< Back Jennifer Ashley Author of The Kat Holloway Mysteries February 20, 2020 Jennifer Ashley is one of those writers with limitless energy and a treasure trove of untold stories in her head. She writes historical, paranormal and contemporary romance as Jennifer Ashley; mysteries as Ashley Gardner; and paranormal romance/urban fantasy as Allyson James. Her over 100 books have been translated into over ten languages, and she is a N.Y.T and U.S.A. Today bestselling author. Her website informs us that although she loves reading and writing above all else, she also has a bunch of hobbies including cooking, hiking, playing flute and guitar, painting, and building miniature rooms and dollhouses. One can only assume she is another one of those people who requires no more than four hours of sleep at night (or she is the most organized woman in the world). I love reading Kat Holloway mysteries, each of which is carefully researched so that the young cook’s preparations and meals are what might have been served in Victorian England. I was so enamored of her seed-cakes that I’ve spent the past two weeks trying to recreate a healthy version without butter or eggs. I love her evening preparation of yeast dough that rises all night so that she can do the second rising in the morning before baking it – exactly how I do it! It’s delightful to hear how Mrs. Holloway plans and executes the meals she’ll serve ‘above stairs,’ in addition to how she puts together her own and the other servants’ meals. There’s usually something in the oven that needs tending, or a complete meal that needs serving when Mrs. Holloway leaves to help a friend solve a problem. Ancillary characters like vivacious, cross-dressing Lady Cynthia, mysterious, renaissance man Daniel Macadam, and snooty butler Mr. Davis are well-drawn and interesting. Mrs. Holloway is always putting on her apron and getting to work in the kitchen or removing her apron and donning her coat, hat and gloves to venture into the bustling city. She treasures her days off with her little daughter, tries to convey proper behavior to her staff, and strives to make the lives of poor beggars a little easier with coins and extra food that she brings outside after the evening meal. Solid Mrs. Holloway is indeed a most charming and dependable hero. Previous Next

< Back Victoria Thompson Author of The Gaslight Mystery Series June 6, 2019 Even though I like reading lesser known authors and mystery series, I couldn’t help spending a few bitter Chicago winter evenings this year devouring several in the Gaslight Mystery Series by Victoria Thompson. Winner of the Career Achievement Award for Mystery from RT Book Reviews in 2011, Thompson currently teaches in the master’s degree program for writing popular fiction at Seton Hill University, where she earned her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree. Victoria is a founding member and past president of Novelists, Inc., a national organization of published writers of popular fiction. She is also co-founder and past president of PENNWRITERS, a statewide writer’s organization in Pennsylvania. Victoria has served on the board of directors of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and was co-founder and the first President of New Jersey Romance Writers. She is also a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. Victoria lives in a suburb of Chicago with her husband and a very spoiled little dog. I wonder if our children went to the same high school. Chicago is pretty spread out though, with many suburbs. Hint: the one we lived in had a mall. I emailed her because she said: Please send me an email at victoria@victoriathompson.com to let me know what you think of the books and to get on my mailing list so I can send you a reminder each time a new book comes out. Because of the large volume of email I receive, I may not be able to personally reply to each one, but I do read them. You may also visit me on Facebook at Victoria.Thompson.Author and Twitter @gaslightvt. I’ll keep you posted on upcoming releases and appearances. Haven’t heard back yet , but I’ll keep you posted. I’m apparently not the only one who is charmed by Frank Malloy, an NYC detective sergeant until he married wealthy, wise, midwife and champion of women’s health, Sarah Brandt. How fun to wander the streets of late 19th century New York City from Battery Park to Washington Heights, watching as Malloy hops on curbs to avoid horse-drawn carriages or those new-fangled automobiles in a city struggling with corruption and ineptitude. And although he has no need to work, he still finds himself ferreting out con men, thieves and murderers. All in good fun and well done! Previous Next

