For Cheddar or Worse by Avery Aames, Review, Guest Post, and Giveaway

For Cheddar or Worse:
A Cheese Shop Mystery
7th in Series
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Berkley (February 2, 2016)
ISBN-13: 978-0425273326
E-Book ASIN: B00X593CK8

Synopsis

In the new Cheese Shop Mystery from the Agatha Award-winning author of As Gouda as Dead, an extra-sharp tongued cheese critic is cut down during a summer cheese festival.

It’s time for the annual Cheese Festival in Providence, Ohio, and Charlotte Bessette’s cheese shop is packed with homemade specialties. Meanwhile, her friend Erin is prepping her dairy farm and inn for cheese makers, marketers, journalists, and one surprise guest—Lara Berry, pretentious cheese whiz, pompous bestselling author, and pungent critic whose extra sharp tongue can crumble a reputation.
Even though any love for Lara by her friends curdled long ago, Charlotte is surprised when the foodie is smothered to death in her room at Erin’s inn. Accusations start flying, but the one laying blame on Erin strikes Charlotte as a crock. Now, to clear her friend’s name, Charlotte has to sift through Lara’s ex-lovers, former business partners, and unforgiving enemies to find a killer before Lara’s past casts a tainted pall on the festival’s future.

RECIPES INCLUDED

What I Thought:

I really love this series and this was another great installment.  Charlotte and Jordan are now married and they go to a local Inn for a Brain Trust.  Of, course there is a murder and Charlotte can't keep her nose out of the investigation.  There are a few suspects to this baffling murder, but as always, Charlotte is tenacious.  There is also the Cheese Festival going on with the Street Scene.  So Charlotte has a lot of distractions.  This one kept me turning the pages.  I think this series just gets better and better.  It also makes me really hungry for cheese and I end up trying cheeses that I have never tried before.  If you are looking for an entertaining, page-turner, then this is the book for you.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review. 

About The Author

Avery Aames is the Agatha Award–winning author of The Long Quiche Goodbye and six other titles in the Cheese Shop Mystery series. As Daryl Wood Gerber, she is the nationally bestselling author of  the Cookbook Nook Mysteries, including Fudging the Books, Stirring the Plot, Inherit the Word, and Final Sentence. Like her protagonist, Avery is an admitted foodie. Prior to writing, Avery (aka Daryl) acted on stage and television, including on Murder, She Wrote. Don’t forget to sign up for her fan club so you can be entered in all her contests! You’ll find that fan club on her website! Visit her website at www.darylwoodgerber.com.

Author Links
www.darylwoodgerber.com
www.facebook.com/darylwoodgerber
www.twitter.com/darylwoodgerber
www.twitter.com/averyaames
www.goodreads/darylwoodgerber
www.goodreads/averyaames
www.pinterest/darylwoodgerber
Blog: www.mysteryloverskitchen.com (Blog Wednesdays)
Purchase Links
Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Cheddar-Worse-Cheese-Shop-Mystery/dp/0425273326/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447100196&sr=8-1&keywords=for+cheddar+or+worse
B&N – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/for-cheddar-or-worse-avery-aames/1121863802?ean=9780425273326

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I Flip through Cookbooks for Inspiration

By Avery Aames aka Daryl Wood Gerber

I need to eat gluten-free. It’s much easier nowadays because there are lots of products on the market that are gluten-free. Read the labels and you’ll see!

I'd like to share with you a recipe I found in the cookbook: The Gluten-Free Baking Book. This is an easy book to understand. There are lots of combos of recipes so you can play in the kitchen. I fell in lust with the one called Cheddar and Bacon Cornbread. What's not to like?  

Now, I toyed with this recipe. I often do tweak. I simplified the gluten-free flour selections. I also added a bit more cheese on top of the muffins about two minutes before they completed baking. Yum!  My cheese monger, Charlotte, would highly approve.

* NOTE: Though I've provided a gluten-free recipe, you can substitute regular flours for the sweet rice flour and tapioca starch and eliminate the xanthan gum and you're good to go for regular diets. You don't have to find GF creamed corn or GF bacon, either.  See how easy it is to make things gluten-free and then convert back?   (See below)

So do you or your loved ones have any dietary restrictions? If so, how do you cope?

CHEDDAR BACON CORNBREAD

(Gluten-free or regular)

Ingredients:

     1 large egg

     3/4 cup creamed corn (make sure it’s gluten-free if necessary)

     1/3 cup cornmeal

     1/3 cup sweet rice flour

     1/4 cup tapioca starch or (more sweet rice flour)

     1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

     1 ½ teaspoon granulated sugar

     1 teaspoon baking powder

     1/2 teaspoon baking soda

     1/4 teaspoon salt

     4 slices of crisp bacon, crumbled

     1/2 half cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Set 6-8 cupcake holders in a cupcake tray.

In a small bowl, combine the egg and creamed corn. Set aside.

In large bowl, set the cornmeal, gluten-free flours, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir.

Add crumbled bacon and cheddar cheese.  Stir. It will be thick.

Scoop mixture into 6-8 cupcake holders.

Bake 20-22 minutes until tester (toothpick) comes out clean.

Serve warm.

By the way, if you don’t have a toothpick, you can use a piece of  spaghetti or shish kebab skewer as a tester.

Giveaway:

Avery aka Daryl is giving away 1 copy of winner’s choice of CHEESE SHOP MYSTERY, including FOR CHEDDAR OR WORSE. Leave a comment!

Bio:

Agatha Award-winning and nationally bestselling author DARYL WOOD GERBER writes the Cookbook Nook Mysteries, set in the fictional coastal town of Crystal Cove, California.  As Avery Aames, she also writes the Cheese Shop Mysteries, set in quaint Providence, Ohio. Fun tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote”. She loves to cook and read and has a darling, frisky Goldendoodle named Sparky. Visit Daryl or Avery at www.darylwoodgerber.com.