Please Welcome Guest Daryl Wood Gerber! #Giveaway

Peg:  I am thrilled to welcome my good friend Daryl Wood Gerber (AKA Avery Aames) to the blog today.  At one time, Daryl was a founding member of Mystery Lovers Kitchen and I'm thrilled to see her back again today with a delicious recipe for a green smoothie.

 

DARYL: I’ve been busy the past year. A TWINKLE OF TROUBLE, the 5^th in the Fairy Garden Mysteries, came out in the spring.  Then MURDER ON THE PAGE, the 1st in the LITERARY DINING MYSTERIES came out in October. And now, in March, the 1^st in the AROMA WELLNESS MYSTERIES came out! Lots of writing. Lots of editing. Lots of fun.

 

In ESSENCE OF FOUL PLAY, Emma Brennan is opening a day spa along with a gift shop and café.  It’s located in a charming courtyard in Carmel-by-the-Sea. At the spa, customers will enjoy massages, facials, mindful meditations, and more. In the shop, customers can browse geodes, gemstones, and wind chimes, as well as aromatic candles and meditative guides. In the café, the chef creates “good-for-you” treats. Anything from protein bars and healthy muffins to chewy cookies made with honey and power-packed smoothies.  The whole vibe is supposed to bring calm to not only the spa’s customers, but to you, the reader, as well. Yes, a murder might be in the mix, but relax. All’s well that ends well.

 

You might not think this smoothie is for you, particularly because it’s a “green” drink. Also, it’s  made with kale, and kale can be quite bitter on its own.  But fret not!  The green is a minty green—quite pretty!  AND You won’t taste any bitterness. The pineapple, banana, and honey make sure of that. This smoothie keeps me going all day long. I hope you’ll give it a try.  

 

Big hint: I purchased a Ninja blender which is a perfect size for making single or double smoothies. It’s super powerful and easy to clean.

 

Enjoy.

 

Kale-Banana Protein Smoothie

 

 

(Yield: 1)

1/2 cup chopped ice

2 cups kale, chopped, no stems

3/4 cups milk

1 medium-sized banana chopped

1/4 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt

¼ cup pineapple chunks

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon protein powder (coconut protein powder is great!)

1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter, if desired

 

 

 

 

 

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  

 

 

Easy peasy.

 

Emma Brennan may have her head in a cloud of eucalyptus, but her feet are firmly planted on the ground in breathtaking Carmel, California, as she prepares to open her new spa business, Aroma Wellness. But all the reiki, shiatsu, and massage in the world can’t help her relax when she’s accused of murder . . .

                        

Everything is going smoothly as Emma prepares for the grand opening of the spa. The sales shop and café are stocked with meditative and delicious goodies, from essential oils to avocado masks and pricky pear massages. In fact, there isn’t a whiff of trouble until that morning when Emma is shocked to learn that a rival spa owner has been bludgeoned . . . with an item from the goodwill basket Emma gave her. Worse, a witness is pointing the finger at Emma . . .

 

With the police treating Emma like she’s the only suspect,

she’s left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Incensed by the accusation, but empowered by her cousin, her nana, and her trusted Birman cat, Vivi, Emma reviews the potpourri of possible suspects, determined to uncover the essence of foul play—before she’s cold-pressed for murder

 

BIO:

Daryl Wood Gerber is the Agatha Award-winning and nationally bestselling author of the Literary Dining Mysteries, Aroma Wellness Mysteries, Fairy Garden Mysteries and Cookbook Nook Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she penned the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. In addition, Daryl writes suspense novels, including the well-received The Son’s Secret, Girl on the Run, and the popular Aspen Adams trilogy. Daryl has published a standalone Christmas romance, Hope for the Holidays, and her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies. Fun Tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, garden, read, and walk her frisky Goldendoodle. Also she has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. You can learn more on her website: https://darylwoodgerber.com

GIVEAWAY

 

A choice of A TWINKLE OF TROUBLE, MURDER ON THE PAGE, or ESSENCE OF FOUL PLAY, paper or e-book to one commenter.

