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

KILLING THYME

Book 3 in the Spice Shop Mysteries

by

Leslie Budewitz

At Seattle Spice in the Pike Place Market, owner Pepper Reece is savoring her business success, but soon finds her plans disrupted by a killer…

Pepper Reece’s to-do list is longer than the shopping list for a five-course dinner, as she conjures up spice blends bursting with seasonal flavor, soothes nervous brides fretting over the gift registry, and crosses her fingers for a rave review from a sharp-tongued food critic. Add to the mix a welcome visit from her mother, Lena, and she’s got the perfect recipe for a busy summer garnished with a dash of fun.

While browsing in the artists’ stalls, Pepper and Lena drool over stunning pottery made by a Market newcomer. But when Lena recognizes the potter, Bonnie Clay, as an old friend who disappeared years ago, the afternoon turns sour. To Pepper’s surprise, Bonnie seems intimately connected to her family’s past. When Bonnie is murdered only days later, Pepper is determined to uncover the truth.

But when Pepper roots out long-buried secrets, will she be digging her own grave?

KILLING THYME

is available for pre-order 

Releases 

October 4, 2106

About Leslie

Leslie Budewitz blends her passion for food, great mysteries, and the Northwest in the Seattle Spice Shop Mysteries and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in Jewel Bay, Montana. Death al Dente won the 2013 Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Books, Crooks & Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure, won the 2011 Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction, making her the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. She is president of Sisters in Crime.

Swing by her website, www.LeslieBudewitz.com and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And follow her at www.facebook.com/LeslieBudewitzAuthor, where she shares news of life in the woods and giveaways from her cozy writer friends.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Pepper Reece, owner of the Seattle Spice Shop, gathers every Tuesday with the Flick Chicks, a group of women friends who gather to eat, drink, chat, and pretend to watch a movie. In KILLING THYME, third in the Spice Shop Mysteries (out October 4, 2016, available for pre-order in paperback, e-book, and audio book), Pepper’s mother Lena joins the Chicks for a reprise of an old favorite—and a bit of mother-daughter tension prompted by Pepper’s insistence on investigating a crime that appears to have roots deep in her family’s past.

From KILLING THYME (Chapter 18):

“Casablanca again?” Laurel pretended exasperation. The choice was a clue to Kristen’s stress, the kind of movie we were allowed to watch as kids. Classic film is her comfort food, like popcorn to my neighbor Glenn, and mac and cheese to me.

“It cheers me up,” Kristen said. “After the theft, I need cheering up.”

“Theft?” Seetha said. Laurel shot me a questioning look. In all the other turmoil, I’d forgotten to mention the bracelet. Kristen filled them in.

Seetha’s naturally red lips made an O. “One of your friends stole your heirloom? On the tour?”

“I’m still trying to figure out if it is an heirloom. I don’t remember it. Do you, Lena?” Kristen said. Her blond ponytail swung, held by a silver butterfly clasp.

“The bracelet? No, I have no idea where it came from.”

“Round up the usual suspects.” An antique oak sideboard held a tray of champagne cocktails. I picked up a flute, a raspberry in the bottom, and ignored my mother’s glare. One of the things I like about being a grown-up is playing the smart aleck whenever I want.

But even at forty-three, I can feel my mother’s disapproval like a cold hand on my shoulder.

On to the recipe!

Raspberry Limoncello Sparklers

A marvelous drink for a celebration, 

or whenever champagne is called for.

For each drink:

½ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon grated lemon zest

A few drops of fresh lemon juice

4 to 5 raspberries

2 tablespoons limoncello

Crushed ice

½ cup sparkling wine

A strip of lemon peel, for garnish

On a small plate, stir together the sugar and grated lemon zest.

Dip a clean finger in the lemon juice and moisten the rim of a champagne flute.

Dip the rim in the sugar mixture to coat.

Place the raspberries in a small bowl with the limoncello. 

Use a cocktail muddler if you’re lucky enough to have one, or a wooden spoon, to crush the berries and make a limoncello-berry puree. 

Pour the puree into the sugar-rimmed flute. 

Add a spoonful of crushed ice, and pour in the sparkling wine. 

Garnish with the lemon strip and serve immediately.

(Text and recipe excerpted from KILLING THYME, Oct. 4, 2016, Berkley Prime Crime)

Wouldn't these be 

refreshing 

on a hot summer day?

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 from

ASSAULT AND PEPPER

Book 1 in the Spice Shop Mystery series

And

GUILT AS CINNAMON

Book 2 in the Spice Shop Mystery series

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 Beginning

"What does Autumn taste like? How does it smell?

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

I handed Tory the dark brown jar, Jane's spidery script on the red-rimmed white label yellowed with age. Those labels we would never modernize, except when we couldn't read them anymore. 

~*~*~*~*~

My Book Beginning

"Parsley poop."

My Friday 56

"But you think - you think ghost chiles killed her?"

I couldn't imagine someone buying an ounce at a time and hoarding it, pepper shopping like meth makers hopping from pharmacy to pharmacy snapping up Sudafed. The crazy stuff people do. 

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

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