Introducing my brand new cozy series, a cooking blog, and a sneak peek!

Hello, everybody!
I've been working on moving all my Yankee Belle Café recipes over to an archived cooking blog that's easily searchable. It's called In the Presence of Pie and I think it has most of my recipes from the past six years. (SIX YEARS!!) You can find it right here.

So, hop on over and take a peek around. I'm working hard on my new cozy mystery series (book six releases this week) and there are ten books planned... but I never really know if I'll stop there or keep going!
If you'd like to check out the first book, it's always free right here. :)

                                    
Kitty Swift travels around the sunny Yucatan peninsula assisting luxury cruise ship groups as an interpreter for the deaf. After a disastrous broken engagement, she's perfectly content to spend her days with her service dog, Chica, and a motley crew of wealthy vacationers. Her life revolves around playing Bingo, enjoying the chocolate fountain, and passing along the occasional complaint about the quality of the bed sheets. On a cruise ship the food is good, the music is lively, and everyone is friendly.
        Life is quiet, just as it should be... until murder arrives in the night.
    At the top of a Mayan pyramid in the humid jungle, one of her tour group is found sacrificed to the gods. A clue left at the scene makes it clear this is a deeply personal act of revenge― and the killer may have another victim in his sights.
     As the entire tour group is brought in for questioning, Kitty and Chica find themselves in a race against time. A hurricane is bearing down on the city, the cruise ship is set to depart, and they’re sequestered in an embassy house with a vicious murderer.
   The only person standing in her way is an enigmatic attaché to the American embassy who doesn't take kindly to all her questions― especially about himself.
   Should Kitty be on guard against the mysterious detective, or are they birds of a feather in search of a killer? 
Includes recipes!
 
Here is a peek at the other books! You can check them out right here.

                                                       
Find Book Two here. When tensions overflow on a stop in Cancun, Kitty is sure it’s not anything she can’t handle. The group just needs a little time to lay on the white sand beach and paddle in the turquoise water. There isn’t anything that can’t be fixed with a few Piña Coladas and a good pedicure, right?
                                           
 Kitty is sure her streak of morbidly bad luck has ended… until Chica starts to give off her “warning: death is in the wind” signals. Chica must be sensing residual bad juju from the stolen property, right? Kitty tries to placate her psychic service dog because they have only one more day to explore the vibrant ocean life, and the last dive is right where the treasure is rumored to be! Book Three is here.

                        It’s a dream trip come true, until death comes calling in Old Havana. Book four is here!
                                                   

If they don’t solve the mystery soon, Solitude Bay might go from being Kitty’s new favorite place… to her final resting spot!  

Book Five is here.

Coming January 25th!

Kitty Swift is excited to explore the cozy fishing villages along the Mediterranean coast with her psychic guide dog, Chica. The food is divine, the ocean is crystal clear, and the locals are delightful. More than that, Kitty finally gets to meet Leander’s Spanish relatives. She’s sure that they’ve finally ended their bad luck and it will be a peaceful, relaxing vacation. Little does she know, Death is stalking the warm and friendly community of villagers.

Annnnnnd... A cover reveal! Book Seven coming February 8th!

 Happy reading... until next time!

 

 

 

Goodbye to an old series, hello to a new one!

Hello, everybody! Mary Jane here and I have to share some delicious desserts I've made recently.

Well, it's not really a dish but since it's over 105F here, nobody wants to eat real food! So we made this yummy homemade almond milk with frozen mango chunks and a little bit of honey and some mint. DELICIOUS!

And it's fresh peach season! Our blueberry farm lost most of his crop this year so we were really sad not to have fresh blueberries. But the peaches arrived and we're happy again!
What's growing in your area? Are you surviving the heat??
In other news, I wrote the sixth book of my Cane River series and as much as I love them, I think that might be the last of By the Book and my wonderful friends in Natchitoches! But good things are ahead.
I've been working on a new series with some great authors. The first installment of SIX brand new novellas is FREE!!


The very next book in the series is my first in the Seasons of Faith series, called Summer's Glory.