LINKS:

 

WEBSITE: https://darylwoodgerber.com

FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/darylwoodgerber

BOOKBUB: https://bookbub.com/authors/daryl-wood-gerber

YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/woodgerb1

INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/darylwoodgerber

GOODREADS: https://goodreads.com/darylwoodgerber

BLUE SKY: @darylwoodgerber.bsky.social

AMAZON: amazon: https://bit.ly/Daryl_Wood_Gerber_page

https://bit.ly/3SenzVy

NEWSLETTER: https://darylwoodgerber.com/contact-media/

 

Berry Smoothie #Recipe by Maya Corrigan

When I wrote my first culinary cozy mystery, I had no expectation of writing more than three books and no idea that I'd end up including more than fifty recipes in the books. I’m putting the finishing touches on my 9th Five-Ingredient Mystery and as usual I’m testing recipes at the last minute before the manuscript is due. 

In A Parfait Crime I needed to get my sleuth, Val, to a gala open house at a fancy spa, where some nefarious things are going on. Val isn’t the type to visit a high-end spa, so I had to give her a catering gig there. She’s hired to run a smoothie bar at the spa’s grand opening festivities.

Needless to say, one of the recipes in the book, which comes out in 2023, has to be for a smoothie. As someone who enjoys chewy and crunchy food, I’d never tried smoothies though there’s a chain eatery devoted to them less than a mile from my house. Today I’m passing on a recipe for a delicious berry smoothie. It turned out so good that I'll make it again and try other homemade smoothies. Before selecting the flavor, I checked out recipes for different kinds of smoothies, including many made with kale and a Greek salad smoothie with tomatoes, cucumber, Kalamata olives, and feta cheese. A dessert smoothie appealed more to me, but the vegetable ones would be healthier.

This recipe makes two small smoothies or one big one. I used an immersion blender to make it. You can easily double or triple the recipe, but you'll have to use a standard blender or make the smoothies in batches. The restaurant near me that features smoothies often makes them with fruit sherbet. This recipe calls for sorbet, which has less fat and a stronger berry flavor than sherbet. 

Ingredients

10 ounces of raspberry sorbet

1/3 cup milk (I used 2% milk but any kind of milk or a vegetable-based milk alternative like Ripple would work.)

4 ounces of plain Greek yogurt (or any kind of plain yogurt)

1/3 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

1/3 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Adapted from a blueberry smoothie recipe on bellyfull.net

The instructions are simple: Put all the ingredients in a blender and whirl them until the smoothie is the consistency you like.

I made the smoothie in the container that came with my immersion blender

Pour the mixture into glasses and serve with or without a straw.

Do you enjoy smoothies? Any favorite flavors?

📚

Maya Corrigan writes the Five-Ingredient Mysteries featuring café manger Val and her live-wire grandfather solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town. The 8th book in the series, Bake Offed, comes out in November 2022. Maya lives in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. Before writing crime fiction, she taught American literature, writing, and detective fiction at Northern Virginia Community College and Georgetown University. When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords.

Try a Five-Ingredient Mystery for Halloween . . .

CRYPT SUZETTE: ​​When a murder masquerades as an accident, Granddad's ghost-busting and Val's foray into a haunted house turn up clues to the killer. 

THE TELL-TALE TARTE: When Val serves a dessert at a book club dinner, she uncovers a fraud that embroils her and Granddad in a murder among deadly serious Edgar Allan Poe fans. 

Visit my website for easy recipes, mystery history and trivia, and a free culinary mystery story. Sign up there for my newsletter. One subscriber wins a free book each time I send a newsletter.

Follow me on Facebook.

📚

Thai Curry Shrimp and Bonus Smoothie! #recipe @lucyburdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Though I love Thai food, generally Thai curry is high in sodium and certainly soy sauce is. But this stir-fry accomplishes the goal of tasting like Thai food-- and tasting delicious! Vegetables can be interchanged according to the season and your taste.


Ingredients

Unflavored cooking oil such as canola
1 to 2 tablespoons curry powder, to taste
One half can organic coconut milk
One red bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
1/2 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
One bunch broccolini
Snow or sugar snap peas
One large clove garlic chopped
1 inch piece of fresh ginger chopped
Eight fresh basil leaves  

Chop the broccolini, peas, and scallions into bite-sized pieces and saute until soft. Scrape these onto a plate and set aside. Sauté the shrimp very briefly, and add them to the plate with the vegetables.
 


