Review - The Cozy Cookbook

Last month I reviewed the Mystery Writers of America Cookbook (click here).  This week I review The Cozy Cookbook featuring a bunch of Cozy mystery author's recipes.  Additionally, we have a giveaway of one copy of each! Yay.  

Now, have you ever wanted to gather the recipes featured in the cozies together?  That is what we have here, some of the most tempting recipes from cozy mysteries gathered together to spice up your meal planning and impress your family and friends.

Author:  Julie Hyzy, Laura Childs, Cleo Coyle, Jenn McKinlay, et all

Copyright: April 2015 (Berkley/Penguin) 368 pgs

Series: Stand alone

Sensuality: FOOD

Mystery Sub-genre: Cook Book

Obtained Through: Publisher for honest review

From Book and Editor:
If you’re looking for a side of mystery with a heaping helping of some truly delectable recipes, you’ve come to the right place. Within these pages you’ll find scrumptious offerings for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as delicious desserts, appetizers, sides, and drinks.  Great meals don’t
have to be a mystery—but they can come from a mystery.

In addition to recipes, choose a sleuth du jour from our menu of mystery series and get a taste of each of our authors’ bread and butter—page-turning puzzles and stay-up-all-night suspense in excerpts from their bestselling
works.

Whether you like your meals sautéed, roasted, baked, or served cold like revenge, The Cozy Cookbook has something to satisfy every mystery fan.  This book contains previously published material."

My review:
This cookbook is well organized and includes more than a standard offering of snacks, main dishes, and desserts.  Chapters include: Breakfast, Breads Muffins and other baked goodies, Soups salads and sandwiches, Drinks, Appetizers, Main courses, and Side dishes. Here are some of my favorites, or some I am anxious to try.

Breakfast: the San Simon Frittata is a little work, but very worth it.  The Spinach Quiche is mouthwatering.

Breads, Muffins, and other baked goodies:  Holly Holiday's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread is amazing and I will be using it for muffins next.  Clare Cosi's Doughnut Muffins are addictive, just saying.  The Bacon-Cheddar muffins
are fantastic with breakfast.  I wanted to give kudos for the Gluten-free popovers and note that some of the others include how to convert to gluten-free.

Soups, salads, and sandwiches: Cauliflower and Cheddar Soup is yummy, as well as the Cucumber, Yogurt, and Walnut Soup that is served chilled for a great summer meal side.  It may not sound like it, but the Delilah's Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Fig Jam was "to die for."

Drinks:  May wine was very nice and unique.  The Summer Tea Sparkler is simple and refreshing.  The Pumpkin Spice Coffee Blend is pretty easy and so tasty.  Several specialty lattes from Cleo Coyle's CoffeeHouse mysteries are featured that I am looking forward to trying out soon, real soon.

Appetizers:  I always order extra Crab Ragoons with my Chinese food, now I can make a batch anytime with the Baked Crab Ragoon recipe that was easy and delicious.
Cucumber Cups Stuffed with Feta are a little work, but really good.

Main courses:  I haven't gotten to these yet, but I am looking forward to the Clare Cosi's Skillet Lasagna. 

Side dishes:  I also haven't gotten to this section yet, but I am planning on the Creamed Spinach with Olive Oil and Shallots as well as the Fully Loaded Colcannon.

Desserts:  By far the largest section of the book and it is crammed with delicacies.  Champagne Cookies, Melody's Chocolate Mousse, and Jasmine Tea Truffles are just a few on my list yet to try.  Oh my!

Rating:  Excellent - Loved it, great selection of recipes and one of my new go to cookbooks. Buy it now and start trying the recipes.


GIVEAWAY PRIZES:

We are celebrating crime fiction and the mysterious link to food here at M&MMs with a giveaway!  There will be two winners for this contest.

1)  One copy of The Cozy Cookbook

2)  One copy of Mystery Writers of America Cookbook

Entry for giveaway lasts until May 3 (Sunday) 6:00 p.m. (MST).  U.S.  entries only please.

The publishers will ship the books to the winners.

How to enter:

*** First, you must be a member (follower) of this blog.***

All entries are to be in the comments for this post.

I will accept entries for this giveaway until 6:00 p.m (MST) on  May 3, 2015.    I shall notify the winner via the email address you provide to get your mailing address and have the prize sent directly to you from the publishers.  If I don't hear from you in 3 days, I will select another winner and notify them.

IF you are a member of this blog, you only need to leave a comment with your correct email.

BECOME a member of this blog if you aren't already and enjoy the celebration of all things mystery and suspense.

Non-fiction Agatha Award and Nominees

The winner of the Agatha for non-fiction was Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks by John Curran.  "A fascinating exploration of the contents of Agatha Christie’s seventy-three private notebooks, including illustrations and two unpublished Poirot stories.

When Agatha Christie died in 1976, at age eighty-five, she had become the world’s most popular author. With sales of more than two billion copies worldwide, in more than one hundred countries, she had achieved the impossible — more than one book every year since the 1920s, every one a bestseller."

Sherlock Holmes for Dummies by David Crowder was nominated too.  This is perhaps the first "Dummies" book I have seen nominated for an award!  I had seen this book before and wondered if it was worthwhile.  I think the nomination answered that question.  It also got me interested in other nonfiction books related to the mystery genre.  

Another nominee was Have Faith in Your Kitchen by Katherine Hall Page.  I had done a post on Mystery Cookbooks last year and thought this would be of interest.  This "is the long-awaited collection of recipes from Katherine Hall Page’s famous series of novels starring Faith Fairchild — caterer, wife, traveler, and detective.  Here fans can find in one convenient volume the recipes that have spiced the Fairchild mysteries and provided them with their acute and varied sense of place. In addition, the author has provided a brace of warm-hearted and illuminating personal essays on cooking, locales, and the craft of writing."

But of the nonfiction nominees the one I am most interested in is Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang.

"On a balmy July night in 1904, a wiry figure sauntered alone through the dim alleys of Honolulu’s Chinatown. He strolled up a set of rickety steps and into a smoky gambling den ringing with jeers of card sharks and crapshooters. By the time anyone recognized the infamous bullwhip dangling from his hand, it was too late. Single-handedly, the feared, five-foot-tall Hawaiian cop, Chang Apana, had lined up forty gamblers and marched them down to the police station.

Himself a literary sleuth, Huang has traced Charlie Chan’s evolution from island legend to pop culture icon to vilified, postmodern symbol, ingeniously juxtaposing Apana’s rough-and-tumble career against the larger backdrop of a territorial Hawaii torn apart by virulent racism." Well, this is definitely going on my wish list!!

I found a video of the author discussing the Charlie Chan book, but it can not be embedded for me to include.  Please go here to view this video.


I have not paid much attention to non-fiction books related to the mystery genre but the Agatha Award nonfiction nominations grabbed my attention this time around.  Now I wonder what I have been missing.


Perhaps you know of some interesting books to include in this listing.  Please share!

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