Cozies For The Kitchen Shelf

The other day my friend Lisa and and I were talking about the wonderful recipes that cozy mystery authors come up with, that can be found in the back of so many of the cozies we read and enjoy.
She was telling me about her collection of cook books from cozy mystery authors and we got to talking about collecting and using these fun books. I will admit the only one I have is an E- Copy I bought of Tea Time With The Cozy Chicks. I was so excited when this downloaded on to my Kindle App the morning it was released I quickly devoured it! I am actually regretting not purchasing a paperback copy of this book!

Our conversation started over my love of the recipe I found and made in The Gray Whale Inn Kitchen by Karen MacInerney. I loved this book and the idea that these recipes and ideas offered to us by those who write in the cozy world, actually turn out!

So now I am on a quest to add these paper book kitchen cozies to my own kitchen self. The Cozy Chicks Kitchen is a collection of recipes from Ellery Adams, Lorraine/L.L. Bartlett, Kate Collins, Mary Kennedy, Mary Jane Maffini, Maggie Sefton, Deb Baker, and Leann Sweeney

One I am simply in love with the cover of is The Cozy Cookbook with recipes by Laura Childs, Cleo Coyle, B.B. Haywood, Julie Hyzh, Kenn McKinlay and more.  I don't think any cozy mystery book could have a cover I found more fitting.

So that brings me to the question of do you my dear readers have a favorite recipe or cozy recipe book that you have found in our wonderful genre? If so please leave me a comment below or email me and let me know what I need to add to my kitchen shelf!

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a kitchen cozy book wish list review! I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

On My Table and In My Cup August 6-13th

Another very delightful week has come to an end here on my blog and I have been very busy this week. I have some truly delightful projects on the go, fantastic books that have just arrived to read  and some extremely supportive friends who made this week a complete joy.

Thank you to my team, Karen, Lisa and Sheryl for all the ways you make me love what I do. In addition to great family, and friends I am so thankful to have been able to make the time to read some great cozies this week.

I finished  A Catered Tea Party which is by Isis Crawford and comes out August 30th. Tea themed cozies are a true delight for me! I can not wait to share my review with you of this one! In my cup this week I have had Murchies Lavender Black tea, Davids Cotton Candy Tea and even After 8 tea just to name a few!

I shared the review of All- Butter Short Dead by J.Y. Hanna yesterday and it was still free as of yesterday so run over to amazon.com and download it for yourself! I enjoyed this one and it got my blood pressure up in parts!

I can honestly say I did not loose any weight this week, not that I am trying and even if I was I could not have resisted eating Karen MacInerney's Peach Sunrise Coffee Cake I made from her recipe provided in The Gray Whale Inn Kitchen, this was only one off some very delicious looking recipes included with in! Now Lisa has me wanting to catch up with her and Sheryl with all the cook books that go with cozy series!

A Grave Prediction by Victoria Laurie was so much more fun then I had anticipated. This cozy was heavy on the side of amazing friendships and complicated mysteries. A cozy combination I admire and enjoyed. I felt very involved in this particular mystery and strongly recommend it for a great weekend read.

Bailey Cates, Spells and Scones appeared briefly on my table this week as well, I say briefly as I could not put it down and read it in record time. This is a "chip" type book series where you can just inhale each cozy mystery as if they were a bag of chips! Thank you to Laura from swimming for the great analogy!

The Witch Who Couldn't Spell was a Sunday review and another free or almost free cozy I enjoyed from Amazon.com. I loved the concept of this one, it was on the lighter side of paranormal but still a good British themed cozy.

With that I must leave you this Saturday morning as I have a very exciting event today, my second annual Witches Tea Party and I hope to have some fun photos and tips from my own party to share with you soon.
Thank you for joining me here for another week in review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Peach Sunrise Coffee Cake From The Gray Whale Inn Kitchen! A Book and Recipe From Karen MacInerney

I follow Karen MacInerney on Facebook and I subscribe to her news letters too. As a reward last week she sent her followers The Gray Whale Inn Kitchen Recipe Book.  My friend Sheryl over at Booth Talks Booksand I both have made this Peach Sunrise Coffee Cake and it is delicious.
I have asked author Karen MacInerney if I can share this recipe and she has kindly agreed!

