It's

Cozy Food Friday!

That means it's time to share a recipe from 

another great cozy mystery!

This week's recipe is from

DEATH OF A WEDDING CAKE BAKER

Book 11 in the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mysteries

by Lee Hollis

For Matron of Honor Hayley Powell, catching a half-baked poisoner before her friend's wedding will be icing on the cake . . . 
 
Liddy Crawford, best friend of food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell, is getting married. The wedding is the talk of the town in Bar Harbor, Maine, including snide gossip about the age gap between the bride and her groom, local lawyer Sonny Lipton. But the cruelty of the comments is nothing compared to the nasty wedding cake baker, Liddy's quarrelsome cousin Lisa.
 
So when the belligerent baker is found facedown in a three-tier cake, the victim of a poisoned slice, there are more suspects in town than names on the guest list. With Sonny getting cold feet, Liddy getting hot under the frilly collar of her wedding gown, and a killer possibly crashing the ceremony, Hayley vows to solve the crime before her best friend walks down the aisle . . .
 
Includes seven delectable recipes from Hayley’s kitchen!

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BAKED CRAB POPPERS

photo property of pamperedchief.com

Your finished dish will vary in appearance

Ingredients

1 cup plain panko bread crumbs, divided

1 cup canned corn

½ cup finely diced red bell pepper

¼ cup chopped green onion

16 ounces fresh crabmeat (you can use lump crab too)

¾ cup real mayonnaise, divided

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (more to taste)

1 lemon, juiced 

photo property of hostthetoast.com

Your finished dish will vary in appearance

Directions

   Heat your oven to 425°F. Coat a 24-count mini muffin pan with cooking spray. (You may need to spray an additional pan depending on the size you make.)

   Sprinkle the bottoms of the tins with half of the panko bread crumbs. 

   In a bowl, combine your corn, red bell pepper, onions, crabmeat, half of the mayo, egg, salt, and black pepper. Mix gently so as not to break up the crabmeat too much, but combine well. 

   Spoon your mixture evenly to fill the cups in the pans. Sprinkle the rest of the panko over the mixture. 

   Bake in your preheated oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and cool poppers for about 10 minutes and then remove to cooling rack to finish cooling. 

   While cooling, combine the rest of the mayonnaise, the cayenne pepper, and the juice from the lemon in a small bowl and brush over the tops of the baked crabmeat poppers. 

   Trust me, you'll be making more before you even polish off you first batch! ~Hayley

photo property of pholfoodmafia.com

Your finished dish will vary in appearance

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MY REVIEW

Any day I get to read a book by author Lee Hollis, is a very good day indeed. And I do mean day. I make sure I have a clear schedule, and my phone on silent. I kick back in my recliner with a cold drink and snacks one hand, and I read the book cover to cover. Hooked from page one of DEATH OF A WEDDING CAKE BAKER, I may have finished in record time.

You would think by the eleventh book in a series, the author would have nothing left to tell. Or that the series would start getting tired. Nothing could be farther from the truth. DEATH OF A WEDDING CAKE BAKER is every bit as fresh and exciting at the first book in this series, DEATH OF A KITCHEN DIVA. This is because author Hollis doesn’t leave the characters standing still. They’re always evolving.

DEATH OF A WEDDING CAKE BAKER is a perfect example of my above statement. The book opens with Hayley and her besties, Liddy and Mona (among others) celebrating Liddy’s upcoming wedding. Anytime these three ladies are in a scene together, anything can happen. Mostly laughter for the reader. And there is plenty of that through the book. But this is a murder mystery after all. And this tale held many, many surprises. There were revelations leading to drop jaw moments that left me forgetting to breathe, in this intricate plot that had me turning the pages faster and faster. And it all leads up to a surprise cliff hanger ending. (Note to the author: I for one am happy with the “interruption” during the pivotal Hayley & Bruce scene.)

I can go on and on with all of the good things about DEATH OF A WEDDING CAKE BAKER and the entire Hayley Powell series, but I will wrap up with this. RECIPES! Food and cocktail recipes are included throughout the book. 

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Please keep reading to check out my 

installments of 

Book Beginnings on Fridays

and

The Friday 56

Both the BB and 56 are from

DEATH OF A WEDDING CAKE BAKER

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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

"I'd like to propose a toast," Hayley Powell announced, raising her fizzy glass of champagne. 

My 56

"I would never do anything that malicious and underhanded! What kind of person do you think I am?" Lisa wailed. 

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