From tasty treats to salty tears, these are the days of my life

I've marked several recipes to try for my next party and I've learned heaps of trivia about food and famous mystery writers (and characters). For instance, did you know that you can use milk as a kind of invisible ink? (You know I'm going to have try this out now.) Fans of Agatha Christie won't be surprised to learn that the author used poison in over half of her 66 novels as the murder weapon. These were usually hidden in food or drinks such as coffee, marmalade, and even curry. Each of the recipes contains a short blurb about the author, a famous mystery character, and the food item itself. There are some really hilarious ones such as Sue Grafton's 'Kinsey Millhone's Famous Peanut Butter & Pickle Sandwich'. It was so funny that I'm determined I'll try it at least once. The best one, however, might be the last one of the book: Lee Child's 'Coffee, Pot of One'. Now THAT is a recipe I can get behind. ;-) Bottom line: If you're a foodie and/or a mystery enthusiast then The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook is the one for you. It goes on sale March 24th! :-)

I just received my next book in the mail as an early birthday present (my friends know me well) and I have a feeling it's going to make me cry. It's a Newbery Medal winner and if you know anything about children's literature you'll know that this means this book is cream of the crop. I'll stop teasing you...it's The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. It's the tale of a gorilla who lives in a shopping mall and what happens when he makes a new friend by the name of Ruby who is a baby elephant taken from her home. From what I can see, this promises to be a story about perspective, discovering your true identity, and the meaning of family. We'll see if I'm right in my next post!

PS How did you guys celebrate World Book Day earlier this week? I celebrated by turning my place upside down trying to find one of my favorite books. Spoiler alert: It's still MIA.