Chicken Enchiladas in Spicy Red Sauce by Lucy Burdette #giveaway

LUCY BURDETTE: we love Mexican food in our household, though it’s not that easy to get in our small town in Connecticut. Luckily for my food critic character, Hayley Snow, there is a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant in Key West where she gets a delicious meal just the right moment. (I’ve included a little snippet from the upcoming A DELICIOUS DECEPTION at the end of the recipe—to whet your whistle!)

Today’s recipe is based on one for beef enchiladas that I’ve made a number of times from Once Upon a Chef. In the past, I’ve made chicken enchiladas with a green sauce, but I couldn’t see why this amazing red sauce wouldn’t work just as well. And it did! Next time around, I would also add at least a cup of cooked beans – these could be black beans or kidney beans or whatever is available.

Ingredients.

2 cups cooked shredded chicken (I had roasted a chicken a day or two earlier thinking of this dish)

One medium onion, red or white, your choice

Two cloves garlic, finally chopped

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin,

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

8 ounces tomato sauce

2 cups chicken broth

Eight large flour tortillas

2 to 3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

(Jenn Siegel at once upon a chef also adds a chopped jalapeño, but I found our chili pepper was spicy enough for our taste. Cook’s choice!)

Chop the onion and the garlic and sauté in olive oil until soft but not brown. And the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and flour and cook this all together for another minute or two. Gradually stir in the tomato sauce and chicken broth to make a sauce.

Add the chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Next put a cup or so of sauce in a greased 9 x 11 pan. Assemble the tortillas by spreading a tablespoon or two of the chicken mixture in the bottom of each tortilla, sprinkle with a thick coating of grated cheese and roll them up. Tuck them all into the pan. If any sauce remains, spread it over the top of the tortillas then sprinkle with more cheese.

Bake about 15 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese melted and beginning to brown.

Serve with a green salad or asparagus or something else in the Green family.

GIVEAWAY:  To enter the drawing for TWO Key West mysteries, one to keep and one to share, sign up for my mailing list, and leave a comment including the name of the person you'd most love to share a book with!

A DELICIOUS DECEPTION will be here before we know it—hitting bookstores on July 14! In this installment, Hayley is quite pregnant, which makes everyone around her worry about her urge to find a missing girl…

“Wait,” said Darcy. She held up her hand. “Say it again. You went back up there on your own? Are you out of your mind?”

I sat back in my folding chair, crossing my arms over the bulge of the baby. “No, just a concerned citizen. Very concerned, since you yourself pulled me into this mess in the first place. You seem to be sidelined, so I thought I could do some light investigating on my own, talking with a couple of perfectly friendly women. I did not approach or contaminate the crime scene. A little girl is missing and I for one feel some urgency about finding her.”

Darcy slumped in her chair, silent for once. Rivulets of tears ran down Louise’s cheeks. I began to open the bags of food and extract our dinner.

“Mmm, this smells very good. I’ve never eaten here. This is from the little hole in the wall on Bertha Street?” I quirked my eyebrows. Darcy was not known as a foodie. “How in the world did you find this place?”

“The deputies often stop here mid-shift,” she said, dishing up a plate of chicken fajitas, rice, beans, and guacamole and pushing it towards me. “The salsa has tons of flavor but not too much heat.”

 A DELICIOUS DECEPTION, coming July 14 at a bookstore near you!

USA Today bestselling author Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS. Join her mailing list right here.

Best Banana Bread @authordarcihannah

Darci Hannah: I’m going to be honest here, although I bake quite a lot and try all sorts of recipes for interesting and delicious baked goods, to me a slice of good banana bread is the ultimate comfort food. Banana bread is not only my favorite quick bread, but it’s my go to baked good, especially when I purchase a bunch of bananas for the family and they go brown before we eat them. It happens quite a lot around our house, and I’m glad it does. Because when I have soft, brown bananas I know it’s time for banana bread.

