Guest Post – 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes by Nancy Lynn Jarvis

From “Sydney Marsh’s Oh-SO-Easy Killer Coleslaw” to “Cate’s Quick Mexican Lunch” to “Neanderthal Mammoth Jerky” (yeah, I gotta read that cozy!). 200+ recipes from 128 cozy authors, along with tidbits on their stories make this a juicy must-have for cozy readers.

This works as a regular cookbook with a recipe table of contents separated by food type or you can jump to your favorite author’s bio to read about them and their bok and to see what they added to the mix. The recipes range from the very simple to quite extravagant. There are family recipes, some fun tipples, and even a couple to treat the fur-babies.

The few recipes I have tried have been hits with the family, including Carolyn Haines’ “Chicken with Green Olives and Cranberries” and  Dean James’ “Lazy Man’s Vegetable Meatball Soup,”  included in the guest post (though I will admit to using frozen veggies instead of canned). There are a few I am still itching to try, like Chris Forman’s “Grilled Twinkies” and Kathi Daley’s “Timberland Shrimp Chowder”. Mostly I was just excited to see how many of the authors and books I knew of.

Read on to enjoy Nancy Lynn Jarvis’s post on putting together this wonderful cookbook project, then scroll down to the tour section for more recipes and to click the big red button for a chance to win a copy of the book for yourself.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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Did you ever want to know the backstory of your favorite recipe?

Was it created accidentally? Was it a family favorite that got tweaked? Did your favorite cozy mystery protagonist whip it up as she looked for clues? Or did she create it as a way of inducing a murderer to trust her?

You may not exactly get all those questions answered in Cozy Food: 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes, but you’ll get about 250 fabulous recipes to try and biographies the contributors have written that will entertain you as you cook.

You’ll also get a list of contributors and some of the books they have written which will introduce you to new favorite reads.

One of my favorite facts learned while doing Cozy Food is that there are few male cozy mystery writers and that some men hide their gender just like women writers often do in other mystery genres. In that vein, today’s recipe is from New York Times best-selling author of the Cat in the Stacks series, Miranda James, also known as author Dean James. He apologized for not being much of a cook, but his Lazy Man’s Vegetable Meatball Soup holds great appeal as the days get colder and our schedules get ever busier.

Lazy Man’s Vegetable Meatball Soup
From the “Cat in the Stacks” series by Miranda James

When the weather turns cold and rainy, Charlie Harris gets a craving for soup. Usually vegetable soup. Usually, his housekeeper, Azalea Berry, will make the soup, but on those occasions when Azalea isn’t around, Charlie does it himself. He calls it “the lazy man’s way.” He buys a bag of seasoned meatballs out of the freezer section at the grocery store, 15-ounce cans of vegetables from the veggie aisle, and some chicken broth dumps it all in the two-gallon crockpot, adds black pepper to taste, and lets it cook on high for about 3 hours. Yields about 8-10 bowls of soup.

In case you’re wondering what veggies Charlie usually buys, here’s the list:

2 cans of diced tomatoes (usually with spices added, like basil and garlic)
1 can of corn
1 can of Purple Hull peas
1 can of string beans
1 can of diced potatoes

He doesn’t like okra, unlike many Southerners, so he doesn’t add it. Others may want to add it, however.

 

About The Book:

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Cozy Food: 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes
by Nancy Lynn Jarvis

What happens when 128 cozy mystery writers get together to do a cookbook? You get more than 220 recipes that are as varied and interesting as an amateur sleuth’s day job.

Regional recipes come from every part of the United States and England — a couple find their way from Australia and Italy, too — and from diverse times. There are recipes from people looking to keep gluten out of their lives, eat vegetarian, or make a treat or two for their furry four-legged friends. And yes, there are recipes that appeal to the sweet tooth, lots of them, in fact.

There’s no mystery about what happens when cozy writers get together. They bring the wit, inventiveness, and adventure found in their books right along with their recipes.

The recipes are introduced by their authors and linked to the writer bios in the back of the book.
You can look up your favorite cozy writer and see which recipes are their favorites; they’ll tell you what the recipe means to them. Or you can enjoy a dish and then link to the recipe’s author’s biography and books.

Either way you enjoy the cookbook, you’re sure to find great new recipes to make and terrific new cozy authors to read.