Cookie & Brownie Recipes to Die For Cookies and Brownies Chocolate Passover Cookies Only 4 ingredients and great for last minute cookies anytime of year, but I make these during Passover, when we don't use flour or leavening of any kind. Read Recipe Gluten Free, Cookies and Brownies Pistachio Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies It's hard to resist snagging these from the cookie sheet while they cool! Read Recipe Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Baking, Cookies and Brownies, Vegan Ginger-Molasses Cookies G.F. V. "Would you like a pot of chamomile tea?" Read Recipe Gluten Free, Vegan, Cookies and Brownies Peanut or Almond-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Who doesn't love freshly baked chocolate chip cookies? Read Recipe All Recipes Baking Breakfast Cakes, Pies, & Icing Cookies & Brownies Dips & Sauces Entrees Gluten-Free Muffins & Breads Soup Vegan Vegetarian Load More

< Back Deanna Raybourne Author of The Veronica Speedwell Mysteries and Lady Gray Mysteries July 7, 2021 Deanna Raybourne (Veronica Speedwell Mysteries and Lady Gray Mysteries) combines romance and mystery in the Victorian era, with charming details about food, dress, and manners of the time. Although there must have been free-thinking young women in the 1900’s, it was probably rare, but I set aside any concern about the appropriation of modern thinking and just enjoyed Veronica’s adventures (A Treacherous Curse, A Perilous Undertaking, A Murderous Relation) as a butterfly collector and amateur sleuth (along with her handsome sidekick, the aristocratic Stoker, who helps solve mysteries when he isn’t stuffing and mounting animal specimens). I read three of these in a row during a vacation and enjoyed every minute, no matter how improbable the situations. Previous Next

Breakfast Recipes to Die For Muffins and Breads, Gluten Free, Baking, Breakfast Gluten-Free Pancakes We were desperate for pancakes so I tweaked another recipe I was working on to make these. Read Recipe Breakfast, Vegan, Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Cakes & Pies & Icing Almond Berry Breakfast Cake (gluten-free/vegan) Now Alene began measuring ingredients for Ruthie’s strawberry breakfast cake. Read Recipe Vegetarian, Baking, Breakfast, Muffins and Breads, Cakes & Pies & Icing Chocolate Zucchini-Pear Cake GF Healthy enough for breakfast! Read Recipe Muffins and Breads, Vegan, Breakfast Vegan Sweet Potato or Pumpkin Muffins "There are only six sweet potato muffins left," said Alene. Read Recipe Muffins and Breads, Baking, Vegetarian, Breakfast, Cakes & Pies & Icing Chocolate Zucchini – Apple Cake Yes, we eat this for breakfast! Read Recipe All Recipes Baking Breakfast Cakes, Pies, & Icing Cookies & Brownies Dips & Sauces Entrees Gluten-Free Muffins & Breads Soup Vegan Vegetarian Load More

< Back Martin Walker Author of The Bruno, Chief of Police Mysteries July 25, 2019 Martin Walker works at a private think-tank, is Editor Emeritus and writes an award – winning syndicated column for UPI, writes for the Guardian and other papers, has presented several BBC television series, serves on all kinds of boards, writes acclaimed history books, and authors the delightful Bruno, Chief of Police mystery series. You’re probably one of those gifted individuals who need only four hours of sleep, Mr. Walker, but I just made challah dough and hummus, roasted vegetables, washed the dishes, swept the floor, and set the table, so you’re not the only one who knows how to get things done. I’m admittedly in love with the hero, Benoît Courrèges, aka Bruno, who lives and works as a policeman in the fictional village of St. Denis in the South of France (where the real Mr. Walker and his wife have a home). The townsfolk fondly refer to Bruno as the Chief of Police, but he’s just a policeman, an injured veteran who carries a gun but never uses it. He’s also a gourmet chef who whips up fabulous meals after a trip to the local market. And he instinctively discerns the correct wine pairing at every enticing-sounding meal. A truffle omelet? Yum. I first met Bruno (and in real life I’m sure that if I came over for dinner, he would avoid cooking all those gross-sounding meats), when he first appeared in 2008. When he’s not helping his fellow St Denis townies with problems big and small or participating in the town’s many activities, Bruno actively helps foil aggressive EU inspectors that try to meddle with tradition. He relishes his slow-paced village life, and he’s passionate about the land. In the first book of the series, an elderly immigrant is found murdered, and suspicion falls on anti-immigrant militants. Working with an attractive young officer from the city, Bruno remembers that the victim fought for the French Army during WWII. He slowly figures out the connection between the victim and the war, which was a dark chapter in the history of France. Neither Mr. Walker nor Bruno shy away from difficult or sensitive subjects, and each of the Bruno tales include some kind of societal issues that require Bruno’s sensitivity and finesse. I hope you will continue writing these books, Mr. Walker – they are just delicious. Previous Next

