It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Reads) GIVEAWAY: Mistletoe Cake Murder (+ guest post)

today’s book: Mistletoe Cake Murder

It may not be winter yet, but it’s time for our annual blog series spotlighting (over 60 this year) new and recently-released Christmas reads! This is our largest year yet, with the most authors & books, and we’re back with an all-new look, too.

Christmas is still 45 days away, BUT since when has that stopped me from craving cozy Christmas reads (even more than I do the rest of the year lol)? Beginning this week and continuing through just before Christmas, I’m going to spotlight several Christmasy releases from 2021. So… snuggle in, grab your fave hot beverage and comfiest blanket, turn on some Christmas tunes and start your bookish Christmas list! Oh… and did I mention there are GIVEAWAYS with EACH POST in this series??!! (Because authors are awesome!)

Today’s featured book is the latest cozy mystery in one of my fave series & the author shares a family recipe that she’s also incorporated into the series!

MISTLETOE CAKE MURDER by Lena Gregory
SERIES: All-Day Breakfast Cafe Mystery #6
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
PUBLISHER: Lyrical Press
RELEASE DATE: October 12, 2021
PAGES: 219

’Tis the season for celebrating when Gia Morelli’s holidays include both a wedding and yuletide festivities. Until someone naughty delivers a most unwanted Christmas gift—murder. . .
 
For a native New Yorker, palm trees and warm temperatures don’t equal winter, much less Christmastime. Nevertheless, Gia Morelli’s friends have decked the halls and trimmed the trees to truly welcome her into their “family” with an old-fashioned Boggy Creek, Florida holiday season. Even more joyous, Savannah Mills is getting married on Christmas Eve—the greatest gift Gia could ever wish for her best friend.

But when Gia and Savannah stop by the caterer for a final tasting a week before the wedding, they overhear another bride arguing with her son about her husband-to-be. Moments later, the woman is sampling a piece of wedding cake—gorgeously decorated with mistletoe frosting—then suddenly dies.

Now Gia’s caterer friends are the prime suspects in what appears to be murder by poisoning. To clear their names and ensure Savannah has a merry matrimony will require Gia to conjure up a Christmas miracle . . .

Includes recipes from the All-Day Breakfast Café!

affiliate links used

by Lena Gregory, author of Mistletoe Cake Murder

Since Mistletoe Cake Murder is a Christmas story, I decided to share Gia’s Breakfast Pie recipe, which my dad makes every Christmas morning. When my kids were little, and we stayed home on Christmas morning, he’d always bring one over for us. Now that we’re living in Florida, I miss those days, so I figured I’d share his recipe.

One of the dishes All-Day Breakfast Café owner, Gia Morelli, loves most is Breakfast Pie. In her case, it makes life easier, since they are made ahead of time and are easy enough to just slice and serve. They are also delicious re-heated, so they make for a great time saver when you’re in a hurry and want to grab something quick. Simply make them up on the weekends, slice them, and all you have to do is heat one slice up whenever you’re hungry.

Gia makes several different kinds; western (ham, peppers, onions, and cheese), meat lovers (bacon, sausage, ham, and cheese), veggie (spinach, squash, zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms, and tomatoes), and my personal favorite, my dad’s original Breakfast Pie!

Original Breakfast Pie Recipe

You will need:

1 lb. Bacon
1 Package Breakfast Sausage
½ lb. ham
1 large green pepper
2 medium onions
5 medium potatoes or 1 bag shredded potatoes
1 dozen eggs
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Prepare:

Cut up and shred 5 medium potatoes (or use 1 bag of pre-shredded potatoes)
Chop onions (keep separate)
Chop ham
Chop sausage
Chop green pepper

Crust:

Fry bacon in a large skillet (an electric frying pan works perfectly), then keep the fat in the pan, and chop the bacon. Keep 1/3 for the crust and set 2/3 aside.

Fry potatoes and one chopped onion in the bacon fat (add salt and pepper to taste). When cooked add 1/3 of the chopped bacon and stir.

Press into a pie dish to form the crust.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Filling:

Using the same pan (you can use non stick spray on the bottom if needed) combine and cook breakfast sausage, ham, remaining bacon, green pepper, and remaining onion.

While cooking, scramble 1 dozen eggs.

Once mixture is cooked, add eggs and mix while cooking. Add salt and pepper (to taste)

When done, stir in about 6 oz. of shredded cheddar, then add filling to pie crust. Put in oven.

Bake for 45 minutes.

When just about done, sprinkle shredded cheddar (to taste) over the top and return to oven until cheese melts.

Serve and enjoy!

Lena Gregory grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, but she recently traded in cold, damp, gray winters for the warmth and sunshine of central Florida, where she now lives with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Her hobbies include spending time with family, reading, and walking. Her love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night. She works full-time as a writer and a freelance editor and is a member of Sisters in Crime.

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Lena Gregory is offering a $10 Amazon gift card to one of my readers! (Void where prohibited by law or logistics.) This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

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What about you? What makes you want to read Mistletoe Cake Murder by Lena Gregory? Do you have a fave recipe that you make on Christmas morning?