It's

Cozy Food Friday

That means it's time to share a recipe from 

another great cozy mystery!

Today I'm featuring a recipe from

Book 2 in the Undercover Dish Mysteries

CHEDDAR OFF DEAD

by

Julia Buckley

Pre-order now

Available September 6!

Caterer and cook Lilah Drake is up to her elbows in deadly trouble in the latest mystery from the author of The Big Chili...
 
The Christmas holidays are one of Lilah’s favorite times of the year, filled with friends, family, and, of course, tons of food orders for her covered dish clients. But Lilah’s Yuletide cheer ends when she sees a most Grinch-like crime: the murder of a Santa in a school parking lot.
 
It turns out the deceased Kris Kringle was a complicated tangle of naughty and nice, with a long list of people who might have wanted him dead. And whoever did the deed wants to make sure that Lilah keeps quiet. Now, Lilah will have to team up with her former fling, Detective Jay Parker, to unwrap the mysteries of a deadly Christmas killer and stay alive long enough to ring in the New Year...

About Julia

Julia Buckley is a Chicago writer. She has two debut novels with Berkley Prime Crime: A DARK AND STORMY MURDER (July 5, 2016) and THE BIG CHILI (October 5, 2015), along with a variety of mystery novels available on Kindle.

Her hobbies are reading, writing, binge-watching tv series on Netflix, and hanging out with her husband, sons, three cats, and a rambunctious puppy.

Visit Julia at her website, JuliaBuckley.com or her Facebook page, Julia Buckley Mystery Novels, or see her on Twitter @juliabucks

MY REVIEW

Even better than the first book in the Undercover Dish Mysteries, CHEDDAR OFF DEAD was a book I devoured!

I fell instantly in love with author Julia Buckley’s first book in this series, THE BIG CHILI so it came as no surprise to me that book two, CHEDDAR OFF DEAD was going to be brilliant.

Author Buckley has just the sort of writing I enjoy. Not cluttered with wasted words or scenes. Every word read is necessary to the plot, needed for the flow of the story.   

The characters in this series are wonderful. It took me no time at all to warm up to them in book one. Mick the chocolate Lab has stolen my heart.  Being with them in book two was like visiting with old friends.

CHEDDAR OFF DEAD was a delicious mystery. Ms. Buckley wasted no time getting right into it with the victim being discovered in the first chapter. From that moment on the story filled me with yummy plot twists, deception, humor, and incredible writing. By the time I reached the reveal, and then moved on to the conclusion, I was left completely sated.

When you have your own copy, cause I know you want one, take a peek in the back of the book for some tasty recipes!

ON TO THE RECIPE!

LILAH'S FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE

with GINGERBREAD FLAVOR

(Adapted for Christmastime)

Ingredients

1 loaf of soft French bread (or soft rolls)

8 large eggs

2 cups half-and-half

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Salt to taste 

Streusel Topping

(This can vary, but here's one option)

2 sticks (1 cup) butter

1/4 cup molasses

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

Slice bread into twenty slices (or separate ten rolls) and lay out in buttered baking dish. 

Blend all of the ingredients and pour them over slices of bread, making sure that the wet mixture gets under and in between the slices, and that all of the bread is saturated. 

Cover the mixture with tinfoil and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, make the streusel  mixture and spread on the top of the saturated, chilled bread; bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Serve with pats of butter and maple syrup. (Gingerbread also tastes delicious topped with whipped cream.)

Be ready for a scrumptious to share with friends or family! Toby's five children love this recipe, but adults love it, too! 

Is it just me, or could you smell this baking 

while you read this?

~*~*~

Please keep reading and check out my 

installments of 

Book Beginnings on Fridays

and

The Friday 56

~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Book Beginnings and Friday 56

 for this week are also from 

CHEDDAR OFF DEAD

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a meme hosted by Rose City Reader

Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading

My Book Beginnings

Bing Crosby was crooning "White Christmas" as I tried to fasten a Santa hat on the large skull of my chocolate Labrador, Mick. He wasn't cooperating. "Come on, Mick. I'm trying to get a Christmas card shot here," I wheedled, petting his nose. "Can you hold it on for just one minute?"

Mick nodded . 

The Friday 56 is a meme hosted by Freda's Voice

Rules: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that's okay.) *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you. *Post it.

My Friday 56

"Huh". I shoved my face back into the pillow, and Serafina laughed. 

Coming September 6!

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

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