Welcome our guest Sofie Ryan plus book #giveaway

From Daryl:  Although this is typically my day to post, I've ceded it to my darling friend Sofie Ryan. She has a new book coming out, and you shouldn't miss it!  For those who don't know...

Sofie Ryan is the author of the New York Times bestselling Second Chance Cat Mystery series, featuring re-purpose store owner Sarah Grayson; Charlotte’s Angels, a group of senior sleuths; Mr. P, the world’s oldest computer hacker; and Elvis, a black cat with an uncanny ability to sniff out a lie.  

FYI, Sofie is also Sofie Kelly who writes the bestselling Magical Cat Mysteries.

Giveaway below...keep reading...

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About the Second Chance Cat Mystery series

When Sarah Grayson opened a secondhand shop in the quaint town of North Harbor, Maine, she was expecting peace and quiet. Then she was adopted by a rescue cat named Elvis and a kooky group of senior sleuths known as Charlotte’s Angels.

In Telling Tails, Sarah’s friend and employee Rose is delivering a customer’s purchase when the quick errand turns deadly. Rose arrives just in time to see the customer murdered by his wife, but before she can call the police, she is knocked out cold. When she wakes up, no one believes her, especially after the woman claims her husband is very much alive and has left her for someone else—and has a text message and empty bank account to prove it. Despite the woman’s convincing story, Sarah is sure something is fishy—and she, Elvis and and the Angels are soon on the case.

From Sofie:

At this point in the holidays I’ve overindulged in stuffing, gravy, and gingerbread cookies and I’m looking for something that’s a little lighter and a little healthier. So I make Apple Carrot Salad. Most of the time I have all the ingredients in the house.

Enjoy!

Apple Carrot Salad

Ingredients:

1 large firm flesh apple

2 medium carrots

½ celery rib*

2 T. lime juice

2 T. apple cider vinegar

1T. honey

½ t. sunflower or canola oil

Whisk the lime juice, vinegar, honey, and oil together in a small bowl.

Peel and quarter the apple. Remove the seeds and coarsely grate. Pour half the lime juice mixture over the apples and mix well. Peel and grate both carrots. Finely chop the celery. Add the carrots and celery to the apple mixture with the rest of the dressing. Mix well.

Makes 4 servings. (You could eat the entire bowl yourself for lunch. Or so I’ve heard.)

*I usually use the one or two left over celery sticks from our Boxing Day veggie plate.

This recipe is very flexible. If you like more apple or more carrot use more. You can even leave out the celery if you don’t have any.

GIVEAWAY

Sofie is going to give away 2 copies of A WHISKER OF TROUBLE, 

so leave a comment below with your email address in case you win and 

tell her if you or anyone you know has ever gotten a second chance. 

Please Welcome Guest Sofie Ryan aka Sofie Kelly! & #Giveaway

Muffins are popular in my house. They’re a quick snack. They’re great at breakfast with a scrambled egg or lunch with chicken salad. And teenagers will eat them anytime!

This recipe happened because I was craving an apple muffin and discovered that I had apples but no applesauce, which is what I usually used to make apple muffins.

Cinnamon Apple Muffins

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour                 

¾ teaspoon baking soda

1 ¼ teaspoons cream of tartar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon   

⅓ cup of margarine

½ cup white sugar 

2 eggs

1 medium apple, grated

⅓ cup sour milk or buttermilk

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and cinnamon.

In a large mixing bowl beat margarine, sugar and eggs until light and frothy. Add the flour mix alternately with the milk. Stir in the grated apple. Don’t over mix.

Fill paper-lined muffins tins three-quarters full with batter.

Bake at 375° for 18 to 20 minutes. Makes one dozen muffins. Cool on a wire rack.

 

Most people know that I write mysteries under two different names--Sofie Kelly and Sofie Ryan. Sofie Kelly will have a new Magical Cats mystery, Paws and Effect, coming out October 4^th. Sofie Ryan’s next book is Telling Tails. It will be available January 3^rd.

But the two Sofies have teamed, so to speak, up for an e-book, which will be out September 6^th. Two Tall Tails offers two novellas, The Cat Burglar, set in Mayville Heights, home of Owen and Hercules, the Magical Cats; and No More Pussyfooting Around, which features Sarah Grayson, Elvis the cat, and the senior detectives known as Charlotte’s Angels.

Giveaway!

To celebrate I’m giving away two books on CD. One lucky winner will receive Buy a Whisker, the second in the Second Chance Cat mysteries. Another winner will receive the third in the series, A Whisker of Trouble. Good luck.

Bio:

Sofie Kelly is an author and mixed-media/fiber artist who lives on the east coast. She’s the author of the New York Times bestselling Magical Cats mysteries (Faux Paw, Curiosity Thrilled the Cat) which feature librarian Sarah Paulson and her two very special cats, Owen and Hercules, who have a magical knack for solving crime.

As Sofie Ryan she writes the New York Times bestselling Second Chance Cat Mystery series, (A Whisker of Trouble) featuring re-purpose store owner Sarah Grayson, a group of senior sleuths, the world’s oldest computer hacker, and Elvis, a black cat with an uncanny ability to sniff out a lie.

www.sofiekelly.com

www.sofieryan.com

  

Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins and What-the-heck?

Please join us in giving a very big welcome to Sofie Kelly! Sofie, Daryl, Leslie, Peg, Sheila and I all go way back together. Back to the days when we were all starting out and none of us had been published. So we're especially delighted to have our dear friend visiting us today. 

Sofie has very kindly offered to give away a copy of her new book, FAUX PAW! Leave a comment with your email address to enter.

And heeeeere's Sofie!