I thought I had a good recipe for banana bread until I was watching an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s Uncharted. In this episode Gordon was in Hawaii for a challenge with a local chef. I don’t really remember what competition dish he was making for the episode, because for me it was overshadowed by his little trip to a bakery in Hana known for their banana bread. The bread looked so delicious and buttery that I wanted to try it. However, flying to Hawaii was out of the question. Instead, I decided to find a recipe that looked like the Hana Banana Bread on the show. Many brown bananas later, I came across this recipe given to me by my dear friend, Sue Hanson. Sue and I worked at our public library together, and she’s a hiking buddy of mine. She’s a great baker too. When I made her banana bread recipe and took that first bite, I knew that this was the banana bread I’d been waiting my whole life for. It’s that good. I’ve made a few tweaks to the original recipe and thought I’d share it with you!

Best Banana Bread

Ingredients:

3 very ripe (black) bananas

1 cup sugar

1 ¼ cup flour

1 egg beaten

6 tablespoons melted butter

 1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

(1/2 cup walnuts and/or chocolate chips optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Put the flour in a large mixing bowl. Next add the sugar to the ripe bananas. Add the egg, baking soda, salt, vanilla extract. Give it a little stir then add the melted butter. Mix until the flour has been incorporated, but do not over mix the batter. Pour into a lightly greased loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for an hour or until done. Let cool and enjoy!

What is your favorite quick bread to make? 

Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you. 

Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com

Instagram: @authordarcihannah

Facebook: @Author Darci Hannah

 Just Released!

A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle

By Darci Hannah

Book #2 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series

 

Purchase link

When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .

Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well. 

After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .

Trade Paperback Release!

A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor

By Darci Hannah

Book #1 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series

Purchase Link

While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .

It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.

Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!

Coming this July!

Murder at the Campfire Cookout

By Darci Hannah

Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series

 

Preorder today!

When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .

Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.

Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.

But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire . . .

Because no one is out of the woods yet.

Happy Birthday, Pepper! Celebrating with spice blends and a giveaway!

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Happy Birthday to Pepper Reece, the star of my Spice Shop mysteries! I've long known her birthday is June 2 -- by no small coincidence, the birthday of my BFF. Why that day? Why not? 

Series readers tell me how much they like Pepper, for her smarts, her loyalty, and her determination to use her skills to make the world a better place, by solving crime -- and by serving up tasty spices and blends. So today, I thought I'd share a few of her favorite blends, each of them my variation on a classic. Each has appeared in a book and on the blog, so you can follow the links to favorite recipes using the blends.

Two lucky winners will receive a $10 gift card to Bookshop. org. Talk to me in the comments for a chance to win -- tell me your favorite herb blend, a recipe you've tried from the series, or something you like about Pepper. Or guess her age! (Be sure to leave your email address.)

Reader Tracie took A&P to the Market!

I shared my Herbes de Provence recipe, inspired by a delicious trip to France, in my very first post for Mystery Lovers' Kitchen as a member of the crew, which talks about my love for Seattle's Pike Place Market, where the Spice Shop series is set, and shares a recipe for Potato and Broccoli Frittata. which originally appeared in Assault and Pepper, the first Spice Shop Mystery. (I'd been a guest before that.) The blend remains a household staple, especially good on potatoes and eggs, but in other dishes, too. I also love it in these Salted Olive Crisps. 

Herbes de Provence

A savory touch, to transport your taste buds.

2½ tablespoons dried oregano
2½ tablespoons dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried savory
2 tablespoons dried crushed lavender flowers
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried sage

Mix spices in a small bowl. Store in a jar with a tightly fitting lid. Makes just over half a cup.
As with all herb blends, experiment with your own touches. Let your taste be your guide. Other frequent additions: rosemary, sweet marjoram, or fennel seed. (Marjoram and oregano are distinct herbs but closely related and can be substituted for each other in some recipes.) Try a blend with whatever combination of the suggested herbs you have on hand. Then, next summer, grow a pot of lavender on your deck or in a sunny window!