 

Violet Tam thinks she's escaped the boy who made her teen years a perfect misery, but when Silas Black comes back to town, she finds herself falling for the one guy she’s always hated. 

After his mother passes away, master carpenter Silas Black returned to Arcadia Valley to help his sister run their small farm. He was the town’s bad boy as a teen and it wasn’t just an image. But although the rest of Arcadia Valley has accepted that his juvenile delinquent years are behind him, there’s one woman who can’t accept that he’s really changed.
When Violet Tam reluctantly asks him to join forces to help out a friend in need, they discover there is more to each other than meets the eye, and certainly more than who they were in high school. Silas soon realizes he’s in danger of losing his heart to the strong, intelligent middle school teacher. Add in a shocking robbery, an emergency surgery, and a surprise litter of puppies, and the two former enemies must face the possibility that true love was waiting to bloom for them all along.

Summer's Glory is a story of humor, grace, and forgiveness set in the fictional farming town of Arcadia Valley, Idaho. Mary Jane Hathaway's newest installment is sure to delight fans of inspirational novels who enjoy thought-provoking and laugh-out-loud romances that expose the beauty of everyday life and the folly of the human heart. Full of quirky characters, friendship, recipes, and faith, Summer’s Glory is an irresistible beginning to a brand new series.

 

You can click the link to the right ---------------------------->>>>> to pick up your own copy!

 

Autumn's Majesty is the next in my series and it was soooo fun to write!

Can the town busybody learn to keep a secret? Vivacious Jamie Lawson has a lot in common with her first grade students. She’s bright, curious, energetic, has a big heart… and lacks any kind of filter. Her friends laugh about how she can’t help sharing what’s on her mind, but her mother warns her that trouble will find a woman who can’t hold her tongue.

The day Jamie accidentally breaks her best friend’s trust, she finally realizes that what is charming in a six year old, just isn’t as adorable in an adult. She vows that with God’s help, she’s going to listen more and talk less, especially around handsome Theo Delis. He’ll be helping her run the Lawson Family Blueberry Farm for the summer, and it will be the perfect time for Jamie to learn a little introspection. His serious, no-nonsense demeanor is the polar opposite of her gabby personality, and she’s sure he’ll be drawn to her new, aloof personality.

But as the heat of an Arcadia Valley summer settles in, Jamie discovers there’s more to wisdom than silence and more to love than mystery.
When an old friend needs confidential support can Jamie finally learn to lead with her heart, and not her mouth?
A story of deep friendship, laughter, and learning to listen to grace.

 

 

Again, you can pick up your copy by clicking the link here------------->>>>>

 

 

 

I hope you enjoy this new series and try to stay cool! I hope you're all having a wondering summer!

 

 

Wow! Long time, no post! A monster GIVEAWAY will make it better...

Hello, everybody! I've neglected my poor blog because I'm been directing more energies toward my facebook pages, but I'll rectify that lapse right now with a giveaway!

I'm celebrating FIVE HUNDRED REVIEWS on The Pepper in the Gumbo. Thank everyone who left a review! I really appreciate you taking the time to hit those stars and leave a few words.
And to show my thanks I'm giving away some goodies.
I couldn't decide between Austen...

 Or Louisiana cooking.

And then I thought, "It's MY giveaway. Why not BOTH?"So, here we gooooooo!

 One "I love Darcy tote" bag. You can buy your own right here!
                                                                   

 One set of Emma by Jane Austen refrigerator poetry. I LOVE this set!

 One copy of Southern Cakes. BEST cake book ever!

Of course, this book is a close runner-up. You can never have too many Southern Cake and pies cookbooks, right??



(And if you're more of a pie person, you can find the best of Southern Pies in this little book here...)

And the great granddaddy of giveaway cookbooks-- A copy of River Road Recipes. You can read the description here but it's an amazing collection of Louisiana family recipes from the River Road area. It's the nation's #1 community cookbook, with 650 Cajun and Creole dishes, including the most basic beginner's recipe like "How to Make a Roux". I never get tired of reading through this cookbook!

