LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Mystery World is a funny place. You meet the nicest people and then discover how wonderfully, delightfully devious they are! Case in point: Julianne Holmes, aka J.A. (Julie) Hennrikus, one of my favorite people in mystery-dom. When I realized she'd never been our guest, I nabbed her, and am delighted that she's joining us today, celebrating the release of Chime and Punishment, the third Clockshop Mystery, earlier this month. Appropriately, we're celebrating with a cocktail. (Or is that a clocktail?)
Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of Chime and Punishment!
Making a Shrub with Julianne Holmes a.k.a. J. A. Hennrikus
In the third book of
my clock shop series, Time and Punishment, Pat Reed is experimenting with
making shrubs. Anyone who is familiar with the series will know that Pat works
at the Cog & Sprocket, Ruth Clagan’s clock shop in Orchard Massachusetts.
His wife, Nancy, is on the board of selectmen in this book. His daughter Moira
is still running her café, The Sleeping Latte. The book takes place in June,
prime shrub season in my opinion.
What, you may ask, is
a shrub? I was first introduced to these a couple of years ago by a friend who
had over picked blueberries one summer and was experimenting with ways to use
them. A shrub is an old-fashioned drink, berry infused vinegar with sugar that
is mixed into seltzer water, or added to a cocktail. From what I understand,
shrubs go back to colonial times when people were trying to preserve fruit
without refrigeration. The tartness of the vinegar, and the sweetness of the berries
and sugar make it a very refreshing and interesting drink. Nowadays, drinking
vinegars are all the rage, and so I've been experimenting with them more and
more. In this post I'll show you a couple of ways of making shrubs. There are
many. I'm using blueberries, but they could be made with all different types of
fruits.
In a blender, put a
cup of berries, 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of raw cider vinegar, 1/3 cup of a
cup of honey (or sugar), and some fresh ginger. You could also add lemon juice
for extra zing. Blend them all up. Strain it through cheesecloth or through a
ricer. Refrigerate for a couple of days
and then uses syrup with soda water, or in a cocktail.
I've also read
recipes that have sugar and fruit mashed up and left on the countertop in a
bowl for a few days to marinate. Vinegar is then added, and after a few more
daysthe fruit is strained and ready to use.
Hot Process Shrubs:
There are a couple of
ways to make hot infused shrubs as well.
One way is to make a
simple syrup, put berries in with the simple syrup, and let it let them pop and
boil down a bit. Add the vinegar, strain, and refrigerate.
The recipe I'm using
in this post has simple syrup made with vinegar instead of water. It is more
potent, and more tasty. Boil the cider and sugar into a syrup (a cup of each),
add the berries (2 cups) and boil them down. Strain, or rice, and refrigerate.
The shrub will be ready to use in 2 to 4 days.
You can also infuse
your shrubs with herbs like rosemary. Play with your vinegar/sugar ratio.
Shrubs are a very refreshing way of adding pop to your summer drinks.
Cheers!
Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of Chime and Punishment! Got a favorite cocktail? A clock story? Mr. Kitten will choose the winner Tues morning, Aug 29.
Julianne Holmes
writes the Clock Shop Mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime. The first in the
series, the Agatha nominated Just Killing
Time, debuted in October 2015. Clock
and Dagger was released in August 2016, and Chime and Punishment came out this August. As J.A. Hennrikus, her
Theater Cop series will debut in the fall of 2017 with A Christmas Peril. She has short stories in three Level Best
anthologies, Thin Ice, Dead Calm and Blood Moon. She is on the board of Sisters in Crime, and is a
member of MWA and Sisters in Crime New England. She blogs with the Wicked Cozy
Authors and Killer Characters. JHAuthors.com T:@JHAuthors I: @jahenn
Chime and Punishment: The clock is
ticking on Ruth Clagan’s latest project—the rehab of the town’s clocktower.
Years ago a fire destroyed the tower and Ruth inherited the dream of hearing
those bells again, along with her shop, the Cog and Sprocket, from her
grandfather. She’s determined to make them both work, despite wrenches that are
being thrown into the works by her least favorite person, town manager Kim
Gray.
A crowd of
residents and visitors are excited to see the progress of the tower at a
fundraiser for the final stage of the project. When Kim is found crushed under
the tower’s bell the list of suspects is so long it could be read around the
clock, and includes some of Ruth’s nearest and dearest.
Times awastin’
as Ruth tries to solve another murder in her beloved Orchard while keeping the
gears clicking on her dream project.
