Author G.M. Malliet did post-graduate work at Oxford University after earning a graduate degree from the University of Cambridge, the setting for her St. Just mysteries. Death of a Cozy Writer, the first installment in that series, won the Agatha Award for Best Novel.
The debut book in her new mystery series starring Max Tudor (a former MI5 agent, now vicar of a small English village), is Wicked Autumn, selected as a Library Journal Pick for Best Mystery in 2011. Bestselling author Louise Penny added, "G.M. Malliet creates a fabulous setting in Nether Monkslip and a great series hero in Father Max Tudor. Rarely have I read descriptions that have left me gasping, in both their hilarity and their painful truth. A wonderful read."
G.M.'s holiday offering for the Twelve Days of Bookmas is a favorite recipe, and she also picks a deserving charity:
This is the one food I remember as being an essential part of every holiday meal, whether Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's holiday red (all that tomato juice) and green (olives and parsley). It's also potentially fatal (all that salt) so I recommend using low-sodium tomato juice.
The family calls this Molded Crab Salad but let's call it Crab in Aspic because that sounds so much better. I don't know where the recipe came from; it's just been around for decades. I suspect it came from the Jello people.
2 pkg. lemon Jello (3 oz.)
1 cup crab meat
4 cups tomato juice
2 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. horseradish
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. onion salt
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1 small jar stuffed olives, sliced
Parsley--use as garnish
Heat all four cups of tomato juice to hot but not boiling. Add lemon Jello and stir until dissolved. Add vinegar, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce; onion, garlic and celery salts. Stir until blended. Put crab meat and sliced olives into a large decorative mold and pour the aspic on top of it. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set. You can also use several smaller, individual molds.
BV has asked me to name my favorite charity. It is unquestionably Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). These are the people who dedicate themselves to relieving suffering in some of the worst trouble spots of the world. They do this selflessly, with remarkable bravery, and—so far as I have ever been able to tell—with complete impartiality as to the race or religion of those whose lives they save. They care only about treating the ill and injured, remaining detached from the political situation that may have sparked the suffering they struggle to alleviate. In 1999, MSF received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Comments