Maya Corrigan's Blog, page 3

Valentine's Day Treats

Val (short for Valentine), the sleuth in my Five-Ingredient Mysteries, was born on February 14th. I'm celebrating her birthday with some Web pages that focus on love for the month of February.   Read a sweet humorous story about married love: Can Jenny get through the day without uttering the four little words that every spouse loves to say but hates to hear? 

Test your knowledge of Sleuthing Sweethearts by trying the trivia quiz 

Explore how chocolate, love, and murder intertwine 

Try the Fast Chocolate Fondue recipe

Timesaving Recipes and Tips

Just in time for holiday cooking and gift giving,  We'd Rather Be Writing: 88 Authors Share Timesaving Dinner Recipes and Other Tips  is available. I'm one of the authors who contributed tips and an easy recipe to the book. Here are some photos of the vegetarian version of my Mediterranean pasta with artichokes, olives, and feta cheese. The recipe in the book includes instructions for making a shrimp version.   At 99 cents for the e-book version and a comparably low price for the paperback, it's hard to pass up this helpful book, available now from Amazon and Barnes and Noble. For more information about the book and a complete list of contributors, visit editor Lois Winston's page about the book.

What is Scam Chowder?

Scam Chowder available June 30, 2015 Scam Chowder (Five-Ingredient Mystery #2) comes out this week. Here is a preview of the opening chapter from Val, the sleuth in the series.
Cook and run—those were Granddad’s instructions to me this evening. I was supposed to make the chowder for his dinner guests from the retirement village and get out of the kitchen. Then he would add the final ingredients and claim credit for the whole meal. This ruse was part of his campaign to win the heart of Lillian, the Village’s most attractive widow, whose husband had made her gourmet meals. To convince Lillian of his cooking skills, Granddad has no qualms about passing off my recipes and my dinners as his own creations. By eavesdropping, I discovered that more than a romance was at stake tonight. Granddad, egged on by Lillian, planned to confront a dinner guest who’d scammed retirees out of their savings. But someone beat him to it, making tonight’s chowder the last thing the scammer would eat. 

To read a more and enter a drawing for a free copy of the book, visit "A Day in the Life of Val Deniston" on Dru’s Book Musing. The giveaway ends on July 1, 2015. 

Val makes two types of chowder for her grandfather's guests. When writing the book, I found a helpful video on cooking chowder: How to make three kinds of clam chowder, with Providence chef Michael Cimarusti. The 5-ingredient clear chowder meets Granddad's standards for a recipe. 
Which type do you prefer: clear chowder, red chowder, or creamy chowder? 

SCAM CHOWDER Preview and Giveaway

Scam Chowder available June 30, 2015 Scam Chowder (Five-Ingredient Mystery #2) comes out this week. Here is a preview of the opening chapter from Val, the sleuth in the series.
Cook and run—those were Granddad’s instructions to me this evening. I was supposed to make the chowder for his dinner guests from the retirement village and get out of the kitchen. Then he would add the final ingredients and claim credit for the whole meal. This ruse was part of his campaign to win the heart of Lillian, the Village’s most attractive widow, whose husband had made her gourmet meals. To convince Lillian of his cooking skills, Granddad has no qualms about passing off my recipes and my dinners as his own creations. By eavesdropping on the two of them, I discovered that more than their romance was at stake tonight. Granddad, egged on by Lillian, planned to confront a dinner guest who’d scammed retirees out of their savings. But someone beat him to it, making sure that tonight’s chowder was the last thing the scammer would eat. 

To read a more detailed preview and enter a drawing for a free copy of the book, visit "A Day in the Life of Val Deniston" on Dru’s Book Musing. The giveaway ends on July 1, 2015. 

Val makes two types of chowder for her grandfather's guests. When writing the book, I found a helpful video on cooking chowder: How to make three kinds of clam chowder, with Providence chef Michael Cimarusti.

Val's Granddad, who likes 5-ingredient recipes, prefers clear chowder. Which type do you prefer: clear chowder (popular in Rhode Island and islands in the Chesapeake Bay ), Manhattan red chowder, or creamy New England chowder? 

Winner of the MWA Cookbook Giveaway

The winner of the MWA Cookbook giveaway is Nancy Bradford. Thank you to all who entered. 

Giveaway: Mystery Writers of America Cookbook

Thrilled to have a recipe in The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook, I am hosting a giveaway, courtesy of Quirk Books. Between the handsome covers of this book, you'll find recipes and anecdotes by today's crime writers. You'll also find essays on food in the writings of Poe, Conan Doyle, Christie and other giants of the mystery genre.

To enter the drawing, visit the SmorgasBlog on my website. The contest runs from March 19, 2015 to midnight Eastern time on April 18, 2015. It is open to U.S. and Canada residents.

Giveaway: Mystery Writers of America Cookbook

Thrilled to have a recipe in the Mystery Writers of America Cookbook, I am hosting a giveaway, courtesy of Quirk Books.  Between the handsome covers of this book, you'll find recipes and anecdotes by today's crime writers. You'll also find essays on food in the writings of Poe, Conan Doyle, Christie and other giants of the mystery genre. 

