Guest Blogger, Lynn Cahoon #guest #recipe #giveaway

 VMBURNS: I'm super excited to welcome guest blogger, Lynn Cahoon to Mystery Lovers' Kitchen.

If you’ve read a book in any of my cozy series, you know that food is important to me and my characters. In AN AMATEUR SLEUTH’S GUIDE TO MURDER, the first in my Bainbridge Island Mysteries, A Taste of Magic is a small bakery on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Or it is in my fictional version of Bainbridge. It’s owned by my main character’s best friend, Natasha Jones. She opened the bakery after she bought the little house on the mail street. At first, she sold cupcakes to the hordes of tourists that flood the island after the ferry arrives on the island.

Once she got her feet under her, she started making other delicacies, including wedding cakes. That’s where we find her and Meg Gates as she’s moving Meg back from Seattle home after her engagement fails. Of course, Meg asked her to do the wedding cake, but she was able to sell it to another couple.

Meg told her she hoped that her bad luck wouldn’t be passed on with the cake.

I haven’t made a cake for a while, but I did freeze peaches last summer. So I wanted to share my cobbler recipe with you.

Peach Cobbler

4 ½ cups peaches (I left them halved.) Layer them in a baking dish.

Mix together – 1/3 cup brown sugar with 1 tbsp all-purpose flour

Then mix with the peaches. Let set.

In a bowl, whisk together

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp kosher salt

2 ¼ tsp baking powder

Cut 6 tbsp of cold butter into the flour mixture with a fork or a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Add ¾ cup buttermilk and mix lightly. (Mrs. Higgins, my Home Ec teacher, always warned us about over mixing dough and muffins.)

Make patties from the dough, 2 to 2 ½ inches in diameter and ½ inch thick. (I should have used my biscuit cutters.) Arrange them on the top of the peach mixture.

Bake until topping is brown and juices bubble thickly – about 35-40 minutes.

Let cool slightly – serve with vanilla ice cream.

READERS: What's your favorite cobbler? If so, what is your favorite? Blackberry? Peach? 

Let me know for a chance to win a copy of An Amateur Sleuth's Guide to Murder (US only please)

AN AMATEUR SLEUTH’S GUIDE TO MURDER

A Bainbridge Island Mystery

New York Times Bestselling Author

Lynn Cahoon

June 24th, 2025

An irresistible new series from New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon about an amateur sleuth who doesn’t just solve crimes, she writes about how to do it . . .

TIP #1: WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU COUNTS AS WORK EXPERIENCE

Meg Gates could use a guidebook for life. Indeed, she’s faced some challenges. She dropped out of college to work for a tech startup that failed—and her fiancé just took her bridesmaid to Italy on what was supposed to be Meg’s honeymoon.

Now, at twenty-six, Meg has taken the ferry ride of shame from Seattle back to Bainbridge Island to live with her family. At least she has her rescue cocker spaniel, Watson, by her side. But it’s Meg who could use a rescue—and she’s hoping it will come in the form of a part-time gig doing research for a bestselling mystery writer.

TIP #2: WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW – OR WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW

That’s when the lightbulb goes on: Meg will write her own guidebook—a manual on criminal investigation. But before she can impress her new boss with her pet project, the author’s manager is found dead on the rocks beneath the author’s Gothic mansion.

Now it’s time to put her guide to the test, as Meg sets out to clear her employer of suspicion and solve the crime. But there’s one important caveat she’ll have to add to her guide—

TIP #3: BEWARE OF UNKNOWN DANGERS

Links –

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Amateur-Sleuths-Guide-Murder/dp/1496752090

BN https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-amateur-sleuths-guide-to-murder-lynn-cahoon/1146333215?ean=9781496752093

Apple - https://books.apple.com/us/book/an-amateur-sleuths-guide-to-murder/id6738454375

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/an-amateur-sleuth-s-guide-to-murder

Anthony nominated, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author, Lynn Cahoon, pens several cozy mystery series set in the mountains, on the beach, and usually in a small town with relatable amateur sleuths who have the careers Lynn always wanted, including bookseller, chef, and writing retreat owner. Readers can expect a fun ride no matter where the mystery is set. She lives in Eastern Tennessee with her husband and two spoiled Keeshonds. She loves cooking, hiking, and exploring new and historic sites.

Guest Lynn Cahoon's Chili Recipe + #Giveaway

 

MAYA: I’m delighted to welcome New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Lynn Cahoon as today’s guest. She’s sharing a recipe perfect for chilly weather and offering an e-book giveaway of her latest Farm-to-Fork Mystery A Fatal Family Feast. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment with your email address at the end of this post by midnight Wednesday, January 26th. Take it away, Lynn!

A chilly winter’s night…

When Maya asked me to guest post on Mystery Lovers Kitchen, I was ecstatic. I love coming and talking about my two favorite subjects, food and cozy mysteries. Then I started thinking about what recipe I could bring on a cold January day. After a couple of months of holiday eating. And desserts, a lot of desserts.

