Asparagus Soup with Cumin -- a spring #recipe by @LeslieBudewitz

 

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  This recipe appeared in To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop mystery, published last August. But since fresh asparagus is a spring vegetable scarce in the height of summer, I decided to hold off sharing it until the precious spears began to poke up in gardens and groceries. 

The area where my parents built the house I grew up in had been a small farm, and our lot was part of the asparagus field. Even after construction and yards, the stuff grew, and my mother corralled a patch of it in the backyard. No surprise that it’s one of my favorite vegetables, which we often called Sparrow Grass. (Mr. Right calls it Sparrow Girls.) 

The soup is creamy and lovely and tastes like spring. I hope you enjoy it as much as we – and Pepper – do. 

To Err is Cumin is out in audio as well as paperback and ebook. Isn't this a fun cover? I am so in love with that little dog! Watch for his next appearance in Lavender Lies Bleeding, out this summer, where Arf's secret history will be revealed! 

PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing. Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Creamy Asparagus Soup with Cumin 

As sure a sign of spring as tulips, asparagus is one of Pepper’s favorite veggies—and a hit at every produce and farm stall in the Market! A few asparagus tips make a terrific garnish. Buy cumin seeds toasted or raw. 

2 pounds green asparagus, rinsed, woody ends snapped off

3 tablespoons butter

1 large white onion, chopped

1-2 gloves garlic, minced

kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper

5 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon ground cumin, or more to taste

1 teaspoon ground coriander, or more to taste

1/2 cup sour cream, crème fraîche, or heavy cream, plus more for garnish

1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste

toasted cumin seeds, for garnish

Cut 1-1/2 inch off the tips of 12 asparagus stalks and set aside for garnish. If the stalks are thick, slice them in half. Cut into 1 inch pieces.

Melt the butter in a stock pot over medium low heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until just soft, about 5 minutes. 

Add asparagus pieces and salt and pepper to taste, then cook, stirring, 5 minutes. When the asparagus is tender-crisp and still bright green, add the broth, cumin, and coriander, and simmer, covered, until asparagus is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a cup or two of salted water to a boil and blanch the asparagus tips until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and set aside. If your cumin seeds are raw, toast lightly in a saute pan on the stove top, about 3-5 minutes. 

When the asparagus in the soup mixture is tender, taste and adjust spices. Purée with an immersion blender or in batches in a standard blender until smooth. Reheat if necessary. Stir in sour cream, transferring to a bowl (use caution when blending hot liquids), and return to pan. Stir in sour cream, crème fraîche, or heavy cream. Adjust seasonings and add lemon juice. 

Serve, garnished with asparagus tips, additional sour cream, and toasted cumin seeds. 

Serves 4. 

Shown with slices of Rosemary Garlic Focaccia. Click here for the recipe. 

What's your favorite spring vegetable and how do you like to prepare it? 

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook 

Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.  

“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

TO ERR IS CUMIN:A Spice Shop Mystery (Seventh St. Books, out now in paper, ebook, and audio)

From the cover: One person’s treasure is another’s trash. . .

Pepper Reece, owner of the Spice Shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, wants nothing more than to live a quiet life for a change, running her shop and working with customers eager to spice up their cooking. But when she finds an envelope stuffed with cash in a ratty old wingback left on the curb, she sets out to track down the owner.

Pepper soon concludes that the chair and its stash may belong to young Talia Cook, new in town and nowhere to be seen. Boz Bosworth, an unemployed chef Pepper’s tangled with in the past, shows up looking for the young woman, but Pepper refuses to help him search. When Boz is found floating in the Ship Canal, only a few blocks from Talia’s apartment, free furniture no longer seems like such a bargain.

On the hunt for Talia, Pepper discovers a web of connections threatening to ensnare her best customer. The more she probes, the harder it gets to tell who’s part of an unsavory scheme of corruption—and who might be the next victim.

Between her quest for an elusive herb, helping her parents remodel their new house, and setting up the Spice Shop’s first cooking class, Pepper’s got a full plate. Dogged by a sense of obligation to find the rightful owner of the hidden treasure, she keeps on showing up and asking questions.

One mistake, and she could find herself cashing out. . .

Available at Amazon  * Barnes & Noble  * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * And your local booksellers!