Contributing Authors: Sparkle Abbey, Ellery Adams, (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley) Judy Alter, Marian Allen, Ritter Ames, Donna Andrews, Traci Andrighetti, Amy Beth Arkawy, Mignon F. Ballard, Sandra Balzo, JoAnn Bassett, Cynthia Baxter, (aka Cynthia Blair) Jenna Bennett, (aka Jennie Bentley) Sally Berneathy, (aka Sally Carleen, Sally Steward, Sara Garrett) Maggie Bishop, Cindy Blackburn, Juliet Blackwell, Susan Furlong Bollinger, Sheila Webster Boneham, Laura Bradford, Frances Brody, Duffy Brown, Joyce Ann Brown, Mollie Bryan, B.B. Cantwell, Laurie Cass, (aka Laura Alden) Nancy J. Cohen, Shelley Costa, Judith Cutler, Rebecca (aka R.P.) Dahlke, Kathi Daley, Kathleen Delaney, Diana Dempsey, Pamela Frost Dennis, Lesley A. Diehl, Leighann Dobbs, Vicki Doudera, Pamela DuMond, Carola Dunn, Jean Erhardt, Chloe Evans, Monica Ferris, (aka Margaret Frazer, Mary Monica Pulver, Mary Kuhfeld) Judy Fitzwater, Chris Forman, Kaye George, Sally Goldenbaum, Barbara Graham, Sarah Graves, Carolyn Haines, (aka R.B. Chesterton) Vinnie Hansen, Traci Hilton, Sibel Hodge, Valerie Horowitz, Mary Ellen Hughes, Linda Joffe Hull, Ellen Elizabeth Hunter, Dawn Greenfield Ireland, Melanie Jackson, Holly Jacobs, Miranda James, (aka Dean James) Nancy Lynn Jarvis, Heather Justesen, Pamela Kelley, E.E. Kennedy, Mary Kennedy, Josi S. Kilpack, Kelly Klepfer, (aka Michelle Griep, Ellie Marks) Barbara Lee Cool, Marilyn Levinson, Liz Lipperman, Gail Lukasik, Elaine Macko, Sylvia Massara, Sonja Massie, (aka G.A. McKevett) Edith Maxwell, (aka Tace Baker) Lorena McCourtney, Marja McGraw, Eileen Haavik McIntire, Staci McLaughlin, Catriona McPherson, Camille Minichino, (aka Margaret Grace, Ada Madison) Marie Moore, Ruth Moose, Amy Myers, Tamar Myers, Christa Nardi, Radine Trees Nehring, Kerri Nelson, Clare O’Donohue, Diana Orgain, Joyce Oroz, Elaine L. Orr, Helen Osterman, Gail Oust, K.B. Owen, Sharon Pape, Nancy J. Parra, (aka Nancy J. Coco) Allison Cesario Paton, Joanne Pence, Maggie Pill, Ann Purser, Melissa Bourbon Ramirez, (aka Melissa Bourbon) Nanci Rathbun, Rosalee Richland, Becky Lyn Rickman, Karen Robbins, Carolyn J. Rose, Pamela Rose, Cindy Sample, June Shaw, Connie Shelton, Clea Simon, Joanna Campbell Slan, Karen Rose Smith, Lane Stone, Maria Grazia Swan, Denise Swanson, Marcia Talley, Nancy Jill Thames, Sharon Burch Toner, Elaine Viets, Lea Wait, Wendy Lyn Watson, (aka Annie Knox) Christine Wenger, Gayle Wigglesworth, Lois Winston, Joan H. Young, Suzanne Young

Book Links: Amazon – Kindle / Amazon Paperback

 

About The Editor:

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Nancy Lynn Jarvis was a Santa Cruz, California, Realtor® for more than twenty years before she fell in love with writing and let her license lapse.

After earning a BA in behavioral science from San Jose State University, she worked in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury News. A move to Santa Cruz meant a new job as a librarian and later a stint as the business manager for Shakespeare/Santa Cruz at UCSC.

Nancy’s work history reflects her philosophy: people should try something radically different every few years, a philosophy she applies to her writing, as well. She has written seven Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries; a stand-alone novel “Mags and the AARP Gang” about a group of octogenarian bank robbers; edited “Cozy Food: 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes” and a short story anthology, “Santa Cruz Weird;” and even done a little insider’s book, “The Truth About Hosting Airbnb” about her first year as a host.

Her newest venture is “The Glass House” is the first book in a planned series of PIP Inc. Mysteries. Now she’s trying to figure out when to work on another series she’d love to do called “Geezers with Tools” about two older handymen who will solve mysteries in the course of doing their work, and setting up writer retreats at her house.

Editor’s Links: Website / Facebook / Goodreads 

 

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November 13 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW, RECIPE POST

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November 19 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – CANCELLED BY BLOGGER

November 19 – Sapphyria’s Books – REVIEW

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November 21 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – INTERVIEW

November 22 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

November 22 – Teresa Trent Author Blog – REVIEW, RECIPE POST

November 23 – Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

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