Peggy Ehrhart's Blog, page 3
April 10, 2022
Daffodils in September
Martha Stewart with murders. That’s one way I imagine my Knit & Nibble mysteries. There’s the food, of course, and the knitting, and my characters live in a charming New Jersey town where the charming old houses feature charmingly landscaped yards.
So if a mystery is set in the fall, for example, I like to invoke the red and amber tints of the autumn foliage. A mystery set at Christmas, like SILENT KNIT, DEADLY KNIT or one of the Knit & Nibble novellas in Kensington’s holiday anthologies, includes descriptions of holly bushes brightening snowy vistas.
Then there’s spring, which is on my mind at the moment—not only because it’s spring right now, at least in the northern hemisphere, but also because Knit & Nibble #9, IRISH KNIT MURDER, will be released a year from now, and with its St. Patrick’s Day theme, it’s set in the spring. The murder that galvanizes my sleuths into action takes place right on March 17.
I started writing it last summer, however, and the deadline for submission was January 31. In an environment, first, of sweltering heat, then crisp fall days and changing leaves, and finally bare trees and icicles, how to evoke spring in the pages of my in-progress manuscript?
I had a pretty good recollection of when shoots start to poke out of the earth and when the first blossoms appear on flowering trees—and there’s always the internet (thank you, Brooklyn Botanic Garden website).
First come the really little bulb things, like crocus and snowdrops, and then the forsythia explodes in bursts of bright yellow, followed by daffodils, also bright yellow, and then the flowering trees blossom, and by May everything has come alive.
So for a story that starts in mid-March and extends till nearly the end of the month, I decided that outdoor settings could feature crocus, snowdrops, and forsythia, but that lawns would still be a sad yellowish-brown.
The manuscript was already submitted when March 2022 rolled around, but starting on St. Patrick’s Day, I paid careful attention to the state of things outdoors.
Yes, there were crocus and snowdrops, and I had been right about the forsythia, which began to bloom a bit after the 17th. Daffodils, however, arrived sooner than I recalled, and I made a note to slip a few daffodils in when the copyedited manuscript comes back to me for checking.
You might be wondering whether it’s necessary to be quite so scrupulous about accuracy in this regard. It probably isn’t, but that’s just me. Would a reader hate the book because she knows that daffodils are all over the place in mid-March and I mention nary a one in IRISH KNIT MURDER? I hope not. But details can be distracting when they’re not right.
I once read a novel in which the writer enthused about the fragrance of azaleas. Pretty as they are, the ones in my yard are completely scentless. I’ve forgotten the novel’s title and the author’s name, but I still remember those inauthentic azaleas.
So if a mystery is set in the fall, for example, I like to invoke the red and amber tints of the autumn foliage. A mystery set at Christmas, like SILENT KNIT, DEADLY KNIT or one of the Knit & Nibble novellas in Kensington’s holiday anthologies, includes descriptions of holly bushes brightening snowy vistas.
Then there’s spring, which is on my mind at the moment—not only because it’s spring right now, at least in the northern hemisphere, but also because Knit & Nibble #9, IRISH KNIT MURDER, will be released a year from now, and with its St. Patrick’s Day theme, it’s set in the spring. The murder that galvanizes my sleuths into action takes place right on March 17.
I started writing it last summer, however, and the deadline for submission was January 31. In an environment, first, of sweltering heat, then crisp fall days and changing leaves, and finally bare trees and icicles, how to evoke spring in the pages of my in-progress manuscript?
I had a pretty good recollection of when shoots start to poke out of the earth and when the first blossoms appear on flowering trees—and there’s always the internet (thank you, Brooklyn Botanic Garden website).
First come the really little bulb things, like crocus and snowdrops, and then the forsythia explodes in bursts of bright yellow, followed by daffodils, also bright yellow, and then the flowering trees blossom, and by May everything has come alive.
So for a story that starts in mid-March and extends till nearly the end of the month, I decided that outdoor settings could feature crocus, snowdrops, and forsythia, but that lawns would still be a sad yellowish-brown.
The manuscript was already submitted when March 2022 rolled around, but starting on St. Patrick’s Day, I paid careful attention to the state of things outdoors.
Yes, there were crocus and snowdrops, and I had been right about the forsythia, which began to bloom a bit after the 17th. Daffodils, however, arrived sooner than I recalled, and I made a note to slip a few daffodils in when the copyedited manuscript comes back to me for checking.
You might be wondering whether it’s necessary to be quite so scrupulous about accuracy in this regard. It probably isn’t, but that’s just me. Would a reader hate the book because she knows that daffodils are all over the place in mid-March and I mention nary a one in IRISH KNIT MURDER? I hope not. But details can be distracting when they’re not right.