Peach Sunrise Coffee Cake From  The Gray Whale Inn Kitchen by Karen MacInerney
Cake :
2 cups of All Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons of Sugar
1/3 cup of butter
1 egg
1 cup milk

Base:
1/2 cup of melted butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups of peaches thinly sliced ( I used canned and I sliced each one in half)

Middle layer:
1/3 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Cake:
In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar with a fork. Cut in butter. In a separate bowl, beat together egg and milk. Add to the glour mixture, stirring until just mixed. Set aside.

Base:
Combine melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon; spread over the bottom of a 9 inch square baking pan (I had a 8X8 pan). Next layer the peaches in four rows.  Spoon half the cake batter over the peaches.

Middle Layer: Combine sour cream and raspberry preserves in a small bowl. Pour over the batter in the pan. Then drop spoonfuls of the remaining batter over the preserves mixture and smooth it out.

Bake at 350 F for 50 mins, cool for 15 mins and then invert on a serving plate.

I loved all the recipes in this book and can not wait to try more, from savory to sweet there is something for everyone in this cozy cook book!

To order your own copy of Karen MacInerney's book The Gray Whale Inn Kitchen please click here
Learn more about Karen MacInerney and all her cozy series by clicking here
Thank you Karen for allowing me to share your recipes with my readers and for this wonderful book!
Thank you all for joining me here for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery recipe book review! I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table and In My Cup July 30- August 6th

Saturday morning and what a busy week it has been. I have been able to read some great mysteries this week, one book about writing and a cook book. It has been a wonderful and busy week here on my table. I treated my self to some wonderful mint and chocolate scented tea with Steeped Tea's After Eight tea. It was indulgent like the wonderful chocolates themselves and satisfying as an after dinner tea. Arriving Thursday on my table was A Grave Prediction by Victoria Laurie and Bailey Cates Spells and Scones.

This month I am taking an on line course in writing called Discover Your Writing Self and I am so enjoying it. One of the books I found very informative and helpful was Writing Day In and Day Out by Andi Cumbo-Floyd, there was some very practical and helpful advice along with some truly motivating passages. You can find this book on Amazon by clicking here.

Karen MacInerne kindly sent her newsletter subscribers her The Gray Whale Inn Kitchen  tomorrow I plan on making the Peach Sunrise Coffee Cake you can find The Gray Whale Inn Kitchen by clicking here. 

Thursday I finished The Witch Who Couldn't Spell by Katie Penryn, A British Paranormal Cozy I will share a review of Sunday.

This week thanks to my library,  I read A Tigers Tale by Laura Morrigan, I loved it. The story is a good one and it was a delightful read and mystery.

Out now a new first in series by CeeCee James this was a fun cozy and one I quite enjoyed. I loved the cover as much as the story. This book is available now.

Vickie Fee's 2nd in her Liv and Di series comes out in September and this was a great book, good cozy and easy to get into. If you have yet to read this series pick up the first book  for $1.99 right now on kindle! Death Crashes the Party and pre order It's Your Party Die If You Want Too for September! You will be glad you did.

Victoria Hamilton/Amanda Cooper sent me this wonderful tea spoon for my collection. This Skull Spoon works perfectly and photographs even better with my afternoon tea and a great cozy series, The Teapot Collector Mystery Series!

On my table this week I am pleased to share a new to me tea cup my father's friend Janice gave him to give to me. This Royal Albert stunner is from the portrait series and has been a delight to use this week on my table. Fun fact I use around 4-6 teacups and saucer sets a day, lots of hand washing! I don't consider myself a collector as I actually use my teacups, I do not treat them as  trophies but as beautiful vessels delivering liquid sanity in the sea of chaos that life can bring.

Finally today I would like to thank you all who entered to win a copy of Leann Sweeney's The Cat, The Collector and the Killer. The winner is :

Robin Coxon! Congratulations and a copy will be sent to you from the pulisher shortly. 

