Friday, February 13, 2015


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 the cozy mystery 
LADLE TO THE GRAVE
Book 4 in the Soup Lover's Mystery series
by
Connie Archer

By the Spoonful is Snowflake, Vermont’s most popular soup shop, but owner Lucky Jamieson doesn’t have any time to enjoy her success—she’s too busy trying to keep a lid on false accusations against her loved ones… 

It’s almost May, and some of the local ladies have organized a pagan celebration in the woods to welcome spring. But the evening goes terribly wrong when one of the attendees winds up dead, apparently poisoned by an herbal concoction prepared by Lucky’s grandfather, Jack.

Lucky’s sure her grandfather could not have made such a tragic mistake. But before she can clear him of suspicion, her best friend, Sophie, is diverted from planning her wedding to By the Spoonful chef Sage DuBois when she finds a dead man floating in the creek on her property. Now it’s up to Lucky to get both Sophie and Jack out of hot water before a killer stirs up more trouble…

Recipes included!

LADLE TO THE GRAVE 
is now available for pre-order for it's 
March 3 release!

Today's recipe is

Chicken Pot Pie Soup With Dumplings

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 cups chicken broth or bouillon
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
4 celery sticks, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups frozen peas
1/4 cup half-and-half (or milk)
(Lisa's note: salt and pepper)


Chop chicken breasts into small, bite-size pieces.

Add to large pot with chicken broth, carrots, celery, and onions.

Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes or until carrots and celery are tender. 

Add peas and cook 1 minute more. 

Add half-and-half or milk, and stir.

(Lisa's note: salt and pepper to taste) 

Prepare dumplings and reheat soup, dropping dough into bubbling soup and cover. 

Cook 10 - 15 minutes more until dumplings are cooked. 

Serves 4 


Dumplings

Ingredients

2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons cooking oil


In a bowl, mix flour, parsley, baking powder, thyme, and salt. 

Mix milk and oil separately and pour into flour mixture. 

Stir with a fork until combined.

Drop small amounts of sticky mixture into bubbling soup (as mentioned above).

Cover and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes until dumplings are cooked (or until toothpick comes out clean). 

Serves 4


NOTE: All images are from Google Images and Pinterest. 
Your soup may vary in appearance.

My stomach has been growling the whole time I've been typing up this post! 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please keep reading and check out my installments of 
Book Beginnings on Fridays
and
The Friday 56
which also feature 
LADLE TO THE GRAVE
by Connie Archer

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a meme hosted by Rose City Reader
Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading

Keeping my Cozy Food Friday theme going with 
LADLE TO THE GRAVE by Connie Archer
Book 4 in the Soup Love's Mystery series
My Book Beginnings for this week..

The women moved slowly, shuffling into the clearing in the woods, careful not to trip on the long white robes they had been instructed to wear. A few stole surreptitious glances at one or another of their group as they formed a loose semicircle before the slab of stone in the clearing. A chill wind blew through the trees, and the sound of beating wings came from above.    

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.

Continuing with LADLE TO THE GRAVE
From page 56
My Friday 56...

"I don't know. He was always pretty weird and angry on the subject. Now? I have no idea what his reaction would be."


I'm still reading LADLE TO THE GRAVE, and loving it. 
I'll post my review here on the blog on 
Saturday, February 21, when I will be a stop on the Great Escapes Book Tour for this title.

Learn about author Connie Archer







If you haven't read the Soup Lover's Mystery series 
by Connie Archer, I highly recommend them!

As always, please leave a comment and 
let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by 
clicking on the link in the 
upper right hand corner of this page.

???????????????????????????

Whodunit Wednesday
Solution

DEATH OF A SWINGER
Solution

   "Did you fellows all get along?" Sherman asked in his most innocuous tone. "Was Bobby a good friend?"

   The roommates exchanged glances. "Well . . ." Julio hemmed. "Bobby had this habit of stealing girls. He never messed with my Angie, but I heard from other guys. He got this perverse pleasure from going after girls who were already dating."