During the summer in my house we eat a lot of fruit salad: chunks of melon, and peaches mixed with strawberries, blueberries or raspberries and as summer winds down, a taste of the early apple crop. But once fall comes fruit is more likely to show up in apple crisp, blueberry grunt and banana chocolate chip muffins.

In my Magical Cats Mysteries (Faux Paw will be out October 6^th) the characters like to indulge in something sweet. It may be Eric’s chocolate pudding cake at the café, Mary Lowe’s cinnamon rolls or Kathleen’s brownies. And yes, muffins. Lots of muffins.

I think of these muffins more as desert than a healthy breakfast choice. The recipe evolved from a recipe for banana bread in the 1952 edition of the Lily Wallace New American cookbook, the source of a lot of favorite recipes in my house.

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups of sifted flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

1¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

¼ cup margarine

¼ cup unsweetened applesauce

½ cup sugar

1 cup mashed banana (about 2 large)

1 whole egg and 1 egg white

½ cup of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 °F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or lightly grease.

Sift the flour, soda and cream of tartar together. In a large bowl beat margarine, sugar, applesauce, egg and egg white until the mixture is light and creamy. Add the mashed banana alternately with the flour mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes until the muffins are golden brown and tops spring back when lightly touched. You’ll notice I don’t have any photos of the muffins once they were baked. If you have teenagers in your house you’ll understand why!

 

 

And now for the “what-the-heck.” I was going to share my corn muffin recipe. I baked them in my large toaster oven and this is what happened. They tasted great but kind of looked like they belonged in a cooking version of Alien. Does anyone have any idea of what the heck happened?

Don't forget to leave a comment to enter Sofie's giveaway! Include your email address so we can contact you. Good luck!

Welcome our guest Sofie Kelly!

Welcome our guest, Sofie Kelly!

Sofie Kelly writes the New York Times bestselling Magical Cats Mysteries.

The next book in the series, CAT TRICK, will be available February 5^th. Visit Sofie at www.sofiekelly.com

Let Them Eat Cake

   Have you ever had one of those days when all you want to do is to eat a cake and wallow in a little self pity? The problem is, when those days happen there never seems to be a cake handy, or if there is, let’s face it, someone else in the house is going to notice that you ate the whole thing. Not to mention what eating a full-size, double layer cake with frosting is going to do to your thighs. Days like that are perfect for Cake in a Mug.

  

 Cake in a Mug is not a gourmet recipe. It’s not fancy, but it tastes pretty good and if you share it with a friend or two it’s not that self-indulgent. And it beats the heck out of standing over the sink eating Hershey’s Chocolate syrup off a spoon. Not that I’ve ever done that.

Cake in a Mug
             

4 tablespoons cake flour
4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons milk

1 egg

3 tablespoons chocolate chips

   Mix the flour, sugar and cocoa in a large mug. (A two-cup measuring cup will also work.) Add the oil, milk and egg. Beat with a fork. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on the top. You can substitute butterscotch or peanut butter chips instead.

 *Cake flour makes a finer textured cake, but you can use all-purpose flour. I use rice milk in this recipe, but soy milk or cow’s milk works just as well.

 Microwave on high power between 3 and 4 minutes. How long depends on how powerful your microwave is. Don’t worry if things overflow a little.

Slide a knife around the inside of the mug and slide the cake on to a plate.

Cut into two or three pieces—or not, depending on just how bad the day’s been—and enjoy.

I’d love to hear how you all decompress after a bad day. Any cake involved?

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Win a Magical Cat Mystery

We're jumbling things up a little bit to keep you on your toes.  Our Easy Holiday Dinner begins tomorrow.  And keep sending your recipes to KristaDavis at KristaDavis dot com to enter our Christmas Cookie Contest.  We're standing by with mixers and cookie cutters at the ready!






Today, Sofie Kelly is visiting with a recipe that sounds so great I want to bake it immediately (and would if I had dates!).  Sofie Kelly is the author of the Magical Cats Mystery Series, and a longtime friend of mine.  I'm delighted to brag for her, because when my book recently made the New York Times Bestseller list, Sofie's was right there in the slot ahead of me at number 26.  The only thing better than making the list is making it with a friend! Learn more about Sofie at her website.

Here's Sofie ~


When the days get cooler I use my oven a lot more. I like the extra warmth it gives to the kitchen, and I like the smell of something delicious baking. And who am I kidding? I like eating whatever was baking.


Date squares are one of my favorite fall treats. With the dates and oatmeal they’re a pretty good source of fiber so I can feel a tiny bit virtuous when I eat a second one.

Date Squares

Filling:
2 cups of tightly packed, pitted dates
1 cup cold coffee
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ tablespoon orange juice

In a small pot mix the dates, coffee, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered until the mixture is thick and spreadable. Remove from heat and stir in the juices. Cool.

Crumbs:
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter (you can substitute margarine)
¾ cup brown sugar
1 ¼ cup oatmeal (I use quick-cooking oats)

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until the mixture is pea-like. Mix in brown sugar and oatmeal.
Press half the mixture into an 8 inch square baking pan. Spread date mixture evenly over the top. Top with the remaining crumbs, pressing down lightly.
Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes until lightly browned. Makes about two dozen date squares.


These are great with a big glass of cold milk or a steaming cup of coffee. (They’re pretty good for breakfast, too, but you didn’t hear that from me.)
And how about a book or two to curl up with while you’re eating your date squares?



At the end of the day on Monday Krista will pick one name from comments and I’ll send that person a copy of Sleight of Paw in that kitty book tote and some other goodies from my giveaway cupboard. Could be books. Could be chocolate. Could be both. Won’t be date squares.

Good luck!

The mysterious Sofie Kelly!