I once read a novel in which the writer enthused about the fragrance of azaleas. Pretty as they are, the ones in my yard are completely scentless. I’ve forgotten the novel’s title and the author’s name, but I still remember those inauthentic azaleas.
February 13, 2022
Seasonal Food
Unless one lives south of the equator, local peaches and plums are nonexistent in March. Because of this, readers who read Knit & Nibble #8, DEATH OF A KNIT WIT, as soon as it appears will have to wait quite a while if they want to make the plum turnovers I feature at the book’s end, or if they find themselves craving a peach pie like the one Wilfred Fraser serves early in the book.
DEATH OF A KNIT WIT comes out at the very end of this month—considered a March release—but the setting is late summer and the food reflects that season. I wrote much of it during the summer and so I had plenty of peaches and plums available to inspire me.
The Knit & Nibble mysteries contain a lot of food, and I like to make the food appropriate to the season in which the book is set. In the case of some Knit & Nibbles, knowing the release date in advance has even made it possible to key the plots (and food) to appropriate holidays.
SILENT KNIT, DEADLY KNIT takes place at Christmas, KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD takes place at Halloween, and A FATAL YARN takes place at Easter. In SILENT KNIT, DEADLY KNIT my sleuth, Pamela Paterson, bakes the poppy seed cake that’s her annual Christmas tradition (and I include that recipe). In KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD, Knit & Nibble member Roland DeCamp treats the group to chocolate cookies decorated with candy corn. And in A FATAL YARN, Wilfred Fraser serves a wonderful feast involving local hand-cured ham.
I just finished writing Knit & Nibble #9, IRISH KNIT MURDER. It also has a March release date—March 2023, and my editor suggested a St. Patrick’s Day theme. I thought that would be fun, so the book features corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread, as well as shamrock-shaped cookies with green icing.
And for the recipe included at the book’s end, I immediately thought of trifle, a classic British dessert in which layers of cake or ladyfingers alternate with layers of pudding, preserved fruit, and whipped cream. But my trifle would be Irish Coffee Trifle, omitting the fruit but drizzling the cake layers with coffee and Irish whiskey and sprinkling the top whipped cream layer with shavings of bittersweet chocolate.
It is nearly impossible, however, to dream up a food idea that someone else hasn’t thought of too—and posted on the internet. That that was the case, as I soon discovered, with Irish Coffee Trifle.
I guarantee, though, that the version of Irish Coffee Trifle I include in Irish Knit Murder is my own invention, and it includes a delicious homemade vanilla pudding recipe that took quite a bit of experimentation to make foolproof. Early versions resembled scrambled egg soup. Cornstarch is essential, I learned, though it appears some pudding purists scorn it.
Photos of the plum turnovers, along with in-progress photos, are up now on my website: https://peggyehrhart.com/knit-and-nib... Scroll down past the knitted hat.
I’ll be putting up the cover for IRISH KNIT MURDER (already done and totally adorable), along with photos of Irish Coffee Trifle, when the release date gets closer.
I have a new Yarn Mania post up too: Crocheted Elephant Hand Puppet: https://peggyehrhart.com/category/yar...
DEATH OF A KNIT WIT comes out at the very end of this month—considered a March release—but the setting is late summer and the food reflects that season. I wrote much of it during the summer and so I had plenty of peaches and plums available to inspire me.
The Knit & Nibble mysteries contain a lot of food, and I like to make the food appropriate to the season in which the book is set. In the case of some Knit & Nibbles, knowing the release date in advance has even made it possible to key the plots (and food) to appropriate holidays.
SILENT KNIT, DEADLY KNIT takes place at Christmas, KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD takes place at Halloween, and A FATAL YARN takes place at Easter. In SILENT KNIT, DEADLY KNIT my sleuth, Pamela Paterson, bakes the poppy seed cake that’s her annual Christmas tradition (and I include that recipe). In KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD, Knit & Nibble member Roland DeCamp treats the group to chocolate cookies decorated with candy corn. And in A FATAL YARN, Wilfred Fraser serves a wonderful feast involving local hand-cured ham.
I just finished writing Knit & Nibble #9, IRISH KNIT MURDER. It also has a March release date—March 2023, and my editor suggested a St. Patrick’s Day theme. I thought that would be fun, so the book features corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread, as well as shamrock-shaped cookies with green icing.
And for the recipe included at the book’s end, I immediately thought of trifle, a classic British dessert in which layers of cake or ladyfingers alternate with layers of pudding, preserved fruit, and whipped cream. But my trifle would be Irish Coffee Trifle, omitting the fruit but drizzling the cake layers with coffee and Irish whiskey and sprinkling the top whipped cream layer with shavings of bittersweet chocolate.
