MrsK Books: Cozy Food: 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Cozy Food: 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes

Nancy Lynn Jarvis
ISBN: 9780983589174

Amazon Synopsis:

What happens when 128 cozy mystery writers get together to do a cookbook? You get more than 220 recipes that are as varied and interesting as an amateur sleuth’s day job. Regional recipes come from every part of the United States and England — a couple find their way from Australia and Italy, too — and from diverse times. There are recipes from people looking to keep gluten out of their lives, eat vegetarian, or make a treat or two for their furry four-legged friends. And yes, there are recipes that appeal to the sweet tooth, lots of them, in fact. There’s no mystery about what happens when cozy writers get together. They bring the wit, inventiveness, and adventure found in their books right along with their recipes. The recipes are introduced by their authors and linked to the writer bios in the back of the book. You can look up your favorite cozy writer and see which recipes are their favorites; they'll tell you what the recipe means to them. Or you can enjoy a dish and then link to the recipe's author's biography and books. Either way you enjoy the cookbook, you're sure to find great new recipes to make and terrific new cozy authors to read.

MrsK's Review:

Have you ever gotten a new a book that "cried" out to you to browse through it? That's what happened when this cook book arrived on my doorstep. At first I just flipped through the covers wondering what type of a journey awaited me. I was so busy that day, I knew I wouldn't have time to really make a connection. Yet, every time I passed my kitchen counter... I just had to pick it up and browse some more.

This cook book is full of scrumptious recipes. Quick and easy, yet so pleasing to our taste buds and moods. The uniqueness is in the "fun" with the connections to mystery writers who have added their special "finger-print" upon our culinary palates. As literary lovers, we know the joy of getting with others and discussing our books. It is always a good book time when we are gathered together, when there is a bounty of food, and our newest book discoveries. Now we can add to our table these tantalizing delicacies. We can enjoy the "mysterious" tidbits from these authors. You will discover new authors, new titles, and new friends. I am thrilled to take this book to our Booked to Dine book club. It will be passed around for all of us to investigate and then shared at each time we meet again.

The layout of this cookbook is so well organized. Each recipe provides a quick connection, chosen by the author, to their recipe picks which often are connected to a character, series, and or specified title. The author's biography has a threaded page number from their recipe to their personalized introduction... complete with book titles and Internet addresses. The table of contents is user friendly according to what you might want to "cook up" for your family and friends. The Author Biographies are the best reading, 128 moments to investigate. As readers, we know that there is never enough time to read all that we would like to read. Never enough hours to discuss what we have discovered or enjoyed. Now we will add never enough time to cook, read, and talk!

Praises for a great collection and cook book idea,
MrsK

Yummy reading, cooking, and sharing!
Book clubs will spend many gatherings discussing this book.

Nancy Lynn Jarvis was a Santa Cruz, California, Realtor for twenty-five years but was having so much fun writing that she let her license lapse in May of 2013.
After earning a BA in behavioral science from San Jose State University, she worked in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury News. A move to Santa Cruz meant a new job as a librarian and later a stint as the business manager of Shakespeare/Santa Cruz. Nancy's work history reflects her philosophy: people should try something radically different every few years. Writing is her newest adventure.
She put Regan, Tom , and Dave from the Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries Series on hiatus to write Mags and the AARP Gang, a comedy/adventure about a group of octogenarian would-be bank robbers, but she missed her characters, so they're back to solve another murder in recently released "The Murder House."
Nancy squeezed in editing "Cozy Food," a compilation cookbook in which 128 cozy mystery writers contributed recipes from their books and their lives. What she will work on next is unclear. She has ideas for a sixth Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries book, a complete departure book of historical fiction, and an idea for a new cozy series called Geezers With Tools about two old guys who encounter murder while working as handymen and pursuing widows.