Cake, Pie, & Icing Recipes to Die For Breakfast, Vegan, Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Cakes & Pies & Icing Almond Berry Breakfast Cake (gluten-free/vegan) Now Alene began measuring ingredients for Ruthie’s strawberry breakfast cake. Read Recipe Vegan, Vegetarian, Baking, Cakes & Pies & Icing Chocolate Peanut Butter Frozen Pie A refreshing dessert in the summer and a pleasingly light dessert to nibble on after a heavy winter meal. Read Recipe Vegetarian, Baking, Breakfast, Muffins and Breads, Cakes & Pies & Icing Chocolate Zucchini-Pear Cake GF Healthy enough for breakfast! Read Recipe Baking, Gluten Free, Cakes & Pies & Icing Apple Banana Chocolate Cake (gluten free) The recipe is going to be in my second book, SMOTHERED: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery Read Recipe Muffins and Breads, Baking, Vegan, Gluten Free, Cakes & Pies & Icing Best Chocolate Cake/Muffins GF. V. Didn’t I tell you I was going to be at my Aunt Ivy’s for a barbeque dinner at which I ate purely protein ... Read Recipe Vegan, Gluten Free, Baking, Dips and Sauces, Cakes & Pies & Icing Dairy-free Chocolate Frosting After a night in the refrigerator, it will be thick like a ganache. Read Recipe Vegetarian, Cakes & Pies & Icing Cocoa-Bear Cake (AKA Dragon’s Milk Cake) Neal bought her a beer and invited her to a Cubs game. That had been her first stout, and she thought it was so... Read Recipe Muffins and Breads, Baking, Vegetarian, Breakfast, Cakes & Pies & Icing Chocolate Zucchini – Apple Cake Yes, we eat this for breakfast! Read Recipe Baking, Cakes & Pies & Icing Apple Crisp The one I made nearly every Friday while my kids were growing up! Read Recipe All Recipes Baking Breakfast Cakes, Pies, & Icing Cookies & Brownies Dips & Sauces Entrees Gluten-Free Muffins & Breads Soup Vegan Vegetarian Load More

< Back Louise Penny Author of The Armond Gamache Mysteries February 14, 2023 Canadian author Louise Penny is a little younger than me and has written one of the most beloved mystery series of all time ( I think). Her Inspector Gamache has a complex personality and has experienced much anguish but still maintains his kind dignity. She writes that he is based on her husband Michael, who developed dementia and died in 2016 at age 83. Penny credits her husband with having given her the ability to stop working and focus on writing . She was already forty when she published Still Life, the first of the Gamache books (which I loved). I think highly of Louise Penny’s ability to portray her characters with so much humanity. They feel the range of human emotions and seem like they could walk off the page and continue their conversations. I’ve devoured at least five Inspector Gamache novels and would continue reading the entire set if I wasn’t trying so hard to read at least one book of every author I know (and those I don’t)! Previous Next

