Around the Kitchen Table: Your Most Memorable Holiday Dinner + #Giveaway

MAYA CORRIGAN: Which is your most memorable holiday celebration? Christmas Eve dinner in 2016 stands out for me because it collided with my research for the 5th Five-Ingredient Mystery, S’More Murders. My sleuth Val is hired to cater a Titanic memorial dinner aboard a yacht while the guests assume the roles of Titanic passengers in a whodunit mystery game. I couldn’t write that scene without doing what Val does. I downloaded a Titanic mystery dinner party game. Then I coaxed family members into assuming roles as Titanic guests, eating their last meal and solving a murder that took place on the ship. 

Molly Brown and the Titanic captain are on the right

My relatives arrived dressed to kill 1912 style. We had wine with Titanic labels and clues to peruse, including a telegram, a birth certificate, and a medical examiner’s report. 

After dessert we each accused the person we believed had committed the murder. And none of us figured it out! We all had fun, though, and I had the experience I needed to write the dinner scene in S’more Murders. The murder game played by my characters is nothing like the game I downloaded. The victim, suspects, and crime are different, and the game in S'more Murders is designed for nefarious purposes rather than fun. If you'd like a fun version of the Titanic murder game, you can download it at Printable Mystery Games. Read about S'more Murders and the last dinner on the Titanic.

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Accusations fly across the table

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LUCY BURDETTE: I have to go with a New Year's eve celebration too, about five years ago. Our kids came to Key West to celebrate (a special treat). Our son-in-law Jeff's birthday is New Year's eve so I made a special dinner with all his favorite things including his mother's recipe for stuffed shrimp and a giant carrot cake. Here's the recipe--delicious even though I'd never choose carrot cake myself! Then we all went out to watch the madness on Duval Street...

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MADDIE DAY: I got divorced in the fall of 2002. The first Christmas, I wanted to make new traditions with my young-teen sons. We all love sushi, and I had learned to make it when I lived in Japan in my twenties. My boys were going to be with their father on Christmas Day, so the three of us made Christmas Eve sushi, a tradition we've kept nearly every year since.

I brought that round wooden dish home from Japan, as well as a nori-maki rolling mat. I'm not sure I'll have the heart to make it this year, but fingers crossed for a safe family Christmas in 2021, along with more festive sushi. 

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LESLIE B: Oh, I love these stories! This truly is the time of year for memories, especially as we get older and the memories pile up! The little Irish nun who taught high school French class decided we would make a French dinner, and I was assigned the buche de Noel, or Christmas log, a long, rolled-up cake filled with raspberry jam and covered with chocolate frosting. My mother helped me---she wasn't a good cook, but boy, could she bake---and it was such a hit that we made another for our own Christmas dinner. My father hadn't seen the school version and was totally surprised. He hadn't had or even seen one since the Christmas of 1944 when he was stuck in a small Swiss village, one of the Swiss internees---the troops whose planes had been forced to land in Switzerland, his because of engine damage during a raid; to retain its neutrality, Switzerland had to keep all soldiers who landed there, Allies on one side of the country, Axis on the other, separated by nationality and by officers/enlisted men. He cried at the sight. When Don and I were in France last January, we saw elaborate buches de Noel in bakery windows, many with little trees and mushrooms made of frosting, surrounded by forest animals. I thought of my father, long gone, and I cried. 

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DARYL: Maya, your mystery dinner sounds amazing. What fun.  Nearly every holiday has been good for me. I love when family gathers. We had a full house a few years ago. The smiles were constant and food plentiful.  I serve the same thing every year. It's now expected, so that tradition won't change, although I do switch up the desserts! The number of people will change from year to year, I fear, as we go through this particular year and then going forward when the little ones grow up and go off to college, etc. We have to be ready for change, I think.  I will admit that a cranberry cheesecake dessert was one of the favorites over the years as was the gluten-free yule log I made. 

 

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VICKI DELANY: Two years ago my mother and I went to Mozambique to have Christmas with my daughter, newly arrived to live there for four years.  I lived in South Africa for a long time, so I know hot Christmases, but that was a long time ago. It was fun to see our holiday traditions - Santa Claus, a decorated tree - implanted in such a different sort of place. But never fear, we went to a pot luck dinner, and my daughter made a turkey and I made an apple pie.  This picture is of my mom and me out for drinks on Christmas Eve. And a picture of the Christmas tree. 