"I received this book for free from Good Read Publishers and Nancy L Jarvis for this review."

https://www.goodreads.com/author/program

Amazon's Take A Look Inside

1 comment:

Nancy Lynn Jarvis said...: Thank you so much for your review and especially for your comments about how well the cookbook is organized. You made my hubby's day since he was the mastermind behind all the connections.

Is it OK for me to say I love this book if I'm the editor? It was such fun to do and to use that I can't help saying it.; August 7, 2014 at 1:08 PM

MrsK's Reading Bio

Reading is important! No questions asked, not even a blink of the eye from any student I grew up with. On the first day of the First grade, we were given our first books. Day two we all read aloud, round robin of course. Day three we were place in our first basal, now known as a lit circle group. Books were so important, publishers designed new curriculum so that every student was reading by the end of the first week. These early readers had images that looked like what we could see in the classroom, beyond the classroom, even on the big screen. Reading is important, throughout history every generation has believed that “Reading” opens up the world for endless possibilities.

I adore the 1950’s Dick and Jane books. Actually, most reading specialists and experienced (45+) educators believe that every student learned to read with Dick and Jane. Since these books are being re-issued, I have heard many parents, grandparents, and students claim that Dick and Jane stories of repetition does teach students to read.

Early influences from my mother influenced my desire to read. I would watch her read and we would go on “secret” excursions to the library. The library became my playground. I owned every book I could carry home, of course they needed to be taken back to their home after visiting with me for a week or two. My first book that I could pull off of the library shelf and read was, Father Bear Comes Home. I only saw my dad on Sundays for a few hours. I would pull this beginning reader off of the library shelf every week. Every week I would try to read the first chapter. Every week I got further in the story. My mom would let me check it out, only if I could read it myself (She didn’t like the illustrations therefore she didn’t want to take time to read it to me). One day, I pulled the book from the shelf and when mom came to get me from the children’s corner, I realized that I had read the whole story. I ran to the check out desk and the Librarian KERCHUNKED the checkout card. My mother, brother and neighbors read. My teachers read. We all read aloud all day long in school. The Priest read aloud every day at mass, even in Latin. Everybody in the Doctor’s office read. People on the bus read. Dad’s waiting in their cars as the Mom’s and children grocery shopped, read. In fact, once you could read and write, Sunset Magazine considered you a reader and sent you mail every day.

Reading is important; I’ve spent my life reading. I’ve traveled around the world and into space through books. My favorite genre is whichever book I have open at the time. Children’s Literature is my passion. Book clubbing is one of the best past times, especially if food is involved. In fact my friends of old are in a book club and we are about to embark on a beach trip to “read” and discuss our newest selection.

My “home-run” book story has helped every student find his or her own “home-run” reads. Every year, I have shared my, Father Bear Comes Home, and every year my students have brought in their “home-run” books. That’s the “diving board” into our Lit. Studies.

In “Growing Up Digital,” Tapscott’s insights into the new generations enthusiasm for the Net reminded me of my generation’s enthusiasm for reading, movies, TV, parties and our driving permits. The Net-Generation, as Tapscott describes, “are learning, playing, communicating, working, creating communities, and enforcing a social transformation.”
N-Geners are interactive “techies” who are always looking for a way to “work it” verses the TV Generation of “Baby Boomers” who started out looking for “how it works.” Reading development is tougher today, society moves too fast to invest their “non-working” free time into a book or even “home work.” Since I stepped into my own classroom, I have seen students being told to read, being forced to read, and threatened into reading. Homework is not any longer the vehicle for students to gain their future lifestyles or careers with. Yet, the Internet does create an enthusiasm for learning. Since I have been enrolled in these courses, I have used the computers in every subject. My students are using the newest technology in the classroom because I am giving them investigative sites to use as they learn from each other and books. I agree with Tapscott, in order to bridge the gap with this up and coming generation we must “live and learn with them.”

FTC Required Disclaimer: I receive these books from the publishers. I did not receive monetary compensation for these reviews. These reviews have been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)