Peg Herring, Mystery Author

Any sugar cookie recipe will do for these cookies, but here's one that's good. It's the decorations that make them fun. 1/2 c. margarine/butter, softened 4 oz. cream cheese 1 1/4 c. powdered sugar 1 egg 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. baking powder 3 c. flour Oven 350 degrees  Combine butter, cream cheese, and p. sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, salt, and baking powder. With mixer on low, add flour until dough holds together. Make it into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 1 hour. On lightly floured surface, roll dough 1/4 inch thick and cut into triangle shapes. Bake 15 minutes until edges brown lightly. Cool completely. Frost cookies with chocolate icing. Break pretzel loops off and set them along top edge for antlers. Add candies or dots of colored frosting for for eyes and noses.

This recipe can get a little fussy, but that's what it's all about in Christmas baking, right? 1 1/2 c. sugar 1/2 c. oleo/butter 1/4 c. shortening 1/2 c. milk 3 eggs 1 1/2 c. flour Flavorings (see below) Combine the first six ingredients and blend for 2 minutes at medium speed. Add flavorings you want from this list or make up your own. I like to divide up the batter and make three or four differently flavored cakes, which takes smaller pans. If you make it all the same flavor, use a 9x13 pan.   For egg nog: 1 tsp. nutmeg, 2 tsp. rum extract, 1/2 c. chopped nuts   For cherry: 1 tsp. almond extract, 8 oz. jar of chopped maraschino cherries   For lemon: 2 tsp. lemon juice, 2 tsp. grated lemon peel   For orange: 2 tsp. orange juice, 2 tsp grated orange peel   For nut: 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 tsp. almond extract, 1/2 c. chopped nuts   For coconut: 1/2 tsp. coconut extract, 1/4 tsp. almond extract, 1/3 c. flaked coconut Bake 25-35 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool, cut int

I only make these once a year because the cooking part takes so darned long. Still, they're wonderful little bits of heaven, and they cost a fraction of what you'll pay in a candy store. 2 c. sugar Dash salt 2 c. white corn syrup 1/2 stick butter 2 c. condensed milk 1 tsp. vanilla Boil sugar, salt and corn syrup to 245 degrees. Add butter & milk (don't let it stop boiling). Cook to 242 degrees, stirring constantly (this is the part that takes forever, but it you aren't careful it will scorch on the bottom and you'll have lumps of yukky stuff.) Add vanilla. Pour into 9-inch square pan and cool. Cut into squares and wrap in waxed paper.

1/2 c. butter or margarine (softened) 1/2 c. shortening 1 c. powdered sugar 1 egg 1/1/2 tsp. almond extract 1 tsp. vanilla 2/ 1/2 c. flour 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. red food coloring Oven: 375 Mix butter, shortening, p. sugar well, add egg and flavorings. Blend in flour & salt Divide dough in half; color one half red. Shape 1 tsp. of dough from each half into ropes by rolling on lightly floured board. Place ropes side by side, pinch ends together, and twist to form candy cane shape. Bend one end to make the crook. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake about 9 minutes, until set and very light brown. If desired, frost/sprinkle. Makes about 4 dozen

Something I don't like about Christmas is the pressure to find the perfect gift for everyone. No one I know needs another sweater, scarf, or relaxing foot massager. If they did, they'd go buy it. What do I buy that my loved one will actually like, so I don't get that glazed look that says "This is going in a closet and never coming out again"? Shopping for readers is a little easier, because they're always looking for a good book.  If a book is a great gift, why not 3 books? Where else can you buy someone hours of entertainment for such a reasonable price? With a little diligent searching, I found sturdy boxes that can serve as both mailers and gift wrap, so here's the deal: 3 Historical Mysteries for $53.00 (Left side of pic above)    Her Highness' First Murder    Poison, Your Grace    The Lady Flirts with Death The Simon & Elizabeth series is critically acclaimed and comes in beautiful hardcovers with dust jackets. The fourth bo

I signed at Horizon in TC on Saturday, and a staff member told me about an earlier event with a famous (I guess) chef. She said they sold boxes and boxes of his books, with people calling and begging them to save one until they could get there. Which brought to my mind a question: What's the thing with cookbooks? When you're starting out in life, you need a good cookbook, and it might take you two or three purchases before you find one that fits your lifestyle and abilities. After that, you might want to purchase a couple of specialty cookbooks: Chinese food or low-fat or whatever. But once you've got six or eight, what's the attraction for buying more? I haven't bought a cookbook in twenty years except for some they sold at church, and that was more the cause than the desire for new recipes. I'm in the minority, I know. Cookbook sales are huge, and if some chef who's been on TV puts one out, sales are guaranteed to go through the roof. Why? I don't

Sunday Update: The promo is finished. 80,000+ people downloaded the book, and there was a big jump in sales for the audio book as well. Friday Update: Down to #3 in Free Books on Amazon but #1 for Women Sleuths. I'll take it! Thursday Update: THE SLEUTH SISTERS is now #1 in Amazon's Cozy Mystery List. Imagine me dancing around the kitchen! Wednesday Update: THE SLEUTH SISTERS is currently #1 on Amazon's list of FREE books. The FREE days last until Saturday, so if you haven't downloaded it yet, now's your chance. Most people know by now that Maggie Pill is also me. She writes cozy sleuth mysteries, and her first, THE SLEUTH SISTERS, will be FREE for Kindle from Tuesday, November 25 to Saturday, November 29, 2014. Here are a few tidbits:         Set in northern Lower Michigan         Concerns sisters who start a detective agency for widely different reasons         Deals with sisterly issues in a funny way         Involves some tromping around in the U.P.