It is nearly impossible, however, to dream up a food idea that someone else hasn’t thought of too—and posted on the internet. That that was the case, as I soon discovered, with Irish Coffee Trifle.
I guarantee, though, that the version of Irish Coffee Trifle I include in Irish Knit Murder is my own invention, and it includes a delicious homemade vanilla pudding recipe that took quite a bit of experimentation to make foolproof. Early versions resembled scrambled egg soup. Cornstarch is essential, I learned, though it appears some pudding purists scorn it.
Photos of the plum turnovers, along with in-progress photos, are up now on my website: https://peggyehrhart.com/knit-and-nib... Scroll down past the knitted hat.
I’ll be putting up the cover for IRISH KNIT MURDER (already done and totally adorable), along with photos of Irish Coffee Trifle, when the release date gets closer.
I have a new Yarn Mania post up too: Crocheted Elephant Hand Puppet: https://peggyehrhart.com/category/yar...
December 12, 2021
Kitsch Is Cozy
A recent issue of the New York Times included an article titled “Fake Food Is Trendy Again.” It was illustrated with numerous photographs of—you guessed it—fake food, notably fruit and vegetables (though there was a candle in the shape of a pot roast) made from plastic or wax.
The Times allowed reader comments on the article. Many people said the images of fake fruit made them nostalgic for childhood visits to grandma’s house, or childhood in general, when such decorative effects were more common. Some even said they themselves owned and displayed fake fruit. Many others, however, said fake fruit was tacky, had always been tacky, and would always be tacky. And/or kitschy.
I have fake fruit, and I bring it out every fall as a sort of harvest display, heaped in an interesting metal basket. It was sitting on a table in my house from the beginning of October until recently, when it was replaced by Christmas decorations.
I bought my fake fruit at a rummage sale in a little town along the St. Lawrence River on a driving trip to Canada with my husband, but lots of fake fruit is now available on eBay (along with almost anything else that a person can think of).
My fake fruit consists of a banana, a pear, an orange, a red thing that isn’t shaped like an apple but is the wrong shade of red to be a plum, a white thing shaped like an orange, and a bunch of grapes the scale of which doesn’t match the other fruits. Each grape is about as large as a small tangerine.
I have always called my fake fruit “pin fruit” because each fruit consists of a fruit-shaped base covered with large faceted beads anchored with straight pins. The facets make the beads kind of sparkly. Each piece of fruit, except the banana, has one or more green leaves made of rubbery plastic. The grapes have leaves shaped like actual grape leaves.
EBay sellers offer many types of beaded fruit, mostly not like mine but rather fruit shapes coated with small glued-on beads, which create an iridescent effect. But there are some batches of fruit like my pin fruit. One seller describes his offering as “Vintage Mid-Century Beaded Pinned Faux Fruit.”
I suspect that at one time kits existed, containing all the materials to make a particular piece of fruit. I say this because the “Vintage Mid-Century Beaded Pinned Faux Fruit” on eBay look exactly like my fruit, even down to the rubbery plastic leaves—though the variety of fruits is different.
I obviously am not of the school that considers fake fruit tacky, or kitschy. But even if it is, there can be a coziness about kitschy things, as opposed to the aggressively tasteful but impersonal interiors that sometimes result from the ministrations of professional decorators.
Curious objects like pin fruit personalize a house, and they imply that this particular dwelling has been furnished and decorated for the comfort and enjoyment of its particular inhabitants and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of the decor.
Also, my pin fruit remind of a very enjoyable driving trip to a beautiful neighboring country. And these days, who knows when any of us will be able to travel anywhere ever again?
I just put up a new Yarn Mania post featuring the hand-knit Christmas tree ornaments that came out when the pin fruit went away: https://peggyehrhart.com/category/yar...
The Times allowed reader comments on the article. Many people said the images of fake fruit made them nostalgic for childhood visits to grandma’s house, or childhood in general, when such decorative effects were more common. Some even said they themselves owned and displayed fake fruit. Many others, however, said fake fruit was tacky, had always been tacky, and would always be tacky. And/or kitschy.
I have fake fruit, and I bring it out every fall as a sort of harvest display, heaped in an interesting metal basket. It was sitting on a table in my house from the beginning of October until recently, when it was replaced by Christmas decorations.
I bought my fake fruit at a rummage sale in a little town along the St. Lawrence River on a driving trip to Canada with my husband, but lots of fake fruit is now available on eBay (along with almost anything else that a person can think of).
My fake fruit consists of a banana, a pear, an orange, a red thing that isn’t shaped like an apple but is the wrong shade of red to be a plum, a white thing shaped like an orange, and a bunch of grapes the scale of which doesn’t match the other fruits. Each grape is about as large as a small tangerine.