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.

A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.

Happy Book Birthday to "Waters of Destruction"! @LeslieKarst

 

Happy book birthday to Leslie Karst—for today her second Orchid Isle Mystery, Waters of Destruction, spouts into the world! Here’s the synopsis:

After a vacation of a lifetime in Hilo, Hawai‘i, retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have decided to move permanently to the beautiful – if storm-prone – Big Island. The couple are having fun furnishing their new house, exploring their new neighborhood and playing with their new little dog, Pua. But while they’ve made good friends with local restaurant manager Sachiko and her partner Isaac, they can’t help but feel a little lonely.


So when Sachiko begs Val to fill in for a member of her bar team who’s gone AWOL, Val dusts off her cocktail shaker and happily agrees. It’s a great chance to meet more people – and learn the local gossip.


Such as about Hank, the missing bartender, who vanished after a team-building retreat at a local beauty spot a week ago, and hasn’t been seen since. Until, that is, his body turns up at the bottom of the waterfall, and the police seem very interested in where Sachiko was at the time of his death.


Sachiko couldn’t have killed him . . . could she? Val dives into the murky waters of the case, determined to find out.


“Immerse yourself in Hawaiian lore and savor the portrayal of the stunning landscapes while enjoying the entertaining mystery.” Kirkus Reviews


Congrats, Leslie!


Waters of Destruction is available as both a hard copy and ebook. Buy it here.

RELEASE DAY NEWS: Scone Cold Dead by @MaddieDayAuthor #Country StoreMystery

Congratulations to our own... 

MADDIE DAY 

for today's release of 

SCONE COLD DEAD!

The book is #13 in her long-running Country Store Mysteries series. Can you tell a baby is on the way for Robbie Jordan and her husband Abe?

“Fearless and forthright protagonist …crafted to maximize intrigue…hefty serving of heart…Robbie Jordan kicks as much butt as Jack Reacher…with way better food!” – Jay Roberts, reviewer

Release Day: NO ROAST FOR THE WEARY by @CleoCoyle #CoffeehouseMystery

 

Congratulations to our own... 

CLEO COYLE 

On the release of her New  

(21st!) Coffeehouse Mystery 

No Roast for the Weary

☕

"A KNOCKOUT STORY"  

"FUN AND FRESH" 

"A JOY TO READ" 

☕

NO ROAST FOR THE WEARY

When the Village Blend opens a Writer's Block Lounge, a cold case crime turns up the heat on Clare and her crew in this gripping new entry in the beloved Coffeehouse Mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Cleo Coyle.

As much as master roaster Clare Cosi adores coffee, the landmark shop she manages won't survive if she doesn't sell enough of it. So when the Village Blend's customer traffic grinds to a halt, she turns to her staff for creative ideas, and the Writer's Block Lounge is born.

Madame, the eccentric octogenarian owner of the shop, is upset by this news. Years ago, a group of accomplished writers used the shop's second-floor lounge to inspire each other, but the group disbanded when something dark occurred. Though that history is shrouded in mystery, Clare presses forward...

Soon the Village Blend tables are filled with aspiring novelists, playwrights, and poets, all happy to be coaxed, cajoled, and caffeinated by her coffeehouse crew. Clare admires the stamina of these scribes, many of them toiling at night jobs—driving taxis, tending bar, ushering for Broadway—while penning projects during the day.

Then one of their fictions turns fatal when a shocking secret leads to a deadly end. Unless Clare can untangle this mystery, uncover the truth, and stop a desperate killer, she fears more of these weary writers may be marked for eternal rest. ~ Includes a knockout menu of recipes. 

Learn more or buy at: 

Amazon 

Barnes & Noble 

Bookshop.org 

+ More Buy Links 

No Roast for the Weary  
is also a culinary mystery 
with a killer menu of 

delectable recipes... 

👇

Click here or on the image above 

for Cleo Coyle's Free Illustrated 

Guide to the Recipes featured in 

No Roast for the Weary. 

👇

CLICK HERE to sign up for 

Cleo's Free Newsletter! 

Keep in touch with Cleo on 

book news, bonus recipes, 

and fun giveaways! 

