It's

Cozy Food Friday!

That means it's time to share a recipe from 

another great cozy mystery!

This week I have picked

TO BEAD OR NOT TO BEAD

Book 4 in the Glass Bead Mysteries

by Janice Peacock

When a wealthy theater owner is killed by a falling art glass chandelier, glass beadmaker Jax O’Connell’s boyfriend, Detective Zachary Grant, quickly determines it was no accident. Jax and her friend Tessa try to carry on with a charity fashion gala at the theater, but with only a few days before the big event, they have to scramble to keep things from falling apart. The emcee quits, and to make matters worse, Tessa’s daughters are suspects in the murder. As the chaos unfolds, Jax discovers new suspects at every turn, including an edgy glass blower, an agoraphobic socialite, and a hunky former-cop-turned-actor. Can Jax piece together the clues to find the killer and uncover the dark secrets behind the victim’s family or will it be curtains for her?

Here’s a breakfast conversations between Jax, the main character in the Glass Bead Mystery Series, and her neighbor Val. She isn’t always the best cook, but provides much a lot of comic relief in my cozy mysteries.  This time around Val’s French toast is to die for.  I’m sharing Val’s recipe with you today.

Excerpt from To Bead or Not to Bead, Book Four in the Glass Bead Mystery Series

   As we passed around plates of food, I noticed Val helped herself to several pieces of French toast.

   “I thought you were on Sleeping Beauty’s Diet. Does she allow you to eat French toast?” I asked.

   “Oh, that was a dumb diet! You know how they get you to lose weight?”

   “By eating fewer calories than your body burns?” I suggested. It seemed like a logical guess to me.

   “Perhaps, but what they wanted me to do was sleep. Like all the time, I mean, literally stay in bed and sleep.”

   “Sounds fantastic to me,” I replied. I never wanted to get out of bed in the morning.

“Not me! I’ve got to get moving every day. If I don’t, I get all down in the dumps. I had to move on to the next diet.”

   “And what’s that?”

   “The Weekday Diet.”

   “And that is…” I prompted.

   “I can only eat things that begin with the letter of the day of the week. So, it’s Friday, and I can eat French toast,” Val said.

   “Oh, lucky you. Looks like French fries, fajitas, and figs are also on your menu,” I said, counting items on my fingers.

   “I’m not sure what I’m going to eat when I get to Saturday and Sunday.”

   “Steak and sausages?”

“I suppose…”

“Sangria and soup!” I suggested.

“Good job, Jax. Way to help me with my diet,” Val said, digging into her breakfast.

“No syrup?” I asked.

“Not until tomorrow.”

📚📚📖📚📚

!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

1 lucky reader will win a

Pewter Bookmark with

Hand Blown Glass Bead

by Janice Peacock 

USA only

Enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.

Bookmark will be different from the one in photo.

📚📖📚📖📚

MY REVIEW

Another crafty mystery from Janice Peacock!

I’ve heard it said that writers write what they know. It’s so very clear that author Janice Peacock must know what she’s talking about when it comes to glass bead making. But how does she get her knowledge for mysteries. Who cares. As long as she keeps more coming like, TO BEAD OT NOT TO BEAD!

I’ve enjoyed the Glass Bead Mysteries from the very first book in the series. In this installment all the great characters are back. Jax and Tessa are in the thick of things again, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  They’re just so much fun to read.

As for the whodunit, I was so happy to see the victim get what he deserved (I’m really not so vengeful in my own life), and in a very creative way. A gun or poison weren’t good enough. No, author Peacock had other ideas for this victim, and I’m so happy she did!

Mystery fans, you will be blown away with, TO BEAD OR NOT TO BEAD.

🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄

On To The Recipe!

VAL'S STUFFED CINNAMON 

FRENCH TOAST

All food photos are owned by Janice Peacock

Ingredients:

1 pound loaf of cinnamon bread (I like Cinnabon, but any cinnamon bread will work)

The stuffing:

   4 ounces of softened cream cheese

   2 tablespoons granulated sugar

   ½ teaspoon vanilla

  The dip:

   3 eggs (the eggs pictured are from my backyard chickens)

   2 tablespoons of milk

   ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Syrup (optional)

Powdered sugar (optional)

   1. Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla is a small bowl.  I like to use a fork ensure the ingredients are well-mixed.

   2. Spread the cream cheese mixture on one slice of cinnamon bread, then put another piece on top of the cream cheese mixture to make a sandwich.

   3.  This a good time to pre-heat your pan to medium heat.  I like a cast iron frying pan with a little non-stick spray, but any large frying pan will work. 

   4. Whisk eggs, milk and cinnamon in a wide, medium bowl.

   5. Working quickly, dip your bread and cream cheese sandwich into the egg mixture, making sure to coat all sides and edges.  Put it in the pan. Depending on the size of the pan, you may be able to squeeze a couple of these in at time.

   6. Cook for 1 minute on each side or until golden brown. Monitor for doneness at 30 seconds—you don’t want them to burn. If your bread is thick, you can place another frying pan on top of the sandwich to press it down.

   7. Serve onto plates, cut in half, and add syrup or powdered sugar, if desired.

Done!  Enjoy your breakfast, and I’ll thank Val next time I see her.

Hands up if you're going to make this ASAP!

📕📖📘📖📙📖📗

Please keep reading to check out my 

installments of 

Book Beginnings on Fridays

and

The Friday 56

Both the BB and 56 are from

TO BEAD OR NOT TO BEAD

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

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

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 Book Beginnings

Frankie Lawton stood in the middle of the stage screaming at his volunteers. Dressed in a scarlet suit, with a shock of white hair on his head, he reminded me of Santa---except for his attitude, which was somewhere between bossy and shrill---definitely not jolly.

My 56% (Appox)

"Maybe, we don't have a map to go along with it, so, it's going to be hard to know where to start digging."

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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.