I have always called my fake fruit “pin fruit” because each fruit consists of a fruit-shaped base covered with large faceted beads anchored with straight pins. The facets make the beads kind of sparkly. Each piece of fruit, except the banana, has one or more green leaves made of rubbery plastic. The grapes have leaves shaped like actual grape leaves.
EBay sellers offer many types of beaded fruit, mostly not like mine but rather fruit shapes coated with small glued-on beads, which create an iridescent effect. But there are some batches of fruit like my pin fruit. One seller describes his offering as “Vintage Mid-Century Beaded Pinned Faux Fruit.”
I suspect that at one time kits existed, containing all the materials to make a particular piece of fruit. I say this because the “Vintage Mid-Century Beaded Pinned Faux Fruit” on eBay look exactly like my fruit, even down to the rubbery plastic leaves—though the variety of fruits is different.
I obviously am not of the school that considers fake fruit tacky, or kitschy. But even if it is, there can be a coziness about kitschy things, as opposed to the aggressively tasteful but impersonal interiors that sometimes result from the ministrations of professional decorators.
Curious objects like pin fruit personalize a house, and they imply that this particular dwelling has been furnished and decorated for the comfort and enjoyment of its particular inhabitants and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of the decor.
Also, my pin fruit remind of a very enjoyable driving trip to a beautiful neighboring country. And these days, who knows when any of us will be able to travel anywhere ever again?
I just put up a new Yarn Mania post featuring the hand-knit Christmas tree ornaments that came out when the pin fruit went away: https://peggyehrhart.com/category/yar...
October 5, 2021
Book Festivals Are Back--Hurrah!
Last weekend I had a chance to dip my toe back into life as we used to know it--with two book festivals.
On Saturday I was one of the local authors invited to be part of Pumpkins and Pages, an open-air book festival sponsored by the Hoboken Public Library. Hoboken is a charming town less than 10 miles south of where I live in New Jersey and the festival took place in a large park across from the library.
Authors included mystery writers, romance writers, writers of children's books, and poets. Prose writers talked about their work and poets read their work aloud, and we all were able to meet and greet readers and sell and sign our books.
The weather was clear and bright and just warm enough to remind us that summer is not that long gone. Turnout was fabulous! It was great fun to see people strolling through the park enjoying the weather and the festivities as if Covid did not exist.
The scene on Sunday, at the Brooklyn Book Festival, was similar. This annual--and venerable--event had to skip a year because of Covid, but this year it was back in its usual spot--the Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza. And the crowds demonstrated how welcome its return was.
Mystery Writers of America always sponsors a booth, and members of that group sign up for one-hour slots to sell and sign their books at the booth. I had many nice conversations with, and sold books to, readers who paused in their strolling to investigate the MWA members' offerings.
These were both outdoor events. In the case of mystery conferences, which are indoor events, life as we used to know it might take a bit longer to return. Fingers crossed for Malice Domestic next spring.
On Saturday I was one of the local authors invited to be part of Pumpkins and Pages, an open-air book festival sponsored by the Hoboken Public Library. Hoboken is a charming town less than 10 miles south of where I live in New Jersey and the festival took place in a large park across from the library.
Authors included mystery writers, romance writers, writers of children's books, and poets. Prose writers talked about their work and poets read their work aloud, and we all were able to meet and greet readers and sell and sign our books.
The weather was clear and bright and just warm enough to remind us that summer is not that long gone. Turnout was fabulous! It was great fun to see people strolling through the park enjoying the weather and the festivities as if Covid did not exist.
The scene on Sunday, at the Brooklyn Book Festival, was similar. This annual--and venerable--event had to skip a year because of Covid, but this year it was back in its usual spot--the Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza. And the crowds demonstrated how welcome its return was.
Mystery Writers of America always sponsors a booth, and members of that group sign up for one-hour slots to sell and sign their books at the booth. I had many nice conversations with, and sold books to, readers who paused in their strolling to investigate the MWA members' offerings.
These were both outdoor events. In the case of mystery conferences, which are indoor events, life as we used to know it might take a bit longer to return. Fingers crossed for Malice Domestic next spring.
June 27, 2021
They Are What They Eat
A lot of nibbling goes on in my Knit & Nibble mysteries. My co-sleuths, Pamela Paterson and Bettina Fraser, do some of their best crime-solving while sipping coffee and snacking on crumb cake at Pamela’s kitchen table. They also often have “business” lunches at Arborville’s place to see and be seen, Hyler’s Luncheonette, where they eat tuna melts, Reubens, or French dip sandwiches and drink vanilla milkshakes.
