Happy Saturday! I am excited to be on the blog tour.
Kneaded to Death (A Bread Shop Mystery) by Winnie Archer is a First in a brand New Series releasing on March 7th.
Series: A Bread Shop Mystery (Book 1)
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Kensington; Reissue edition (February 28, 2017)
Language: English
Synopsis:
Everyone swears by Yeast of Eden, the Mexican bread shop in town. But tonight, the only thing on the menu is la muerte . . .
Struggling photographer Ivy Culpepper has lots of soul-searching to do since returning to seaside Santa Sofia, California. That is, until the thirty-six-year-old enters a bread making class at Yeast of Eden. Whether it’s the aroma of fresh conchas in the oven, or her instant connection with owner Olaya Solis, Ivy just knows the missing ingredients in her life are hidden among the secrets of Olaya’s bakery . . .
But Ivy’s spirits crumble when a missing classmate is suddenly discovered dead in her car. Even more devastating, the prime suspect is Olaya Solis herself. Doubting the woman could commit such a crime, Ivy embarks on a murder investigation of her own to prove her innocence and seize the real killer. As she follows a deadly trail of crumbs around town, Ivy must trust her gut like never before—or someone else could be toast!
This brand new series will tickle your taste buds. Kneaded to Death is the first in the bread shop mystery , that is filled with fun and hours of enjoyable reading. With a fresh cast of characters that you want to get to know and a story so well well written you won't be able to put it down. I am looking forward to what Ivy and her friends will find themselves into next.
Guest Post:
Here’s my confession. I don’t eat gluten. Which means I don’t actually eat normal wheat bread. I know, ironic for the author of a cozy mystery series featuring…bread.
Then, to add insult to injury, my daughter and I started having our own gastro issues. Enough said there, but instead of only modifying the family’s diet for the two celiacs, we did the shift for the entire family of seven. Not easy, but over the years I’ve become quite adept at baking gluten free.
The thing is, even though we have to eat gluten free, we still love bread. And muffins. And cookies. And…well, you get the idea. We like it all. And so I set about figuring out how to make all the things we love—and how to make sure my kids didn’t feel deprived of these tasty treats. So I bake. Pretty frequently. I adapt recipes, I’ve finally found excellent cookbooks to guide me, and we eat bread. All kinds of bread.
Still, given that I can’t actually eat wheat-based products, isn’t it ironic that my new series is centered on a bread shop? But it really does make sense. When I was brainstorming ideas for the new book series, I knew there had to be a bread connection. It just made sense.
I’ve had so much fun making all the recipes that I used to make before we became gluten free eaters. I’ve adapted them and my family pretty much loves the fact that the series is about bread. They get to reap the benefits!
I’ve made a lot of tasty treats as I’ve written this first book, Kneaded to Death. Pan dulce, baguettes, croissants, and, my favorite, popovers. Not just any popovers. Gruyere and black pepper popovers adapted from a fantastic Austin, Texas chef. The best thing about popovers is that they are incredibly easy to make. Milk, eggs, flour, and salt. To make them with gruyere, add that yummy nutty cheese.
Now, for gluten free popovers, just use an all purpose GF flour blend instead of regular flour. They’ll turn out perfectly!
I hope you all enjoy Kneaded to Death, as well as the bread recipes I’ve included at the end of the book. But you get a sneak peak here of the popovers. Try them! You won’t be disappointed.
Gruyère and Black Pepper Popovers
(16)
Recipe inspired
By Jodi Elliott, owner and chef of Foreign & Domestic Food & Drink
in Austin, Texas
INGREDIENTS
2 cups whole milk
4 large eggs
1½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups all-purpose
¾ cups Gruyère cheese, cut into small cubes
Grated Gruyère cheese on top just after baking.
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 450 ̊ and place the rack in the bottom third of the oven. Place a dot of butter in the bottom of each muffin or popover cup and allow to heat in the oven while you make the popover batter.
2. Use a small saucepan to warm milk at medium heat. It should be hot, but do not bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the salt and black pepper until smooth. Stir in the warm milk.
4. Add flour to the egg mixture. Combine. The batter should be the consistency of cream. A few lumps are okay!
5. Remove the muffin pans from the oven. Spray the pans generously with nonstick cooking spray. Pour about ⅓ cup of the batter into each of 16 muffin cups or into the popover pan.
Place several cubes of cheese on top of the batter in each cup. 6. Reduce the oven temperature to 350. Bake the popovers until the tops puff up and are golden brown, about 40 minutes. Remember, do not open the oven door while baking. You don’t want the popovers to collapse!
7. Turn onto a wire cooling rack right away to preserve the crispy edge of the popovers. Using a sharp knife, pierce the base of each popover to release the steam. Sprinkle grated Gruyère over finished popovers, if desired, and serve immediately.
About the Author:
The indefatigable Winnie Archer is a middle school teacher by day, and a writer by night. Born in a beach town in California, she now lives in an inspiring century old house in North Texas and loves being surrounded by real-life history. She fantasizes about spending summers writing in quaint, cozy locales, has a love/hate relationship with both yoga and chocolate, adores pumpkin spice lattes, is devoted to her five kids and husband, and can’t believe she’s lucky enough to be living the life of her dreams.
Visit Winnie online:
WinnieArcher.com
Winnie Archer is the pseudonym for national bestselling author Melissa Bourbon. Learn more at http://melissabourbon.com.
Twitter @MelissaBourbon
