Fond Food Memories of Sleuthfest

Above: The view across our canal in Florida

Glenn and I returned a week ago from our favorite conference, Sleuthfest, sponsored by Mystery Writers of America, Florida Chapter, and I am still trying to catch up with everything I need to do.  The panels at the conference were informative and entertaining as usual. Guest speakers Dennis Lehane and Meg Gardiner gave us personal stories of their writing journeys, and the talk up and down the halls often focused on ebooks.  Neil Plakcy moderated a panel on the subject, which confirmed my decision to digitize A Deadly Draught.  It is now available on Kindle and Nook for 2.99; http://www.amazon.com/ and http://www.bn.com/.

One evening a group of us decided to get off the hotel grounds and go down to the beach to find a seafood restaurant.  Glenn and I were fortunate to have Christine Kling as our navigator.  We joined Neil Plakcy, John Urban, and Mike Jastrzebski for dinner.  When I looked across the table I saw Christine had ordered a bowl of steamed mussles.  It looked tasty and reminded me that I have a great recipe for steamed mussles done with, you guessed it, BEER!

Here it is:

                                                    Mussels Cooked in Beer

4 pounds mussles

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 shallot, chopped

1 bottle (12 ounces) lager beer

Clean mussels under cold running water and scrape beard from the shell.  Discard open mussles that will not close when tapped with a knife.

In large pot over medium heat, heat olive oil until hot and add shallot, cooking one minute or until translucent.  Add lager and 3/4 cup water and increase heat to high.  Bring to boil.  Add mussles, cover and cook five minutes until mussles are open.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Serve with crusty bread.  You may also make a simple aioli with mayo, minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard, and pepper to spread on the bread.

To find out more about our fascinating and talented dinner companions go to http://www.writeonthewater.com/ and read about Christine, John, and Mike.  Visit Neil's website at http://www.mahubooks.com/.

In another month we'll be back in the Butternut Valley where I will be finishing the second of the Hera Knightbridge books, this one entitled Poisoned Pairings.