But I have the most fun with the food served at the knitting group’s weekly meetings. The group members—six of them—take turns hosting, and each week’s host serves dessert. I enjoy having the characters offer goodies in keeping with their personalities.
Pamela bakes and serves classic and “cozy” desserts, like apple cake in Murder, She Knit, peach cobbler in Knit One, Die Two, or rhubarb cheesecake pie in Knitty Gritty Murder.
Bettina ceded all cooking duties to her husband Wilfred when he retired, and he loves having a larger audience for his creations when it’s her turn to host the group. In Knit One, Die Two, he makes a glorious lattice-top apple pie, and in A Fatal Yarn, he bakes a shoo-fly pie.
Nell Bascomb is in her 80s and thinks people eat too much sugar. But when she hosts the group in Died in the Wool, she serves a yummy cherry strudel that her husband Harold fetched from a special bakery he patronizes when he’s craving the sweets that she disapproves of. Left to her own devices she makes a sturdy bread pudding using leftover bread in Knit of the Living Dead.
Holly Perkins is a twenty-something who is enamored of mid-century modern style and, in fact, all things 1950s—as only someone who didn’t live through this decade could be. She seeks out vintage cookbooks and likes to reproduce dishes that were popular in the fifties, like Baked Alaska (Knit One, Die Two), a bunny-shaped cake with shredded coconut fur (A Fatal Yarn—the book takes place at Easter), and a splendid rendition of Crepes Suzettes served in an antique chafing dish (Knitty Gritty Murder).
Holly’s friend Karen Dowling, another twenty-something, at first knows how to make only one dessert, chocolate-chip cookies, which she serves in Died in the Wool. But she becomes more ambitious and makes a delicious sticky toffee pudding cake in Death of a Christmas Card Crafter.
Finally, there’s Roland DeCamp. He’s a high-strung corporate lawyer who took up knitting when his doctor recommended it as an aid to relaxation. Though he’s not an experienced cook, he prides himself on rising to the occasion with a home-made dessert when it’s his turn to host. I let him use shortcuts though—like a “dump cake” that involves boxed cake mix, canned fruit, and a lot of butter (Murder, She Knit) or a Halloween-themed chocolate cookie involving ready-made dough from the supermarket refrigerator case and candy corn (Knit of the Living Dead).
Each book in the series includes a knitting project and at least one recipe, usually for a goody that Pamela baked. You can find photos of the finished knitting projects and baked goodies, and sometimes in-progress photos as well, at https://www.PeggyEhrhart.com . Click on the tab for Knit & Nibble Mysteries and then on the book cover of the book you’re interested in. Scroll way down on the page that opens.
If you'd like to know more about my Knit & Nibble mysteries, here's a link to an interview I recently did with Christina Hamlett on YOU READ IT HERE FIRST:
https://fromtheauthors.wordpress.com/...
But I have the most fun with the food served at the knitting group’s weekly meetings. The group members—six of them—take turns hosting, and each week’s host serves dessert. I enjoy having the characters offer goodies in keeping with their personalities.
Pamela bakes and serves classic and “cozy” desserts, like apple cake in Murder, She Knit, peach cobbler in Knit One, Die Two, or rhubarb cheesecake pie in Knitty Gritty Murder.
Bettina ceded all cooking duties to her husband Wilfred when he retired, and he loves having a larger audience for his creations when it’s her turn to host the group. In Knit One, Die Two, he makes a glorious lattice-top apple pie, and in A Fatal Yarn, he bakes a shoo-fly pie.
Nell Bascomb is in her 80s and thinks people eat too much sugar. But when she hosts the group in Died in the Wool, she serves a yummy cherry strudel that her husband Harold fetched from a special bakery he patronizes when he’s craving the sweets that she disapproves of. Left to her own devices she makes a sturdy bread pudding using leftover bread in Knit of the Living Dead.
Holly Perkins is a twenty-something who is enamored of mid-century modern style and, in fact, all things 1950s—as only someone who didn’t live through this decade could be. She seeks out vintage cookbooks and likes to reproduce dishes that were popular in the fifties, like Baked Alaska (Knit One, Die Two), a bunny-shaped cake with shredded coconut fur (A Fatal Yarn—the book takes place at Easter), and a splendid rendition of Crepes Suzettes served in an antique chafing dish (Knitty Gritty Murder).
Holly’s friend Karen Dowling, another twenty-something, at first knows how to make only one dessert, chocolate-chip cookies, which she serves in Died in the Wool. But she becomes more ambitious and makes a delicious sticky toffee pudding cake in Death of a Christmas Card Crafter.
