THE INGREDIENTS;

Joy Ann Ribar writes the Deep Lake Cozy Mystery Series: Bakery without the calories, wine without the hangover, and drama without the backlash. Make friends with Frankie Champagne – full time baker, vintner and Bubble & Bake shop owner with her business partner/best friend, Carmen Martinez.  Frankie’s sideline, regional reporter for Point Press, allows her to stick her nose across the crime tape in the small town of Deep Lakes, Wisconsin. Of course, her investigations curl the toes of her life-long pal Sheriff Alonzo Goodman, especially since Frankie enlists the help of her romantic partner, Coroner Garrett Iverson.  The laugh-out-loud humor and strong female relationships make a winning recipe for this mystery series.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07TCPZWW8
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19312175.Joy_Ann_Ribar
https://www.facebook.com/JoyRibarAuthor

Newest in the series, May 2024: Deep Wedded Blues
Romance is in the air in Deep Lakes, Wisconsin until several calamities strike at once. Can Frankie orchestrate her daughter’s wedding at the vineyard, or will the mystery illness plaguing the county make the nuptials one more summer casualty? 

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the blog post by answering the following questions:

What inspired you to choose the particular culinary setting for your mystery series?
Baking makes me happy, so it was easy for me to place my main character as a bakery owner. Recently, I began traveling to wineries with friends and learned about viticulture and tasting wines. I thought it would be fun and unique to have my MC own a combination bakery and wine lounge. Of course, she has a small vineyard, too and makes her own wines.

What kind of research goes into creating the culinary aspects of your mysteries?
I continue to experiment with baking recipes, but baking as a business is a different animal. My daughter is a commercial baker and a great resource about baking equipment and processes involved in baking for the public. As for wine-making, we (me,my husband, and our friends) purchased wine equipment and started making our own. I continue to research grape cultivation and have volunteered during the harvest season.

Do you have any personal culinary experiences that have significantly influenced your writing?
My mother taught me to bake during my childhood. I come from a large family and was one of the youngest, so my mother spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Luckily for me, my dad had a sweet tooth, and I took to baking. It became my love language. In my young adult life, I was hired to make cakes for graduations, first communions, confirmations, major birthdays, and weddings!

Bake our readers’ interest by providing some additional information

How do you use culinary elements to develop your characters and their relationships?
My MC, Frankie Champagne, partners with her best friend, Carmen Martinez, at their shop, Bubble & Bake. The two women, along with the rest of the kitchen crew, discuss murder victims and possible suspects during the course of their daily baking, but they also share personal experiences as friends. Because the characters offer their unique views, the back-and-forth dialogue shows their personalities, but highlights the trusting environment of teamwork in the kitchen.  The bakery and wine lounge is a wonderful place of interaction where the workers mingle with customers, and every supporting character can help move the plot forward.  It’s easy to get information out of someone over a glass or wine or a yummy pastry.

How do you think food enhances the mystery and suspense in your stories?
  It’s interesting to combine a murder investigation with a cozy element such as baked goods and wine. I think readers want justice to prevail in any kind of crime, but they also are  curious about the details of who did it, how they did it, and why they did it. Food brings people together to share stories and creates an environment where secrets can be revealed. In my mysteries, the characters who serve the customers are observers of their actions and conversations, leading to speculation or revelation that keeps the plot moving.

Can you discuss how the preparation or enjoyment of food in your stories ties into plot development or mystery resolution?
My MC, Frankie, often arms herself with baked goods when she investigates crimes. For instance, she knows Detective Shirley Lazaar is certain to spill the beans about a suspect if Frankie brings her butterhorns. In my first mystery, a Valentine’s cupcake leads to the person of interest who becomes key in solving the mystery.  In Deep Wedded Blues, Frankie shares her signature Scandinavian kringles with the Amish women she hopes will open up to her. 

SERVE WITH A RECIPE FROM YOUR BOOK (or your favorite recipe)

Bubble & Bake Brie

A large wheel of Brie (9 oz)

Cut up one apple and two pears into medium slices – do not peel

Melt about ¼ cup of butter and add ¼ cup or more of dark brown sugar

To that mixture: add cinnamon or other spices you like (I am heavy handed in my spicing so I used 2 teaspoons)

Then chop some walnuts or pecans and throw them into the butter/sugar mixture (Half cup)

Lightly grease a round/square baking dish with butter and set the brie in the middle

Spread the fruits around the wheel

Spoon the nut/butter/brown sugar mixture over the fruits

Bake at 350° for about 25 minutes or until the fruit is tender, not mushy

Cut the brie as you would a pie (well more wedges than a pie)

The cheesy goodness will melt into beautiful soft yellow puddles around your fruit

Serve this with crackers (I love multigrain ones) or small slices of Brioche

Enjoy with a glass of white wine or moscato, if you wish