 

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LESLIE KARST: Our family’s traditional Christmas dinner has long been roast beef (or “roast beast,” as we call it), Yorkshire pud, and green beans, with pumpkin and mince pies for dessert. And we always include British Christmas crackers, which come with a small toy, a “motto” (i.e., riddle or joke—which we act out as a game of charades), and a festive paper crown. But one time some years back, Robin and I were lucky enough to celebrate Christmas with my parents and sister in Hawai‘i, where Robin and I live half time. Good fun!

 

 Robin, Mom, and Laura

 

For this special occasion, I decided to try my hand at making a “real” mince pie—i.e., with actual minced beef and suet, as well as fruit. It was the most delicious pie I’ve ever had (though very rich). And that "Christmas in Paradise" we celebrated together lives on as one of my very favorite memories.

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DENISE

My husband and I celebrated New Year's Eve in Melbourne, Australia on a converted tram car. We had dinner in our own little cubby and then were invited to join a large party of Australians to ring in the New Year. Truly a one of a kind experience!

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PEG: So many interesting stories here! All holidays are memorable so it's hard to choose.  I'd have to say that it might be the Christmas my late husband and I spent in England. He was there on business so I joined him.  We spent some time in London having afternoon tea, seeing Cats, which was new then and visiting Harrods and enjoying the decorations at Marks & Spencer.  I found a bookstore and snapped up a bunch of books by Nancy Mitford and Patricia Wentworth.  We then headed into the countryside via train to a manor house that had been turned into a hotel. It was exquisite and the food was fantastic. Christmas Eve all the guests were taken to a small, stone church in the village for the midnight service.  When we arrived back at the manor house, we were served a small bowl of hot soup and the British version of grilled cheese.  Christmas morning they brought a real English "fry up" to our room. By the time we finished the eggs, sausage, tomato, mushrooms etc. we thought we'd never be hungry again. But then it was time for Christmas dinner, another memorable meal shared with new friends, made jolly by Christmas crackers and paper crowns!

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MARY JANE MAFFINI

What fantastic Christmas memories you all have!  Are we the only people where things go pear-shaped? Christmas Eve is the big shindig in our family, but we always have a smaller dinner on Christmas Day.  Many of our memorable Christmas stories involve nearly-averted disasters such as the time when, in addition to the usual suspects, we had four Brazilian visitors and my ninetysomething mother-in-law arrive at the same time. In the confusion of arrivals and multiple languages our adventurous little dachshund, Lily, escaped without anyone noticing  and trotted purposefully down the road in the cold Ontario winter late afternoon wearing her velvet and taffeta Christmas dress.  She was spotted by a passing librarian (you can't make this stuff up!) who found our phone number on the tag and saved the day.  Dinner resumed with the breakout artist back in her bed, cuddled up with her sister awaiting extra treats.  Lily is nearly fifteen now and none the worse for her many adventures, but I may have lost a few years off my life.   Merry and safe Christmas, friends!

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CLEO COYLE:  Because our beloved parents and grandparents are gone now, both Marc and I are sentimental about our most memorable holiday meals. Both took place during our childhoods. Mine was a Thanksgiving feast with my big Italian-American family, where homemade Italian foods (from wedding soup and gnocchi to pizzelle and biscotti) were served right along with traditional American Turkey and pumpkin pie. Marc’s most memorable meal took place one Christmas eve, when his family served him the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes. “As the oldest grandson,” Marc told me, “I sat at the adult’s table for the first time, beside my cousin Loretta. We listened to their conversation—some of it in Italian—and shared a wee bit of wine and a drop of after-dinner anisette.” 

As for the menu, Marc’s grandmother was a poor orphan from Naples, but (as he put it) “she could have been a master chef.” The seven seafood dishes she served that night were: (1) shrimp cocktails with white garlic sauce, (2) savory fritters with anchovies; (3) smelts; (4) baccàla (dried and salted cod) in red sauce; (5) calamari, coated with seasoned flour and fried “to perfection.” (Marc remembered the tentacles resembling “dried flower blossoms” though his cousin Loretta was “thoroughly grossed out by them!”) The main course included (6) a whole fresh cod, stuffed with crabmeat, and finally (7) fried shrimp coated with a breading that included Italian herbs and parmesan cheese. Marc and I still make and enjoy that wonderful “Italian-fried shrimp.” We love it so much we shared our recipe and tips with our readers via one of our most popular Coffeehouse Mystery characters. (Click here or on the picture below for a free PDF of our recipe.) As for the desserts, Marc remembered some amazing treats being served, but he failed to eat them. “Why?” I asked. “Because after that seven fish dinner, I was stuffed to the gills.” (Hey, no groaning. Puns are our business, too.) May your own holidays be delicious!

