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LUCY BURDETTE:
On the way back from a wedding in Pennsylvania on Sunday, John and I stopped at the local farm store and happened upon local strawberries. They were so gorgeous that we bought more than was reasonable for two people. Of course, I posted about this dilemma on Facebook and got an onslaught of great sounding recipes. Doesn't a homemade strawberry milkshake sound good? How about strawberry bread? Jam? Pie? Or just plain pop them in the freezer for a treat on a winter day?
In the end, we ate most of them, except for the ones I made into my own recipe for Strawberry-Rhubarb coffee cake. I'm happy to share it with you!
Rhubarb-Strawberry Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 cup strawberries, chopped
For the topping:
1/4 C. butter, 1/3 C brown sugar, 3 TBSP flour, 4 TBSP rolled oats
Cream the butter and sugar, and add the egg. Sift together flour and
baking soda and add to creamed mixture with the milk and vanilla. Fold
in the rhubarb and strawberries. Pour into greased 9 x 11″ pan. Blend
topping ingredients until pea-sized with a pastry blender and 
sprinkle
on top of the cake. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.
This is one of the recipes included in the back of DEATH IN FOUR COURSES. Hayley's good friend Eric makes it when Hayley's
mom is coming for a visit. Because doesn't a homemade coffee cake cure
just about all ills?
What would you make with those strawberries?
HALLIE EPHRON: We all made resolutions for 2012, and the wonderful thing about a blog archive is that I can go back to this day, a year ago, and see what we promised ourselves. So how'd we do? 
I had three resolutions:
Finish the damned book.
Lose weight.
Chew more slowly.
I'm two for three... if you count two pounds as "losing weight" (I do!) In April, that book I was afraid I'd never finish comes out. Look for THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN in April. It's a doozy. And how nice to look back and remember how lost I felt about that book, just like I'm feeling lost now with the next one.
Here you go, ladies, fess up! Did you(I cherry-picked or we'd be here all year...) --
RHYS, did you...
Have adventures.
Be patient with John's "little failings which are too numerous to mention here.
Take up a new sport.
RHYS BOWEN: I guess I can count falling and fracturing my pelvis as an adventure--not one I would have chosen, but certainly one that made me incredibly grateful for all the things I take for granted--being able to walk, drive myself, dance, play with grandkids. 
John's little failings... uh, I try.
Did I really say take up a new sport? What was I thinking? I guess my new sport had to be learning to use a walker! But I hiked 5 miles yesterday and maybe more today so all is well.
RO, did you...
Pay more attention to the library in Tanzania.
Spend less time online.
ROSEMARY HARRIS: I did! And...maybe I didn't.
We went back to Tanzania in February and we've committed to funding for another year so the library is still very much in operation. We always need books though, so that's an ongoing challenge.
In the last six months I spent less time online but that had less to do with a conscious decision than just not having enough time. Oooh, Hallie, very sneaky of you to dig these up!
JAN, did you...
Exercise LESS.
Be more productive as a writer.
JAN BROGAN: Actually, the technical resolution - in my head if not in the blog - was to play less tennis. SO YES, I DID 
play less tennis. The fact that I tore my ulnar nerve was EXTREMELY helpful in that regard. In fact, I even wonder if I kept pushing my elbow into injury for just that reason. As of last July, I haven't played ANY tennis.
So overall, I have exercised less, even though I have started running again (only a couple of times a week) and I've been way more productive as a journalist. A little more productive as a fiction writer. The new year's resolution this year is to finish my first draft of my historical novel.
JULIA, did you...
Swim at least three times a week.
Keep better in touch.
Finish the next book.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I can't believe it's been a whole year and I still haven't finished the book! Clearly, for 2013, I need to come up with some concrete ways to a) stop procrastinating, b) better manage my writing time vs. my motherhood/volunteer/other professional obligations c) be accountable for my word production. Any suggestions are welcome.
I've been a tiny bit better at keeping in touch with my family, worse at staying connected to my friends, but a lot better at communicating what's going on with my editor and agent - so overall, I'll put this in the plus column.
Except for this summer (when we do lots of things outdoors) I have been swimming at least semi-regularly, and my knees have continued to thank me for it. So this coming year? More of the same, except with specific goals instead of those open-ended resolutions.
HANK, did you...
Banish fear.
