 It’s a Conspiracy, I Tell Ya! Posted by Kate Carlisle Dec 22 2012, 12:05 am I hesitate to tell you this in case “they” lurk around this blog. You know who I’m talking about. Them. The cookbook writers who are out to get me. For years now, I’ve been convinced that they conspire to make me feel inept. Although they look sweet and unassuming, mischievous intent lurks behind those fake, friendly smiles. They claim something is foolproof… but I fool them!
A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY will be out in hardcover and ebook in June – my hardcover debut! –but it’s available now for pre-order on Amazon and BN.com. What’s equally thrilling to me is that the book’s blurb is posted on both sites, and I really love it! If I hadn’t written this book, I’d want to read it!
A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY on Amazon To celebrate the blurby awesomeness of my latest blurb, I share with you a recipe that is better than foolproof – it’s Kateproof. And it’s perfect for those holiday potlucks you’ll be attending over Christmas and New Year’s. Kate’s Black Bean Party Dip2 T olive oil Warm the olive oil in a pan, and sauté the diced onion for about a minute. Add the black beans and mash them up in the pan. Add the salsa and the chunks of cheese and warm it all up together until the cheese gets nice and melty. Serve warm with tortilla chips. (Fake-gourmet cooking tip: If you warm the store-bought tortilla chips in the oven – in a bowl, not in the plastic bag – your guests might think they’re homemade. It makes a big difference!) And don’t forget, we’re nearing the end of our 12 Days of Bandita Christmas celebration! Be sure to comment to be eligible for our daily Bandita prize as well as our SUPER-DUPER GRAND prize giveaway Christmas Day. For today’s giveaway, I’m also including a signed copy of PERIL IN PAPERBACK and some cool Bibliophile swag! Are you attending – or hosting – any holiday parties? What food do you like to bring to a potluck?TweetPosted in 12 Bandita Days of Christmas, bibliophile mystery, Kate Carlisle, recipes Comments87 thoughts on “It’s a Conspiracy, I Tell Ya!” |
   
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We’ll be attending a couple holiday parties, and hosting one… pot luck foods? It depends on the potluck, but right now, I’m in the sweets mode, so I’ve been making cookies and batches of chocolate graham toffee bark to bring everywhere…
Ooh, Fedora, chocolate graham coffee bark sounds fabulous! You can come to my party anytime!
The Golden Rooster loves a good bark, too. Better watch the goodies with him around.
Yay! Congrats on your first hardcover! And I totally agree with you about “foolproof” recipes. It’s like a challenge. You throw a foolproof recipe at me and boy, I’ll show you! Even if I don’t mess it up, things never seem to turn out quite right.
I’ve got a Christmas potluck dinner coming up on Sunday. I’m gonna hit up a take-out and bring two dishes because that’s just the way I roll. Last year, I went all out and actually baked an apple cake…one of the two things I can actually bake, though even that never quite looks like the pictures of how it’s supposed to turn out.
Oh, those pictures are torture! My results are never as pretty as the pictures in a cookbook. I’ve heard that some of those pictures aren’t even real food, but are plastic, molded forms. That strikes me as morally wrong. LOL Cruel and unusual punishment for those of us who can never achieve cookery perfection.
Oh ya, those fake fancy food photography pictures are totally not playing fair! But what’s extra sad in this case is that I got the apple cake recipe from someone’s food/recipe blog. The pictures are her own at different stages of the recipe. Oh well, even if it never turns out as pretty, it TASTES good.
LOL!!!! If I had to choose between “pretty” and “delicious,” I’d go for delicious every time!
Hi Kate,
No holiday parties to attend, just family get togethers. The host usually has the food covered, so they’ll ask us to bring a dessert or wine/beer.
I am *excellent* at bringing wine or beer! That’s right in my wheelhouse.
Kate another book I am looking forward to whoo hoo.
We are not attending any parties but I am hosting Christmas Day lunch and I have pretty much got it all ready to go on the day LOL I hope anyway.
I have never been to a pot luck dinner but I think they are a great idea and would be happy to take things that I know I could make rather than trying something new LOL
Have Fun
Helen
Yes, best to stick to the tried and true when a crowd of hungry diners depends on you to contribute something edible! You know you’ve been successful when people at the potluck ask for your recipe!
Glad you’re looking forward to A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY, Helen! I’m very excited! There will be new developments in Brooklyn and Derek’s relationship. (Happy sigh!)
It is certainly the party season. I’m eating & drinking my way through the town it feels.
I’m not hosting any parties, family don’t count. As my Mother always says, we are not guests, we are family.
I’ve never been to a potluck dinner. I’d make some kind of dessert I think.
Mary, my family is the same way. No matter whose house we’re at, it’s home. We all just chip in and do our part. Most often, my part is helping with clean-up. My family knows me well enough NOT to ask me to cook! SNORK!!!!!!