Finally, there’s Roland DeCamp. He’s a high-strung corporate lawyer who took up knitting when his doctor recommended it as an aid to relaxation. Though he’s not an experienced cook, he prides himself on rising to the occasion with a home-made dessert when it’s his turn to host. I let him use shortcuts though—like a “dump cake” that involves boxed cake mix, canned fruit, and a lot of butter (Murder, She Knit) or a Halloween-themed chocolate cookie involving ready-made dough from the supermarket refrigerator case and candy corn (Knit of the Living Dead).
Each book in the series includes a knitting project and at least one recipe, usually for a goody that Pamela baked. You can find photos of the finished knitting projects and baked goodies, and sometimes in-progress photos as well, at https://www.PeggyEhrhart.com . Click on the tab for Knit & Nibble Mysteries and then on the book cover of the book you’re interested in. Scroll way down on the page that opens.
If you'd like to know more about my Knit & Nibble mysteries, here's a link to an interview I recently did with Christina Hamlett on YOU READ IT HERE FIRST:
https://fromtheauthors.wordpress.com/...
May 4, 2021
Jell-O!
In KNITTY GRITTY MURDER, Knit and Nibble member Roland DeCamp serves Strawberry Jell-O Pie when the knitting group meets at his house. Roland is a high-powered corporate lawyer who knits to relax, and he prides himself on mastering whatever he sets out to master. Thus he insists on showing off his cooking skills when it's his turn to host Knit and Nibble.
He's not the most experienced cook, however, and I have fun giving him recipes that he can manage.
Strawberry Jell-O Pie is nearly the first dessert I learned how to make. (Chocolate chip cookies were truly the first, tackled when I was in grammar school.) The pie uses a box of strawberry Jell-O, a pint of strawberries, a pre-baked pie crust, and not much else.
Coincidentally, I recently did a guest blog about a cookbook my mom found at a thrift store and passed along to me: THE FIRST LADIES COOK BOOK. Starting with Washington and ending with Nixon, during whose presidency the book was published, it devotes a chapter to each administration, focusing especially on the food served at the White House.
Much of it was quite grand, including the sorts of dishes that were showpieces of fine dining in earlier times--like molded gelatin creations. An early recipe for Wine Jelly started with the instruction to boil four calves feet. Calves feet, as well as fish bladders, yielded the collagen that made the dishes gel.
The advent of powdered gelatin and then boxed Jell-O put these elegant dishes within reach of the average cook. I certainly remember molded Jell-O creations from my childhood--sliced green olives with pimento suspended in lemon Jell-O, anyone?
Everything old is new again. I was browsing at a tag sale the other day when I came upon a cache of copper Jell-O molds. As if seized by an uncontrollable impulse, I bought two and am already planning the event at which I'll bring forth a molded Jell-O salad.
My FIRST LADIES COOK BOOK blog was a guest post at Wicked Good Mysteries: https://wickedauthors.com/2021/04/16/...
And my recipe for Roland's Strawberry Jell-O Pie is up at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers: https://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com...
He's not the most experienced cook, however, and I have fun giving him recipes that he can manage.
Strawberry Jell-O Pie is nearly the first dessert I learned how to make. (Chocolate chip cookies were truly the first, tackled when I was in grammar school.) The pie uses a box of strawberry Jell-O, a pint of strawberries, a pre-baked pie crust, and not much else.
Coincidentally, I recently did a guest blog about a cookbook my mom found at a thrift store and passed along to me: THE FIRST LADIES COOK BOOK. Starting with Washington and ending with Nixon, during whose presidency the book was published, it devotes a chapter to each administration, focusing especially on the food served at the White House.
Much of it was quite grand, including the sorts of dishes that were showpieces of fine dining in earlier times--like molded gelatin creations. An early recipe for Wine Jelly started with the instruction to boil four calves feet. Calves feet, as well as fish bladders, yielded the collagen that made the dishes gel.
The advent of powdered gelatin and then boxed Jell-O put these elegant dishes within reach of the average cook. I certainly remember molded Jell-O creations from my childhood--sliced green olives with pimento suspended in lemon Jell-O, anyone?
Everything old is new again. I was browsing at a tag sale the other day when I came upon a cache of copper Jell-O molds. As if seized by an uncontrollable impulse, I bought two and am already planning the event at which I'll bring forth a molded Jell-O salad.
My FIRST LADIES COOK BOOK blog was a guest post at Wicked Good Mysteries: https://wickedauthors.com/2021/04/16/...
And my recipe for Roland's Strawberry Jell-O Pie is up at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers: https://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com...
March 28, 2021
Things Are Looking Up
I hope everyone out there is surviving this very difficult time and finding plenty of "goodreads" to distract them from worrying about themselves and their loved ones.