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a week in review here today and I look forward to sharing more reviews with you again tomorrow. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Killer Jam A Dewberry Farm Mystery Review

I finished Killer Jam on Satuday night. This is the new Dewberry Farm Mystery is by Karen Macinerney and the first book I have ever read by her. I was sent this ARC to review and I am so thrilled that it was sent to me.

A jam lover myself, I was intrigued by the name, Killer Jam. This series is set in Buttercup where the main character Lucy has been downsized at work and returns to her grandparents farm to get back to basics. She purchased the farm from the town's bully who  was sweet as honey at the time of purchasing back her grandparents farm which has been left in disrepair for years.

As Lucy tries her hand at homesteading and  just as she is settling into town life her land is threatened by the possibility of drilling for oil on her property her world gets turned upside down. I really enjoyed this first story and feel that the ground work has been laid for a great new series. As for cozy pets go this one is one of my favorites a cow with a mind of her own....read Killer Jam to learn more!
You can order Killer Jam from Amazon to your kindle app by clicking here
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea (Blueberry Black tea to be exact) and a great new cozy mystery.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table and In My Cup July 18th To July 25th

As I sat down to write this mornings post the skies opened and the rain is coming down in the perfect summer storm. The sky is mostly blue of to the west so I know it will be a passing shower but the water is jumping from the road so high and the flowers and I am so thankful for this much need rain.

This week I have had mostly my kindle app on my ipad on my table. Still awaiting what I am certain is now a lost order. I have checked with the local post office and they are not holding my mail so it is either lost and forgotten in the Vancouver Depot or simply not going to arrive. This happened in January and it was three months before they found it. I am so frustrated and wish that our mail system here in Canada was half as reliable as that of my American friends and would love to have the customer service that my British Friends receive.

Also on my table and now in my stomach was delightful treats from the UK, I have only 1/2 tin of the Clotted Cream Shortbread from West Minster Abby left and have enjoyed every bite of shortbread my sister and her husband kindly brought back.

I am now on the second cup of tea this morning and the passing shower has mostly passed I do believe I will try to get a few more chapters read in my ARC of Killer Jam.

and then I hope to start Jim and Joyce Lavene's first in a new series called

Give em Pumpkin To Talk About out Aug 4th!
I hope you have a wonderful Saturday and that you find time to read. Thank you for joining me for a week in review of what has been on my table and in my cup this week.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Tea, Toast and My TBR Pile

Greetings from my table this morning. I am still stalking the mail man for my Death of An English Muffin by Victoria Hamilton no mail yesterday it is really getting frustrating but that shall be on the top of my TBR pile when it finally does arrive.  I will say that my Kindle App does have several books on it I could be reading and one or two I am reading but for me there is nothing like the feeling of that book in hand.

My Kindle app on my Ipad is pretty sweet though and I do like that I can take it with me but what I don't love is that the battery ran out while I was reading. I know first world problem but still for me Paper books will be always first and foremost. Until the mail man stops by with my paper book I am reading Killer Jam by Karen MacInerney which is out later this month. Thankful that I am not with out something to read. What is on your TBR pile?
Thank you for joining me for A Cup of Tea and A Cozy Mystery today. As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

New Tea Shop Just Opened By Vancouver International Airport, The Capilano Tea House and Botanical Soda Company

Yesterday we stopped in at the new high end fashion outlet mall by YVR. The new Capilano Tea House and Botanical Soda Company had just opened.

I attempted to purchase some of the tea however they did not have debit (as it had not yet been set up) so I will have to wait until the next time I find myself out that way.

I was interested in trying this tea because they boast that "The Capilano Tea House and Botanical Soda Company is Indigenous-owned and plant-inspired. We infuse the traditional local with the traditional global for a very Vancouver, curated flavour offering." 
As I live on the Traditional Lands of The Sqaumish Nation I really would like to see this company do well. This company has a pop up summer store at Summer Pop Up at unit 33 - 7899 Templeton Station Road, Richmond, BC.
Hawkers Mercado at McArthur Glen Vancouver.You can find them online by clicking here  I will be attempting to get a hold of some of their teas and let you know what they are like. 

I am off to do some reading this morning with my ARC of Killer Jam by Karen MacInerney check out her work by clicking here.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com