Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!
Please help me welcome Daryl Wood Gerber back to Escape With Dollycas!
Hi Everyone,
I’m often asked if I do research for my books.
Yes!!! Sometimes I do it by reading books. Sometimes I go online to travel the world for ideas. Sometimes I review photographs on Pinterest and similar sites for visual ideas. And sometimes I go in person to a store, a town, or an event.
For Pressing the Issue
And then I ventured to the food court. Yum. The aromas from all the delicious goodies were heavenly. Turkey legs, meat on a stick, pasties, mead!
One of the foods I’d never seen at a fair before was Hawker’s Mush. Hawker, of course, means vendor or seller. As for the word mush? Don’t let the name fool you. This is NOT porridge. It’s like a very large potato pancake but made with spinach and onions and wild rice, and then drizzled with hollandaise sauce. Divine.
Enjoy.
Hawker’s Mush
4 tablespoons or more, butter
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
4 cups raw spinach, shredded (becomes about 2 cups)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons sherry
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups cooked brown rice and wild rice mix
3 eggs, beaten
Hollandaise sauce *recipe below
In a medium frying pan, melt butter over medium heat. Sauté onions until soft and beginning to turn golden brown, about 8 -10 minutes. If the onions seem dry, add another tablespoon of butter. Then add raw spinach.
Sauté until all the moisture from the spinach is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Turn heat down and add the thyme, crushed garlic, and sherry. Add salt and pepper. Simmer until all liquid is absorbed, about 2-4 minutes more. Cool 5 minutes.
In a large bowl mix the wild rice, the onion-spinach mixture, and the beaten eggs.
This step you’ll have to do in batches: in a medium frying pan, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add rice-onion-spinach in 1/2 cup portions. Flatten each down so you have rounds about ½ ” in thickness. Cook over medium heat until set. Flip over and cook until golden.
Slide onto a plate and put in a warm oven. Repeat until all are cooked.
When ready, serve with hollandaise sauce.
Hollandaise sauce
3 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup butter (one stick)
In the blender, combine the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice, and white pepper. Blend for about 5-10 seconds.
Put the butter into a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup and melt completely about 30-45 seconds.
Set the blender on high speed and add the melted butter to the egg mixture in a thin stream. It will thicken up, fast.
NEAT TRICK: You can keep the sauce warm until serving by placing the blender itself in a pan of hot water.
~Daryl
Pressing the Issue (A Cookbook Nook Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Setting – California
Beyond the Page (February 20, 2018)
Paperback: 242 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1946069528
Kindle ASIN: B07955HXRS
As the annual Renaissance Fair comes to Crystal Cove, Jenna Hart’s Cookbook Nook is packed with tasty treats and all things medieval, while her pal Bailey is ready to swoon over her upcoming nuptials at a local vineyard. But when the two friends discover the body of the vineyard’s owner bludgeoned by a winepress, all their merriment fades, along with their hopes for a vintage year.
Which churlish varlet did the deed? Was it the victim’s errant brother, who stood to inherit the vineyards? Or the owner’s crestfallen ex-girlfriend? Mayhap it was the newly arrived comely wench or her jealous husband. Fie on them all! Verily, Jenna can’t rest until justice is served, and she vows to track down the killer. But can she sniff out the truth before the villainous culprit strikes again?
Includes tantalizing recipes!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
We arrive in Crystal Cove just in time for the Renaissance Fair and Bailey’s wedding. Everyone was having a great time until the Nick, the king of the faire and owner of the venue for Bailey’s wedding is found dead. With a booth at the fair, the Cookbook Nook, and all the wedding plans the last thing Jenna Hart needs in a murder to solve. Nick was a very popular resident of Crystal Cove, who would want him dead? Jenna starts talking to everyone she can, maybe she can find the killer before all the people in town for the faire clear out and maybe Bailey’s dream wedding can take place as planned. Let the sleuthing begin.
The last book in this series had me struggling with many emotions. I was so glad to pick up this book and reconnect with all the characters and their lives at a happy time with the wedding and Ren Faire. The author does an excellent job of getting us up to date and back into the groove with Jenna and her friends and family. We also meet some new characters in town for the faire. Daryl Wood Gerber creates such delightful characters that have grown in each new installment of this series.