I never attend to holiday parties! I just celebrate Christmas at home with mom and brothers and sisters (whoever of them now manages to come home for the holidays).
Minna, Christmas is a time for family. Hope your holidays are happy. I’m glad you can spend them with the people you love!
Hi Kate, your new book sounds interesting!
…Will be having Christmas dinner at dinner. if I was taking a plate / dish it would probably something like pavlova (from the supermarket)
Thanks, Lianne! I hope readers will love A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY!
Hi Kate
I have been to a party today with my sewing friends and here in Australia we take a plate (with something on) so we had all sorts of things … it was not a dinner at was all finger food savoury and sweet… I am having Christmas at my daughters so I will have whatever she serves up lol
That sounds fun! That is a potluck, even if it’s not a dinner. A potluck here in the States is simply a get-together where everyone brings a dish to pass. Hope you have/had a wonderful time, Barb! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Nope, no parties this year. Christmas at my in-law’s, and I’m taking a chocolate raseberry cheesecake I got today as a gift. I am NOT a cook and don’t pretend to be. Almost everyone would rather eat my hubby’s cooking than mine. It’s a bit of a joke in our family when after the kids moved out, if I invited them over for dinner their first question was always (and will always be) “Is Dad cooking? Me, “Yes”, them, Sure, I’ll be there.” Now if I tell them I am cooking it seems they are always busy.
LOL, Amy! It’s like we were separated at birth. Snork!
We are attending only family functions and our families usually tell us exactly what to bring. They are bossy like that. We are having a Christmas Eve dinner with our immediate family and our daughter ‘s boyfriend and for that I am making ziti and homemade bread. Congratulations on the new book! It looks like a great story.
Wow, homemade bread. I am so impressed! I don’t think I’d be brave enough to attempt it.
Thanks so much for the note about A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY! I think it might be my best Bibliophile Mystery yet. I’m anxious to see whether readers will agree!
Loved your post. I think some of the recipes are wrong,,,on purpose,,,so your finished product will never be as good or as pretty as the one in the book! It is a conspiracy.
No holiday parties. I spend an early Christmas with my children in MI and when I visit depends on the work schedules of said children. But whenever it happens, it’s always great fun. Since I travel 800 miles, I only bring cookies and a couple of snacks that travel well.
Karen,
I hope you have safe travels to Michigan! From what I’ve been hearing, they got a lot of snow in the latest storm. At least if you get delayed, you’ll have something to snack on!
Oh man… you know the other thing about ‘no-fail receipes’ to watch is: changes in packaging sizes… what was 16 oz is now 15.3 oz… Manufacturers down-sized the product — but not the packaging… This has messed with a couple of my go-to receipes.
How frustrating! So suddenly, everything’s off balance? That’s just wrong!
Happy holidays, Cate!
I love cookbooks but sometimes just the equipment needed will put me off. I don’t keep 15 different sizes of a pan in my kitchen, I have two cookie sheets and they are the same size. I don’t have 6 diffent whisks laying around either. Half the time I can’t find the one I do have and just use a fork.
I am not hosting any potlucks but there are a couple I will be going to. It depends on what the hostess thinks she needs on what I bring. Sometimes I bring a selection of dip holders…:-) Toasted bread to a variety of crackers and chips. Sometimes a very simple cheeseball made with cream cheese, to the infamous sausage balls. They haven’t told me what they wanted yet.
Dianna, if you try this black bean party dip, let me know how you like it!
I know what you mean about odd kitchen utensils and pans. I read one recipe recently that called for a double boiler (whatever that is), and I rolled my eyes as I flipped the page. Not gonna happen!
I had one party to go to and for once, I bought it at the store instead of making it myself. Oh well, that’s life. I usually enjoy bringing a dessert rather than an appetizer or side dish. I’m just a better baker.
Impressive, a baker. I love to eat baked goods, but I tend to gravitate toward recipes that require mixing and as little actual cooking as possible!
I’m not doing any parties this year, just staying in and enjoying the calm!
I hope you enjoy your peaceful holidays, Margay!
None planned as yet. However, I always like to take stuffed mushrooms. I put lots of yummy things inside them and they’re gone in a flash.
I love to cook and have always loved to look at cookbooks. That gives me ideas of how to change a recipe around using what I have on hand and what ingredients I prefer to make something yummy!
Merry Christmas and enjoy your goodies.
Merry Christmas to you, too, Connie! I *adore* stuffed mushrooms! You could come to a party at my house any time. I had some stuffed mushrooms recently that were super easy, just two ingredients – mushroom caps and Boursin cheese, baked for 25 minutes. They were so delicious, I could have had them for my meal. Mmmmm!
We aren’t going to any potlucks per se but are going to a family members house. We are bringing a Rum Cake. In the summer I usually bring fruit salad.