The vegetable salad recipe I contributed is a family favorite for holiday dinners. “Take Your Pick” in the recipe title means you can substitute different vegetables depending on the time of year and your own tastes. The best feature of this recipe is that the veggies marinate for a day, giving you one less dish to prepare at the last minute.  What dish is a favorite when you get together with family and friends?

To enter the drawing for a free book, leave a reply to this post. For another chance at winning, sign up for my infrequent newsletter. If you've already subscribed, say so in a comment, and I'll add another entry for you.  The contest runs from March 19 to midnight on April 18 Eastern time. It is open to U.S. and Canada residents. Check back the last week of April for the winner's name. Good luck!

Downton Abbey and Winnie-the-Pooh

Original cover of A.A. Milne's mystery Children's author A.A. Milne, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh,  also wrote a detective novel. An odd connection exists between Milne's The Red House Mystery and Downton Abbey. The bones of the classic British mystery are on display in Milne's book:
Please leave a comment, but no spoilers. Those of us watching Downton on PBS stations have just learned of a witness to the valet's death. 

5-Ingredient Cookbooks (more or less)

Now that I’m writing the Five-Ingredient Mysteries, friends give me cookbooks to plump out my collection of low-ingredient recipes. Here are three favorite books you might consider as gifts this season for yourself or someone else.

If you have a favorite cookbook with recipes requiring few ingredients, please leave a comment and share your find. Here's why I like these three books. 
Readers Digest 5-10-15 Cookbook:  The book’s cover promises 5 ingredients, 10 minutes prep, 15 minutes to cook. This is a coffee-table cookbook with gorgeous food photos. The fifth ingredient in some of the recipes is a marinade, spice mix, or sauce for which there is a 5-ingredient recipe in the Basics chapter at the end. So combining two 5-ingredient recipes gets you closer to 10 than 5, but that’s a quibble. The vast majority of the recipes have only 5 ingredients, don’t rely on canned soup, and look scrumptious. Those I’ve tried taste good too.

Robin Takes 5 is one of many cookbooks by Robin Miller—food writer, nutritionist, and TV cooking-show star. The cover says the book contains 500 recipes, 5 ingredients or Less, 500 calories or less. The recipes in this collection really have five ingredients, often a combination of fresh food and convenience items like canned tomatoes, reduced-salt broths, and frozen dough. The dishes are influenced by ethnic cooking and are far from boring. Every recipe I’ve tried has been really good.

Six Ingredients or Less by Carlean Johnson is now in its 4th edition, which attests to its popularity. The book doesn’t contain photos of food, but the layout makes the recipes easy to read and follow. Sidebars provide tips and suggestions for varying the recipes. In most five-ingredient cookbooks, you’ll find a handful of cookie recipes. This six-ingredient book contains directions for making 30 different cookies. That makes it particularly useful this time of year.

Happy holidays!

Five-Ingredient Thanksgiving Recipes

From the cover of By Cook or by Crook By Cook or by Crook includes eight recipes, three of them perfect for a Thanksgiving dinner: Mystery Salad, Just Small Potatoes, and Easier-than-Pie Apple Crisp. Here's the apple crisp recipe, slightly modified from the one in the book's appendix, and an easy stuffing recipe. 
 
Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving recipe? Please mention it in a comment. Easier-Than-Pie Apple Crisp 
Serves 6-8 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

5 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (about 5 medium or 3 large apples)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup softened (not melted) butter
[Optional: cinnamon sprinkles]

Put the sliced apples in a shallow, square baking pan (8 or 9 inches) and, if desired, sprinkle generously with cinnamon. Cover the pan with foil and bake the apples for 20 minutes.

Mix together the flour, sugar, and nuts. Mash the softened butter into the mixture with a fork if you’re finicky, and with your fingers if you’re not. When the apples have baked for 20 minutes, cover them with the crumb mixture. 

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until the topping is golden brown. 

Cool the apple crisp for at least 30 minutes. Serve it warm or cold, by itself or with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Herb Stuffing
Serves 10-12

As the designated holiday dinner makers in our family for the last 25 years, we've experimented with different types of stuffing, starting from scratch or using various stuffing mixes. We've settled on a 5-ingredient one as the favorite, a modified version of the recipe on the Pepperidge Farm® Herb Seasoned Classic Stuffing package.  

1 stick of butter
2 cups of chopped onions (approximately 2 large onions) 
2 cups chopped celery (4-6 celery stalks)
2 cups boiling water (or low-salt chicken broth)
1 14-ounce package of Pepperidge Farm® Herb Seasoned Classic Stuffing

Melt half the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions for five minutes or until tender. Add the celery and cook for another 3 minutes. Melt the remaining butter in the skillet with the vegetables. Stir in the stuffing mix. Add hot water or broth slowly, mixing it with the stuffing until moist, using less liquid if you prefer stuffing on the dry side.

Stove-top stuffing: Cover the skillet, remove it from the heat, and let it stand five minutes. Fluff the stuffing with a fork and serve.
Casserole stuffing: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spoon the stuffing into a 2-quart casserole. Bake 30 minutes or until hot. 
For in-bird stuffing: Loosely spoon the mixture into the turkey or chicken cavity before putting the bird in the oven. Don't overfill the cavity. A stuffed bird takes longer to cook than an unstuffed one. Put any remaining stuffing in a casserole dish and bake it for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.