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/...
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