I was very taken with the vineyard setting Bailey and Tito had chosen for their nuptials. It was described so nicely and sounded like a beautiful place. I have never been to a Ren Faire but I had in my mind a set-up similar to the setting in Joyce and Jim Lavene’s Renaissance Faire Mysteries
The mystery is so well-written, plenty of suspects and plenty of twists. I do have a problem when I read books by this author. I tend to get all wrapped up in happening to the regular characters and the great books Jenna has a the CookBook Nook that I usually miss some very important clue. This time I made myself pay attention, even highlighting lines from the book on my Kindle
Another great story from Daryl Wood Gerber.
This series is best read in order for maximum enjoyment.
About the Author
DARYL WOOD GERBER
Author Links
Visit Daryl or Avery at www.darylwoodgerber.com.
Daryl’s Blog – Avery’s Blog – Mystery Lover’s Kitchen – Killer Characters –
Twitter: @AveryAames @DarylWoodGerber
Goodreads: Daryl Wood Gerber Avery Aames
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Purchase Links
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Leave a comment for the author for 5 Bonus Entries.
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Winner Will Be Chosen By Random.org
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Click Here For Entry Form
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Thanks for your review on “Pressing the Issue”. I was fortunate enough to have already read this book and I not only loved it but highly recommend it as well. Love DARYL WOOD GERBER books!
Kay, thanks for your kind words. I’m thrilled that you enjoyed the story. ~ Daryl
Entry form takes me to your Face book page?
Anxious, I’ll let Lori respond to this one. I’m not sure about the entry form. But nice to see you here. ~ Daryl
Yep, I just had the same thing happen to me, just wanted to let you know.
I Love the cover, thank you for the chance to win a copy of this book.
wfnren at aol dot com
Wendy, I like the cover, too. Especially the expression on Tigger’s face. 🙂 ~ Daryl
Thank you for a chance to win
Jessica, you are more than welcome. Tell a friend. 😉 ~ Daryl
Pressing the Issue is a wonderful book — I highly recommend it!
Thanks, Celia! I’m so thrilled with the response to this story. ~ Daryl
can’t access the entry page
Johnna, having the moderator check on this. 🙂 ~ Daryl
This book sounds captivating and special. Your cozies are delightful.
Sharon, I’m so glad you like the theme of it. It holds a special place in my heart. 🙂 ~ Daryl
Sounds like a great series! I’ll have to acquire each of the books in it and read them in order so that I don’t miss anything.
Suzanne, I tell people that my books do “stand alone,” but I’m like you. I like to read from the beginning of a series so I can see all the changes in the main character’s life (and her pals) along the way. ~ Daryl
Your entry form takes me to your Facebook page.
Qn… having the moderator check out this snag. ~ Daryl
Giveaway Entry Form is now fixed.
Very cool. Thanks, Dollycas. 🙂 ~ Daryl
Cool Fixed. I enjoy each of your books that I read.
Yay! ~ Daryl
This author is fantastic! CAn’t wait to read this next book in this series.
JL, thanks so much. Hope you enjoy as much as everyone else has been doing. 🙂 ~ Daryl
This is the first time I’ve ever heard of Hawker’s Mush! Sounds good. I usually get the turkey leg myself.
Sharon, I’m a fan of turkey legs myself. It reminds me of “Tom Jones” (the movie). 🙂 ~ Daryl
I am so looking forward to reading this book. It sounds terrific.
Great, Linda. I hope you enjoy! And tell a friend. ~ Daryl
This is a great series. Looking forward to reading “Pressing the Issue”.
Dianne, thanks so much. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it thus far. 🙂 ~ Daryl
I have enjoyed reading this series and look forward to reading this book.
I have never read any book in this series. After reading the above it is on my TBR list. Pressing the Issue sounds like a good one.
Mary, I’m thrilled to hear this. Thanks! ~ Daryl
This book sounds like a must read.
Melody, FYI, there is a Melody in my book! Truth! ~ Daryl
This book sounds so interesting. I can’t wait to read it. Thanks so much for the chance to win a copy.
I am fan of Daryl Wood Gerber, and this book sounds great. I like there is a Renaissance Fair and wedding theme elements. I am looking forward to reading this book. Thank you for the giveaway.