Pen, Spoon & Dagger

Just back from Murder 203 - Connecticut's homegrown mystery festival.  Held for the third year, it's a fun mix of writers and fans organized by the hard working staff of the Easton library. This year's guest honour was the delightful Carolyn Hart, ably interviewed by Leslie Meier.  What a treat to hear the secrets behind this award-winning, cozy writer's success. Carolyn traveled all the way from Oklahoma to share her wit and wisdom with us.  Others on hand included Rosemary Harris, Jane Haddam,  Amy Patirica Meade, Meredith Cole, Stefanie Pintoff and Larry Beinhart.  In all more than a dozen authors, many from the tri-State area, participated in sessions ranging from "Leading Ladies" to Mistakes I Wish I'd Never Made." The highlight of the weekend (at least for me) is always the cocktail party held Saturday evening at the lovely Easton Library.  Mingling with authors and attendees over scrumptious hors d'oeuvres and a glass (or two) of wine...

It’s the end of the week and time to clean out the refrigerator. Sometime, in a past life maybe, I must have been hungry because I tend to keep my refrigerator chock-a-block full.  My mother was the original frugal gourmet and passed on the gene. I refuse to throw anything out.  I may end up feeding it to the dog, but I won’t throw out perfectly good food.   It wasn’t until I attended Johnson & Wales one summer that I realized my idiosyncrasy could be a good thing.  During my course, every Friday was dedicated to making restaurant quality (and priced) meals out of leftovers.  Nirvana! A string of chefs unveiled the mysteries of $35 leftovers.  I learned the secrets of crepes, manicotti and quiches, not to mention soups, roulades, pates and terrines – all good ways to use up leftovers.   Over the years, I’ve discussed this philosophy with friends and come up with one basic, undeniable truth: you need to cook good meals to have good leftovers. Not n...