If you can't wait to see if you've won, you can always get your own copy here. I give them out for Christmas!




Enter here and best of luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ballooning time!

Hi, everybody! I've just received the edits for A Star to Steer by and I'm excited to release it at the end of the month!

Our plucky heroine spends most of her time in a big foam cupcake costume. It's one of those stories where someone has an awesome secret identity, except hers isn't so awesome. Coming Oct 31st!

                      And as for us, it's that time of the year. Not grape time, but balloon time.

                                           

                      We get up at 4AM (some of us are more perky at that hour than others),

                                            and drive out to the vineyards or the fields. The major festival is this weekend and there will be launches every morning and then a night festival, but today they were filming a move for an IMAX-type Disney ride. It was an interesting experience because as they filmed, we had to duck and run, or hide behind trees as the camera flew by (on a drone). So, instead of just the usual ground crew tasks, we also had to play hide and seek from the camera. Of course, the little people loved it.

                                        

Usually three balloons this size would take a crew of thirty, but they needed it to be small (because of the camera and not being able to hide that many people) so fifteen people doing the work of thirty was quite a work out.

                                                   

Here, after unrolling, attaching ropes and the top vent, they're opening the envelope, getting the fan running.

 When it all checks out, they attach the basket and light it up. Cue Fall Out Boys, except we try not to light anything on fire, especially ourselves.

 The first one standing up is always a special moment.

 We got good exercise running up and down the hill. The second balloon went up and was tethered.

 The third balloon needed a lot of heat to stay upright and out of the nearby trees, which means it needed more weight before they could safely rise any higher. My older boys had to be "dead weight", haha, but they also had to duck out of the way when the camera flew by. Pretty funny to watch them. They looked like groundhogs, up and down, up and down.

My favorite moment: I was holding  the lead rope (which guides the balloon upright as it's filling). You have to be very strong and run whichever direction at any moment and it might be the only time you ever wished you weighed more than you actually do. 

Anyway, I really wanted a picture of the sunrise and so I asked my ten year old to grab the rope... and he worked like a champ! Right before he slipped and got dragged down the field. Fifty thousand cubic feet of hot air will show you who's the boss. We're still laughing about it. (This is also why you wear leather gloves and all your gear.) 

 

Feel free to stop by my facebook page Pride, Prejudice, Cheese Grits !

Cover reveal, book news and cake!

Hello, everybody! I have a new cover reveal and thought I'd share it here first! I'm so excited about this book because it was so much fun to write... which either means it will be a fatuous piece of junk, or a work of comic genius.  Only time will tell what readers will think!

Coming October 31st!

When this book is released, I'll be running a few giveaways for gift cards and a Kindle fire. Stay tuned!

But in looking forward, it also makes me nostalgic. I found this post from the Yankee Belle Cafe blog and my kids look SO TINY. Even the teens! I thought I'd share it in case anyone wants to make a fall pumpkin cake. :)

So, the post is a retrospective as a bloggy sort of Psalm 148. (It's okay if you don't have it memorized, you can read it here... and then come back!).  Psalm 148
I want to go for one last glorious run through my backyard.

Fresh raspberries. Heaven on earth.

 Squash and zucchini from my friend Barb's garden.

 Piles of cukes from my stepmother's garden. We ate so many cucumbers, I'm surprised we're not green.

 Blueberries from Lampson Blueberries, just twenty minutes from our house, up in the hills. We picked over 150 lbs and they didn't even make it to October. Let's see: 8 people, 3 months, that's approximately 6 pounds of blueberries a month per person in our house. Not very much! Next year, we'll pick more. I say that every year.

Pears from my dad's pear tree. (Like my kettle? Very Pioneer-y.)

Peaches from one of our two peach trees. There were so many that I had to figure out how to freeze them. Ruthy's peach pie is my next project!

Our seedless grapes have finally rebounded from the drought of 2001. Had a wonderful crop this year and about 50 lbs went to a woman who made them into raisins. She bakes panattone for Christmas and ships it all over the US.

