Month: December 2021

Book Review!

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Liz Ireland – Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide

What do you get when you take Christmas, Halloween, murder, and whiz it up in a blender?

This book.

Okay – now you need to trust me on this one.

April Claus married into one of the most famous families in the world, which initially didn’t impact her life a whole lot – as her husband was heir to the mantle of Santa Claus. Sadly, thru a series of unfortunate and murderous events, both she and her husband were thrust into the roles of Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus on a strictly interim basis. (The details of how this came about are detailed Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings.)

Now having a whole year of Mrs. Claus duties under her belt and being the new blood of the clan April is keen on introducing the elves of Christmastown to another holiday, her (previous) favorite Halloween, an idea which proves somewhat controversial in a town dedicated to all things Christmas.

A small but vocal contingent of elves believes Christmastown should remain a single celebration city. The most vocal critic of All Hallows Eve is Tiny Sparkletoes – who unfortunately – is found dead not long after a greenhouse full of pumpkins is vandalized…

Now I picked up this book based on the mash-up of holidays promised in the title – and it did not let me down. In fact, it utterly beat my expectations! The setting of Christmas town, the entertaining character names, and the reindeer (oh, the reindeer!) are treated so off-handedly that it successfully neutralizes the sweetness that could’ve crept into this narrative. April Claus just happens to live at the North Pole with her husband in Kringle Castle.

No big deal.

It also helps that April finds herself hip-deep in investigating a case of vandalism but a potential murder. Then there’s the problem of her best friend’s creepy boyfriend, drunk reindeer, and a mother-in-law who isn’t ready to cede her status as the numero uno – Mrs. Claus.

Seriously, Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide is a well-paced and surprisingly nuanced themed mystery that will have you turning the pages quicker and quicker to find out whodunit!

Cooking With Christie: Duivekater

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Cooking With Christie!

This Week’s Recipe: Duivekater

So I was flipping thru my baking books and ran across this gem. I mean who wouldn’t want to bake a loaf of bread that’s supposed to resemble a shin bone (in lieu of real of sacrificing an animal) to protect against the devil during the holidays!

This is my very first attempt at baking this loaf, and it turned out ok. (I need a better pastry brush to paint it with egg so the shine is even.) In any case, it’s a tasty loaf that lends itself to french toast due to the spices flavoring it.

DO NOT put it in the toaster.

Ask me how I know.

Due to the amount of sugar (and I suspect the egg wash due to the char marks) even on the lowest toaster setting – the slice turns into a charcoal briquette…quickly.

Here’s the book that supplied me with the recipe:

Christie: I can see Poirot enjoying a slice of this bread. (If created by a defter hand than my own.) The hint of lemon, spices and slightly macabre I think would appeal to the Belgian.

Cooking With Christie: Cookies!

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Cooking With Christie!

This Week’s Recipe: Brown Butter-Chai Spice Snickerdoodles

Every year Bake From Scratch puts out a new holiday cookie magazine and honestly it’s the best one out there.

In fact all my families favorite cookies are created by them.

The Brown butter Snickerdoodles recipe, from this year’s magazine, is an excellent cookie. With the subtle nutty ones from the browned butter pairs so well with the warm sweet/spice of the snickerdoodle…It is an instant fave of the neighborhood!

Here’s the magazine where the recipe is from:

Christie: Honestly Poirot might like them, as they are a posher version of the normal cookie. But I think Hasting would swoon for them!

Cooking With Christie: Wing Sauce

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Cooking With Christie!

This Week’s Recipe: Cranberry Glazed Chili Chicken Wings

This recipe came about because I bought the big bag of cranberries and I needed to find a way to use them before they went bad!

And of course I changed the recipe….but here‘s where I fond the initial inspiration.

First, I added a quarter cup of water to a pan, then put the cranberries in whole – and let them cook down until they burst. Then I used a potato masher and mashed them into a pulpy mass. Whereupon, I put them through a sieve and extracted as much juice as I could.

Then I put the juice back into the pan (a little leftover pulp doesn’t hurt anything) where I added the sweet Thai chili sauce, sliced Serrano peppers and let it simmer. Eventually using an immersion blender to break the peppers down into a finer consistency (a blender works just as well). Then I added more red chili flakes and sugar until I achieved the spice level I was looking for!

Christie: I really ca’t see Poirot loving the spiciness of this sauce or wings. But I thin Hastings and/or Japp would enjoy them. As well as Tommy and Tuppence!