I’m still in cookie mode as I write this, but my body is screaming for a little lighter fare. On the other hand, who wants to read about a dinner of roasted chicken breast over a salad with a light vinaigrette? Okay, yes, it sounds good, but a little plain for this crew. I started thinking about what I love about cold weather and the food I crave.

So I’m posting about chili. My mom’s woodstove chili to be exact. The problem is, I don’t like or eat things with (dried) beans in the mix. I know, they’re a great (and cheap) source of protein, but I just couldn’t deal with the texture for a long time. I said no to cheesecakes for years for the same reason. But I love this chili, sans the beans. When I was a kid, I’d just pick the beans out of the bowl. Now that I’m in control of what goes into the pot, I just don’t add them. I did leave them in the recipe for your use.

I loved my mom’s chili. Especially the first day. She’d make up a pot in the iron dutch oven on the wood burning stove in the living room and it would simmer all day, making the house smell amazing. As I was making the recipe for you, I made up a batch of corn bread to go with the chili. It was as good as I’d remembered.

Great dinner for a cold night spent reading in front of a roaring fire.

Woodstove Chili

Ingredients

Chopped medium size onion

1 lb. of hamburger

Salt and pepper to taste

Cayenne pepper (sprinkle to taste)

1 can of chopped green chilies

1 large can (28oz.) stewed tomatoes

1 15 oz. can of chopped tomatoes and green chilies

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 large can chili beans (optional)

In a large (heavy) soup pan, sweat a chopped onion in a tbsp. of vegetable oil.

Add the hamburger, cook until browned, but don’t drain the grease. 

Add the remaining ingredients. 

Cook slowly over low heat. 30-60 minutes. The longer you cook it, the more the flavors will meld together.

Serve with cornbread fresh out of the oven.

Is there a food you don’t like that everyone else does? 

Comment below for a chance to win an e-copy of A FATAL FAMILY FEAST

 

Angie Turner’s Idaho restaurant, the County Seat, is the perfect site for a picturesque country wedding, but the party planning skids to a halt when the groom-to-be is implicated in a murder investigation…

When Angie’s best friend and business partner, Felicia Williams, picks the County Seat to host her upcoming nuptials, Angie wants it to feel like a family affair--especially since Felicia is set to marry the farm-to-fork restaurant’s talented sous chef, Estebe Blackstone. Unfortunately, the bride’s actual family is far less enthusiastic about the union. They’re pulling out all the stops to cancel the couple’s wedding, even arranging for a surprise visit from Felicia’s ex-fiancé (and her father’s current lackey). But when her ex is killed days before the ceremony and Estebe is framed for the crime, Angie and the County Seat crew must scramble to solve the murder and save the wedding . . .

Lynn Cahoon, author of A Killer Christmas Wish, a Cat Latimer mystery, is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of several series: Tourist Trap, Kitchen Witch, Cat Latimer, Farm-to-Fork, and soon to release, Survivors’ Book Club mystery series. 

No matter where the mystery is set, readers can expect a fun ride. Find out more at her website.

For a chance to win an e-book of A FATAL FAMILY FEAST, leave a comment below and include your e-mail address. 

Please Welcome Guest Lynn Cahoon #Recipe #Giveaway

Lynn Cahoon is joining us today!  She's sharing a recipe for chicken tortilla soup and also doing a giveaway!

Hi, I’m Lynn Cahoon, author of the Tourist Trap, Farm to Fork, Cat Latimer, and Kitchen Witch cozy mysteries. And I’m a lover of food. Seriously.

I think I get it from my mom. She believed that a good Sunday dinner could solve problems and bring people together. So dinner at our house growing up was cast iron pan Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, frozen corn (we’d put up that summer) and a salad with home made ranch dressing. And of course, there had to be a dessert. Usually a one-layer cake. Not fancy, but oh so good. Especially when it was chocolate with homemade chocolate frosting.

Growing up with good food has made me picky about what I make for my own family. It’s just the two of us now, and we enjoy different things. Dinner is often different meats, sides, but always cooked with love. My husband likes his beef vegetable stew with a little kick from jalapenos. I like homemade chili and Chicken Tortilla soup without the beans. 

I never was a bean fan. Maybe because I didn’t like the idea of it being a ‘musical fruit’. Even now, I avoid eating dried beans. So when I was looking for a new soup to try, I decided to adjust this recipe. I’ve also replaced the fried tortillas with stale or broken tortilla chips. Another habit passed down from my mom, don’t waste anything. With the salt already on the chips, you may want to taste before you add your normal amount of salt.

It’s an easy cook for a chilly Saturday lunch.

Anyway, here’s my recipe. I hope you enjoy it. And if you want, you can add back the can of black beans.

 

Dump into a large sauce pan the following and cook for 30 minutes

 

·       1 can of whole corn

·       2 cans of diced tomatoes with green chilis

·       1 chicken breast cut into bite size pieces (you can also use leftover shredded chicken here.)

·       1 tbsp dried oregano

·       1 tsp chili powder

·       1 tsp cumin

·       3 cups of chicken broth (or a 32 oz carton)

Add a handful of crushed tortilla chips about 1 cup to the soup, let simmer for another 10 minutes. 

