Nancy J. Cohen's A Bad Hair Day Cookbook Blog Tour with a Spotlight, Giveaway and Guest Post

 

I am so excited to have Nancy J. Cohen here at Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight, Giveaway and Guest Post.

Thanks Nancy and Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for allowing me to join your A Bad Hair Day Cookbook Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Nancy!

Cooking Can Be Dangerous by Nancy J. Cohen

Choose your weapon — metal kabob skewers, chef’s knife, cast iron skillet, or rolling pin? A climactic scene in a kitchen is appropriate for a cozy mystery novel featuring an amateur sleuth. Imagine the killer brandishing a butcher knife while the heroine grabs a skillet to defend herself. What scarier place for a confrontation exists than at home where you feel safe? It’s especially frightening in the kitchen, where we prepare food to please our family and friends. We don’t expect a violation of our space while going about our daily routine.

And yet, how many times do you read in the newspapers about a domestic incident that turned violent? Maybe the abusive husband didn’t like the way his peas were cooked. Or the cowed woman had suffered enough, and she grabbed the meat fork from a kitchen drawer. A house is full of dangerous objects, many of which can be found in the kitchen.

Next time you go to cook a meal, take a look around and picture what you could use if you had to defend yourself. Don’t forget boiling water or acidic liquids that you can toss into an assailant’s eyes. But do forget reality, because cozy mysteries contain an element of fantasy. The heroine always escapes. The killer is always caught. This may not happen in real life, but it does happen in the pages of our books.

And hey, you could always toss a cookbook at the bad guy’s head.

The only dangerous tale in my new release, A Bad Hair Day Cookbook, is from one of the excerpts included. Hairstylist sleuth Marla Vail is working in the kitchen. She gives her husband a task to perform. Here’s what happens:

Speaking of challenges, she gave Dalton one in the kitchen that afternoon. He’d come home from work with the acorn squashes she’d requested. Occupied with retrieving serving platters, Marla asked him to stick a squash in the microwave for five minutes. Once softened, she could slice it and save the baking part for later.

She’d lined up her serving dishes and was drying dishes by the sink when a loud popping noise sounded from behind. She whipped around just as the microwave door burst open. With a shriek, she leapt back. That thing might have cracked her on the head if she’d stood in front of it.

Regaining her equilibrium, she dropped her dish towel and went over to cancel the programming. Oh no. Dalton had timed it for fifteen minutes, not five minutes as requested! Her pulse still raced as she regarded the mangled mess inside the oven. Steam billowed from the interior.

“You should have pricked the skin if you put it in for that long,” she admonished Dalton, who’d rushed over from his perch in front of the TV. He gaped at the microwave unit, his astonished expression diminishing her annoyance.

“What do you mean?”

“I told you to put it in for five minutes, not fifteen. Pricking the skin lets air escape so the squash doesn’t explode. It’s a good thing we have more of them to cook.”

His forehead creased. “Thank goodness you weren’t hurt. That’s all that matters.”

Brianna wandered into the room. “What did you do, Dad?”

He pointed to his chest. “Hey, why does everybody blame me? How am I supposed to know about these things? If you want it done right, do it yourself.”

ROASTED ACORN SQUASH

Ingredients

2 Acorn Squash
Olive Oil
Paprika, Oregano, Parsley, Garlic Powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook acorn squash in microwave on high for a few minutes until somewhat soft. Place the squash on a cutting board and slice it in half length-wise. Remove the seeds. Lay the half pieces cut-side-down on the board and slice into ¼ inch length-wise slices or along ridges.

Arrange the slices in a single layer on a greased aluminum-foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over the top of each squash piece and sprinkle with spices. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until slices are fork-tender. Serves 4.

A Bad Hair Day Cookbook: Recipes from Nancy J. Cohen’s Cozy Mystery Series
Cozy Cookbook
Orange Grove Press (November 19, 2019)
Paperback: 324 pages
ISBN-10: 099979325X
ISBN-13: 978-0999793251
Digital ASIN: B07XSH6C7B


 


A BAD HAIR DAY COOKBOOK: Recipes from Nancy J. Cohen’s Cozy Mystery Series

Are you having a bad hair day? Whip out your whisk, snatch up your spoon, and prepare your palate. Inside the pages of this cookbook are recipes that will bring you good cheer.

Enjoy 160+ tasty recipes from Nancy J. Cohen’s popular Bad Hair Day cozy mystery series. Included in this cookbook are excerpts, cooking tips, and anecdotes written by hairstylist and savvy sleuth Marla Vail. From appetizers to desserts, Marla offers cooking tips and tricks along with commentary about the dishes she prepares for her family. Whether you’re a skilled cook or an eager novice, this cookbook will unravel the mystery of cooking. Put on your apron and plan to make some killer recipes!