HAVING FUN WITH A 1960s CHEESE RECIPE from Korina Moss

My friend and cozy mystery booktuber, Sonia Moore, whose YouTube handle is Sonia with an i, sent me two terrific and classic cheese cookbooks. One was called Cooking with Cheese from Better Homes & Gardens from 1966. The other was a paperback from the American Dairy Association of Wisconsin called Cheese Pleasers and wasn't dated. However, the recipes were very similar to the ones in Cooking with Cheese, as was the look of the photos, so I assume it was published around the same year. Some of the recipes are classics, others look delicious and I intend to try, and others are... well, if you lived through the 60s and 70s, you can probably guess. We had a lot of strange food back then! Last Friday, I went on The Beachbum Bookworm's YouTube channel for a live book read-along discussion of my first Cheese Shop Mystery, Cheddar Off Dead, During the live chat, I was going to make a recipe from the book, like the Short-cut Croque Monsieur (Mr. Crunchy Bite). Instead, I thought it would be fun to make a throwback recipe from one of the cheese cookbooks. And so I found this one I will share with you: Molded Cheese Delight. I must say, if you want to try it as written with the cheese and serve it over a bed of lettuce, go for it. I can't say I recommend it. It didn't really taste of cheese but the texture of the cheese in it was odd. However, if you omit the cheese, it would actually make a fun spring or summer dessert because it's very colorful. If you like creamsicles or orange soda, you'll like this, as it tastes reminiscent of those. Have fun with it! I did!

MOLDED CHEESE DELIGHT

Ingredients:

1 envelope orange-flavored gelatin 

20 large marshmallows

1 cup (1/4 lb) shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup crushed pineapple

1 cup pineapple juice (you may not need to buy extra, just use what's in the can)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts to cut the sweetness)

1 cup (1/2 pint) whipped cream (or make homemade whipped cream)

Directions:

Heat 1 cup of water until hot. 

Dissolve gelatin in hot water.

Put marshmallows in large bowl, pour hot gelatin over marshmallows and stir until melted. My marshmallows didn't melt from stirring, so I put the whole bowl in the microwave and heated for 1 minute, then used a wooden spoon to break up the marshmallows even more and they dissolved. 

Add shredded cheese, pineapple, pineapple juice, and chopped nuts. I always say to buy a block of cheese and freshly shred it, but I was cutting corners on this recipe. I'd bought extra pineapple juice because I wasn't sure how much would be in the can of crushed pineapples. As it turns out, there was just about 1 cup of juice in the 20 oz can, so I didn't need the extra pineapple juice. Keep in mind that a 20 oz can is more than 1 cup of pineapples, so measure and dump out the juice first and then measure out the pineapples. It calls for crushed pineapples, but I used "tidbits" because it was cheaper.

Chill mixture until partially set. I chilled it for about 2 hours. 

Once partially chilled, fold in whipped cream. To complete the classic vibe of this recipe, I used a packaged whipped topping (like Cool Whip) instead of buying heavy cream and making whipped cream myself, which you can choose to do. 

I then transferred the mixture into a nonstick bundt pan which I lightly sprayed with oil. You can put the mixture in whatever kind of mold you have. 

Return it to the refrigerator and chill for another 5-6 hours or overnight. 

Unmold on salad greens. To unmold, place a plate on top of the bundt pan and then carefully flip both over, holding the plate securely to the bundt pan. Then gently lift the bundt pan off. 

I forgot to take a photo of mine when I first flipped it over onto a plate, because I was about to go on YouTube to show it to The Beachbum Bookworm and her viewers, so I took this photo after I'd already taken a bite of it and it had been sitting out for about an hour. Honestly, it doesn't look much different than it did when I first took it out of bundt pan. LOL. How adventurous are you?

 

Readers: Would you make a version of this jello mold? 

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop cozy mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner of the Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead and the Agatha Award finalist for Best Contemporary Novel, Case of the Bleus. Listed as one of USA Today’s Best Cozy Mystery series, her books have also been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, and Writer’s Digest. Korina is also a book coach and freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy and traditional mysteries. 

To find out more about the Cheese Shop Mystery series and subscribe to her FREE monthly newsletter, visit her website and follow her on Facebook and Instagram. 

