I Found A Gem of a Tea Room in Manchester, Maryland by Karen Rose Smith

After all these years, it is difficult for my husband to find different venues to celebrate my birthday.  This year he happened across a newly opened tea room only about twenty minutes from our home.  Considering that my Daisy's Tea Garden cozy mysteries are set in a tea room in nearby Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, this new establishment seemed the perfect place to celebrate.  They were featuring a "Starry Night Tea" on the weekend of my birthday...so he made reservations and we headed for the Steeped Tea Cafe in Manchester, Maryland on a sunny December Sunday afternoon.

The tea room was festively decorated with Christmas merriment and the tea rooms were also adorned with traditional "tea" items.  We were seated in the spillover room which gave us the entire three-table room to ourselves.  It was enjoyable to have some quiet time away from the phone and computer to chat and enjoy the Christmas music that surrounded us.

The menu was displayed on each table and we knew we were in for a real treat. 

After our choice of tea was served, our first course was a delicate cranberry chocolate chip scone which blended really well with the Starry Night tea, a custom blend made at the Steeped Tea cafe.

That was followed by a delicious potato leek soup that was complemented by an arugula and pomegranate salad with a champagne vinaigrette dressing.

While we were waiting for the main course and dessert tower, we had a chance to chat with our waiter who was a family member of the owner.  We discussed how the business came to fruition as a family endeavor and how the cafe differed from other tea rooms in the vicinity.  It's always good to have research resources for future cozy mysteries right at my doorstep.

We certainly were not disappointed when the layered tea tower was presented.  The lower level featured grilled shrimp bruschetta, beef and blue cheese crostini and butternut squash puffs all of which were  accompanied by the dessert offerings -- toasted hazelnut glazed pumpkin cake, a red velvet trifle and dipped Madeleines.  Needless to say, by the end of the dessert course I was stuffing my cake and Madeleine in my purse to enjoy later.

After we finished our meal, we were greeted by Brandon Reiter, the chef and owner of the cafe.  It was enjoyable discussing the business and getting a peek into the intricacies of creating a menu and preparing enough food to serve all the guests on a given day.  Chef Reiter never believed he would end up owning and operating a tea room when he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America.  But he has enjoyed the last 18 months of ownership and hopes to expand the business even more.

Quiet time with my husband, a unique tea cafe and delicious food...what better way to spend my birthday?  Please feel free to share your unique dining experiences as you celebrate special events in your year.

*****************

NOW AVAILABLE

Keith Rebert is homeless with a sad story that includes the death of his wife and medical bills that decimated his finances. Daisy and her friend Jonas Groft meet him through one of Daisy’s employees and offer help. But soon Keith is caught up in a murder investigation. He was supplying the shop Pirated Treasures with antiques, including Gettysburg Battlefield memorabilia. The nephew of the shop’s owner, Barry Storm, was lowballing merchandise that Keith brought in. One day Keith and Barry vehemently argued. Soon after, Barry was found dead, killed with a marble rolling pin that held Keith’s fingerprints. Daisy’s special for the month, cherry tarts, was found spilled on the floor next to him. Keith is the number one suspect.

Keith finds a job on a farm where he can live in a cabin with his daughter Mandy. A friend of Barry’s lived and worked there before the murder, then suddenly moved out. As Daisy finds clues that give insight into Barry’s life and prepares for her daughter’s wedding, she faces danger, verbally battles with the detective on the case, and tries to figure out what part Jonas Groft plays in her life. When she finds the ultimate clue that tells her exactly what Barry Storm was involved in, she almost loses her life. 

MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS on Amazon

MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS on Barnes and Noble

Soup Season--Nana's Minestrone Soup from STAGED TO DEATH by Karen Rose Smith

At our house, fall and winter are soup season!  I have favorites I learned to make from my grandmother, mom and aunt.  One of the heartiest is minestrone, a full-bodied vegetable soup.  Over the years, I dabbled with the recipe and changed it to suit our family.  This is the one I included in STAGED TO DEATH, my first cozy mystery.  My sleuth Caprice loves to cook and I include recipes with each novel.   I love to make a pot of this soup for company because this recipe makes enough for a full table.

I hope it adds warmth to your fall and winter and brings lots of love around your dining table.

Nana's Minestrone Soup

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup medium pasta shells
1 cup onion (medium), chopped
1 clove of garlic, grated
1 teaspoon salt (salt to taste, depending on the type of broth you use)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
A pinch to 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cans diced tomatoes with juice (14-16 oz. each)
1 cup tomato juice
1 quart chicken broth
1 quart beef stock (If using your own, make sure it's full bodied.  You can add bouillon cubes to make it richer.)
1/2-1 lb. fresh endive or escarole, snipped or cut into 1/2 inch pieces (leafy green part only)
1 can Great Northern beans (drained)
1 cup celery
1 cup shredded carrots (I buy them this way.)
1 cup shredded cabbage (I use cole slaw mixture.)
1 cup sliced zucchini
1 cup cut green beans (fresh or frozen)
1 bay leaf
Romano cheese to sprinkle on top!