Envision yourself differently.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Well, yeah, I kind of did! In a kind of a sometimes-fearless way. (Interesting that those were among my resolutions. Good ones!) I do think I had some realization that we only have one life and if we don't go for it now, when will we? I even had an experiment, I will confess, where I went to a party and just said anything I wanted, without a filter. 
And I do envision myself a bit differently, tentatively, carefully--someone told me I had to allow myself to "get big," like cats do when they're angry. Wow. That really works.
SO I'm keeping those resolutions for the next year, too! And being fearless about THE WRONG GIRL, which I'm very happy with. (And the new book, for which I have NO IDEA. But I am not afraid!)
DEBS, did you...
Do the best you could.
Remind yourself often that you were doing the best you could., and wish all our friends and readers and very happy and productive new year!
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Hallie, good on you for reminding us what we resolved last year. And now that my curiosity is piqued, I'll have to go back to that blog post and see what else I SAID I was going to do. I know one resolution was "finish the book," and like you, I did. By the skin of my teeth, but I did. 
I think I also resolved to have more productive work habits, and to be more organized. Not sure I achieved either. But, hey, I FINISHED THE DAMNED BOOK. (And it's good, too. THE SOUND OF BROKEN GLASS, out February 19th!)
Oh, and I lost ten pounds, although that wasn't a resolution. I'm calling it the "Stress over finishing the damned book diet."
LUCY, you escaped last year by seconding Rhys's list. Sneaky. So how'd you do?
LUCY BURDETTE: Geez, that was kind of lame, wasn't it? And you guys let me get away with that? And meanwhile poor Hank was supposed to banish fear? Yikes!
So I did have some adventures--a week on a bare-bones sailboat in the British Virgin Islands, when I am a weenie about the open sea and scary sea creatures, and get easily seasick (and did!) Snorkeling I think should count as my new sport...
Let's see, what else? Two books in one year was a big adventure:).
As for being patient with my John, I think I'll add that back onto this year's list because being kind to your life partner is always a win-win, don't you think? And I'm going to take one from Hallie for this year--chew more slowly--and one from Debs--remind myself that I'm doing the best I can. If I am. (And I'll try...) Happy new year everyone!
HALLIE: So how about the rest of you? Did you do what you promised yourself, or are you pushing those resolutions into 2013... or just accepting whatever tomorrow brings?
LUCY BURDETTE: When Julia so graciously asked me if I'd like to share a recipe from DEATH IN FOUR COURSES, I was delighted! But enough with Key Lime pie and Conch fritters--it's Sunday, maybe time to think about an old-fashioned family supper?
One of the things I most enjoy writing in the food critic mysteries are the scenes where Hayley is cooking up something delicious for her family and friends. She uses that time to take care of the people she loves, burn off nervous energy, and sift through clues, of course. In this scene, her mom, Janet Snow, is cooking dinner on the houseboat. She's been in Key West on what seems like a very loooong visit and everyone's relieved that "the case" has been solved. Hayley's friend Connie is newly engaged and looking for cooking tips.
From DEATH IN FOUR COURSES:
Mom was kneading meat loaf in a red pottery bowl in Miss Gloria's galley kitchen. She dumped a sleeve of Ritz crackers into my food processor, whirred them into crumbs, and added them to the mix.
"There's no point in trying to make this dish low-fat or otherwise too healthy," she explained to Connie as she worked the crumbs into the meat. "You serve it once in a while, it makes your man happy, end of story. So skip the ground turkey and the quinoa. You need ground beef, some pork if you want to be fancy, plus chopped onion, carrots, and green pepper, cracker crumbs, a few tablespoons of Lipton's Onion Soup mix, half a jar of Bone Suckin' barbecue sauce. And an egg to bind it all together."
She shaped the red mass into an oval, tucked it into an oblong glass pan, slathered more sauce on top, and shunted it into the oven.
"If you girls could get started on the mashed potatoes, I'll go freshen up."
Connie looked up from the notes she was taking at the kitchen table. "From Janet Snow's Kitchen" was written across the top of the note card.
"This is an old family recipe, right?" Connie asked.
"Hayley discovered this one," my mother said. "I never did much care for my own mother's meat loaf." She winked and left the kitchen.
"Don't you dare tell her," I whispered. "It's my stepmother's recipe. One of the few edible things she can make."
Connie snickered; crossed out Janet and penciled in "Stepmom's Meat Loaf."