 

Serve topped with shredded cheese and a few additional chips.  

 

 

This also freezes well for lunches or soup and sandwich dinners.

I’m giving away a signed print copy of ONE POISON PIE (US only. If a non-US person wins, you’ll get an ebook of KILLER COMFORT FOOD.) Comment below with your favorite comfort soup to be considered to win.

 

 

 

In the first in New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon’s Kitchen Witch mystery series, Mia Malone is starting over in Magic Springs, Idaho—where murder is on the menu . . .

 

What’s a kitchen witch to do when her almost-fiancé leaves her suddenly single and unemployed? For Mia Malone, the answer’s simple: move to her grandmother’s quirky Idaho hometown, where magic is an open secret and witches and warlocks are (mostly) welcome. With a new gourmet dinner delivery business—and a touch of magic in her recipes—Mia’s hopes are high. Even when her ex’s little sister, Christina, arrives looking for a place to stay, Mia takes it in stride.

 

But her first catering job takes a distasteful turn when her client’s body is found, stabbed and stuffed under the head table. Mia’s shocked to learn that she’s a suspect—and even more so when she realizes she’s next on a killer’s list. With Christina, along with Mia’s meddling grandma, in the mix, she’ll have to find out which of the town’s eccentric residents has an appetite for murder…before this fresh start comes to a sticky end. . . .

 

Buy links

Amazon 

BN 

KOBO

Apple 

 

NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Lynn Cahoon, writes the Tourist Trap, Cat Latimer and Farm-to-Fork mystery series. The Kitchen Witch cozy mystery series will release in 2021. No matter where the mystery is set, readers can expect a fun ride Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com

 

Ooh, Muffins! Guest Lynn Cahoon and a #bookgiveaway

LESLIE: I met today's guest, Lynn Cahoon, last fall at Bouchercon in New Orleans, where we shared a panel talking about food in mysteries. She writes the Tourist Trap mysteries, featuring Jill Gardner and the crew from South Cove, CA, and the brand new Cat Latimer mysteries, set in small town Aspen Hills, Colorado, where Cat runs a B&B and writers' retreats The second Cat Latimer mystery, FATALITY BY FIRELIGHT, comes out on Tuesday!

Leave a comment below for a chance to win the first in the series, A STORY TO KILL!  

LYNN: Muffins. They were the first thing we made in Intro to Home Economics my freshman year. We learned not to stir this batter too much as it loses the air that keeps muffins light and fluffy. Yet, you have to stir them just enough or you’ll get a mouth full of baking powder.

It took a lot of practice but I played with muffin recipes after school until I could mix up most anything into a batter. This one I call the kitchen sink recipe.

When I started writing my versions of a bed and breakfast mixed with a writer’s retreat in the Cat Latimer mysteries, my enjoyment of different breakfast breads came in handy. I’d love to be Shauna and be able to try out new recipes to wow the guests.

Shauna’s Special Chocolate Chip Muffins

Pre-heat oven to 400. Grease 12 muffin tins (or use spray oil).

Mix into a large bowl
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 1⁄3 cup light-brown sugar, packed
· 1⁄3 cup sugar
· 2 teaspoons baking powder
· 1⁄2 teaspoon salt

In a separate bowl, mix
· 2⁄3 cup milk
· 1⁄2 cup butter, melted and cooled
· 2 eggs, lightly beaten
· 1 teaspoon vanilla

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix together, but don’t over mix.

Add
· 2 cups (one 12-ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate chips
· 1⁄2 cup walnuts, chopped
· 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Pour into prepared muffin tin and bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool. Enjoy!

Leave a comment with your email address for a chance to win the first book in the series, A STORY TO KILL, by midnight Monday, Feb 27. (US addresses only, please.) 

From the cover of FATALITY BY FIRELIGHT:

Cat Latimer’s Colorado bed-and-breakfast plays host to writers from all over. But murder is distinctly unwelcome . . .
To kick off a winter writing retreat, Cat and her handyman boyfriend, Seth, escort the aspiring authors to a nearby ski resort, hoping some fresh cold air will wake up their creative muses. But instead of hitting the slopes, they hit the bar—and before long, a tipsy romance novelist named Christina is keeping herself warm with a local ski bum who might have neglected to tell her about his upcoming wedding.

Next thing Cat knows, her uncle, the town sheriff, informs her that the young man’s been found dead in a hot tub—and Christina shows up crying and covered in blood. Now, between a murder mystery, the theft of a rare Hemingway edition, and the arrival of a black-clad stranger in snowy Aspen Hills, Cat’s afraid everything’s going downhill . . .

Lynn Cahoon is the author of the NYT and USA Today best-selling Tourist Trap cozy mystery series. GUIDEBOOK TO MURDER, book 1 of the series, won the Reader's Crown for Mystery Fiction in 2015. She's also pens the Cat Latimer series. A STORY TO KILL, and FATALITY IN FIRELIGHT are available in mass market paperback. She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com and find her on Facebook and Goodreads.