Brown ground beef on medium heat in olive oil in 8 quart soup pot. When browned (no pink remaining), add chopped onion, grated garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper. Stir for a minute to mix flavors. Add tomato juice, tomatoes, salt and stir. Add beef stock and chicken broth, then bring to a boil. Stir in Northern beans, celery, carrots, zucchini, cabbage and green beans. (If using frozen green beans, bring soup to a boil again before adding endive.) Add endive last.

Bring soup to a boil again, add bay leaf, then simmer covered on low for 30 minutes. Bring to a boil again, remove bay leaf, add pasta, stir once more and cook until pasta is the way you like it, usually 10-12 minutes, without lid. Stir a few times while pasta is cooking. Sprinkle each serving with Romano cheese and serve with crusty bread. Makes 12-15 servings.

Enjoy. Leftovers are as good if not better than fresh servings!

©2012 Karen Rose Smith  (From STAGED TO DEATH)

Staged to Death on Amazon  

Deadly Decor on Amazon

Preorder Gilt By Association on Amazon

View a book trailer of HER SISTER

HER SISTER on Amazon

©2014 Karen Rose Smith

Karen's Facebook Author Page

Karen Rose Smith's romance website
Karen Rose Smith's mystery website 

#Recipe for Nana's #Minestrone from STAGED TO DEATH by Karen Rose Smith

What are some of my best memories with my mom and my grandmother?  Baking bread, watching pizza dough rise, rolling biscotti.  I still have my mom's recipe boxes and turn to them often.  My sleuth Caprice De Luca in STAGED TO DEATH comes from a large Italian family who likes to cook.  Writing these mysteries returns me to my childhood in many ways...to family dinners with aunts, uncles and cousins...to those wonderful aromas wafting through the house...to the conversation, laughter and even arguments around the table.  In the winter months, the aroma riding the air was grated garlic, tomatoes, broth simmering, and bay leaf steaming.

Soup and home-made baked bread went together so well!  To give my readers a preview of one of the recipes in STAGED TO DEATH, here is a soup recipe I developed through the years that is taken from the book.  I called it Nana's Minestrone--named for my Nana Rosalie and for Caprice's Nana Celia.

 Enjoy!

Nana's Minestrone Soup

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup medium pasta shells
1 cup onion (medium) chopped
1 clove of garlic, grated
1 teaspoon salt (Salt to taste, depending on the type of broth you use.)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
A pinch to 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cans diced tomatoes with juice (14-16 oz. each)
1 cup tomato juice
1 quart chicken broth
1 quart beef stock (If using your own, make sure it's full-bodied. You can add bouillon cubes to make it richer.)
1/2-1 lb. fresh endive or escarole, snipped or cut into 1/2 inch pieces (leafy green part only)
1 can Great Northern beans (drained)
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup shredded carrots (I buy them this way.)
1 cup shredded cabbage (I buy cabbage already shredded or slaw mixture)
1 cup sliced zucchini
1 cup cut green beans (fresh or frozen)
1 bay leaf
Romano cheese to sprinkle on top

Brown ground beef on medium in olive oil in 8 quart soup pot.  When browned (no pink remaining), add chopped onion, grated garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper.  Stir for a minute to mix flavors.  Add tomato juice, tomatoes, salt and stir.  Add beef stock and chicken broth, then bring to a boil.  Stir in Northern beans, celery, carrots, zucchini, cabbage and green beans.  (If using frozen green beans, bring soup to a boil again before adding endive.)  Add endive last.

Bring soup to a boil again, add bay leaf, then simmer covered on low for 30 minutes.  Bring to a boil again, remove bay leaf, add pasta, stir once more and cook until pasta is the way you like it, usually 10-12 minutes, without lid.  Stir a few times while pasta is cooking.  Sprinkle each serving with Romano cheese and serve with crusty bread.  Makes 12-15 servings.

Read Karen's new mystery. Her sleuth Caprice De Luca loves to cook and is an animal lover too!

STAGED TO DEATH on Amazon

STAGED TO DEATH on Barnes and Noble

©2013 Karen Rose Smith

Karen Rose Smith's romance website 

Karen Rose Smith's mystery website 

Karen Rose Smith's SEARCH FOR LOVE SERIES website 

IN TOUCH WITH KAREN ROSE SMITH ezine