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

A CRAFTER QUILTS A CRIME

Book 3 in the Handcrafted Mysteries

by Holly Quinn

Community Craft proprietor Sammy Kane must piece together a patchwork of clues when a "live" mannequin ends up stone-cold dead.

Snowcapped pines and glittery dusted sidewalks adorn tranquil Heartsford, Wisconsin, while residents cuddle beneath heirloom quilts in front of cozy wood fires. But come the next day, the below-zero temperatures won't keep the locals away from Heartsford's annual Fire & Ice event. To boost customer traffic at Community Craft's one-night-only sale, Samantha "Sammy" Kane persuades a few of the craftspeople who sell their wares at the store to participate in a live mannequin window display contest.

Local quilter Wanda Wadsworth emerges as a favorite to win the contest, as she manages to not move a muscle for an unusual amount of time. Onlookers outside the window try everything to get her to crack--tapping on the glass and making funny faces--but nothing disrupts Wanda's stillness. When the eagle-eyed spectators realize Wanda isn't breathing, a blanket of grief and fear descends upon the wintry town.

Detective Liam Nash can't seem to piece the clues together. Fortunately, Sammy's cousin, Heidi, and her sister, Ellie, are on hand to reconvene their detective team, S.H.E. They set out to solve Wanda's untimely death before the case grows as icy as a sub-zero Wisconsin winter. But they are all too aware that the killer is too close for comfort.

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ELLIE'S MEATBALL SOUP

Photo property of www.bakerbynature.com

Ingredients for meatballs

(purchase frozen meatballs to skip this step)

1 pound ground chuck

1 pound tube Jimmy Dean sage sausage

1 egg

½ Vidalia onion, finely chopped

¼ cup premade apple sauce

¼ cup bread crumbs

½ tsp basil

½ tsp oregano

Lawry Seasoned salt to taste

Assembly

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.  Mix ingredients in a small bowl. Form into walnut-size meatballs.

3. Bake until no longer pink. Freeze meatballs in freezer bags until ready to    

    prepare soup.

Photo property of www.tasteandreview.com

Ingredients for soup

1 46-ounce bottle V-8 juice (or 1 quart Ellie's Aunt B's gardened canned tomato juice)

32-ounce container beef broth

1 sweet onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

 1 or 2 stalks celery, chopped

1 or 2 carrots, chopped

2 or 3 golden-yellow potatoes, peeled and chopped

15-ounce can petite diced or diced chopped tomatoes

⅓ green pepper, finely diced

bay leaf

½ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon basil

Photo property of www.jocooks.com

Assembly

1. Place all ingredients except potatoes on high in slow cooker until it comes to      a simmer.

2. Add potatoes after the mixture is bubbly so they don't become too mushy.      

    Cook until potatoes are fork tender. 

Note: Can replace potatoes with white minute rice if desired. And if Aunt B's canned green beans are still available, add a mason jar's worth to taste. Cook on low until veggies are tender. Enjoy!

Photo property of www.itsyummi.com

I've never had meatball soup. 

But this sure makes me want to give it a try!

Less than half way through the first book in this series, I knew and said it was going to be one of my favorites. Having now finished this third book, I stand by my word.

Author Holly Quinn has created something special with her Handcrafted Mysteries. With a good number of cozy mysteries getting “edgier” (Not a word I think of when I think of cozies), Ms. Quinn has stayed true to the roots of the genre, and I for one am thrilled.

A CRAFTER QUILTS A CLUE was a fast paced read from cover to cover. Feeling as though I was a participant in every scene, I was totally invested in finding out who killed a local woman and why they did it. With skillful plotting and a knack for knocking the reader off track, the author had me duped right up until the reveal.

I’m sure I said this about the second book of this series, but I think A CRAFTER QUILTS A CLUE may be my favorite book in this series so far. It’s been delightful watching the characters grow from book to book, and I feel this story shows them at their best and strongest yet. The feeling of community was palpable and I enjoyed being a part of it.

With A CRAFTER QUILTS A CLUE is the perfect book to treat yourself to a dose of cozy.

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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

A CRAFTER QUILTS A CRIME

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.

Since I've featured this book before, this time my BB with be the beginning of Chaprter Two, and my 56 will be from page 156. 

My Book Beginnings 

Sammy Kane clutched the navy scarf closer to her neck, hoping to rebuff the frigid air threatening to penetrate any air pocket in her winter coat.

My 56

Was he hurt? Had he been in a car accident due to the inclement weather? Where was he?

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let me know what you think!

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