   "I doubt that is true," said Thad Killian. "Just gossip, you know."

   "Then why did you kill him?" asked Sherman.

   Thad chuckled. "What do you mean?"

   "You killed him, Thad. You cut the rope and threw it off the cliff. Then, when Bobby showed up to swim, you pushed him off the cliff."

   Thad stopped chuckling. "That's ridiculous."

   "Your story was ridiculous. Bobby didn't swing on that rope as you said. If he had, the severed rope end would have landed on top of his body or beside it. But the rope end was found underneath him. He couldn't have been swinging on it when he fell." 

I didn't get this one at all.
Did you?

24 comments:

  1. Missed the mark on this one! I will try the next. Love trying to figure them out. Also, thanks for sharing the recipe, I will be trying this soon!

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    Replies
    1. So glad you'll try my recipe, I do think it's delicious!

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  2. Poison is always a fun weapon. ;) I used it in my second Kay Driscoll cozy, "Murder Under the Tree."

    Wonderful recipe! The Chicken Pot Pie Soup With Dumplings sounds scrumptious and perfect for this upcoming cold weekend. I'll give it a try. Thank you, Lisa. :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Susan ~ thanks for your comment! It is fun because there are so many natural and unnatural poisons to choose from!

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    2. Hi Susan, thanks for stopping by. The soup does look wonderful, doesn't it? And no poison in the ingredients. ;-)

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  3. Fab Friday, Lisa! This soup looks awesome and this weekend w/b a great time to make it. Thanks!

    Whodunit Wednesday was too hard for me, too! :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Patricia ~ I think Sage at the By the Spoonful should try this soup too!

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    2. Hi ya, Pat. All this cold weather is perfect for this soup!

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  4. I did get it right, at least as far as who had done it. My reason that I knew Thad had done it was if Bobby had actually run and jumped, he would have cleared the granite when the rope broke and he fell.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elaine, yes you did! I myself question where the rope would have landed though. I think it still could have ended up under the body if it broke.

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    2. Well, I am not going to test this to see! Your games are fun! Thanks!

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  5. (hope this isn't a duplicate - first try disappeared ;-( )

    Sherman confounded me again, but it's always fun to try.

    This soup looks good - simple yet with the delicious dumplings.

    I cannot wait to read Ladle to the Grave. Almost time for the rest of us to get our copy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grandma, I can't wait for my print copy.

      That Sherman is something else isn't he? Rumor has it he's taking a break and we'll meet someone new next Wednesday.

      Delete
  6. I waiting for mine too! Can't wait to actually hold it in my hands! Glad you could stop by today!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Connie, waiting for you must be even harder than it is for us!

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  7. The book sounds great. The menu is making me hungry! Thanks for stopping by my blog and have a great weekend.
    sherry @ fundinmental Friday Memes

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    Replies
    1. Sherry. Thanks for coming by! I have a funny feeling a lot of people will be making that soup in the next few days. ;-)

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  8. I just got Ladle to the Grave and started reading it. Going to be such fun and that recipe is one I'll be trying. Perfect for this time of year:)
    My 56 - http://fuonlyknew.com/2015/02/13/the-friday-56-52-my-pet-yeti/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The book your reading sounds adorable! Thanks for stopping by!

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  9. What a cute meme! The cover art is so pretty and the author is beautiful. I'm so curious with the #56 snippet. The soup looks marvelous and I'm trying this one, thank you!

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    Replies
    1. LadyD, thank you for coming by. Connie is as sweet as she is beautiful. And her series is wonderful!

      Delete
  10. Adorable looking book and AWESOME looking soup.

    Oh my....it looks so good.

    Thanks.

    Have a great weekend.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Book Beginnings

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  11. I LOVE chicken and dumplings. Comfort food to me!
    The cozy sounds fun for an afternoon read!
    Happy weekend! <3

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