Bonuses Include: 

Meet the Sleuth
Introduction by Marla Vail
Cooking Tips
Excerpts from Series Titles
Themed Menu Suggestions
“A Sabbath Dinner” by Nancy’s Mother

For Home Cooks, Food Lovers, Mystery Fans and Cookbook Collectors

BUY LINKS

Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Hair-Day-Cookbook-Recipes-ebook/dp/B07XSH6C7B/

Amazon Print: https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Hair-Day-Cookbook-Recipes/dp/099979325X/

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-bad-hair-day-cookbook/id1479889058

Nook: https://bit.ly/2kvrySl

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-bad-hair-day-cookbook

Books2Read: https://books2read.com/ABadHairDayCookbook

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/a-bad-hair-day-cookbook-recipes-from-nancy-j-cohen-s-cozy-mystery-series-by-nancy-j-cohen

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48136773-a-bad-hair-day-cookbook

Nancy J. Cohen writes the Bad Hair Day Mysteries featuring South Florida hairstylist Marla Vail. Titles in this series have been named Best Cozy Mystery by Suspense Magazine, won a Readers' Favorite gold medal, placed first in the Chanticleer International Book Awards and third in the Arizona Literary Awards. Nancy’s instructional guide, Writing the Cozy Mystery, was nominated for an Agatha Award and won a gold medal at the President’s Book Awards from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association. When not busy writing, Nancy enjoys cooking, fine dining, cruising, visiting Disney World, and shopping.

Website: https://nancyjcohen.com

Blog: https://nancyjcohen.com/blog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyJCohenAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nancyjcohen

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyjcohen

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nancy-j-cohen

Instagram: https://instagram.com/nancyjcohen

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/njcohen/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/nancyjcohen

Giveaway

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/59c47e2844 

Please follow the rest of the tour here, thanks:

https://www.escapewithdollycas.com/great-escapes-virtual-book-tours/books-currently-on-tour/a-bad-hair-day-cookbook-recipes-from-nancy-j-cohens-cozy-mystery-series-by-nancy-j-cohen

 

Ellen Mansoor Collier's Vamps, Villains and Vaudeville Blog Tour with a Spotlight, Giveaway and Guest Post

 

I am so excited to have Ellen Mansoor Collierhere at Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight, Giveaway and Guest Post.

Thanks Ellen and Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for allowing me to join your Vamps, Villains and Vaudeville Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Ellen!

SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED

by Ellen Mansoor Collier,

Author of the Jazz Age Mystery Series

“Eat, drink and be merry” dictated the mood during the Shake, Rattle and Pour era of the Roaring Twenties — never mind Prohibition. To the rebellious “Lost Generation” of the Jazz Age, the 18th Amendment passed in 1919 (aka the Volstead Act) made liquor that much more appealing, not to mention attainable.

Thanks to opportunistic bootleggers, moonshiners, and Al Capone-clones, gin mills and bars flowed with bathtub booze and home-brewed hooch. Originally created by the ancient Egyptians, cocktails not only helped to make bootleg liquor more palatable for public consumption, but stretched out a meager supply. Outrageous names added to the cocktail craze: Between the Sheets, Side Car, Fox Trot, Zanzibar, Clover Club, Palm Beach, for starters.

Contraband cocktails served as the main ice-breakers, and often the raison d’etre, of spirited soirees during the not-so-dry decade. Savvy hostesses knew that mixed drinks helped loosen up the mixed company and, with a little help from her rum-running friends, her bar was always well-stocked for making whoopee. As Cole Porter would say, “Anything goes!”

Prohibition may have padlocked the doors of the saloons and bars, yet it paved the way for a more egalitarian watering hole. Only the right card and password granted you entreé, behind unmarked doors and peepholes, into the speakeasy’s secret sect. Daring sheiks and shebas could imbibe giggle-water until they were blotto — or until the next police raid.

Speakeasies sprouted like mushrooms — dark, damp and underground. By 1925, bon vivants could make the rounds at 100,000 blind pigs in New York City alone.

Besides bars and boudoirs, cocktails played a starring role in theatres and in Hollywood. Real-life flapper and film siren Joan Crawford drank, danced and smooched with abandon in Our Dancing Daughters (1928) and its sequel, Our Modern Maidens. Scandalous! And what's a Noel Coward comedy, say, Private Lives or Blithe Spirit, without its ever-present props: the cocktail tray and “very dry martinis”?

Don't forget everyone's favorite aunt — Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame. How could she throw an all-night soiree during the so-called Dry Decade without her bootlegger’s help?