< Back Guacamole Salad May 3, 2020 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes Serves: 2 cups Tags: Dips and Sauces, Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Vegan About the Recipe In last week's grocery order I forgot tortilla chips and ate this with a spoon! It's that good! Ingredients 1 ripe avocado 2 TBSP salsa (my favorite is Trader Joe’s Chunky Salsa) 1 scallion, chopped (grow them on the windowsill so you also have a few available) 1/2 chopped shallot or sweet onion 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered or halved 1 cup sliced red and yellow sweet mini peppers 1/4 cup (about a handful) chopped parsley or cilantro Juice of 1 lime or about 1 TBSP Nelly & Joe Key Lime juice (it’s always in the fridge) 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper (add more if desired) Sprinkle of red pepper flakes or 1 tsp of Sriracha (also always in the fridge) Preparation In a medium bowl, lightly mash up avocado and salsa – leave chunks – don’t make it super smooth Add all the chopped vegetables, lime juice and salt, pepper Mix it into a chunky guacamole – it’s not the usual kind, but avocados are hard to find – and it’s still delicious! Serve as a side to the main protein or with a bowl of tortilla chips Previous Next

< Back Mariah Frederick Author of The Jane Prescott Mysteries November 21, 2019 Mariah Fredericks is the author of the Edgar-n ominated Y/A novel Crunch Time (. She was born and raised in New York City, where she lives today with her family. She graduated from Vassar College with a degree in history and was the head copywriter for Book-of-the-Month Club for many years. I was delighted, upon picking up A Death of No Importance, to be swept into another world. In a simple, elegant writing style, Ms. Fredericks describes the life of a wealthy but troubled family in 1910 New York City. Jane Prescott is ladies’ maid to Charlotte Benchley. A gruesome murder disrupts what was to have been Charlotte’s engagement party to a wealthy society playboy and Jane realizes that she is in a unique position to ascertain the identity of the murderer. With the help of a friendly journalist, she searches for the truth. The second book, Death of a New American, picks up two years later, and Jane is now accompanying the family to Long Island, where their second daughter, Louise Bencley is to be married. The father of the groom is known to have vanquished an Italian mafia family, so when one of the family’s employees is found murdered, it is at first assumed to be a possible rev enge killing. But the friendly journalist who helped Jane in the first book again requests her help, and Jane used her impeccable manners, years of service, and understanding of human nature to once again reveal what actually happened. I look forward to the next book in the series, due out in 2020 Previous Next

