Friday, December 31, 2021

Goodbye 2021, Hello 2022

I'm not sure how today is the last day of 2021. What a year it's been! There have been lots of lows, COVID, anyone, but lots of highs too. I asked some favorite cozy authors what the best thing about 2021 was, any New Year's Eve plans (I'll be in lounge wear relaxing with my cats, in bed well before midnight), and resolutions and goals for 2022. Here's what they said.

From Meg Macy


Kathy: The best thing that happened in 2021...

My granddaughter's birth

Kathy: What are you most looking forward to in 2022?

More reading! Hoping we can go to Hawaii for our anniversary

Kathy: Do you have any New Year's Resolutions? 

Buying lighter dinnerware! Our Pfaltzgraff is getting too heavy

Kathy: Any New Year's Plans?

Playing games, usually, a wine cooler, snacks. I'd prefer being in bed before midnight, but the hub is a night owl. 

Meg Macy
National Bestselling Author of the ShamelesslyAdorable Teddy Bear Cozy Mysteries
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Also writing historical mysteries as
D.E. Ireland Meg Mims
~ Witty Mystery, Vivid History ~

 

From Kathleen Kalb/Nikki Knight


New Year’s Resolution:

Do better at accepting that there are things I can’t control – pandemic, family health issues, rejections – and focus on doing my best with the things I can control.

New Year’s Plans:

My favorite family – and Work Family – holiday is New Year’s Day. I work weekends and holidays so I can be a stay-at-home mom during the week. On New Year’s, I pull one last holiday fill-in shift with the same people I’ve been with for almost 20 years, then come home and have a wonderful dinner with my family. Everyone is relaxed and happy and it’s easily the best day of the season both at work and home!


Kathleen Marple Kalb
Author of the Ella Shane Mysteries: A FATAL FIRST NIGHT out now, A FATAL OVERTURE, 3/29/2022, Kensington Books
As Nikki Knight: Author of LIVE, LOCAL AND DEAD, A Vermont Radio Mystery, 2/8/2022, Crooked Lane Books
"Bad Apples" Honorable Mention, Black Orchid Novella Award 2021
https://kathleenmarplekalb.com/ 

 

From Ellen Byron/Maria DiRico


Best thing that happened in 2021?

Pogo, our beloved chihuahua mix rescue, survived a serious injury. He’s 15, so that’s saying something. Also, I was invited to be the 2023 Toastmaster at Left Coast Crime! I’m so excited about this.

Kathy: What are you most looking forward to in 2022?

Professionally, the launch of BAYOU BOOK THIEF, the first book in my Vintage Cookbook Mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime. Personally, our daughter’s graduation from Loyola University in New Orleans. Although that’s bittersweet. I’ll miss her college days.

Kathy: Do you have any New Year's Resolutions? 

Lose. WEIGHT!

Kathy: Any New Year's Plans?

Good luck getting me out of my jammies on New Year’s Eve! We celebrate twice, once at 9 p.m. PST, when it’s midnight in my hometown of New York. Then at midnight – if we’re still up! 

https://www.ellenbyron.com/


From Nancy Cole Silverman


Kathy: Do you have any New Year's Resolutions?

More walking, less worry and the start of a new series. Book One, THE NAVIGATOR’S DAUGHTER, drop June 7, 2021.

Kathy: Any New Year's Plans?

We’re not big New Year’s Celebrators. We’ll go to dinner early, come home and toast the New Year in quietly. 

 https://www.nancycolesilverman.com/

 

From Tina Kashian

Kathy: What are you most looking forward to in 2022?
 
As a mother, my oldest daughter graduates high school. It will be a sad and happy time. I will most likely be the mom sobbing in the bleachers. As a writer, I'm looking forward to the release of "Murder in the Mountains," an anthology with nine mystery authors. My story, "A Killer Pocono Hike," features my Kebab Kitchen amateur sleuths. Lucy Berberian and Katie Watson take a girlfriend trip to the mountains, but murder follows them. 
 

 Here is a link to the book for a special pre-order price of $0.99. https://amzn.to/3D41QHk

Kathy: Do you have any New Year's Resolutions? 

Exercise more!

Kathy: Any New Year's Plans? 

We used to go to big parties. Now we get together with close friends for food and wine.

 

From Victoria Hamilton


Best thing that happened in 2021? 

I had two well received books out in 2021, (DOUBLE OR MUFFIN, Merry Muffin Mysteries #7 & A CALCULATED WHISK, Vintage Kitchen Mysteries #10) and I feel so fortunate to be able to do that. That’s pretty special.

But… on a personal note, I started and stuck to an exercise routine, something I’ve never been able to do for longer than a few weeks. I was shaken to the core by the death of a close friend and neighbour in late 2020. He was someone I went to high school with, and one year younger than I am. It shook something loose inside of me; I want to have a long an active life. So I started and stuck to a ‘diet’ and exercise plan (ongoing), lost a little weight, but better, started to feel that exercise is now a part of my life. I’ve become a planking zealot.

