Peering Through Life's Window

  A Taste of Fall Fall brings yellow, orange and red leaves, football, arts and crafts festivals and apple cider with mulling spice, which originated around 500 BC when the Greek Physician Hippocrates mixed wine with spices to treat various physical ailments. The Romans adopted the practice to mask spoiled wine and add flavor. By the Medieval Period the idea had spread to Northern Europe as a way to improve the taste of wine and promote health. Those in Victorian England used the spices for their drinks at holiday gatherings. There are many recipes for mulling spice. Here’s one given to me by a friend years ago. Mulling Spice Recipe Ingredients: 1 cup of sugar, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 ½ tsp. cloves, ¼ tsp. allspice. Enough equal portions of tea, apple and orange juice to make a gallon or half gallon of liquid. If making a gallon add four tablespoons of mulling spice. If making a half gallon, add two tablespoons. Mix the spice and liquid and heat in a pan on the stove, the microwave or a...

This month’s chocked full of $1.99 deals on Amazon, including novels by many Pelican Book Group authors.  I’m honored to have Cooking up a Mystery among them. (See below for a list of other authors to look for.) About Cooking up a Mystery Cooking up a Mystery combines a mystery with a touch of romance, humor, faith and forgiveness.  In the story, Laney Eskridge is on edge from emotional scars from her parents’ deaths and her husband’s infidelity and abandonment. Then she hears unexplained noises in her new tea house, and her anxiety is tripled. Add a budding romance with Eric—a guy with a fear of commitment—and it's all too much to handle. She cuts ties with Eric and works to make her business pay off, but he discovers she’s in danger and wants to help. Little could they know they would overhear a threat that could cause a national turmoil. Even though I come from a long line of Southern gourmet cooks, I didn’t think of writing a culinary book until I met a newspaper faith ed...