Fruit salad, I could do! Delicious and guilt-free.
I am hosting several lunches and dinners which I love to do. Family and feasting is memorable and special.
Well said, Diane!
Family and Feasting. Love it!
I usually take desert to the holiday pot luck parties I go to. This year I took pumkin pie using a different recipe that I came across –wanted to give it a try & figured they’d make good lab rats, err, taste testers
congrats on the new book, sounds interesting (& agree, some cookbooks are dangerous)
I’m always happy to serve as a lab rat. Just so you know.
During this festive time I enjoy family getogethers which I look forward to. I plan ahead and then spend days preparing a brunch for friends and family which all adore.
Wow, Ellie, that is so ambitious and so sweet! You must be a nurturer.
I’m doing Christmas Eve at my house – we decided to do appetizers & snacks & just relax. We’ll do the roast chicken dinner on Christmas day at my sister-in-laws – I got the brussell sprouts on the stalk for that yesterday.
That’s intriguing, Diane. Do you cook the brussel sprouts right on the stalk? Or do you cut them off before you cook them?
I try to be more creative and inventive so that all the relatives are impressed and will enjoy an unforgettable day and evening. This is a wonderful celebration for all. Best wishes. Your books are a delight.
Anne, Thank you!!! Really, thank you. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the Bibliophile Mystery novels. You don’t know how much that means to me!
I’m always thrilled when someone tries to impress me with food. And I’m easily impressed! LOL
Christmas Eve involves a fish feast with appetizers that are Italian, Bruschetta and a delectable dessert.
Pearl, that sounds amazing! So delicious! I love hearing about everyone’s Christmas traditions.
I just attended two and am having one myself. One thing I always serve over the holidays is a simple shrimp or crab dip – mix a can of either with cream cheese, add a bit of dried or fresh onion and cover with cocktail sauce and serve with crackers. To make it pretty you can dice up a little green pepper but it’s not necessary. Everyone seems to like it.
Cream cheese makes everything better – the reason I could never go vegan. I would miss cheese soooooo much!
We’re having our kids here for noon meal on Christmas Eve, but no other parties.
I’m boring when it comes to potlucks. I take either kidney bean salad, deviled eggs (my mother says, “When in doubt what to take, take deviled eggs,” and people do seem to like them), or brownies. See? Boring.
I love deviled eggs! I’m disappointed when someone doesn’t bring them.
Your mom is a very wise woman.
Merry Christmas, Deb!
Kate, isn’t it funny about these people who conspire against us. As a good friend of mine pointed out this week, just because we’re paranoid doesn’t mean people aren’t out to get us! I can’t wait for A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY – and wow, our first bandita in hadback! The cabana boys are beside themselves with excitement. Or perhaps I’m just seeing double after all the eggnog that Paolo made.
Paolo is a whiz with the egg nog! I’m convinced it’s because of his special “shake-shake” as he makes it. Fun to watch and fun to drink!
Thanks so much for sharing my excitement about my hardcover debut! It’s thrilling… and not just a little intimidating, let me tell ya. But mostly thrilling, especially since I got a sneak peek at the cover, and it is GORGE-OUS!!!! I’m not allowed to reveal it just yet, but as soon as I can, you can bet I’ll share the news here in the Lair!
Can’t wait to see the cover, Kate. Hope they keep the cat – love the cat! I think your other covers have been lovely.
Speaking of Paolo, do you remember when he did the shake-shake and he hadn’t tied his loincloth properly? Oh, my!!!!!
Remember? I dream about it every night!
Hey Kate!
I’m giggling at you threatening all those cookbook writers!! hehehe
Uhm, My Name is Suz and I’m a cook.
Having said that, I am the point in my life where I let the hostess of the party tell me what she’d like me to make and that’s what I take. Each person tends to have their preference of what I make, so it’s easier of me to let them make the decision!!
You’re very smart, Suz! That way, you don’t run the risk of duplicating what someone else is bringing. It’s almost as bad as showing up in the same dress! Worse, if your dish isn’t quite as delicious as your “competition’s.”
LOL, Kate, that is NEVER a problem!
I bring a fruit plate! It’s easy to make!
And so beautiful! Nothing manmade can outdo the beauty of colorful fruit.
Hi, Kate! I love black beans, and your bean dip sounds delicious. Thanks for the recipe. We all are gathering at my sister-in-law’s house.
I hope you love it as much as I do, Cathy! Let me know! You can email me via my website. I’m trying to decide whether to include this recipe in a booklet I’m going to have made to promote A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY.
No pot lucks right now but Jambalaya is one of my favorites to take.
That worked very nicely for all involved.
We did a Christmas cookie exchange this week. Lots of yummy goodies here to tempt me and I only had to make 6 dozen each of two kinds.
Oh, I love cookie exchanges! People come up with such pretty and delicious additions!