Click here for a free PDF
of Cleo's recipe.

GIVEAWAY

Now it's your turn!
Do you have a holiday meal memory to share?

Join our chat and leave a comment by December 9th
to win these seven terrific books, US only.

Include your e-mail address
so we can contact you if you win.

As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles by Leslie Budewitz

Candy Slain Murder by Maddie Day

Deadly Feast by Lucy Burdette

Mistletoe, Moussaka & Murder by Tina Kashian 

Not a Creature was Purring by Krista Davis

Wreath between the Lines by Daryl Wood Gerber

Gingerdead Man by Maya Corrigan

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Panini Burger from Essie Lang, author

 

Another day in my desire to break away from salads for lunch and try something a bit different! I decided to do a grilled cheese sandwich, panini style. And then I started wondering what I had in the fridge that I could add to it.

Lettuce, tomato, mushrooms. Green relish, aioli, prosciutto. Looked like the start of a burger to me. So, I decided to combine all this with my basic cheese sandwich, and added some capers for a touch of saltiness. 

On burger day, I always saute the sliced mushrooms in extra virgin olive oil, so that's what I did. All the other ingredients went in as is. The bread I used was my current favorite, a seed and grain gluten-free choice from a place called the Little Northern Bakeshop which is in Abbotsford, B.C. That's the other side of the country but I'm so pleased they ship to my city.

The entire process took about fifteen minutes max, short time-wise, which is how I like my lunches. And I've got to say, it was long on flavor. I will definitely whip up my pannini burger again.

Here's what I used:

1 leaf Boston lettuce

2 large mushrooms, sliced

1 slice smoked Gouda cheese

1 slice tomato

1 slice prosciutto

 1/2 tsp. capers

2 slices bread

 

 

What to do:

1. Preheat panini or similar grill.

2. Add some olive oil to a small saute plan and heat it, then add sliced mushrooms for a slow saute.

3.  While waiting for the mushrooms, spread aioli and green relish on each slice of bread. Start stacking on lettuce, tomato, cheese slice, and prosciutto.

4. Add mushrooms when they're done.  Season with pepper and salt to taste. Top with capers and slice of bread.

5. Place in panini grill or similar for 4 minutes on low heat.

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

  DEATH ON THE PAGE, book #2,  is out!

  The first in the Castle Bookshop Mysteries is available in hardcover, e-book, and audio! And, now, also in trade paperback!

 

TROUBLE ON THE BOOKS

 

  Dine out with the DINNER CLUB MYSTERIES

by Linda Wiken

 

Writing as Erika Chase -- the Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery series are available on-line or at your favorite bookstore.

             

Visit Linda at www.lindakwiken.com

Love to hear from you at my Facebook author page and

on Twitter  @LWiken  

Check me out at www.killercharacters.com
                                                                               

 

 

Scrambled eggs, prosciutto and avocado brunch

Call it brunch or breakfast, or as I had it, lunch. This was a quick and very tasty way to use up the last piece of proscuito and also the mushrooms, also on their final legs. Or stems.

I put it all on toast and at the last minute (which is why you won't find this in any photo), I used sriracha aioli instead of butter.  Of course, you can easily substitute your favorite veggies, or anything that needs using up quickly. It seems that's often my first choice when running out to the store is my last choice.

Now, what I forgot to add was the gherkins that appear in the photo, which I had planned to dice into tiny pieces. Next time!  You'll also notice that I don't always suggest quantities of ingredients. That's because it's totally what suits your own taste.