Things do seem to be looking up however. I'm fortunate to have had both my shots now, at one of the six mega-sites in New Jersey, the Meadowlands Racetrack. The National Guard was on hand to keep the lines moving and they did a great job. The whole experience took only a bit more than an hour and that's counting the drive there and back.
Spring is coming to New Jersey as well! Yesterday people were out in tee-shirts and today we are having a torrential April shower. Daffodils and forsythia are blooming and little leaves are starting to appear on shrubs that last week appeared to be dead.
The most recent few of my Knit & Nibble mysteries have been timed to appear in seasons appropriate to their settings. Last fall's KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD, which took place at Halloween, came out in September. The new book, KNITTY GRITTY MURDER, will be out as of this Tuesday and takes place in May.
The cover has a wonderful springlike feel with cats (if it's a cozy, there have to be cats!) enjoying a picnic in a garden-like setting, and the plot involves a murderer targeting the Arborville community gardens.
There's a new Yarn Mania up too, an amazing estate sale find. It's a hand-knit afghan featuring a giant image of Mickey Mouse: https://peggyehrhart.com/category/yar...
Things do seem to be looking up however. I'm fortunate to have had both my shots now, at one of the six mega-sites in New Jersey, the Meadowlands Racetrack. The National Guard was on hand to keep the lines moving and they did a great job. The whole experience took only a bit more than an hour and that's counting the drive there and back.
Spring is coming to New Jersey as well! Yesterday people were out in tee-shirts and today we are having a torrential April shower. Daffodils and forsythia are blooming and little leaves are starting to appear on shrubs that last week appeared to be dead.
The most recent few of my Knit & Nibble mysteries have been timed to appear in seasons appropriate to their settings. Last fall's KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD, which took place at Halloween, came out in September. The new book, KNITTY GRITTY MURDER, will be out as of this Tuesday and takes place in May.
The cover has a wonderful springlike feel with cats (if it's a cozy, there have to be cats!) enjoying a picnic in a garden-like setting, and the plot involves a murderer targeting the Arborville community gardens.
There's a new Yarn Mania up too, an amazing estate sale find. It's a hand-knit afghan featuring a giant image of Mickey Mouse: https://peggyehrhart.com/category/yar...
February 14, 2021
Happy Valentine's Day!
Valentine's Day seems an odd day for a mystery writer to celebrate, but without love a writer of mysteries would find her supply of murder suspects with compelling motives severely limited.
Think of the murderous possibilities of the love triangle: A lover murders his rival, or takes revenge on a beloved who has strayed off with another.
Love has motivated some of literature's most villainous villains, and not only in the mystery genre.
But there's another way that love and murder intersect, particularly in mysteries that are part of a series. One appeal of a series is that not only does each book offer the nice puzzle of a whodunit with a guaranteed solution, but we also become well-acquainted with the sleuth and family and friends--to the point that we enjoy being privy to their joys and sorrows beyond the challenges of crime-solving.
So a mystery writer creating a series tries for larger story arcs too, often called metastories, told a bit at a time and stretching over many books.
Love stories lend themselves particularly well to this purpose. In the first book of the series our sleuth--who is single, widowed, or divorced--meets an interesting man. (We're assuming she's a woman--and in this style of series she usually is.) As the series progresses, the relationship progresses too--often with ups and downs worthy of a soap opera--and fans follow the series as much out of curiosity about the progress of the romance as curiosity about who's been killed this time.
I've been having a lot of fun with romance in my Knit & Nibble series. My sleuth Pamela Paterson is an attractive widow in her forties. After rejecting the advances of her shy neighbor, Richard Larkin, she begins dating Brian Delano in KNITTY GRITTY MURDER, coming in late March. Brian is as outgoing as Richard is shy, and she enjoys his company, but she can't stop wondering whether Richard might have been the better choice. The fact that Richard lives right next door and has conspicuously taken up with an old acquaintance, Jocelyn Bidwell, makes things all the more complicated--especially since we will learn in DEATH OF A KNIT WIT, currently in progress, that Brian and Jocelyn are former acquaintances too.
Stay tuned!
Think of the murderous possibilities of the love triangle: A lover murders his rival, or takes revenge on a beloved who has strayed off with another.
Love has motivated some of literature's most villainous villains, and not only in the mystery genre.
But there's another way that love and murder intersect, particularly in mysteries that are part of a series. One appeal of a series is that not only does each book offer the nice puzzle of a whodunit with a guaranteed solution, but we also become well-acquainted with the sleuth and family and friends--to the point that we enjoy being privy to their joys and sorrows beyond the challenges of crime-solving.