Stepmom’s Meat Loaf
1.5 lb ground beef (or beef and pork, organic preferred)
½ sleeve Ritz crackers, ground to crumbs
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped fine in food processor
1 egg
½ jar Bone-sucking barbeque sauce, more for glaze
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix meat well with all the other ingredients, reserving some sauce for topping. Shape the mixture into a loaf in a 9 x 13 glass baking pan. Bake for 1 and ¼ to ½ hours until meat is no longer pink. Drain grease halfway through baking; douse loaf with BBQ sauce, return to oven. 
Serve meatloaf with mashed potatoes or oven-roasted potatoes and carrots and a green vegetable or salad.
What about you, Jungle Red Readers? Do you have a special meat loaf recipe?
(And Hank and I thank you for all your support during our release week! We couldn't do it without you!)
ROSEMARY HARRIS: Back in the day, this time of year was filled with good news/bad news.
The bad news was that summer was ending.
The days would no longer be spent at the beach with friends and family, riding the waves at Rockaway and Riis Park.
Working on my Bain de Soleil tan at Brighton and Manhattan Beach (for years I thought I had dark skin until I stopped tanning.)
Endless days to read, play and - whatever the heck we wanted.
The good news?
Seeing school chums again. Making new friends.
Buying school supplies - I still have a thing for office supplies, pens, pencils, reams of snow-white paper waiting to be filled.
The September issue of Seventeen magazine - fantasizing about perfect outfits with matching knee socks (that ceased to matter in junior high school when we were allowed to wear jeans but I really cared about it in grade school.) Look at this, young girls still want to have Shiny Hair and Look Pretty! thirty years later. And longer probably if I'd found any from my day.
Bye bye Beach Boys, Jan and Dean and the other summer staples. Hello, the new fall tv shows (I think they start whenever they want these days.)
These days, I'm going to miss fresh fruit, watermelon salad, my garden and kayaking whenever I feel like it.
I'm looking forward to Hank and Roberta's new books, my annual September visit to Cape Cod, the Brooklyn Book Festival - where I'll be interviewing Mary Higgins Clark - Bouchercon and the new season of The Walking Dead!
What about you? What are you going to miss most as summer ends and what are you looking forward to this fall?
Monday's Winner - Thelma Straw! Email me at rosemary@rosemaryharris.com to collect your free copy of Slugfest
LUCY BURDETTE:
Before I became a published author, the workings of
publishing were all a mystery. Well. Hmmm. They still are in lots of ways.
But
now I know a few things, such as that somewhere about 9 or 10 months before the
book is due out, there’s a cover conference, including folks from editorial,
marketing, and art departments. I’m lucky with the Key West series to have an
editor who asks if I have any ideas. And I’ve learned that it pays to have
them! In fact for the book coming out next May, TOPPED CHEF (which is not my
first choice of title but that’s another blog post), I sent them the link to the Pinterest board I’d developed for the book.
For DEATH IN FOUR COURSES, when my editor asked for
suggestions, I mentioned the Audubon House in Key West, where a major cocktail
party takes place on the first night of the Key West Loves Literature event.
There are lovely gardens, including a decorative pool containing metal statues
of wading birds. I could just imagine a body bobbing up through the lily pads. I
told her I would love to see the cover involve this little dipping pool with
the birds, one of which was the murder weapon….and maybe a little plate of chocolate-covered strawberries and lamb chop bones on the
side?? So I sent in this terrific picture that my friend Angelo Pompano had taken
when he visited KW.
Cats are very popular on cozy covers and so I also hoped
they’d include the white cat 
who discovers an important clue to the murder. For inspiration, I
sent this photo of a typical Key West white cat. (The red on his nose is from allergies.)
Here was the first sketch from the artists, who are an illustration team working under the name
Griesbach/Martucci. I loved this draft! Although maybe the lamb chops looked a little misshapen...and my
editor thought it needed some opening up with a bit of beach, so the greenery wouldn't feel claustrophobic. 
(First thought: but there is no
beach near the Audubon House. Second thought, never mind reality, this is fiction!)
Here is the finished cover, which is probably my favorite of the ten books I have out so far. As my agent has said, the cover fairies have been busy...
How about you Jungle Red writers and readers? Have you had a cover that you thought was fabulous--or maybe a dud? Do you choose books by their covers?
(And can't resist one small nudge--you can order these books right here
LUCY BURDETTE: 
