The Murder Chronicles...

Thursday, I came home to my second envelope from The Murder Chronicles. This is a subscription service that sends you a mystery to solve, through the mail. (Don't worry it does come with an answer sheet!) I love getting this and having a case to solve! It is so easy to bring with me and pull out to read when I can. Solving it in my own time, a lot like carrying a cozy mystery with me and armchair sleuthing it!  As this is my second envelope I am looking forward to exploring it this weekend and getting to know the case, each envelope has the story, clues and excitement!

My first one had me stumped and I love that the solution is included so that when you have it figured out or you are totally stumped you can check and see if you are on the right track or if you have the case in hand solved!
This is a great gift idea too for mystery lovers, armchair sleuths or someone who needs a cool surprise in the mail! You can order them once, every three months, click this link to learn more.   

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a look at some truly fun mysteries through the mail. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

NANOWRIMO Starts today!

Today is the start of National Novel Writing Month and it is time to be brave, pick up the pencil and start writing. Okay you can type it too but sometimes its easier to get the ideas down on paper first.  This is the third year I am participating.

Something making it more special this year is that my son the reluctant reader is also participating! His classroom teacher and Education Assistant sent home his NaNoWriMo goal sheet, I want one too now!
When I told him I was doing it as well, he said "Why did you not sit down and plan your novel with me? We could do it together. " I love his faith in me!
I plan to at least attempt to write each day.

I am planning on attending at least one Nanowrimo event and this one is put on by my sisters in crime chapter! Space is limited so if you are local and you want to come email morganticharlotte@gmail.com 

At work today I put together a small display for Nanowrimo! Our Book Lover's gift set, $19.95 has No 10 tea, Murchie's Tea Bag Rest, Library Tea, Editors Blend, some festive napkins and a great tea tin! I also love the book mugs
I am off to write, wondering if these words count towards my writing goal?
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a look at this years Nanowrimo launch.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

A Very Witchy Spelling Bee by George Shannon, Illustrated by Mark Fearing

Happy Halloween/ Happy Samhain to all of you!

Today I am so excited to be able to share my Halloween Day with the tea loving community as I am headed to work  at the tea shop for the day. I will join my boys later for their post trick or treating pizza after work. I love Halloween. I always have.

This year I am going to share a book review of one of my true favorites...

This book is lovely and delightful for the under 8 crowd. In A Very Witchy Spelling Bee the main character, takes learning her spells and spelling very seriously and she becomes a very confident and thoughtful young witch. This lovely story about a spelling bee, shows how age doesn't matter and that confidence and kindness goes a very long way. I love reading this book and having this book read to me. A very sweet story and one I am thrilled to own.

You can find a copy to love on Amazon by clicking here (I am not an amazon affiliate) 
Happy Halloween and thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a children's book review this very Witchy Wednesday!
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

In The Dog House by V.M. Burns

Last Friday night I finished In The Dog House by author V.M. Burns. This is a first in series that I truly enjoyed. Not your average cozy and was delightful in that it was not as predictable as some first in series can be. I loved the main character, her family and best friend. I like how the story was set up and how the setting, will change for the next book in the series. My favorite character though has a very small part and I can not give it away but I hope somehow she shows up in another book. She reminds me of a fairy godmother with a great attitude and I hope that she comes back in a future book. The main character and cozy animal have a great bond, love at first sight. I would really like to see how this series grows and I know dog and cozy lovers are going to so enjoy this book!

 A killer wants Lilly Echosby to roll over and play dead . . . Lilly may be losing a husband but she's gaining a toy poodle. That could be seen as a win-win, since her new adopted pooch Aggie (named after Agatha Christie) is cute and adorable, and Lilly's dirty dog of a spouse is cheating on her with a blond bimbo—except for one problem: Albert Echosby’s just been murdered, and Lilly is the number-one suspect. With the cops barking up the wrong tree, it's a good thing her best friend Scarlett "Dixie" Jefferson from Chattanooga, Tennessee, decided to take a break from the dog club circuit to pay a visit, along with her own prize pair of poodles. With help from Dixie, her defense attorney daughter, and a blue-eyed man in blue with a K-9 partner, Lilly is determined to collar the real killer. But when a second murder occurs, it's clear they're dealing with one sick puppy . . .

This book is out now and can be found on Amazon by clicking here.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Yeast Of Eden by Sarah Fox

Sarah Fox writes a wonderful series set on the West Coast about a Pancake House that is one of the series I look most forward to reading, anxiously awaiting the next instalment, in Yeast of Eden, Sarah doesn't disappoint. 

I love the cover, and the way Sarah writes the series it is so easy to picture and relate to the setting and the characters. This one tugged at my heart strings, the mystery as much as the history in this one was really touching and even though it is set around Christmas, it did not feel overly Christmasy or sickly sweet. A perfect blend! My mouth watered at the mention of the items offered in the Pancake house and I am grateful for the recipes at the end of the book. This one is out October 30th and is the fourth book in the series! I totally recommend this series for binge reading and a stack of pancakes to go with it! 