What you'll need:

2 eggs
1 slice of cheese
1 slice of bread
mushrooms, sliced
grape tomatoes, quartered
gherkins
slivered garlic
red onion, sliced thinly
1 slice avocado
prosciutto
fresh basil

 

 What to do:

1. Slice the mushrooms, red onion, tomatoes, gherkins, and avocado.

2.  Heat the prosciutto in a saute pan; toast the slice of bread.

3. Scramble the eggs in a dish and set aside.

4. Remove prosciutto and saute the sliced veggies, except for the avocado, in the same pan. When slightly browned, add the egg mixture and stir together until eggs are set.

5. Spread the aioli on the toast, add the prosciutto, cheese slice, and then the avocado slice. Smother with the scambled egg, and garnish with fresh basil.

Enjoy!

  DEATH ON THE PAGE, book #2,  is out!

  The first in the Castle Bookshop Mysteries is available in hardcover, e-book, and audio! And, now, also in trade paperback!

TROUBLE ON THE BOOKS

 

  Dine out with the DINNER CLUB MYSTERIES

Here's a taste of the reviews for Marinating in Murder, #3:     

Wiken’s third entry to the Dinner Club series is a clever twist on the classic whodunit… The book will have you guessing until the very end…. All in all, an intriguing read by Wiken.” – RT Reviews

"Foodies will love this book and this series. Great recipes are included as well....A fun romp of intrigue filled with foodie fun." -- Open Book Society
 

Writing as Erika Chase -- the Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery series are available on-line or at your favorite bookstore.

             

Visit Linda at www.lindakwiken.com

Love to hear from you at my Facebook author page and

on Twitter  @LWiken  

Check me out at www.killercharacters.com
                                                                               

Around the Kitchen Table, Do you eat with your eyes? + books #giveaway

Don't miss the books GIVEAWAY below!  

Leave a comment.

LINDA: It's been said that we eat with our eyes. Is that true of you? What about all our other senses that we use when preparing a meal? Maybe smell is more important or what about taste? I know, they are all of importance when dining but what is the first one that makes you choose a particular dish to try?

I have to go with the saying - the eyes have it! My sense of smell is not great and I recently read about a professional chef who had lost her sense of smell. That's much more critical for someone in that position but she learned to make adjustments for the loss. Taste comes in a close second for me. But like choosing a book from the shelves, the cover has got to grab me. Then it's a sampling from the pages. I love looking at food - in cookbooks, as my Dinner Club protagonist does - on Instagram, with the daily posting on Mystery Lovers Kitchen.

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DARYL: I have to admit that I, too, love a beautiful meal. Although aroma might be more important to me. I haven't lost my sense of smell, and I can eat anything that smells good with my eyes closed. I love the aroma of cinnamon or chocolate. I love the salty sizzling aroma of a good steak. And the heavenly scent of caramel? Oh, my! It had me at hello. I'm swooning. So, no, my "eyes" don't really make me eat. However, I do agree with you, Linda, regarding a book cover. I love beautiful book covers.  This is image is from my Fairy Garden Mysteries.  Caramel cashew brownies.

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LESLIE B: An interesting question for many reasons, one of which is the evolutionary connection of taste and smell. They are linked in the brain, suggesting that they evolved at about the same time---also at the same time as memory, which is why smell is so tied with memory. You know the experience---we've all had it---of encountering a smell and before we consciously realize what we've smelled, say a particular cologne an old boyfriend wore, we find ourselves thinking of him and wondering why. Or when we smell a particular food and are instantly transported to a previous experience of it, especially if it's there's a strong cultural link, like turkey and Thanksgiving, or popcorn and movies.

That said, a beautiful plate of food is, well, beautiful. All the colors, the shapes, the arrangement, the sauce properly drizzled and stray bits wiped up in what a young friend who worked in a local restaurant calls "border patrol." It's an experience for all the senses. Bring it on!

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LESLIE K: All five senses play a vital part in food and cooking, and yes, the presentation of the meal is what hits your first: a perfectly-seared rib-eye atop a bed of baby greens with shaved fennel and blood orange slices, next to a mound of golden-brown pan-fried potatoes. But next comes that delectable aroma of garlic butter wafting up to your nose; and then the mouth-feel as you chew a slice of the marbled steak, and that satisfying crunch you hear as you bite down on a crispy potato.

But for me, ultimately, it’s taste that counts the most. That steak had better be flavorful, and the oranges a good balance of sweet and tart. For after all, if it doesn’t taste good, even if all the other senses are piqued by the dish, would you really want to order it again at a restaurant, no matter how pretty it looked?

