I Love Fresh, Fresh, Fresh! - Guest Post, Giveaway, & Review

I Love Fresh, Fresh, Fresh!

By Avery Aames aka Daryl Wood Gerber

My character in the Cheese Shop Mysteries, cheese monger Charlotte Bessette, loves to experiment with food. As it turns out, so do I, so I didn’t have to work too hard to research that aspect of her.

When I first started the Cheese Shop Mysteries (The Long Quiche Goodbye came out in 2010), I had to do a lot of research to learn about cheese and the area I had chosen to write about, Holmes County. I was inspired to take a tour of Ohio, and I fell in love with the area—the colors and the rolling hills, the fields upon fields of corn, and the wonderful flavors of fresh foods. I stayed at a bed-and-breakfast called Acorns at the White Oak Inn, in Danfield, Ohio, at the lower tip of Holmes County. This place was out in the “middle of nowhere” (which they advertise) and to a city girl, they weren’t kidding. I was treated like family. The innkeeper, Yvonne, is a terrific chef and spoiled me rotten. Everything was fresh from the garden. Also, I took an Amish tour with a fabulous guide named LaVonne who runs Amish Tours of Ohio and works out of Berlin, Ohio. What an insight to a very different culture. We ate at a lovely place that served a beautiful fresh meal!

As I drove around the area, I saw pumpkins. Lots of pumpkins. It was the fall, after all. And I returned home to make an Ohio-inspired salad. I’ve made this salad many times since because it is so fun and fresh. It works in fall, winter, spring, or summer. Use whatever is fresh. But make sure there are pumpkin seeds and a delicious sharp Cheddar of your choosing. For this, I used an Irish Cheddar. Enjoy!

What are fresh from the garden morsels that delight you?

FALL SALAD WITH PUMPKIN SEEDS

(for two)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Baste a 9” square baking pan with the oil.

Sprinkle in the seeds so they’re flat on the bottom.

Sprinkle with salt.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes; stir so they get coated with oil on all sides. Flatten them on the bottom and bake 10 minutes more until they’re a golden brown.

Remove and reserve.

Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups raw spinach

4 sticks baby corn

6 slices cucumber

1/4 zucchini, chopped thin

2 Tbs. Craisins

1 Tbs. olive oil

4 Tbs. pumpkin seeds

1 oz. cheddar, cubed or shredded

Directions:

Pile spinach on a plate, adorn with cucumber, corn, and Craisins.

Heat 1 Tbs. olive oil in sauté pan.  Drop in zucchini, sauté quickly until light brown.  Divide over two salads.

Drizzle with dressing (recipe to follow)

Top with pumpkin seeds and cheddar.

This is melt in your mouth good.

Dressing

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil

4 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. basil

1/8 tsp. ground pepper

Directions:

Stir together and shake well.  Divide between 2 salads.

Giveaway:

Avery aka Daryl is giving away 1 copy of winner’s choice of CHEESE SHOP MYSTERY, including FOR CHEDDAR OR WORSE. Leave a comment!

Bio:

Agatha Award-winning and nationally bestselling author DARYL WOOD GERBER writes the Cookbook Nook Mysteries, set in the fictional coastal town of Crystal Cove, California.  As Avery Aames, she also writes the Cheese Shop Mysteries, set in quaint Providence, Ohio. Fun tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote”. She loves to cook and read and has a darling, frisky Goldendoodle named Sparky. Visit Daryl or Avery at www.darylwoodgerber.com. 

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Review

For Cheddar or Worse by Avery Aames
The Seventh Cheese Shop Mystery 

Charlotte is adjusting nicely to life as Charlotte Bessette Pace. The fact that she and her husband, Jordan, are staying at a local inn for the duration of the cheese convention (AKA Brain Trust) works as an ongoing honeymoon. While the cheese professionals are kept busy learning and sharing information at the Brain Trust, tourists and locals are filling the streets of Providence to celebrate the annual Cheese Festival. Things are not all cheesy goodness, however. a well known, and as it turns out NOT well loved, celebrity arrives unexpectedly and clashes begin to occur.

Aames explores the locked room mystery in For Cheddar or Worse, making the mystery even more challenging to solve. Not only do we have to figure out who killed Lara in her room, but how did the killer gain access as the door was locked from the inside and the windows sealed shut with paint! Adding to the puzzle are the many suspects, each of whom had ample reason to kill the victim. Heck, even I wanted to kill Lara after her scene in the dining room!

This seventh book in the Cheese Shop Mystery series continues to delight.  In For Cheddar or Worse we're given a complex mystery filled with interesting and fun filled facts about cheese. The lives of the main characters are changing and there's a sense of rebirth as things in Providence seem to come full circle.

Recipes included.   

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Don't forget! In addition to the Rafflecopter below there's another chance to win a Cheese Shop Mystery. Simply comment on this blog post answering Avery's question ( What are fresh from the garden morsels that delight you?) Make sure you leave your comment no later than 11:59 pm Monday, February 1, 2016 and include your e-mail address so that I may contact you, should you win. 

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