So a mystery writer creating a series tries for larger story arcs too, often called metastories, told a bit at a time and stretching over many books.
Love stories lend themselves particularly well to this purpose. In the first book of the series our sleuth--who is single, widowed, or divorced--meets an interesting man. (We're assuming she's a woman--and in this style of series she usually is.) As the series progresses, the relationship progresses too--often with ups and downs worthy of a soap opera--and fans follow the series as much out of curiosity about the progress of the romance as curiosity about who's been killed this time.
I've been having a lot of fun with romance in my Knit & Nibble series. My sleuth Pamela Paterson is an attractive widow in her forties. After rejecting the advances of her shy neighbor, Richard Larkin, she begins dating Brian Delano in KNITTY GRITTY MURDER, coming in late March. Brian is as outgoing as Richard is shy, and she enjoys his company, but she can't stop wondering whether Richard might have been the better choice. The fact that Richard lives right next door and has conspicuously taken up with an old acquaintance, Jocelyn Bidwell, makes things all the more complicated--especially since we will learn in DEATH OF A KNIT WIT, currently in progress, that Brian and Jocelyn are former acquaintances too.
Stay tuned!
January 11, 2021
Creature Comforts: A Double Dose of Cozy
What could be more inviting than a sofa furnished with plenty of pillows--just right for lounging with a cup of tea and a book?
When my mother died last summer, among the many beautiful things that came to me was a collection of the handmade needlepoint pillows that had been her favorite craft project in the later years of her life.
To me, needlepoint pillows evoke the tranquil world portrayed in so many cozy mysteries--a world where people cultivate domestic arts instead of violence and where pleasant cottages shut out the grim realities we encounter when we turn on the news.
As if the pillows themselves weren't cozy enough, several of the ones that came to me feature cats in their designs. My sisters, who did the heroic work of sorting through all that my mother left behind, had my Knit & Nibble series, featuring many cats, in mind when they sent the pillows to me.
I've just added a post featuring the needlepoint cat pillows to the Yarn Mania blog on my website. Just click on this link:
https://peggyehrhart.com/category/yar...
When my mother died last summer, among the many beautiful things that came to me was a collection of the handmade needlepoint pillows that had been her favorite craft project in the later years of her life.
To me, needlepoint pillows evoke the tranquil world portrayed in so many cozy mysteries--a world where people cultivate domestic arts instead of violence and where pleasant cottages shut out the grim realities we encounter when we turn on the news.
As if the pillows themselves weren't cozy enough, several of the ones that came to me feature cats in their designs. My sisters, who did the heroic work of sorting through all that my mother left behind, had my Knit & Nibble series, featuring many cats, in mind when they sent the pillows to me.
I've just added a post featuring the needlepoint cat pillows to the Yarn Mania blog on my website. Just click on this link:
https://peggyehrhart.com/category/yar...
December 1, 2020
The Holidays Are Here
The holiday season is officially here--though I believe I began hearing Christmas music in the supermarket even before Halloween.
In acknowledgment of the season I just put up a new Yarn Mania post, featuring an amazing crocheted holiday decoration that looks like a cross between Santa and Humpty Dumpty. To see him, just visit www.PeggyEhrhart.com and click on the Yarn Mania tab.
I'm doing a book giveaway for CHRISTMAS CARD MURDER in connection with my guest post for the Cozy Mystery Book Club's 12 Days of Cozies. My post, "Holiday Gift Cake in Handmade Gift Bag," includes the recipe for my Sour Cream Raisin Spice Cake plus directions for sewing a cute cloth bag to make it an extra special gift--and the post is illustrated with many many photos. Here's the link: http://thecozymysterybookclub.com/202...
And the e-book version of last year's Christmas Knit & Nibble, SILENT KNIT, DEADLY KNIT, is on sale for the entire month of December: $1.99 from major e-book retailers.
In acknowledgment of the season I just put up a new Yarn Mania post, featuring an amazing crocheted holiday decoration that looks like a cross between Santa and Humpty Dumpty. To see him, just visit www.PeggyEhrhart.com and click on the Yarn Mania tab.
I'm doing a book giveaway for CHRISTMAS CARD MURDER in connection with my guest post for the Cozy Mystery Book Club's 12 Days of Cozies. My post, "Holiday Gift Cake in Handmade Gift Bag," includes the recipe for my Sour Cream Raisin Spice Cake plus directions for sewing a cute cloth bag to make it an extra special gift--and the post is illustrated with many many photos. Here's the link: http://thecozymysterybookclub.com/202...
And the e-book version of last year's Christmas Knit & Nibble, SILENT KNIT, DEADLY KNIT, is on sale for the entire month of December: $1.99 from major e-book retailers.
