Tag: #holiday

Posted in Cozy Mysteries

Canyons, Caravans, & Cadavers

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

(A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery Series Book 6)

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY WITH A SMIDGEN OF HOMICIDE

USA Today Bestselling author Tonya Kappes brings you southern and quirky characters in her mystery series. Her stories are charged with humor, friendship, family and life in small southern towns.

Welcome to Normal, Kentucky where NOTHING is normal.

When the principal of Normal High School asks Mae West to teach a semester on small town economics, since she helped bring the thriving economy in Normal, Kentucky when she used her brilliant ideas to bring the Happy Trails Campground back to life.

Mae is thrilled and happy to teach the young people. But when a fellow teacher and archery Coach Roger Carlson, is found stone-cold dead, facedown in one of Happy Trails Campground campers with an arrow sticking out of his back, it puts a damper on the thriving campground when tourists cancel their reservations and Mae’s excitement to teach.Mae’s hankering to snoop into the coach’s private life and find out exactly why he was renting a camper in Happy Trails and not living at home with his young wife.

Her efforts don’t leave her short on suspects. Especially, since Mae uncovered many unhappy parents who had relied on an archery scholarship and perfect ACT scores as their child’s ticket to get out of Normal and go to college. Mae has to be careful or she just might find an arrow with her name written on it.

Posted in Cozy Mysteries

Motorhomes, Maps, & Murder

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

(A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery Series Book 5)

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY WITH A SMIDGEN OF HOMICIDE

USA Today Bestselling author Tonya Kappes brings you southern and quirky characters in her mystery series. Her stories are charged with humor, friendship, family and life in small southern towns.

Welcome to Normal, Kentucky where NOTHING is normal.

Mae West, owner of Happy Trails Campground, never thought she would become an actress like her namesake.

Calling herself an actress might be far stretch as she plays a minor role in the local Civil War reenactment BATTLE AT CAMP WILDCAT.

When the reenactment doesn’t go as planned, not one but two of the town’s folks aren’t playing dead. . .they were MURDERED!

Come to find out there was a prison break and the serial killer is believed to be in Normal and someone has stolen a motorhome from Happy Trails Campground. Are these connected?

Mae lets boyfriend and hunky detective, Hank Sharp, follow all the leads about the murders and on the trail of the serial killer because she’s got bigger s’mores in the fire. The motorhome owners have filed a lawsuit and suing her for the deed to Happy Trails Campground.

Mae has embraced Normal and there’s nothing or no one going to take her campground. She’s determined to find the motorhome and return it to the owners before she hands over any deed to anyone.

Mae just might find out that tapping into her namesake just might come in handy when coming face to face with a serial killer.

Posted in Cozy Mysteries

Christmas, Criminals, and Campers 

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

(A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery Series Book 4)

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY WITH A SMIDGEN OF HOMICIDE

USA Today Bestselling author Tonya Kappes brings you southern and quirky characters in her mystery series. Her stories are charged with humor, friendship, family and life in small southern towns.

Welcome to Normal, Kentucky where NOTHING is normal.

Abby Fawn, the librarian, cannot believe her luck. Her favorite romance author, Nadine White, has rented a cozy camper at the Happy Trails Campground for the winter months.

Abby is devastated. She discovers Nadine White is nothing like the person she portrays in interviews. Nadine is also different from how she presents herself on social media. In fact, Nadine White is not nice at all. Abby lets her feelings be known. She thinks Nadine is a fraud. . .after she finds out Nadine has a ghost writer.

When Nadine White is found dead in the Normal Library, Abby Fawn is Detective Hank Sharp’s number one suspect.

It’s time for Mae West to put up her camping gear for the winter months. It’s also time to put on her sleuthing gear. She needs to figure out who is framing Abby Fawn. Mae must act before Abby becomes the ending in Nadine White’s final chapter.

