Sisterhood of the Frying Pan

It was one of those church affairs that I got my comeuppance. The leader of the young moms' group handed out recipes. We were all supposed to follow the recipe and bring this specific all-in-one egg casserole dish for the church-wide Sunday brunch.

Understand that I've never claimed to be a great cook, but I know how to read. And I'd been cooking for my family for a few years without poisoning anyone. Plus, I followed step-wise procedures all the time in the world of science. I could do this.

I followed the recipe to the letter, and it wasn't easy with an infant and a toddler attached to me like rogue octopi, let me tell you, but I wanted to do my part.

Come Sunday morning, the 9x12 casserole dishes were laid out on the counter like a holy jack o'lantern smile. I took some of mine and a few unsuspecting others did as well, but most of the other dishes emptied out.

Come to find out, "follow the recipe" doesn't mean that. Folks substituted lots of things, added more flavors, threw in a little extra this and that. My plain-jane casserole didn't measure up.

That's when I knew.

There was a secret society, one of which I was not a member.

The Sisterhood of the Frying Pan met in out of the way places, they swapped recipes, they watched cooking shows, they even experimented with foods. Ye gads. I was a cooking failure before I even lifted a spatula.

At one cookie-making event I attended, one of the sisters noticed me struggling as I carved the Crisco out of the measuring cup for my gingerbread men. "Don't you know nothing, girl?" she said. "Always crack your egg in the measuring cup to coat it before you measure out the shortening."

Dumbfounded, I watched her execute this move and not a trace of Crisco remained in her measuring cup afterward.

But the sisterhood was wise to the leak. No more tips came my way because I didn't know the secret handshake. But I didn't mind, I'd learned the true secret. Find out who the best cooks were, then only eat their dishes at pot luck functions. I'm more than happy to eat food the sisterhood makes.

Recently, another "sister" let slip a tip that made me realize I'm an amateur on a professional playing field. After spending the night at her place, she pulled out what she called her egg dish and proceeded to crack her eggs on the bottom of the pan. For more than 30 years, I've been cracking eggs on the side of this or that, and there's always that telltale dribble of white everywhere. Cracking eggs in the bottom of the dish. Imagine that.

Since I'm not a member of the sisterhood, I can't be sanctioned for sharing this leaked  tip. From now on, I will always crack my eggs in the bottom of a bowl. No more egg white cast-offs for me!

If you'd like to share a kitchen tip, and aren't afraid of being drummed out of the sisterhood, please leave a comment. You can only dine so many years on perfectly Criscoed gingerbread men....

Maggie Toussaint
www.maggietoussaint.com

large print edition of Death Island Style out now

Murder in the Buff, a naturalist mystery with organic produce, is available now as an ebook. check it out at Amazon.com  BarnesandNoble   Muse It Up Publishing

Ketchup is more than a vegetable

When my kids were little, we used to joke that ketchup was a vegetable. It's chock full of tomatoes, so it has to be healthy, right? Fast forward a few years and we move to the deep South. At one of our fav eat-out spots, they have a list of veggies in big letters right on the back of the cash registers. Get this, macaroni and cheese is a vegetable. So is rice. You gotta love the South!

Anyway, I have some catching up to do, hence the ketchup blog.

For anyone that missed the announcement, SEEING RED, my sweet romance about the bed and breakfast that's a huge money pit, is FREE this week/month at Smashwords as they promote reading e-books. Free, that's right. But you need a coupon code, so here it is:

MD44L and here's the link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/41338 

In this book, Emma Heartly is desperately trying to get out of her dead end job, but her boss and sisters won't let her. Contractor Quentin Stone likes old Victorians and he's keen about the redhead too, so he volunteers to help her when her loan falls through. Expect construction mishaps and family drama in this full length book.

As the wheels of publishing turn at unequal rates, my "February" release of my hardcover title from Five Star / Cengage, DEATH, ISLAND STYLE, actually becomes live at Amazon and B&N on March 7. That's this Wednesday. You need to read this fun-in-the-sun book. It's gotten fab reviews from Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, Romantic Times and more. MaryBeth reinvents herself as a craft store owner after the deaths of her husband and her mother, but her past isn't done with her. It catches up with her in the form of a dead guy in the surf, a guy the cops link to her. Yikes! She has to work fast to prove her innocence.

