It's

Cozy Food Friday!

That means it's time to share a recipe from 

another great cozy mystery!

Today's recipe comes from

THE COZY CHICKS KITCHEN

A Killer Collection of Recipes by the Bestselling Authors of the Cozy Chicks Blog 

SECOND EDITION

Welcome to our kitchen! The kitchen is the heart of the home. This sense of warmth and companionship is what The Cozy Chicks try to invoke in our novels. And now, our cookbook will allow you to enter the heart of our cozy mystery worlds—the stories of our characters, of their authors, told through food. For a short while, our heroines have taken a break from crime solving to don aprons and wield spatulas and wooden spoons. And they’d like nothing more than to spend some time with you. THE COZY CHICKS KITCHEN is chock full of mouthwatering gems. Everything is here: main dishes, desserts, salads, soups, drinks, and did I mention desserts? Don’t miss this fabulous collection. I’ve got both the ebook version and a hardcopy. Get yours today! --Julie Hyzy, New York Times bestselling author of the White House Chef and Manor House mysteries The Cozy Chicks Are Bestselling Authors: Ellery Adams / J.B. Stanley, Deb Baker / Hannah Reed, Lorna Barrett / Lorraine Bartlett, Kate Collins, Mary Kennedy, Mary Jane Maffini, 

Maggie Sefton, Leann Sweeney

This book contains recipes from cozy mystery favorites, 

Ellery Adams / J.B. Stanley

Deb Baker / Hannah Reed

Lorraine Bartlett / L.L. Bartlett/ Lorna Barrett

Kate Collins

Mary Kennedy

Mary Jane Maffini

Maggie Sefton

and

Leann Sweeney

You can follow The Cozy Chicks blog here...

www.cozychicksblog

Today's recipe is from 

Kate Collins

author of the 

Flower Shop Mysteries

IRISH LEEKS AND POTATO SOUP

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup onion, 1/4 inch dice

2 diced leeks, well rinsed

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 

5 cups chicken stock

4 cups dice Idaho potatoes or 1 5-pound bag new red potatoes

1 large carrot, diced

salt and pepper to taste

chives (optional)

bacon bits (optional)

bouquet grani (see below)

   Melt butter in a saucepan over medium high heat.

   Lower the heat; add onion and carrots and cook gently for 2 minutes. 

   Add the leeks and cook for 6-7 minutes or until the onions are soft but not brown. 

   Add flour and stir for 2 minutes to thicken, making a roux, without browning. 

   Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. 

   Add the bouquet garni. 

   Add the potatoes and simmer over medium heat for 40-45 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked thoroughly.

   Remove from the heat and discard the garni. 

   Garnish with bacon bits or chives.

   Finished soup -  Yield: 4 servings 

BOUQUET GRANI

   1 bay leaf

   2 tablespoons chopped parsley 

   1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

   1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns

   Tie the ingredients in a small piece of cheesecloth or wrap in foil pricked with small holes.

NOTE: All images are from Google Images and/or Pinterest. 

Your dish may vary in appearance.

I think a bowl of this with some warm crusty bread would be perfect on a snowy day like I have here in DE. 

But I bet it would also be very refreshing in the summer time if served chilled. 

 Author Kate Collins

writes 

The Flower Shop Mystery series. 

The newest book in the series, 

A ROOT AWAKENING 

is available now!

Abby Knight's marriage may be in full bloom, but house hunting is no bed of roses in latest novel in the New York Times bestselling Flower Shop Mystery series...

Now that they’ve tied the knot, flower shop owner Abby Knight and her husband, Marco, want to put down roots. When it comes to picking a house, Marco can’t wait to get his hands dirty, while Abby isn’t ready for a fixer-upper. But conflict really sprouts when they’re checking out a dilapidated Victorian and watch a construction worker take a life-threatening tumble.

Since witnesses claim the man shouted for help, suggesting that the fall was no accident, the victim’s flamboyant wife hires Marco to find the person responsible. Meanwhile, Abby keeps secret from Marco her own investigation into the home’s inhabitants, a family whose off-kilter behavior has aroused her suspicions. If only Abby’s very pregnant cousin, Jillian, will stop distracting Abby with false labor pains, she can conclude her own inquiries before Marco finds out…and her case blossoms into a disaster.

MY REVIEW

I found A ROOT AWAKENING to be every bit as entertaining as the other volumes in this series. With the same great writing style, it’s packed with mystery, fun, and colorful characters.

It’s hard to believe this is already the sixteenth installment in the Flower Shop Mysteries. Yet, somehow, Ms. Collins has kept this series as fresh as the flowers she writes about. For indeed, it is a wonderful bloom in an ever growing bouquet.

There is a superb “whodunit” with plenty of false leads to keep you guessing. I had no idea who the culprit was until lead character, Abby Knight, knew herself. While I do love to be able to guess sometimes, I really enjoy when a book like this one leaves me with my mouth hanging open and saying, “No way!”

One of my favorite parts of the story was the house hunting involving Abby and her new husband, Marco. It reminded me so much of looking for a new house a couple of years ago. Some of the “fixer uppers” we were shown were in pretty rough shape. Like Abby, I was not enthused with the prospect of being the one to do the fixing.

You’re really going to enjoy A ROOT AWAKENING. If you haven’t read this series yet, please start adding them to your TBR stacks! You won’t be sorry. And if you already read this series, well, you are in for the same wonderful treat you always get when reading the Flower Shop Mysteries.

Check out the end of the book for a blurb on, FLORIST GRUMP, coming in November 2015!

Keep reading to check out my installments of 

Book Beginnings on Fridays

and

The Friday 56

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... 

Book Beginnings this week is from

A ROOT AWAKENING by Kate Collins

Book 16 in the Flower Shop Mystery series

Monday

"Are my newlyweds ready to go inside for a look?"

Our Realtor pressed her hands together as though praying, her smile as desperate as her enthusiastic nods, as if to say, Of course you're ready! At that price, you'd be fools not to be. Please, please, please?

I glanced at Marco, who was studying the dilapidated Victorian home with a shrewd and, yes, disdainful eye. Good. We were on the same page. 

"No," I said, just as Marco said, "Sure."

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 the A ROOT AWAKENING theme

My Friday 56

He wasn't hard to locate. There was only one laborer in the back, a broad-shouldered man with coal black hair tied back in a ponytail, a square-jawed face, and a well proportioned body. 

A ROOT AWAKENING is 

Book 16 in the 

Flower Shop Mysteries. 

You can find the rest of the great titles in this series at your local bookstore,

Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Follow Kate at her website

www.katecollinsbooks.com

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Also, become a Follower of my blog by 

clicking on the link in the 

upper right hand corner of this page.

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Whodunit Wednesday Solution

   "According to Bernidi's story, he lay down in the narrow space behind one of the display counters. His face was to the wall, and the lower wooden panels of the counter would have obstructed his vision even if he turned. Since he supposedly did not arise until after the thief left, he could not have known that the thief used a burlap sack." 

   Business had been bad for Bernidi. He fabricated the entire robbery for the insurance money and was sent to prison for his trouble.