recipe! Here's my own hearty oatmeal bowl creation that's good for breakast, lunch, or dinner. As usual with my recipes, you can substitute, remove, or add ingredients per your preference. I like nuts, granola, and dried fruit for added texture.

Ingredients:

Oats

Fresh fruit - I used strawberries and a banana, but I love blueberries in this too. 

Dried fruit - I used raisins but dried cranberries are also good. (Or both!)

Nuts - I used walnuts but sliced almonds are also good.

Granola - I used Kelly's 4-Plus, which is more of an oat cereal.

Almond butter - you could substitute peanut butter or Nutella

Cinnamon - You can also use brown sugar or honey if you like it sweeter, but I don't find it necessary

Directions:

You may have noticed that I didn't put amounts on the ingredients list. It's really your preference as to how much of any topping you want on it. When all the ingredients are together, it ends up being a lot, so for one bowl, you don't need too much of any one ingredient. 

1. Make oatmeal according to directions. 

2. Slice your fresh fruit. I only used 2 or 3 strawberries and a quarter of the banana.

3. Put 1 serving of prepared oatmeal in bowl

4. Add cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts.

5. You could stop there. But why? Add your sliced fruit.

6. You could stop there. But why? Add granola.

7. You could stop there. But why? Add 1 tablespoon of almond butter.

8. Mix all ingredients together. Top with a sprinkling of more granola. Enjoy! 

Readers: Why stop there? What ingredients would be in your perfect oatmeal bowl?

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop cozy mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner of the Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead and the Agatha Award finalist for Best Contemporary Novel, Case of the Bleus. Listed as one of USA Today’s Best Cozy Mystery series, her books have also been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, and Writer’s Digest. 

Korina’s latest book, Fondue or Die, is one of the current nominees for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. The awards will be announced at the Malice Domestic fan convention on April 26th. If you’d like to attend, more information may be found here. 

Her next book, Bait and Swiss, is available on April 29th. To find out more about the Cheese Shop Mystery series and subscribe to her FREE monthly newsletter, visit her website and follow her on Facebook and Instagram. 

BUY HERE

PREORDER HERE

Korina is also a freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy and traditional mysteries. Using her experience writing her award-winning series for a Big 5 publisher, she has the inside track on what editors, agents, and readers are looking for in a mystery.  Whether you're a new writer hoping to be traditionally or independently published, or you're an established writer wanting some guidance with a manuscript, she can help you strengthen your book. You can find more information and client testimonials on her website and contact her at korinamossauthor@gmail.com. 

HAVING FUN WITH A 1960s CHEESE RECIPE from Korina Moss

My friend and cozy mystery booktuber, Sonia Moore, whose YouTube handle is Sonia with an i, sent me two terrific and classic cheese cookbooks. One was called Cooking with Cheese from Better Homes & Gardens from 1966. The other was a paperback from the American Dairy Association of Wisconsin called Cheese Pleasers and wasn't dated. However, the recipes were very similar to the ones in Cooking with Cheese, as was the look of the photos, so I assume it was published around the same year. Some of the recipes are classics, others look delicious and I intend to try, and others are... well, if you lived through the 60s and 70s, you can probably guess. We had a lot of strange food back then! Last Friday, I went on The Beachbum Bookworm's YouTube channel for a live book read-along discussion of my first Cheese Shop Mystery, Cheddar Off Dead, During the live chat, I was going to make a recipe from the book, like the Short-cut Croque Monsieur (Mr. Crunchy Bite). Instead, I thought it would be fun to make a throwback recipe from one of the cheese cookbooks. And so I found this one I will share with you: Molded Cheese Delight. I must say, if you want to try it as written with the cheese and serve it over a bed of lettuce, go for it. I can't say I recommend it. It didn't really taste of cheese but the texture of the cheese in it was odd. However, if you omit the cheese, it would actually make a fun spring or summer dessert because it's very colorful. If you like creamsicles or orange soda, you'll like this, as it tastes reminiscent of those. Have fun with it! I did!

MOLDED CHEESE DELIGHT

Ingredients:

1 envelope orange-flavored gelatin 

20 large marshmallows

1 cup (1/4 lb) shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup crushed pineapple

1 cup pineapple juice (you may not need to buy extra, just use what's in the can)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts to cut the sweetness)

1 cup (1/2 pint) whipped cream (or make homemade whipped cream)

Directions:

Heat 1 cup of water until hot. 

Dissolve gelatin in hot water.

Put marshmallows in large bowl, pour hot gelatin over marshmallows and stir until melted. My marshmallows didn't melt from stirring, so I put the whole bowl in the microwave and heated for 1 minute, then used a wooden spoon to break up the marshmallows even more and they dissolved. 

Add shredded cheese, pineapple, pineapple juice, and chopped nuts. I always say to buy a block of cheese and freshly shred it, but I was cutting corners on this recipe. I'd bought extra pineapple juice because I wasn't sure how much would be in the can of crushed pineapples. As it turns out, there was just about 1 cup of juice in the 20 oz can, so I didn't need the extra pineapple juice. Keep in mind that a 20 oz can is more than 1 cup of pineapples, so measure and dump out the juice first and then measure out the pineapples. It calls for crushed pineapples, but I used "tidbits" because it was cheaper.

Chill mixture until partially set. I chilled it for about 2 hours. 

Once partially chilled, fold in whipped cream. To complete the classic vibe of this recipe, I used a packaged whipped topping (like Cool Whip) instead of buying heavy cream and making whipped cream myself, which you can choose to do. 

I then transferred the mixture into a nonstick bundt pan which I lightly sprayed with oil. You can put the mixture in whatever kind of mold you have. 

Return it to the refrigerator and chill for another 5-6 hours or overnight. 

Unmold on salad greens. To unmold, place a plate on top of the bundt pan and then carefully flip both over, holding the plate securely to the bundt pan. Then gently lift the bundt pan off. 

I forgot to take a photo of mine when I first flipped it over onto a plate, because I was about to go on YouTube to show it to The Beachbum Bookworm and her viewers, so I took this photo after I'd already taken a bite of it and it had been sitting out for about an hour. Honestly, it doesn't look much different than it did when I first took it out of bundt pan. LOL. How adventurous are you?

 

Readers: Would you make a version of this jello mold? 

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop cozy mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner of the Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead and the Agatha Award finalist for Best Contemporary Novel, Case of the Bleus. Listed as one of USA Today’s Best Cozy Mystery series, her books have also been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, and Writer’s Digest. Korina is also a book coach and freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy and traditional mysteries. 

To find out more about the Cheese Shop Mystery series and subscribe to her FREE monthly newsletter, visit her website and follow her on Facebook and Instagram. 

Korina is also a book coach and freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy and traditional mysteries. Using her experience writing her award-winning series for a Big 5 publisher, she has the inside track on what editors, agents, and readers are looking for in a mystery.  Whether you're a new writer hoping to be traditionally or independently published, or you're an established writer wanting some guidance with a manuscript, she can help you strengthen your book. You can find more information on her website and contact her at korinamossauthor@gmail.com. 

LAST DAY TO GET CASE OF THE BLEUS FOR ONLY $2.99!

PREORDER NOW

Korina’s latest book, Fondue or Die, is one of the current nominees for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. The awards will be announced at the Malice Domestic fan convention on April 26th. If you’d like to attend, more information may be found here. 

FONDUE OR DIE