Herbes de Provence are spectacular sprinkled on sautéed potatoes, rubbed on chicken before grilling, or best of all, in roast chicken and potatoes. Add them to a lamb or a vegetable stew—think eggplant, tomatoes, and zucchini, maybe some cannellini (white beans). Use them to season homemade croutons or tomato sauce.

Wrap a teaspoon of Herbes de Provence in cheese cloth and tie with kitchen string to make an herb bouquet, also called a bouquet garni. Drop it into a small jar of olive oil for a few days to make an infusion for salads or sautées.

Pepper’s Italian Herb Blend 

Jerry finds Killing Thyme a tasty treat!

Next up, Pepper's Italian herb blend. I first shared this in KILLING THYME, the 3d Spice Shop Mystery, in which Pepper investigates when an old friend of her mother's---a woman long thought to be dead---returns to Seattle and sets up shop in Pike Place Market.  

This is a good basic blend that you can adjust for your own taste. Remember that blends take a few hours for the flavors to meld; because of the mildness of these herbs, you can use the blend generously right away, and taste how the flavors improve over time.

3 tablespoons dried basil
2 tablespoons dried thyme
4 teaspoons dried marjoram
4 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried sage
2 teaspoons dried garlic flakes or garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried rosemary (break the needles with a mortar and pestle or in a small bowl with the back of a sturdy spoon)

Mix herbs in a small bowl. Yield: about 10 tablespoons, just over ½ cup.

A few recipe suggestions: This Herbed Black Bean and Pasta Recipe from Killing Thyme is---well, killer! (If you've read the book, you may remember what I mean!) As your summer garden comes on, , try it in this Late Summer Veggie Saute. And I used it recently in this Tomato Lovers' Minestrone, inspired by a bowl of soup in an airport restaurant!

Herbed Black Bean Pasta

Pumpkin Spice Blend is a perennial favorite at the Spice Shop. To be honest, I first created it for Butter Off Dead, the third book in my Food Lovers' Village mysteries, set in fictional Jewel Bay, Montana, based on the town where Mr. Right and I live. Erin Murphy is the star of the series, with her mother Francesca, aka Fresca, a hit with readers, too. And while Fresca is a bit of a food snob, she adores this blend Erin gave her for her morning coffee---and adds it to cookies, pound cake, and other treats as well. So when I created the Spice Shop mysteries, it was obvious that Pepper and her staff and customers would love it as much as Erin, Francesca, and I do! 

Fresca’s Pumpkin Spice Coffee Blend 

from Butter Off Dead by Leslie Budewitz

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1-1/2 teaspoons ground allspice or cloves, or a blend

dash of ground cardamom

1 teaspoon dried orange or lemon peel

Mix together in a small bowl and store in a jar or tin with a tight lid. For a pot of drip coffee, add ½ to 1 full teaspoon of the spice blend to the ground coffee. For a single cup of espresso, drip coffee, or French press coffee, use 1/4 teaspoon to start, until you know how much tastes just right to you. 

Turbinado sugar is a good sweetener with this blend; add it to your cup or the blend. Feel free to experiment with the amounts and other spices, such as a vanilla bean. Trust your own taste buds, and have fun! 

Thanks for taking this journey with Pepper and me. Food, flavor, and friends---what could be better? Leave a comment (with your email address; US mailing addresses only, please) for a chance to win a gift card to Bookshop.org. And remember, stories are the spice of life. 

At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .  

Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills. 

Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket. 

Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf. 

As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?

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

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!

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. 

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.

Potluck Beans #giveaway and #recipe #Father's Day @Kim Davis

 

KIM DAVIS: With summer and Father's Day right around the corner, casual gatherings for barbecues and/or potlucks are starting up. A dear friend of mine, Janet, always served these Potluck Beans as a side dish to the grilled meat whenever she hosted a get together. The dish quickly became a favorite of mine and I immediately begged for the recipe. She graciously shared it with me (which I adapted to suit my tastes, i.e. ground turkey instead of beef, and bacon limited to garnish instead of a pound cooked with the beans) and since my family enjoyed it so much, I often serve it as a main course, especially during chilly winter months. What I especially like is the ease of making this dish. It relies on canned beans along with a few other staples. Once the turkey (or beef) is cooked through, and the beans come to a simmer for a short time, the dish is done and ready to serve giving you time to enjoy your family and friends! 

