Welcome back Nancy Coco – Summer Festivals and a Champagne Fudge Recipe
By Liz, happy to welcome our friend Nancy Coco back to the blog! She’s got an amazing recipe for you today – take it away, Nancy!
One of my fondest memories of growing up in Michigan is of going to the summer church festivals. There would be rides in the parking lot and inside the school were different games in every classroom. The games were the duck pond where for a set number of tickets you got a chance to grab a rubber ducky and read the number off the bottom and find out what prize you won. I never could hit a balloon at the dart toss, but sometimes I’d get lucky at the ring toss. Still my all-time favorite was the cake walk.
Photo by MD Duran on UnsplashI can still here my dad say, “Cakenicklechance” in a Polish accent. It was what the ladies would call out to get you to join the cakewalk. A nickel a chance to win a homemade cake – all you had to do was end up on the right number when the music stopped.
Mackinac Island has some wonderful festivals. For my latest Mackinac Island book, “A Midsummer Night’s Fudge” I envisioned a midsummer night festival to help raise money for the health clinic. But it’s no cake walk, as Allie McMurphy discovers the festival Director floating dead in the water. Soon it appears other members of the committee are targeted, and she is on the lookout for a killer.
What festivals happened in your neighborhood? Did you have a favorite festival event or game? Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of the book. And for celebratory fun, here is a boozy fudge recipe.
Champagne Fudge
Ingredients:
3 cups of dark chocolate chips
1 cup of heavy cream
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup of champagne (sparkling wine – fizzy or flat will work)
Directions:
Butter an 8×8 inch pan. In microwave, microwave on high for 1 minute the chocolate chips, cream and pinch of salt. Stir and microwave for 30 seconds and stir until melted. Remove and whisk in the champagne. Pour into pan and cool. The fudge should spring back slightly. (Hint: If it is too wet, put back into a bowl and add powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time until firmer consistency.) Pat back into pan. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Enjoy!
The tenth in the Nancy Coco Candy-coated mysteries, “A Midsummer Night’s Fudge” is out May 24, 2022. For more information, go to www.nancyjcoco.com.
USA Today Bestselling Author, Nancy J Parra AKA Nancy Coco AKA Nell Hampton is the author of over 30 published novels which include five mystery series: The Oregon Honey-comb Mystery Series (Kensington), The Candy-Coated Mysteries (Kensington), The Kensington Palace Mystery Series (Crooked Lane), The Wine Country Tours Mystery Series (Crooked Lane) The Gluten-free Baker’s Treat Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), and The Perfect Proposal Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime). Her writing has been called witty and her protagonists plucky by reviewers around the world. Nancy is a member of Sisters in Crime and loves to hear from readers.