Winter has come to Wildwood Cove, and riding in on the chill is Wally Fowler. Although he’s been away for years, establishing his reputation as the self-proclaimed Waffle King, the wealthy blowhard has returned to the coastal community to make money, not friends—by pitting his hot and trendy Waffle Kingdom against Marley McKinney’s cozy pancake house, The Flip Side. Wally doesn’t see anything wrong in a little healthy competition, until he’s murdered in his own state-of-the art kitchen. Marley isn’t surprised when the authorities sniff around The Flip Side for a motive, but it’s her best friend Lisa who gets grilled, given her sticky history with the victim. When a second murder rocks the town, it makes it harder than ever for Marley to clear Lisa’s name. Marley’s afraid that she’s next in line to die—and the way things are looking, the odds of surviving her investigation could be stacked against her. 

You can find this book on Amazon by clicking here (I am not an Amazon affiliate) 
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Baking From The Heart and Family History...

Recently I have started to get back to baking, something I so enjoy but had truly stopped doing regularly. Encouraged by a good friend to start up again with some of my most favorite recipes, I picked my Gramie Gibson's Cocoa Czechoslovakian Cookies, though growing up we called them Chocolate Checks.  These are a thumbprint cookie that has a bitter sweet chocolate outer shell cookie and a tart raspberry filling. Though my sisters make it with strawberry, my go to is always raspberry.

We used to have these cookies at Christmas, Gramie would bake and freeze them in Quebec (then later from Ontario), then ship them 3,000 miles to us. They are my dads favorite. When she passed away I got the recipe card from her box and it is one I treasure. If I could ask her about any of her recipes this would be the one.  While I was making this batch up for the photos, I ran out of raspberry jam and used peanut butter instead. While the raspberry jam is my go to, I still enjoyed the peanut butter center as well. 

I did not grow up near either set of my grandparents but they did come and visit us. My paternal grandmother was an amazing cook and award winning baker. Having this recipe and making it reminds me of her, of the fun holiday times we did get to spend together . My Gramie passed away 18 years ago this coming January. My oldest son was 5 days old when she passed. It was a long while before I could bring myself to make these. This is the second time in a month I have made them and each time I do I feel just a little bit closer to my Gramie.

Gramie's Cocoa Czechoslovakian Cookies
3/4 cups Soft Butter
2/3 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Cocoa
3/4 Tablespoon Vanilla
9 oz Flour

Raspberry Jam
Icing Sugar for dusting
In a mixing bowl cream your butter and sugar. Add the cocoa and vanilla slowly add the flour until incorporated.  Roll out into small balls, place them on a lined cookie sheet,  then use your thumb to press down in the center.  Bake at 325 F for 8-10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and then re dent with your thumb.
Spoon raspberry Jam into the center of the cookies one after another then with a fine strainer dust the cookies with icing sugar.

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cookie recipe today. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

The Reluctant Reader And Captain Underpants

Friday the 19th was a non school day for my Reluctant Reader. With my new work schedule I was still lucky enough to have the day off. We spent the morning creating a "Captain Underpants Plush" for my Reluctant Reader.  Last year if you may remember my youngest son finally found some books to love. I call him the reluctant reader because like most boys his age, I have found, they are just not motivated to read. I remember my grandfather telling my mother that it really did not matter what they read as long as they were reading. He did not care if it was comic books or the back of the cereal box, as long as it was meaningful to them the love of reading would follow. For Alex, that I have found to be true.

It all started for us when Alex found a Captain Underpants plus online but it was sold out. We decided to make our own and we used felt, my sewing machine, trusty glue gun and a sharpie marker. I had forgotten to buy stuffing and we improvised and used toilet paper, hey it happens.

I was more than a little impressed about how well it actually turned out.

I drew out the shape of the body on a piece of regular paper and cut it out, then I cut out arms with hands. I wish I had sewing pipe cleaners into the arms but it was an after thought, next time I will.

I did not stuff the arms either, I likely should have.  I was thrilled with how easy this came together.

I used paper to create the underpants first and then cut out the felt, I measured and sewed the underpants, and then drew on the details. Once they were sewn and drawn we put them on and I secured them with a bit of hot glue.

The cape was easy to make we used two different reds one dark color for the main part of the cape and cut out circles with a lighter red and glued them on the cape. We cut out a mouth, drew on the teeth and glued that and brown eyes into place.

In the end what was once just pieces of felt became a superhero and a new best reading friend. 
Even though Alex is my youngest son, my older boys did not discover the joy of this cheeky and very well written series.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a reluctant reader craft experiment. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com