Korina is also a book coach and freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy and traditional mysteries. Using her experience writing her award-winning series for a Big 5 publisher, she has the inside track on what editors, agents, and readers are looking for in a mystery.  Whether you're a new writer hoping to be traditionally or independently published, or you're an established writer wanting some guidance with a manuscript, she can help you strengthen your book. You can find more information on her website and contact her at korinamossauthor@gmail.com. 

LAST DAY TO GET CASE OF THE BLEUS FOR ONLY $2.99!

PREORDER NOW

Korina’s latest book, Fondue or Die, is one of the current nominees for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. The awards will be announced at the Malice Domestic fan convention on April 26th. If you’d like to attend, more information may be found here. 

FONDUE OR DIE

Chayote Salad #Recipe by Maya Corrigan

I first ate chayote in Mexico decades ago and liked both the texture and the mild taste. A few years later, chayotes showed up in supermarkets near me. Part of the squash family, they are also known as christophine or pipinola, as well as other names depending on the region. When ripe, a chayote looks like a light green pear with rough skin. It's crunchy when eaten raw and tastes like a cross between a cucumber and an apple. 

I adapted the recipe for chayote salad that I'm sharing today from a recipe in the New York Times. 

My version serves 6 as a side dish.

Ingredients

2 chayotes, about 3/4 to 1 pound each, halved vertically

1 heaping tsp imported mustard

1 1/2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

4 Tbsp peanut, vegetable or corn oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 clove garlic, finely minced (approximately 1 tsp)

1/4 tsp dried hot-pepper flakes

3/4 cup thinly-sliced red onion

Optional:

2 cups thin-sliced, halved red ripe tomatoes

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Peel the chayotes to remove the tough skin. Split each in half, as shown in the photo of the ingredients. Put them in a pan with water to cover and salt to taste. Don’t remove the seeds, which are edible.

Bring the water to boil and let the chayotes simmer until just tender when pierced with fork. Depending on their size, this can take 10-15 minutes.

While the chayotes are cooking, prepare the other ingredients. Mince the garlic and chop the onion. 

For the dressing, mix mustard, vinegar, and oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Blend the mixture.

When the chayotes are tender, drain and run them briefly under cold water. Drain again.

Cut the halves lengthwise into quarter-inch-thick slices. Put them in a salad bowl, add the onion and garlic, and toss with the dressing. 

You can serve the salad at room temperature, but marinating and chilling it for a couple of hours or even days will give it a piquant flavor. We enjoyed the salad as a side dish three nights in a row.

READERS: Have you recently tried a new ingredient or dish?

📚

Maya Corrigan writes the Five-Ingredient Mystery series. It features a young cafe manager and her young-at-heart grandfather solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town. Each book has five suspects, five clues, and Granddad’s five-ingredient recipes. Maya has taught college courses in writing, literature, and detective fiction. When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords.

Visit her website for book news, mystery history and trivia, and easy recipes. Sign up for her newsletter there. She gives away a free book to one subscriber each time she sends out a newsletter. Follow her on Facebook.

A PARFAIT CRIME: Five-Ingredient Mystery #9

Set in a quaint Chesapeake Bay town, the latest novel in Maya Corrigan’s Five-Ingredient Mysteries brings back café manager Val Deniston and her recipe columnist grandfather – a sleuthing duo that shares a house, a love of food and cooking, and a knack for catching killers.

At the site of a fatal blaze, Val’s boyfriend, a firefighter trainee, is shocked to learn the victim is known to him, a woman named Jane who belonged to the local Agatha Christie book club—and was rehearsing alongside Val’s grandfather for an upcoming Christie play being staged for charity. Just as shocking are the skeletal remains of a man found in Jane’s freezer. Who is he and who put him on ice?

After Val is chosen to replace Jane in the play, the cast gathers at Granddad’s house to get to work—and enjoy his five-ingredient parfaits—but all anyone can focus on is the bizarre real-life mystery. When it’s revealed that Jane’s death was due to something other than smoke inhalation, Val and Granddad retrace the victim’s final days. As they dig into her past life, their inquiry leads them to a fancy new spa in town—where they discover that Jane wasn’t the only one who had a skeleton in the cooler.

Read an excerpt and see where to buy A Parfait Crime.  

Praise for A Parfait Crime

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