Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Sifting Through Clues - A Recipe, Review, and Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Daryl Wood Gerber back to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Daryl's latest release is SIFTING THROUGH CLUES. This book is the eighth book in the Cookbook Nook Mystery series and will be released April 23, 2019.


In SIFTING THROUGH CLUES, the Mystery Mavens, a local book club, decide to have a traveling feast during Book Club Bonanza week. They will go from house to house sampling foods while discussing the book club selection. I had so much fun putting together foods that would appear at each of the houses. Appetizers, tea sandwiches, main dishes, desserts. In addition, Jenna features “tea” type foods at the shop and in the Nook Café.

Tea sandwiches are easy to make. Be creative when putting together your menu. For this recipe, you need to poach the chicken. It’s not a time-consuming thing to do, but you want this chicken to be as tender as possible.



Chicken Almond Tea Sandwiches


1 cup chicken stock

1 cup water

6 black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

8 ounces chicken breast

1 stalk celery, chopped finely

2 tablespoons sliced almonds

1/4 cup crème fraïche

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley

salt and pepper

1 ounce butter, softened

8 slices wheat bread


In a small saucepan, combine the stock, water, peppercorns, bay leaf, and chicken and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. You might want to turn the chicken once or twice. When timer goes off, remove the chicken from the liquid. You may throw out the liquid. When cool enough, chop the chicken finely.

In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, celery, almonds, crème fraïche, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spread butter over the bread slices thinly. Top half of the slices with the chicken mixture and then top with remaining bread. Cut the crusts off the bread. Then cut each sandwich into shapes. 3 rectangles or 4 triangles are best. Keep covered with plastic wrap until ready to serve.

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Review


SIFTING THROUGH CLUES by Daryl Wood Gerber
The Eighth Cookbook Nook Mystery

Jenna Hart is preparing the Cookbook Nook for yet another festival, this time a celebration of book clubs. The key event for Jenna's club is a progressive dinner where members move from house to house eating and discussing their book of choice. Their final stop brings the fun to a dead end...literally. Ivy, the woman who seemed to know everyone's secrets, is lying dead on her kitchen floor, stabbed with a piece of rose quartz. Now Jenna's looking for a killer while watching over her very pregnant best friend and planning her own upcoming nuptials.

How things have changed! When we first met Pepper seven books ago she was an angry, nasty woman who despised Jenna. Now, not only are they friends, but Jenna knows she's incapable of murder. No matter how guilty she appears, Jenna will hunt for the truth in order to protect her. It's this evolution of character that keeps me coming back to Crystal Cove, that and the food, as well as the mystery. 

It may not be Father's Day, but this eighth Cookbook Nook Mystery brings a lot of dads to the scene, including Pepper's ex-husband. Are fathers stepping up to the plate, or are their motives more unsavory? I enjoyed the metaphysical aspects found here, from Aunt Vera's tarot readings to the offerings of Ivy's store, Dreamcatcher. I especially loved the significance of the crystals and their part in the story. 

SIFTING THROUGH CLUES is a character driven mystery that highlights books and food with a dash of murder in a cozy Californian community.

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GIVEAWAY:

Winner’s choice of Cookbook Nook Mystery, either in paper or e-book. US or Canada only. Simply leave a comment on this post telling us if you make any of the recipes found in mysteries. Be sure to include your e-mail address and comment no later than 11:59pm Eastern, Friday, April 19, 2019 in order to qualify.

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Sifting Through Clues (A Cookbook Nook) by Daryl Wood Gerber

About the Book


Cozy Mystery 8th in Series 
Beyond the Page (April 23, 2019) 
Print Length: 235 pages 
The Agatha Award–winning author of Wreath Between the Lines returns to the Cookbook Nook, where culinary mysteries are giving everyone food for thought . . .
Book clubs from all over have descended on Crystal Cove to celebrate the library’s Book Club Bonanza week, and Jenna Hart has packed the Cookbook Nook with juicy reads and tasty cookbooks. But she’s most excited about spending an evening with the Mystery Mavens and their moveable feast, when they will go from house to house to share different culinary treats and discuss the whodunit they’re all reading. It’s all good food and fun for the savvy armchair detectives, until one of the members of the group is found murdered at the last stop on the tour.
As if that weren’t enough to spoil her appetite, Jenna discovers that all the evidence points to her friend Pepper as being the guilty party. And with Pepper’s chief-of-police daughter too close to the case to be impartial, Jenna knows she’ll have to step in to help clear her friend’s name before a bitter injustice sends her to jail. Sifting through the clues, Jenna unearths any number of possible culprits, but she’ll have to cook up a new way to catch the killer before Pepper’s goose is cooked . . .
Includes tasty sweet and savory recipes!