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MADDIE: Looks sure help! We've all made off-the-cuff (well, maybe you haven't, but I have) dishes that tasted fabulous, but the appearance wouldn't have made anybody smile and want to dig a fork in. I think smell must be second most important to taste and is tightly linked. Fresh bread baking? You know it's going to taste good. Here are a couple of sourdough loaves I baked last week.

PEG: For me, it's smell.  If I'm out walking and someone is on their patio grilling a steak and the smell wafts my way, I immediately want a steak!  The same with the smell of popcorn at the movies although I always find the actual taste disappointing--nothing like freshly popped popcorn at home!  I think visual presentation is important and can be alluring but I don't care for food that looks too "fingered" as Julia Child once said!

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LUCY BURDETTE: When you mentioned eyes, Linda, I thought about what I read on a menu--because that's our first introduction to what a restaurant has to offer. And I'm often suckered in by the descriptions of the sides that come with a meat or fish, and that's how I choose. So I'd say yes to the eyes!

Lemon turmeric cake, recipe coming this week!

KRISTA: Pretty food is definitely alluring. But hasn't everyone bitten into something that looked so enticing and was nearly inedible? And what about bacon? I think we're going to have to admit that it's just not that pretty. But the flavor! Oh my! There's nothing like walking into a bakery and wanting one of everything because it all looks so good. And I'm like Peg, the smell of steak on a grill is amazing. But in the end, the taste is the ultimate test for me.

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MAYA: The taste is what matters most to me too, and ugly things can taste really good. My parents had an apple tree that produced greenish-brown apples. When I brought them to school for lunch, my friends thought I was crazy to eat them. But they had a sweet-tart taste that was better than any shiny red apple I've ever tried. Here's another example:

When I saw these shriveled things on the supermarket discount shelves, where produce past its prime is sold for next-to-nothing, I was horrified that the store was trying to make money on avocados that would be brown inside. But I looked closer, sniffed, and realized they were ripe passion fruit--which you are supposed to eat when it's wrinkly. So I grabbed them all--26 of them for 78 cents in a store that usually sells passion fruit for $2.99 each A few were overripe, but still tasted good, and the rest were great.

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CLEO COYLE: Fun topic, Linda! Taste is important, absolutely, and don’t we all love rustic, homemade fare? I think if you’re talking about home cooking, most of us are happy with rough & ready meals, especially when they’re made with love (and taste great). On the other hand, unappetizing food is a hard sell for customers if you're in the food business, where success usually depends on preparing food professionally with an attitude of wanting to give your customers the very best, not only in taste and smell but also presentation. I grew up hearing the Italian proverb “The eyes eat first.” Big, Italian families tend to be food lovers and we certainly were. Is the phrase really Italian? Yes, some say its origin can be traced back to the 1st century Roman Marcus Apicius, a lover of gourmet food. I wonder what he would make of 21st century food porn? Something tells me he'd get a kick out of it. I do think it's fun, and I've enjoyed using my food photography skills to help readers see the recipes that my husband and I create for our culinary mystery series. (Click here to "see" what I mean. :)) Sometimes I'm even contacted for rights to reprint my "eat with your eyes" work. Here's one example...

Click here or on the image above for Cleo's recipe
(and to see the post with her original foodie photo).

Above you can see how a local Italian foods company put one of my foodie photos to use on their packaging for bread crumbs (after purchasing the rights, of course), which is my final point, I guess. Eating with the eyes is an extremely important concept for professionals in the food business. Your food has got to deliver on taste, but that first step is significant too. If what your selling looks unappetizing or unprofessional, drawing customers won't be a cake walk, and could even be a Cake Wreck! BTW - If you’d like the recipe that goes with my photo, along with 5 Tips on Making Italian Breaded Chicken Cutlets you’re welcome to click here. Whether your eyes eat first or not, Marc and I sincerely hope you will…eat with joy. --Cleo

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BOOKS GIVEAWAY

Leave a comment to win these books,

 and don't forget to include your email 

so we can contact you if you win.

The Diva Spices it Up, by Krista Davis

Shredding the Evidence, by Daryl Wood Gerber

Nacho Average Murder, by Maddie Day

S'more Murders, by Maya Corrigan