Thirsty but resourceful quaffers most likely fashioned early shakers out of Mason jars, shell casings, or whatever container was at hand. Consider this frat joke published in Cornell’s Widow during the 1920s: “Do you fellows wash your own clothes at the house?” “Heck, no.” “Well, what's that washing machine for?” “That's no washing machine. That's our cocktail shaker.”

With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, speakeasies came out of the closet, only to be reborn as chi-chi cafes and must-see and be seen nightclubs. Undaunted by the Depression, New York’s cafe society flitted from the Stork Club to El Morocco to 21. In 1935, the original Old Mister Boston De Luxe Official Bartender’s Guide was published, just in time to capitalize on this intoxicating industry.

During the 1930s, a new era of movie-making began, showcasing cocktail shakers as the au courant accessory of sophisticated Hollywood stars. These Art Deco artifacts may have their roots in Prohibition, but their popularity has spanned the decades, symbolizing carefree elegance and elan. During this Golden Age of glamour, Clark Gable and Myrna Loy were the King and Queen of Hollywood. Life was swell and swank while everyone drank, at least in the movies — and how! Depression? Who’s depressed?

Like the matineé idols and stars of the day, cocktails, and the requisite shakers, were considered de rigueur for the Smart Set. No hard liquor for these oh-so-chic creatures of yesteryear. Recall Nick and Nora Charles exchanging witty reparteé in The Thin Man movies as they sipped dry martinis—what else? Witness Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire twirling to swing bands under a mirrored ball in a glittering 1930s ballroom. Talk about putting on the Ritz!

Today cocktail shakers are no longer hidden behind closed doors, but are back in their rightful place at the bar. Elegant as an Erté etching, or just funky and fun, these colorful collectibles are meant to be displayed and handled—not just stored away like dusty museum pieces.

And on a cool night when you’re sipping a Dubonnet and the moon is a silver smile in the sky, you can pretend it’s 1925 all over again: Suddenly you're snuggling with that special someone in the rumble seat of a new Packard, singing at the top of your lungs: “In the meantime, in between time: Ain't we got fun?”

©Ellen Mansoor Collier  

Vamps, Villains and Vaudeville
(Jazz Age Mystery Series)
(Volume 4)
Cozy Mystery
Publisher: DECODAME PRESS (August 5, 2015)
Paperback: 250 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0989417082
E-Book ASIN: B0111GYYYE




Synopsis

In 1920s Galveston, society reporter Jazz Cross is in for a surprise when she attends a traveling vaudeville show with her beau, Prohibition Agent James Burton, and discovers that an old flame acts in the production. That night, they find a stabbing victim behind the Oasis — her half-brother Sammy’s speakeasy — who’s identified as an actor in the troupe. When the victim disappears and later turns up dead, Jazz must help prove that Sammy wasn’t the killer.

Meanwhile, a ring of jewel thieves is turning up all over town, robbing rich tourists of their precious gems. After a second vaudeville actor is found dead, Jazz discovers that the events behind the scenes are much more interesting than the outdated acts onstage.

To make matters worse, Sammy’s old nemesis demands that he settles a score and forces him into yet another illegal scheme. Can Jazz help solve the murders and prove her brother’s innocence — so he can escape the Downtown Gang for good?

A historical Jazz Age mystery inspired by real-life Galveston gangs and local landmarks.

About The Author

Ellen Mansoor Collier is a Houston-based freelance magazine writer and editor whose articles and essays have been published in a variety of national magazines. Several of her short stories have appeared in Woman’s World. During college summers, she worked as a reporter for a Houston community newspaper and as a cocktail waitress, both jobs providing background experience for her Jazz Age mysteries.

A flapper at heart, she’s worked as a magazine editor/writer, and in advertising and public relations (plus endured a hectic semester as a substitute teacher). She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Magazine Journalism and served on UTmost, the college magazine and as president of WICI (Women in Communications).

FLAPPERS, FLASKS AND FOUL PLAY is her first novel, published in 2012, followed by the sequel, BATHING BEAUTIES, BOOZE AND BULLETS, released in May 2013. She lives in Houston with her husband and Chow mutts, and visits Galveston whenever possible.

“When you grow up in Houston, Galveston becomes like a second home. I had no idea this sleepy beach town had such a wild and colorful past until I began doing research, and became fascinated by the legends and stories of the 1920s. Finally I had to stop researching and start writing, trying to imagine a flapper’s life in Galveston during Prohibition.”

Author Links:

Website: http://www.flapperfinds.com/

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6452242.Ellen_Mansoor_Collier

Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/artdecodame/flappers/

Purchase Links:

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