Essays & Media I'm an Unreliable Witness If I were called to the witness stand, I’d immediately admit that I made up the three mysteries I wrote and someone else published, without really knowing a single thing about solving crimes. Read More Come On, Boomers! How is it possible that new writers, having just joined Medium last month, have already found close to 1000 followers? I’ve been here since last year and am nowhere near that! Here’s what I think: Read More To Authors Whose Characters Have Sex the Moment they Wake Up It is not natural when two actors (in a movie) or characters (in a book) open their eyes after a full night of sleep and immediately engage in passionate sexual intercourse. Read More Stepping Back in Time at Ye Olde Jewelry Shoppe Last night, we celebrated our anniversary at a much-loved Wisconsin supper club that was a time machine back to the 1970s. The music (think Carpenters or Captain and Tenille) was ‘musak’ of the 1970s, the décor was ‘hunting lodge’, and the food, including a canned, sliced pear as a garnish, could have been served at one of the restaurants I waitressed at in high school. Read More Drag Bingo in a Red State Yesterday, we drove two hours to a small town in Wisconsin where we’d found a charming old bed and breakfast run by a young couple who live with their toddler in the back of the house. Read More https://medium.com/@gpgottlieb/how-it-feels-to-inhale-muck-struggling-to-breathe-in-chicago-6-29-23-57697ecd8adc The air has been a sickening color since Monday. I’ve tried to stay inside because my face, head, and lungs ache and it’s hard to breathe. I wore a mask the few times I needed to leave our building. It felt weird to remove the mask when I went inside the grocery store, the physical therapy office, the senior home where my mother-in-law lives. Read More Ten Things That Make Me Happy Waking up. Because as I age, each day is a miracle. I survived horrible asthma and a surprise bout of cancer in my fifties, but all of us are surviving something these days. We joke about starting our conversations with “organ recitals” in which everyone lists their aches and pains before we can proceed with real conversations. Read More The Most Fabulous Historical Mysteries Set in American Cities I began hosting New Books in Literature, a podcast channel on the New Books Network, in 2018, and have interviewed over 180 authors so far. It was tough to choose just 5 top books, but in looking over all those interviews, I remembered how much I loved reading these books, all set in the United States long before the 21st century. Read More There Are Plenty of Other Evil Villains What about the Third Reich is so appealing that books and movies are still being made about it? And why do we keep wanting to hear more about Nazi lies, Nazi attacks on anyone they hate, and Nazi humiliation of those who don’t agree with them? Read More Thoughts of a Retired Assassin Back in the day, I knew not to compromise my colleagues by posting stunning views on Instagram like they do now. No photos of anything including gorgeous desserts, and everything I’d say would be too vague for anyone to figure out where I was going or where I’d been. You’ve got to play it cool and quiet in this business. Read More The Story of a New Garden We started at a family-owned garden center about 30 minutes east of my daughter’s Colorado home. I couldn’t get over the amount of development that’s taken place in the thirty odd years since I lived there, much of it “little boxes on a hillside and they’re all made out of ticky-tacky, and they all look just the same.” Read More https://medium.com/@gpgottlieb/my-traumatic-lyft-ride-8d1afa5ef20 My flight to Denver landed later than expected, nearly 10:00pm last night. I was tired because it’s an hour later in Chicago. It was a fifteen-minute wait for a rideshare. I sat in someone’s abandoned wheelchair watching a sudden rainfall (luckily, DIA’s pick up area is covered). I scrolled through Instagram, did a couple of Spanish lessons on Duolingo, breathed the mountain air. Read More How to Stay Married for the First Thirty Years We walked around the charming city of Turin for three full days, often holding hands and feeling blessed. It’s a special vacation, and we’re enjoying every moment. Love the architecture, the cobbled streets, the cacophony of languages, the murals. Read More The Train from Nice to Paris: On Body Odor, Being Invisible, and Doing the Best We Can Just got to our hotel, and it’s pouring outside, so we’re resting a bit. Today, we rode into Paris on the train from Eze, an enchanting village on the Riviera. Read More Traveling and Eating in the Beautiful Piedmont Region No question about it — it’s heavenly to be in this sunshine-filled area of rolling hills edged by the distant, not always visible Alps. Read More Load More

< Back Apple Banana Chocolate Cake (gluten free) November 4, 2019 Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 35 Minutes Serves: 6-8 Slices of Cake Tags: Baking, Gluten Free, Cakes & Pies & Icing About the Recipe If you happen to have someone who doesn’t enjoy the taste of banana, this cake cleverly masks it with chocolate, decaf coffee crystals, vanilla, and cinnamon. With only 1/2 cup of brown sugar, it is still as sweet and soft as cakes with far more processed sugar. The sweetness comes from both the apple and the banana, and there is also no extra fat, aside from what’s in the chocolate chips. The flax and chia seed give the cake additional protein and other nutritional delights in addition to holding it together when I make this into a vegan cake (or let’s be honest, when I don’t have enough eggs for both making breakfast and baking). The recipe is going to be in my second book, SMOTHERED: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery Ingredients 1 small-medium Gala or Honeycrisp apple, seeded 1/3 cup water 2 eggs (leave out if you prefer vegan cake – it’ll be fudgier and more dense) 1 TBSP instant decaf coffee powder or crystals 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar ½ cup brown sugar ¼ cup unsweetened baking cocoa 1 ½ cup gluten free (or all-purpose flour) 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp ground flax seed (optional) 1 tsp chia seed (optional) 1 tsp pure vanilla extract ¼ tsp salt ¾ cup chocolate chips Preparation Cut banana and apple into pieces and blend In processor with water and eggs, until smooth Add all other ingredients except chocolate chips and blend smooth Add the chips and pulse just twice or three times until they’re incorporated Pour into a greased and sugared bread pan Bake for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees Cool before removing from pan and serving Previous Next