One of the things I love about writing my Bread Shop Mystery series is that I get to read cookbooks, which is a favorite pastime.I also then get to adapt recipes and bake. And one of the things I love about living in North Carolina is the blueberries. We have two blueberry farms nearby. I go to pick them several times during the short summer window when they are ripe. Sometimes
Pippin Lane Hawthorne serves up this delectable Blueberry Strata at Sea Captain's Inn on the Outer Banks island of Devil's Cove. Making it with fresh blueberries, especially if they're freshly picked during blueberry season, takes the whole thing up a notch. It's wonderful for brekkie, dessert, or, honestly, whenever! This recipe is featured in Murder Through an Open Door, book 3 in the Pippin Lane Hawthorne Book Magic series. Enjoy!
Ginger cookies are my absolute favorite! This recipe is my grandmother’s. We make them every fall (many times) and enjoy every last crumb.
Devil's Brew is the café on the island of Devil's Cove in the Book Magic series. Ruby Monroe is the owner and baker of all the delectable sweet treats, including this yummy blueberry scone recipe. I make them gluten free with a one-to-one flour blend…or make them using regular old wheat flour. Either way they are delicious!
My daughter is especially gifted at putting together beautiful boards (she’s on the right in the photo with one of her besties).Charcuterie is traditionally preparing and assembling cured meats. It has evolved to include meats, cheeses, breads, olives, nuts, and fruit. It’s all artfully arranged on a board. The artful part takes practice, I’ve discovered!In my Book Magic Mysteries, Devil’s Cove has a cheese shop called Charcuterie. In Murder at
Who doesn't love a healthy potato cheese soup recipe? I certainly do, and this one fits the bill. I love potatoes. I'm with Dolly Parton when she said, "I never met a spud I didn't like." Yup, that is absolutely true for me, too.Whether a spud comes in the form of Chick-fil-A fries, a baked potato with all the fixins, or mashed and served with gravy, they are a-okay👌🏼
Sausage bread is something my family started making when I was a kid. It’s become a family favorite. I make it all through fall and winter to accompany soup, most often potato cheese soup.If I start my (gluten-free) bread dough around 3:30, or even 4:00 PM. I use this Gluten Free on a Shoestring French Bread recipe. When I have time and plan ahead, I use this Let Them Eat Gluten-Free recipe.You can
Olaya Solis is a master bread baker. In Death Gone a-Rye, she makes Rye Pumpernickel Rolls. A basket of them end up at Owen Culpepper’s house. Everybody loves Olaya’s bread.
Miguel makes this hearty soup in A Murder Yule Regret. Ivy makes a sourdough loaf to complete the meal. Nothing is better on a cold winter day.
Ivy helps at a catered party in A Murder Yule Regret, the 6th Bread Shop Mystery. She makes this delicious punch. It is so beautiful and so festive!
Lindsay Conchar, founder of Life, Love & Sugar, graciously shared this Yule Log cake recipe with me. It’s so good! Eliza Fox, one of the characters in A Murder Yule Regret, the 6th Bread Shop mystery, attempts this showpiece cake. In the olden days in France, the spirit of love drew families together on Christmas Eve. Family members surrounded the blazing “yule log” to warm themselves before walking to Midnight
Miguel makes tortas for he and Ivy at Baptista’s Cantina and Grill in Crust No One, the second Bread Shop Mystery.
Yeast of Eden mostly sells traditional long-rise bread, but every once in a while, Olaya makes something sweet. In The Walking Bread, the 3rd Bread Shop Mystery, she makes Babka. Because we eat gluten-free in our household, I included the gluten-free version, which is so good!Excerpt:One by one I pulled the loaf pans filled with Babka dough from the walk-in refrigerator. We’d spent the entire day before making the
Choosing recipes to include in each book is one of my favorite parts of writing the Bread Shop Mysteries. In Kneaded to Death, I knew I wanted to include a traditional Mexican treat in honor of Olaya Solis and her bread-making heritage. These conchas fit the bill.Excerpt:We spent the next hour measuring and mixing the ingredients for conchas. “Mexican sweet bread is an easy way to start the bread-making
Popovers are one of my favorite baked treats. They’re so light and airy, and this recipe with gruyere and black pepper is decadent! This recipe is shared in the very first Bread Shop Mystery, Kneaded to Death.Excerpt:The chalkboard had today’s baking plan: Gruyere and black pepper popovers. I’d never actually had a popover, but if the illustration, with its muffin-shaped base and the billowy, full top looked anything like it
I’ve been crazy about Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes ever since I went on a cruise and pretty much OD’d on them. I’ll fit them into a book somehow, sometime. In the meantime, try them. They’re so easy to make, and so decadent.
Spanish Rice is a staple in our house. This is an easy recipe, and you’ll love it!
These tacos are not only tasty, they stretch the meat, thereby helping your budget. Whether our budget needs stretching or not, we make our tacos like this because they are just too good not to.
What makes pico de gallo different from, say, salsa borracha? It comes down to the fresh tomatoes verses the blanched tomatoes. Salsa is a cooked sauce; pico de gallo is all fresh ingredients. Try this muy bueno recipe for pico de gallo when tomatoes are in season, cilantro is fragrant, and you’re craving fresh Mex.
This is a basic frijole (bean) recipe. Have it one night, then refry them for later in the week. They are a staple in our house.
Copyright 2019 Melissa Bourbon Ramirez. All rights reserved.