LUCY BURDETTE: There's nothing I love more than seeing a good friend who's worked hard for years have her first book published! Christine Falcone has part of my writers' group for a long time, so I am thrilled that this day has finally arrived. Today we are celebrating Chris's first novel EX'D OUT with a recipe and giveaway. Leave a comment to be entered in the drawing for a paperback copy of her new book!
CHRISTINE FALCONE: Melanie Bass, the main character in my debut novel EX’D OUT doesn’t cook much. She is divorced and living alone with the exception of her little terrier mix dog Bruno, and Bruno does not eat people food. Melanie mostly just grabs a yogurt and fruit or a tuna sandwich after work instead of cooking an entire meal for herself. This changes when Melanie acquires a roommate who does like to cook and is willing to put a more substantial meal on the table for both of them to share.
Like Melanie, in my long-ago single days, I was prone to just grab a sandwich or scramble an egg for dinner. That changed when I married a man with three children and suddenly a whole nutritious meal was required – E.V.E.R.Y N.I.G.H.T. Soon we had four more children so our total was seven plus two adults. I am the oldest of eight children, and my mother was an excellent cook who passed on her recipes to me so I had a good store of ideas at my disposal (and the necessity of at least doubling every recipe that serves four I found in a cookbook). The snags I hit, as most people with children know, was who doesn’t like potatoes or rice or pasta or “stinky cheese” (my husband). In the end I tried to please the majority. One dish that pleases everyone however is my baked stuffed scrod. Simple and quick enough for Melanie to make.
INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs cod (or haddock or other whitefish of your choice. Allow ½ lb. fish per person – I tend to cook more than needed- old habit.)
Ritz crackers (I use 3 sleeves for 2 lbs fish)
1-11/2 sticks butter
4 cloves garlic minced (or two heaping TBSPs of jar minced)
2 large splashes lemon juice plus one more splash on raw fish
¼ cup white wine
1 TBSP chopped parsley (or parsley flakes)
1 can crabmeat
Rise fish under running water, layer single layer in pan, splash with lemon and pepper.
Crumble crackers in large bowl, add parsley and crabmeat. Melt butter in pan and add garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes to release flavor. Add lemon juice and wine and stir. Pour over cracker mixture and mix until crackers are moist. Top fish with the mixture.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork.
Serve with cocktail sauce (my husband and son) or another splash of lemon juice as desired.
About EX’D OUT: After their divorce, visiting nurse Melanie Bass must keep in contact with Dr. Artie Krapaneck, her philandering ex-husband as they share custody of her beloved dog, Bruno. When she arrives at a Connecticut highway rest stop to retrieve the dog for “her week” she discovers the body of her ex-husband along with that of an unknown woman. It seems that now Artie will finally be out of her life forever. He isn’t.
Melanie soon has reason to suspect that her gruesome discovery has put her own life, and Bruno’s, in danger. She decides she must find out who killed Artie and why. She begins to fear that he may have left in her possession the link to something the killers want. As the police try to solve the murder, she uncovers information on her own. Melanie learns how much she never knew about the man she was married to for five years, a man she thought she knew so well. She comes face to face with his first wife, Lynn, a woman she never knew existed. However, with Lynn’s help, as well as that of a kind and eligible veterinarian who is treating Bruno for PTSD, she takes on the killers before they kill both her and Bruno.
Leave a comment about your family's favorite dinner dish to be entered in the drawing!
BIO: Christine Falcone’s short stories have appeared in publications such as Imagine, Lancrom Review, and Deadfall: Crime Stories by New England writers. After working for nearly forty years as an RN in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Christine is delighted that retirement coincides with the publication of her first full length mystery. EX’D OUT will be out in October 2022. She is a member of Sisters In Crime and Mystery writers of America.
She lives on the Connecticut Shoreline with her family and a dog who is not nearly as well behaved as Bruno, the beloved canine in her novel.