About the Author


Agatha Award-winning Daryl Wood Gerber writes the nationally bestselling Cookbook Nook Mysteries as well as the French Bistro Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she pens the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. Daryl also writes stand-alone suspense. Fun tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, and she has a frisky Goldendoodle named Sparky who keeps her in line!

Author Links:  
VISIT MY WEBSITE: www.darylwoodgerber.com  
SIGN UP FOR MY Newsletter, which comes out once a month and with a new release http://www.darylwoodgerber.com/contact.php#mailing-list
http://facebook.com/darylwoodgerber
http://twitter.com/darylwoodgerber
http://bookbub.com/authors/daryl-wood-gerber
http://youtube.com/woodgerb1
http://instagram.com/darylwoodgerber
http://pinterest.com/darylwoodgerber
http://goodreads.com/darylwoodgerber
http://www.darylwoodgerber.com/contact.php#mailing-list  
Amazon: http://bit.ly/Daryl_Wood_Gerber_page

 Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo - Google Play

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

23 comments:

  1. I do make recipes found in mysteries. And definitely planning to make the Chicken Almond Tea sandwiches. My book club has an annual tea and this is a perfect recipe to make for that occasion. dbahn(at)iw(dot)net

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  2. I sometimes try out desserts I've found in cozy mysteries. I love tea party type foods and hot tea. I'm from North Alabama so most people drink iced tea but many years ago, I discovered hot teas and loose leaf teas. My kids are now all tea drinkers especially my youngest 12 year old twin boys. Nothing is better than a warm cup of tea to melt stress away. My personal favorites are chai teas and apple tea. oaktreehill@outlook.com

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    1. Myra, how good of you to introduce your family to hot tea. :) ~ Daryl

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  3. If they are easy enough like cookies I do. I'm not a good enough cook to even attempt some recipes but I like to read them anyway. ckmbeg (at) gmail (dot) com

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    1. Congratulations! Random.org picked your comment. Be on the lookout for an e-mail from Cozy Up With Kathy.

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  4. I find many of the recipes tantalizing, but I have not made any.
    browninggloria(at)hotmail(dot) com

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  5. I have made some recipes I've found in mysteries. These tea sandwiches sound especially yummy. Thanks for the giveaway!
    turtle6422 at gmail dot com

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  6. I love finding new recipes and then adding them to my list of recipes to try out. It's great to try different cookie recipes since my family are cookie monsters. robeader53(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  7. Thank you everyone. Daryl is reading your posts and enjoying them, but is currently unable to comment.

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  8. Thank for so many great series and delicious recipes - and all the photos of Sparky!

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  9. I like looking at all the recipes but never get the nerve to try them. doward1952(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  10. Hi, all. So glad you're dropped in. Kat, thanks for the rave review. :) Good luck to everyone in the giveaways. ~ Daryl

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    1. Thank you for tackling those computer issues and solving the mystery!

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  11. I always have good intentions of making recipes that are featured in the books I read, but I've actually tried making any of them.
    diannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Dianne, my protagonist Jenna isn't good in the kitchen, either. ~ Daryl

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  12. I have made a couple of recipes I've found in books. And I intend to ask my favorite barista to make a latte I found in a book.
    kaye.killgore(at)comcast(dot)net

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  13. I find the recipes interesting but haven't found time to make any of them but my daughter in law likes to see them too. jluebke@frontier.com

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  14. The recipes are fun to look at but I am awful in the kitchen! I love this book cover and this series!! lindaherold999(at)gmail(dot)com

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    Replies
    1. Linda, my protagonist Jenna isn't very good in the kitchen either. :) ~ Daryl

      Delete