Heat another tablespoon of oil in the frying pan and sauté the garlic, ginger and curry powder on lower heat for a minute or two. Add the coconut milk and stir well. 

 


Mix the vegetables and shrimp into the sauce, adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of low sodium soy sauce if you choose. Bring everything to a simmer and cook a few minutes until the shrimp are pink. Stir in the basil leaves and serve over rice.

Now, lucky you, you have half a can of coconut milk to use in a smoothie the next morning. Add the coconut milk, 1/2 cup unflavored and unsweetened almond milk, one half banana, and 1/2 cup frozen strawberries to a blender. (Blueberries or other various berries maybe substituted to suit your taste.) Whir everything together until smooth. And enjoy!

The seventh Key West mystery, KILLER TAKEOUT, is on bookshelves everywhere. What about yours?

You can follow Lucy on Facebook,
Twitter,
Pinterest,
and Instagram!

Summer Strawberry Recipe from Victoria Hamilton

Muffin But Murder, 

goes on sale July 1st!

Learn more here.

Please welcome author Victoria Hamilton as our special guest today. 

Victoria is sharing a healthy recipe that's perfect for summer strawberry season. She also has a generous prize package and one lucky commenter will win it has won it! Learn more at the end of this post. Take it away, Victoria!

~ Cleo

It’s That Time of Year
For…Strawberries!
by Victoria Hamilton

This blog post started with a friendly chat between neighbors. 

I live in a nice, working class urban neighborhood, and I have for many years. In fact, it’s the same neighborhood I grew up in, just a block away. The other day I spent a few minutes chatting with my across-the-street neighbor, just back from walking her dog. 

The next day I was coming back from shopping when my wonderful neighbor came over carrying a beautiful big container of strawberries, fresh from her garden! Well, it so happens that I am trying to eat healthier: lots of water, more fruits and vegetables, salad every day. In that attempt I have switched from toast for breakfast every morning to smoothies. 

There are lots of recipes out there, and I know this is super easy, barely a recipe at all, but I thought I’d share one of mine, and as a bonus, I can tell you how many Weight Watchers Points Plus™ it is.

This makes enough for two!

Ingredients:

2 bananas, frozen or fresh 

2/3 cup vanilla fat-free no-sugar-added yogurt (I use a probiotic yogurt.)

1 Cup Strawberries, fresh or frozen

1 Cup unsweetened almond beverage

1 Tblsp. organic honey

Almond or vanilla extract, if desired. (I forgot to add it this time and it tasted just fine!)

Directions: 

All ingredients go into a blender and voila, you have breakfast for two at 2.5 Weight Watchers Points Plus™ each!

Some of my notes:

Frozen fruit will make a thicker, milkshake like consistency. I always have bananas in my freezer that I usually use for muffins or banana bread, but they work awesome in this. I let them thaw for an hour just to make it easier on my blender. You do have to let it blend for a while to break down all the chunks of banana.

I usually use regular 2% milk, but lately I have switched to unsweetened almond beverage for smoothies for the fat savings and health benefits. It’s great! I’m thinking of trying coconut water for a plain fruit smoothie.

So…I know a lot of you out there
 probably do the same. 

What do you use in YOUR
morning smoothie?

~::~

About Muffin but Murder

When Merry Wynter unexpectedly inherited a castle in the wilds of upstate New York, she took some time to adjust. After living in New York City it was culture shock to wind up in a castle a few miles away from small town Autumn Vale. However, far from being lonely, as she first feared, her best friends Shilo Dinnegan (a former model) and Pish Lincoln, (a retired financial advisor who now writes books on financial scams and con artists) have joined her at Wynter Castle.

It is clear that she can’t afford to keep such a huge building, even if it is her ancestral home. It must be sold! She has an upscale party to promote Wynter Castle to would-be buyers who may be able to take the place and turn it into a hotel or inn, but the post party clean-up reveals an awful discovery; one of her "guests" turns up dead in a most gruesome fashion. With Pish holding back secrets, her exasperated attraction to Virgil Grace, (the broodingly handsome sheriff of Autumn Vale) growing stronger, and a supposed cousin with a possible claim on the inheritance plaguing her daily, Merry has her hands full.

