Tour Stop, Blog Post & Giveaway: Death at the Day Lily Cafe by Wendy Sand Eckel

The lost art of using a bread maker

I’m on my third bread machine. They are one of the greatest yet most unappreciated inventions ever made. Okay, maybe I got carried away with the superlatives, but I have a point.

In Murder at Barclay Meadow, the first of the Rosalie Hart mystery series, I share Aunt Charlotte’s five green bread recipe. It’s a complicated recipe and although I have made it by hand, enjoying the sensory input kneading bread can ignite, the bread itself is just as delicious out of a machine.

While raising my children, Sunday nights were designated soup and homemade bread night. I would start the bread in the early afternoon, adding the ingredients and plugging in the machine, and then maybe curling up on the sofa reading the Times while this miraculous invention plugged away at an organic whole wheat loaf of bread.

The soup would vary, lentil, black bean, chick pea and tomato, pesto vegetable. But the ritual was the same. A cloth on the table, candles that my two daughters would always light, practicing their match striking skills after setting the table. The rest of the house would be dark, no TV, just glowing faces.

These were some of our best conversations. The subdued light lowering inhibitions, the desire to linger longer than most nights at the table, and laughter to stoke the soul.

I’ve heard that most people have either donated or stored their bread machines in a dusty forgotten closet. I have often felt like a bit of a relic myself when I lift mine out of the closet and gather the ingredients for onion rolls, pizza dough, or rustic corn bread.

This winter I learned I am not alone. While vacationing on Anna Maria Island in Florida, I was lucky enough to spend the week at Harrington House, a lovely Bed and Breakfast on the Gulf of Mexico.

Included in your stay are free bike rentals, unlimited coffee, and a delicious breakfast each morning al fresco. During my first meal I decided to taste the bread they had delivered to us in a delicate wicker basket. I slathered it with butter and took a bite.

“Whoa,” I said. “This is amazing.”

When I asked the waitress what kind of bread it was, she offered to get me a copy of the recipe. “Wait, do you have a bread machine?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said enthusiastically.

“Then you’ll be good to go.”

“You make it in a bread machine?”

“We have four going just about all day.”

As we finished our delicious meal, the owner approached with a copy of the oatmeal bread recipe. “We get asked for this all the time,” she said. “I can’t say it’s original, I don’t have a clue where we got it, but here you go.

In Death at the Day Lily Café, the second in the series, Rosalie opens a restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch. You can bet the Harrington House oatmeal bread will be on the menu.

Harrington House Oatmeal Break

2 LB Loaf/Medium Crust

In a bread maker add in this order:

1 packet dry active yeast

1 cup instant 1 minute oatmeal

3 cups bread flour

1 Tablespoon margarine (I used butter)

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water

Press Start

harrington


Title: Death at the Day Lily Cafe by Wendy Sand Eckel
Rosalie Hart Series Book Two
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Length: 288 pages

Summary:

Rosalie Hart has finally opened the café of her dreams. Decked out with ochre-tinted walls and stuffed with delicious organic fare, the Day Lily Café is everything Rosalie could have hoped for. But not five minutes into the grand opening, Doris Bird, a dear and trusted friend, cashes in on a favor–to help clear her little sister Lori of a first degree murder charge.

With the help of her best friend and head waiter Glenn, Rosalie is on the case. But it’s not going to be easy. Unlikable and provocative, murder victim Carl James Fiddler seems to have insulted nearly everyone in town, and the suspect list grows daily. And when Rosalie’s daughter Annie gets caught in the crossfire, the search for the killer becomes personal in this charming cozy perfect for fans of Diane Mott Davidson and Joanne Fluke.

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Excerpt


Author Bio

w eckelWendy Sand Eckel is the author of MURDER AT BARCLAY MEADOW, the first in the Rosalie Hart mystery series set on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. A member of the Mystery Writers of America, she has degrees in criminology and social work and a passion for words and their nuanced meanings. DEATH AT THE DAY LILY CAFÉ, the second in this series, will be released by Minotaur Books July 26, 2016.

Author Links: Website * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads


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2 Comments

Filed under Blog Tour, Contest, Excerpt

2 Responses to Tour Stop, Blog Post & Giveaway: Death at the Day Lily Cafe by Wendy Sand Eckel

  1. Anne

    Thanks for this captivating and compelling book giveaway which interests me greatly. The story and the characters sound real.

  2. Timitra

    Thanks for sharing