Posted in Cookbooks

Mostly Meatless

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Green Up Your Plate Without Totally Ditching the Meat

200+ plant-forward recipes for the modern-day omnivore looking to eat less meat

Vegetables take center stage in globally inspired nutritious meals, perfect for anyone following a Mediterranean diet

Attention plant-curious cooks, occasional vegetarians, even conflicted carnivores—anyone looking to reduce their meat consumption. This vibrant collection fills a needed middle ground with 200+ hearty recipes that center vegetables and make meat the sidekick. (About half the recipes include some form of meat!)

  • Re-engineers Your Favorites with Less Meat: Swiss Chard Enchiladas, Mostly Meatless Meatballs and Marinara, Bacon and Cheese Black Bean Burgers, and Parsnip and Chicken Shawarma bulk up comforting favorites with plants, while paring down the meat.
  • Vegetables at the Center (with Meat as a Seasoning): Embrace anchovies, bacon, and chorizo to season a heap of vegetables with a little meat—like in our Almost Beefless Beef Stew, Caldo Verde, and Breakfast Fried Rice with Spinach and Shiitakes.
  • Flavors from the Mediterranean, Asia, Central America, and Beyond: Recipes take inspiration from healthful eating traditions around the world, whether you’re craving Okonomiyaki, Hot Ukrainian Borscht, Peruvian Arroz con Pollo, or Mapo Tofu.
  • Emphasizes Ease and Efficiency: Cooking more plants doesn’t have to mean spending more time shopping or chopping. We streamlined at every stage of our recipes—leaning on widely available ingredients and shelf-stable pantry goods—to give you time back in your day.

Find more recipes like this on my companion blog, “Good Food, Good Meat, Good God, Let’s Eat!”

Posted in Cookbooks

Dinner Tonight

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

200 Quick Recipes for Inspired Weeknight Cooking

Bold flavors meet time-saving tricks in 200 recipes (all ready in 45 minutes or less) that make weeknight dinners fun and stress-free.

When time is short and bellies are grumbling, America’s Test Kitchen’s streamlined guide to weeknight cooking is ready for you. It offers great meals that don’t require a ton of work. These meals also bring new flavors to the table. No matter your craving, you’ll find a dinner that fits the bill in under 45 minutes with easy cleanup. You might enjoy chicken salad with a fantastic dressing. Try Avocado Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Jicama and Banana Peppers. If you want umami-rich noodles, consider Chili Crisp Noodles. Or perhaps you desire a deeply comforting soup like Spicy Tomato Soup with Tortellini and Sausage.

Edited by Jack Bishop, TV cast member, tasting guru, and creator of the twice-weekly Dinner Tonight newsletter (which goes out to more than 1 million fans), this collection of 200 go-to recipes delivers plenty of ways to improve your weeknight eating:

  • Fresh Ideas for Pantry Staples: Are you staring blankly at your pantry? These recipes give it new life (canned tuna = Spaghetti al Tonno; frozen peas = Pea and Pistachio Pesto Pasta).
  • Modern Flavor Boosters: Every recipe showcases a smart way to add flavor, like an Old Bay–spiked lemon compound butter that melts over salmon fillets and pools into a bowl of confetti grits; or honey and red wine vinegar, which become a sweet yet sophisticated glaze for chicken.
  • Flexible Swaps: Got parsley but no cilantro? Ground turkey but no pork? These recipes indicate when swaps make sense.
  • Riff on Recipes to Make New Meals: The sauce for Murgh Makhani (aka Indian Butter Chicken) is so perfectly spiced, you’ll want to try it with tofu or chickpeas—we show you how.
  • Comfort-Food Flavors in Low-Key Renditions: Chicken Piccata Meatballs, Pork Meatball Bahn Mi (can you tell we love meatballs?), and Mezzi Rigatoni with Spicy Gochujang Tomato Sauce offer maximum appeal with minimal effort. And that’s just the beginning of what you’ll find.

Need help deciding? Themed lists let you choose dinner based on your mood, the season, or what’s on hand. There are even tips for scaling recipes for two. With 200 recipes plus ways to spin them, you’ve got more than a year of great ideas.