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There are some people we trust no matter what. Judy Post/Judi Lynn, friend and fearless leader/mother hen of Summit City Scribes is someone you can rely on in every way. If she tells me to jump, I just do it. It’s a joy to get her notes and suggestions. I’m so pleased have her visit my lowly blog. She’s a great blogger. I am…meh.

Take it away Judi!

M.L. Rigdon/Julia Donner and I have been critique partners for years.  Which means I value her opinion, and I love her writing.  I couldn’t critique someone I didn’t admire and enjoy.  And I wouldn’t listen to someone’s opinion about book after book if I didn’t respect her as a writer.  And I love her writing.  I hope you take the time to check out some of her books:  Amazon.com : julia donner kindle books and https://www.amazon.com/s?k=M.L.+Rigdon&i=digital-text&crid=3JNVIDQCZ9U7O&sprefix=m.l.+rigdon%2Cdigital-text%2C68&ref=nb_sb_noss  

Mary Lou and I aren’t just critique partners, we’re best friends.  And I can tell you, she’s one heck of a baking queen.  I love to cook.  She loves to bake.  Between us, you’d get a meal you’d really enjoy😊  (Even though she’s ALMOST as good of a cook as I am😊  But I’m visiting her blog to promote my latest cozy mystery, and luckily for me, this is a culinary mystery, so I still get to talk about recipes and food.  (No desserts.  That’s Mary Lou’s specialty).

My second Karnie Cleaver mystery is THE STEAKS ARE HIGH.  I love mysteries.  And I love cooking.  So I smooshed the two together, and Karnie works in her family’s butcher shop.  Every Thursday, her dad asks for something in the meat counter to put on a special sale for the weekends.  And when Karnie decides on something, she prints recipes to help their customers know how to cook the cuts of meat on sale.  She also records a cooking show that goes live every Monday, featuring that meat.  When I sold my very first Jazzi and Ansel mystery to Kensington, I was surprised when my editor told me that I needed to send him a few recipes for things Jazzi had cooked in the novel. 

I’m not a chef.  Don’t even pretend to be anything more than a woman who loves to cook.  So having to come up with recipes worried me.  I collect recipes.  I have a huge plastic file box that’s full of them.  I have recipes for Soup, Salads, Main Dish Salads, Pasta and Italian, Chicken, Beef, Pork, Seafood, Chinese, Mexican, Side Dishes,  Brunch, Parties, and Vegetables.  I tear recipes out of magazines and stuff them in the files.  I DON’T CREATE MY OWN RECIPES.  And that worried me.  Then a chef on TV said that if you changed ONE ingredient in a recipe, it was now your own.  And I felt better.  I play and tweak with every recipe I have.

I still insist that I’m only a cook, someone who loves to feed people.  I don’t pretend to be anything more, but I love to have friends and family over for meals.  I’m one of those people who makes a menu for every week so that I buy all of the ingredients I need.  And Karnie’s more organized than I am.  In this book, she makes rolled pork loins stuffed with simple ingredients and then with fruits and nuts.  (I’ve made both and love them).  I include five recipes at the end of this book, and they’re ones I’ve used with success. 

I have to warn.  The clam chowder recipe I included this time is for people who are gluten and dairy free.  The Barefoot Contessa might not approve.  But I’m older now, and I have friends who have dietary restrictions.  My grandson is dating a girl who’s a vegetarian who only adds fish to her diet and she’s gluten free.  A tricky combination, so I came up with the chowder recipe. 

Anyway, if you like culinary cozy mysteries, THE STEAKS ARE HIGH might appeal to you.  And I’m happy to visit Mary Lou’s blog.  So, this was fun!  Thanks for having me, M.L. Rigdon/Julia Donner.

Judi’s Bio:   

Judi Lynn lives in Indiana with her husband, a bossy gray cat, and a noisy Chihuahua.  She loves to cook and owns more cookbooks than any mortal woman would ever need.  That’s why so much food sneaks into her stories.  She also loves her flower beds, but is a haphazard gardener, at best.   

My blog & webpage:  http://writingmusings.com/ 

My author Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/JudiLynnwrites/ 

Twitter: @judypost 

On BookBub at Judi Lynn with a link to Judith Post (for my urban fantasies):  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/judi-lynn 

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