Be sure to scroll all the way down to find out how to win a copy of Essentials of Death! 

Potluck Beans

 
Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey (or ground beef)
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3-pound can pork & beans (or 2 large cans Bush’s Baked Beans)*
1-pound can chili beans
1-pound can cannellini beans, drained
1-pound can red kidney beans, drained
1-pound can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Suggested toppings (not shown in photo)
Cooked and crumbled bacon
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sliced green onions
Pickled jalapeño rings
Sliced black olives

Instructions
In a large soup pot, cook the ground meat with the diced onions until the meat is no longer pink. Drain off the liquid/fat and discard.

Add the remaining ingredients, stirring well to combine. 

Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve with your choice of toppings and cornbread.

Notes
*If you must eat gluten-free, I recommend substituting Bush’s Baked Beans. Their large cans are 1 pound, 12-ounces. It’s fine to use 2 full cans.

For gatherings, you can keep the Potluck Beans warm in a crockpot for easy serving.

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF of the recipe!💕

Books available at most online retailers

 

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo * Apple

 

Cupcake Catering Mysteries * Essentials of Murder* Essentials of Death

 

About the Author:

Kim Davis writes the Aromatherapy Apothecary cozy mystery series, and the award-winning Cupcake Catering cozy mystery series. She has also written several children’s nature articles published in a variety of magazines. Kim Davis is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

She lives in Southern California with her husband and rambunctious mini Goldendoodle, Missy, who has become an inspiration for several plotlines. When she’s not spending time with her granddaughters or chasing Missy around, she can be found either writing on her next book, working on blogs, or in the kitchen baking up yummy treats to share.

Click here to sign up here for Kim’s newsletter: Newsletter

Connect with Kim: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Bluesky, Bookbub, Goodreads, TikTok, and website

 

I'm celebrating my new release today!

While this isn't a copy mystery, I'm celebrating the release today for my middle grade fantasy book, The Secret of Sweet Treats Kingdom, the first book in The Board Game Chronicles! Suitable for ages 7 to 11. If you have kids or grandkids who needs to do some reading over the summer, please check it out. It's free on Kindle Unlimited, and ebook and print versions available on Amazon. Print is available on Barnes and Noble as well.

What it's about: 

Amber Addison is fed up with her kindergartener sister. It’s Ava’s fault she’s missing her best friend’s birthday party, the most anticipated event in their sixth-grade class. To make matters worse, Ava has coerced her into playing Sweet Treats board game and she keeps losing to a five-year-old. When Amber’s irritation gets the best of her, she throws the game, destroying it.

As the board disintegrates, the two girls are swept into a swirling vortex and they find themselves in the middle of Sweet Treats kingdom. Ava is kidnapped by an evil queen, and Amber finds herself relying on a mint-green rabbit to help her find her way to Bonbon Castle with the hope of finding her sister. Along the way, she encounters more sweets than she could ever eat along with fantastical beings. Some will become her friend and others create danger that she must survive in order to save her sister and find their way home.

A fun recipe is included

Purchase Amazon ebook or read for free on Kindle Unlimited: HERE

Purchase Amazon print:  HERE

Purchase Barnes & Noble print: HERE

G I V E A W A Y   T I M E !!!

I'm giving away a copy of Essentials of Death, your choice of format: print, ebook, or audiobook.

Comment below and include your email (yourname at yourserver dot com) for a chance to win a copy of Essentials of Death. (Contest ends 11:59pm on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Print and ebook limited to US residents; audiobook is available for everyone.)

Readers, do you have a favorite side dish you make for barbecues or potlucks?