Homemade chocolate chips cookies as well as hummus and cracker. There’s something to be said for a good hummus and cookie.
And your recipe sounds delicious!
Hummus is always a treat! I love it… though I’ve never eaten it with cookies.
LOL
Well I suppose in a future Book you could have a Food Writers Convention and bump off a few of the Authors there to get your Revenge. Have a great Christmas and New Year from Jacki in an extremely Hot South Australia at the moment
Merry Christmas to you, too, Jacki! Sorry the weather is so hot. Hope you get a nice breeze from Santa!
I’ve already attended a church fellowship and family get-together….still have another family get together on Christmas night. On Christmas day I always cook a traditional meal just for our family of 6. Turkey, potato salad, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and lots of dessert. For fellowships, everyone always asks me to take deviled eggs.
I love the sound of this story. Wow! Can’t wait to read it. Congrats!
Brenda, oh wow, that sounds soooooo good! I think I could eat mashed potatoes with every meal.
So glad you’re looking forward to A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY! Hope you’ll love it. I adore writing mysteries mixed with a little romance.
I cannot wait for the new book to come out. I’m a cookbook collector. One of these days I plan on making something. For now, I just read the recipes and look at pictures.
I love browsing cookbooks, dreaming of having a personal chef to indulge my every whim…. Hey, maybe for Christmas! Snork!!!!
Thrilled that you’re looking forward to A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY! Thank you!
YAY !! Another Kate Carlisle mystery for my collection! And in hardback, no less! WOOT !!! Hope you will be in Atlanta so I can get it signed!
How funny you should post about cookbooks. My mother collects cookbooks. And when I say collects, I mean collects! She has HUNDREDS of them. SO many, in fact, that my nephew and I are going to start work on turning her downstairs den into her cookbook library. She spends quite a bit of time in that room. We’re buying bookcases to go all around the walls and then we will move her cookbooks from every room in the house onto the bookshelves so she can find the one she wants quickly. And she actually reads them constantly and tries out new recipes all the time. Hers don’t always look like the pictures either, but they come closer than mine do. Even better hers always taste great! Mine? Not so much!
For a pot luck dinner I would probably bring my hamburger garbage casserole, one of the few things I can cook outside of the bakery!
Louisa, Oh, how FUN! Sounds like your mom would really like A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY, too. There will be several recipes included. You and your mom can start your own little book club and discuss it, and then your mom will have the dilemma of deciding whether it should be shelved in the cookbook room or elsewhere in the house.
Merry Christmas!
I love your books! Our family dinners are always potluck. I usually take a veggie & cheese tray. Hard to mess that up. I used to do deviled eggs but my son took that over and now my niece does it.
Thank you, Pen! I love when readers love my books!
That makes me feel so good!
I will be going to my sister’s on Christmas Eve and taking a couple of dishes and then to my mother in law’s on Christmas day and taking dishes. So its going to be a couple of busy days.
Lots of cooking for you! Get to work, missy. Hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family!
Kate, whoo-hoo on the move to hardcover! I’m thrilled for you.
We all know recipes are not my friends. Sven won’t even let me touch the garnish on a platter! So I relate to this fear.
I tend to take fruit salad to gatherings in the summer, but the dh does fancy little appetizers. If we go to a meal this time of year, we take his homemade cranberry compote. I’ll be posting that recipe Christmas Day. One of the neat things about it is that any leftover compote, heated, is fabulous over vanilla ice cream.
Ooooooh, cranberry compote and ice cream. The back of my tongue is tingling! YUMMO!
I almost always make something new to take to potlucks or serve when company calls. Maybe I’m a daredevil at heart, or maybe it’s that if your dish isn’t good, you have fewer leftovers with company, and added benefit that maybe they won’t count on you next time.
LOL!!!!!!!!!! There is something to be said for being deemed unreliable and irredeemable!
No this year we aren’t attending or throwing any parties…I had to take my husband to the hospital ER yesterday. He was in early onset Atrial Fiberlation and Congestive Heart Failure. The have him on medication and are hopeful he will be home intime for Christmas.
Thanks for the giveaway….
Merry Christmas
God bless
Oh, my goodness, Kimberley! I’m so sorry to hear about your husband. I’m sending good thoughts, prayers, and positive energy to you and to him. I hope he’ll make it home for Christmas so you can spend the day together in your own home.
We’ve just gotten back from attending the
annual Christmas gathering of all my sibs,
our children, our grandchildren, and two
great-grandchildren .There were thirty-
nine of us in attendance. We celebrated
the season, the December birthdays, a
new g-g-child who will arrive next month
and my granddaughter who is graduating
from college in May. Most of all we cele-
brated being together!
I held 3 parties this year. Yesterday’s was the last. Thanks goodness I’m done! Merry Christmas everyone!