But murder comes first. Who killed the guest, and why? And how is she going to keep Virgil from arresting Pish?

*With recipes! There is one muffin recipe in Muffin but Murder for what I call "Fit For The King Muffins" and they are wonderful!

Bestselling mystery author Victoria Hamilton writes the Merry Muffin Mysteries and The Vintage Kitchen Mysteries. As Amanda Cooper, she also writes the Teapot Collector Mysteries.

Victoria's long time love of mystery novels started at age twelve when her mom handed her an Agatha Christie book and said "Read"! Thousands of novels later, Victoria is still reading. And writing.

Besides those two favorite pastimes, Victoria also enjoys collecting vintage kitchenalia, old books, teacups, teapots and other ephemera. Perfume is her secret addiction. She likes to cook, hates to clean, and enjoys time spent with friends chatting over wine or tea. She loves crafts, loathes boredom, and her guilty pleasure is "reality" TV, which she knows is largely fake, but she enjoys it anyway.

Victoria thinks that people are the most interesting study of all, and more than anything, she loves to hear from readers, not just about her books but about anything and everything.

Facebook Page

For more on Muffin But Murder and the Merry Muffin Mysteries, visit the series’ Facebook page by clicking here.

Web Home

Learn more about Victoria Hamilton, her alter ego Amanda Cooper, and all her mystery series by clicking here.

~::~

Victoria's Giveaway

This wonderful contest is now over.
Thanks to everyone who left such
kind comments.

And our winner is...

Michelle of Brockton,
Massachusetts!

Michelle won the...

* Cozy Mystery Book Tote 

* Cozy Mystery Pen

* Muffin But Murder

* Tempest in a Teapot,
written by Victoria as
 Amanda Cooper

Breakfast in a Glass—Fruit Smoothie

School here starts pretty early. Actually, it starts real early.

I’m an early riser myself, so the early hour isn’t too big of a deal. But one thing I’m not, when I first wake up, is hungry.

I usually want to eat something about an hour after I’ve woken up. My children are the same way.

Unfortunately, that’s not an option. An hour after they’ve gotten up, they’re already sitting at a desk in school. And lunch comes pretty late for both of them.

I always put a breakfast of some kind in front of the children. Here in the South, breakfasts are traditionally large. That might be, historically, because they’re an inexpensive meal to fix and they can keep you from being too hungry, later, for the more expensive lunch and supper.

Sometimes my children will eat all their breakfast…sometimes they’ll just pick at it and I can tell they’re still half-asleep and not a bit hungry. Considering I’m the same way, I can’t really blame them.

But one way I know I can fill their tummies with enough fuel to get them to lunchtime is by giving them a smoothie.

There are about a million different ways to make a smoothie. You can actually just put any fruit you’ve got in your house in it. I’m going to share my favorite smoothie—the one the family likes the best. I can feel good about it because of the nonfat yogurt, the fiber, and all the vitamins from the fruit. And…it only takes minutes. Using mostly frozen fruit makes it a snap to fix...and also gives the smoothie a nice consistency.

Mixed Berry Smoothie

1 32-oz container vanilla flavored nonfat yogurt
3/4 of a 16 oz. bag of frozen, mixed berries
1 speckled banana (my family will not eat speckled bananas)
1/3 cup shredded wheat (I like a whole grain one)

Combine all in a blender and blend on medium.

I like to put the yogurt on the bottom of the blender—frozen fruit on the bottom tends to gum it up too much and make the process take a while longer. If you like the consistency thicker, you could add more fruit. If you like it thinner, you could add a little juice to the mix (I’ll sometimes add orange juice.)

This serves to both fill them up and give them a healthier jumpstart on their day. Plus, it’s just a little more appetizing sometimes than just another bowl of cold cereal.

And…they’re not just for breakfast, of course! They’re great for a snack, too…to keep us from reaching for something a little less healthy :)

Riley/Elizabeth
Delicious and Suspicious (July 6 2010) Riley Adams
Pretty is as Pretty Dies –Elizabeth Spann Craig