Pounds and pounds of perfect plums from my dad's orchard. The tree was so overloaded it was breaking its own branches. We must have picked a hundred pounds. My neighbors started pulling their curtains when they saw us coming with our bags of free plums. You can only eat so many...

Oops, how did this sneak in here?? We're supposed to be praising God's bountiful goodness. But I suppose zucchini bread with walnuts and chocolate chips is worthy of a little praise. :)

We also had bags and bags of our neighbors' goodies because we live in the sort of place that if you're growing it, you better share. It's just good manners. So we've had sweet corn and heirloom tomatoes and apricots, too.

I'm continually in awe of the massive blessings that God showers on us, for no good reason.

He's just that way. And this was a little 'taste' of the way He blesses us out here in ORYGUN.

 (And that pic was taken by Jeff Horner who works at our little hometown paper, the Walla Walla Union Bulletin. The guy is brilliant. Who knows why he lives way out here in podunk east, but we're sure glad he does.)

But as winter closes in, I'll try to remember what Mother Teresa said. "Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand."

When the memories of fresh raspberries and pears have faded and I'm staring out my kitchen window at the frost on the dead lawn, I'll just reach out and snag a toddler... and give them some loving. (Like this little dude, watching his cookies bake. He stared at them for a long time before they were 'done'.)

Hey, here's a cute one... And he's holding walnuts. Bonus.

Better yet, I'll snag a tweener or two. Hey, she looks hug-able...

This one is scaring me a bit. Too many ninja movies?

Oh, wait. This one really needs a squeeze. Cranky, naked toddler out of the bath stole her apple slices and then sat his naked tushie on her lap. Check out her face. She's thinking how much her life stinks right now. Long-suffering tweeners. Gotta love 'em.

So, to ease the transition to Fall, we're going to do what we do best. Make a cake!

Oh wait, I'm not good at cake. But I still like to eat cake, so I'll make one anyway. I've picked up a few tips over here on Yankee Belle Cafe, so let's go try them out.

I saw Hershey's has a chocolate cake recipe that didn't look too hard. And it's rated BEGINNER. I'll take that as a good sign...

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cupsall-purpose flour
3/4 cupHERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
· 2 eggs
· 1 cup milk · ( we were out but I used condensed, with some water. Am I just like a pioneer woman or what??)
    1/2 cup vegetable oil
   2 teaspoons vanilla extract
   1 cup boiling water

So, I mixed everything together (really, just like that except for the boiling water and the Hershey's powder, those I mixed separately and then added them) and let Edna do her magic. (Check out that gleaming chrome. Go, baby, go!!)

I think it was Mindy who said to dust the inside with cocoa powder instead of flour. MMMMMM.

And then Missy had a great tutorial on when a toothpick comes out clean it means done. Really clean, not sorta clean, with blobs. THEN she said to let it cool completely before trying to pry it out of the pan. (*lightbulb*)

SUCCESS!!!! And now I stuffed foil in there so the aliens wouldn't mess with its chocolate brain.

No, no, no. I have a plan. and it involves real pumpkin stem. So out I go to the porch...

And mix some frosting until it's just the right shade of.... salmon pink. Whatever. Use your imaginations.
At least the green was okay. And now for the decoration... Because you know I live in a zoo.

Uh-huh. Eat your hearts out, ladies. Multi-colored sprinkles dumped on by a 3 year old.

And check out that shirt. HE's ready for Fall! Even if I'm not.
Even if I'm dreading the six month trek through socks and shoes and jackets and coats and mittens and runny noses and being trapped in the house all day. 
Because it will pass, and we'll have some fun while we wait for spring to come around again.

(My friend Patty Jones' pumpkins, straight from the patch! She sold them on the cheap and donated all proceeds to the Humane Society. She rocks.)

 So, I raise my cake and say a prayer for friends near and far. Because LOVE is a fruit always in season, no matter how long this winter will last.

Until next time! Pop on over to my facebook page at Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits where I have all my new book news!