Besides 3 of the Big 4 reviewers taking a shine to this mystery, read this from a trending author:

"On the surface, Maggie Toussaint's "Death, Island Style," is a well-written, intricate, and satisfying cozy mystery with a charming setting and well-developed characters. Below the surface, it's an emotional but no less satisfying look at a woman's journey from heartbroken widow and grieving daughter to self-confident business woman and kick-ass heroine. It delivers on both counts, and will hopefully not be the last we see of MaryBeth Cashour and the people of Sandy Shores Island." Jennie Bentley, New York Times Bestselling Author

Thank you, Jennie Bentley. You are truly a Rock Star in my world.

And the publishing wheels revolve again, this time to my zany cozy mystery, MURDER IN THE BUFF, an ebook-only mystery from Muse It Up which releases this Friday, March 9. Holy Murgatroid, Batman. Two books releasing in one week! What was I thinking?

Murder is about wronged Molly Darter, a reporter who caught her husband doing a tonsil check of her sister. Her boss makes her go to the nudist colony for a story and the nudists insist that one of their own was murdered. Molly doesn't want to help them, but certain photos push her into sniffing around. There's a slobbery dog, a precocious boy-child, a determined husband, a boss with secrets, and a whole lot more. Plus this book very affordable. Here's a link you might find useful on Friday (to buy) or today just to nose around. Muse It Up Publishing

I've got two signings coming up this month. One on Sunday, March 18 and another on Saturday, March 31. Local folks will get postcards with more info. If you aren't on my mailing list - you need to be! Email me for more info maggie@maggietoussaint.com

In the upcoming weeks, I have guest posts to promo the books, and I'll post a link at mudpies in case folks want to click over. There are excerpts for all my books at my site www.maggietoussaint.com.

Whew! That was a lot of Ketchup. I've fulfilled my vegetable requirements for the week.

Maggie Toussaint

all formatting errors are mine and mine alone. blogger hates me.

PW review is a mag Christmas gift

fab new cover quote from
Publisher's Weekly

I kept wondering what I would get myself for Christmas this year. I'm oh-so-tempted to buy a little here and there as I'm working down my Christmas list, but this year I'd held back. Then  Publisher's Weekly surprised me with a great review.

I was anxious about this book, my first mystery not in my popular Cleopatra Jones series. Would the reviewers like it as much as my other titles? Would it tank, and there'd never be another Maggie Toussaint cozy sold? So many things go through your head when you send a book out into the world, almost like putting your child on the school bus for the first time.

Anyway, if my "gift" of a review for Death, Island Style from Publisher's Weekly is a portent of things to come, I think I can relax and let go.

My publisher was so pleased with the review that the cover was changed to incorporate the new PW quote" "exciting whodunit."

Here's their entire review:

Widow MaryBeth Cashour, a former Maryland resident, makes a fresh start on the tiny coastal island of Sandy Shores, Ga., after the mysterious drowning death of her husband and her mother’s death from cancer in this exciting whodunit from Toussaint (In for a Penny). Running a souvenir and gift shop gives MaryBeth purpose, income, and a good reason to tackle crafting and shelling. When she discovers a dead body bobbing along the seashore, the police are suspicious of a newcomer with so much death in her recent past. When the corpse is linked to MaryBeth’s former life, the heat really turns up. Fortunately, there’s also heat from a handsome pharmacist in a neighboring storefront. MaryBeth realizes that if she’s ever going to drop off the police radar, she’ll have to figure out some things for herself.

Permalink: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4328-2566-9 (978-1-4328-2566-9)

gingerbread cookies
are a family favorite

I haven't figured out how to wrap this one up and put it under my tree, so I'm glad to have the Mudpies blog to showcase this wonderful gift. My publisher notified me that Death, Island Style would also release in large print, so that's two gifts in one!

To read the first Chapter of Death, Island Style, visit the Bookshelf page of my site, www.maggietoussaint.com.

Death, Island Style by Maggie Toussaint.

Five Star, $25.95 (262p) ISBN 978-1-4328-2566-9

Available March 9, 2012 from all online and bricks and mortar vendors

Wishing everyone the merriest Christmas ever!

Maggie Toussaint

A bit of holiday cheer
on my door