Kathy: What are you most looking forward to in 2022

Professionally, I am going to tackle the BIG ONE, the passion project that haunts me day and night, a proposal for a mystery series unlike anything I’ve ever written. I don’t know yet if it will be any good, but I’m going to work on it, then put it out there. 

Kathy: Do you have any New Year's Resolutions?

Kinda/sorta. Christmas of 2020 a friend gave me a 2021 weekly planner. The cover said ‘Make yourself a priority’. Revolutionary thought!

So… on January 4th, 2021 I started exercising and kept it up all damn year, recording what I did almost every day. It has brought some weight loss and better health, but it is also something I am doing just for me, and there aren’t many things I do just for me. I resolve to continue to make me a priority, my health and well being. I resolve to keep working on me, how I can be and do better. I resolve to find a serene place in my mind where I can find peace. Bring on 2022.

Kathy: Any New Year's Plans?

2020/2021 was a couple of crappy years, although I will say 2021, while not great, has been consequential for me. I’ve made some changes. Midnight, New Year’s Eve I’ll be in front of the tube eating Chinese food with the two cats, and watching the two Andys on CNN. I’ll make it to midnight, shout hurrah, and yell “get out of here you stinking lousy 2021”, and hello to a hopeful new year.

2022 has to be better, right? That’s all I’m asking for, is better.

http://www.victoriahamiltonmysteries.com/

 

From Jenny Kales

Celebrating the New Year with a Recipe from Callie’s Kitchen

When I started envisioning The Callie’s Kitchen Mysteries, one of the things I was most looking forward to was the food. True, this is a cozy mystery series, requiring my amateur sleuth, Calliope “Callie” Costas to find a killer amidst cooking assignments, but she is also a Greek American and a Midwesterner. The food traditions are plentiful, and they say a lot about who Callie is as a person. Yes, she is warm, nurturing and kind, but also ready to think on the fly and use kitchen equipment that just might help her in the face of a killer!

Of course, holiday foods play a role in my series. The following recipe for kreatopita, a special Greek New Year’s “pita” or pie, appears in my Callie’s Kitchen Mysteries Cookbook. Kreatopita is hearty and homey, true comfort food, and especially welcome at this time of year. What makes it special is that a coin is placed in the pie and whoever finds it has good luck for the New Year. This pie is traditionally served on New Year’s Day, and it has many derivations – you can use ground pork, beef, or lamb. I’ve included my family recipe for you below. It’s a delicious tradition that you don’t have to be Greek to enjoy! 


 New Year’s Kreatopita

Ingredients:

4 cups finely cut leeks

½ lb. unsalted butter, melted (2 sticks)

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 lbs.’ ground beef or lamb

6 eggs

1 -2 tsp. dried oregano, ¼ tsp dried thyme, ½ tsp garlic powder, and ½ tsp dried basil OR 2 tsp. Greek seasoning blend, if you have it

½ cup grated kasseri (hard Greek cheese – available at many well-stocked supermarkets or gourmet grocery shops) or Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

½ lb. phyllo sheets (pastry sheets), thawed if frozen

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Have ready a large baking pan and a sterilized coin. Or, you can wrap your coin in a small amount of aluminum foil. This is also a good way to make the coin stand out so that the diners can see it so that they don’t accidentally eat it.

Sauté the leeks in a small amount of the melted butter until wilted and golden. Set aside to cool. In a large, wide frying pan, sauté meat in olive oil until browned. Set this aside to cool. When both meat and leeks have cooled, stir in the eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly mixed. Add cheese and mix gently. Add seasonings, plus salt and pepper to taste, and mix thoroughly.

On the bottom of a large baking pan, layer 8 phyllo sheets, one at a time, spreading melted butter generously over each sheet, all the way to the corners. A pastry brush works best. Place your sterilized coin on top of the last baking sheet. Work quickly so that the phyllo doesn’t dry out and cover it up with plastic wrap while you do the next step.

Spread filling evenly over phyllo, then cover the top with 8 more phyllo sheets, spreading melted butter on each sheet, one at a time. With a sharp knife, score into even squares before putting into oven (this makes it easier to cut after baking). If any of the phyllo overhangs your baking pan, carefully trim with kitchen scissors or a sharp knife.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the phyllo looks golden brown.

Note: Warn your guests that there is a coin in this pie, and of course, supervise any young diners so that there are no unhappy surprises. We only want good luck! Chronia Polla! That’s Greek for Happy New Year!

To learn more about my books, visit my Amazon author page: and follow me on Facebook at Jenny Kales Author.

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So, mystery fans, what are you looking forward to in 2022?

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