German Potato Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing from Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse Mystery SHOT IN THE DARK

This recipe was inspired by my husband's late grandmother, Ethel, who prepared this warm, tangy potato salad often for Marc and his family. It makes a wonderful side dish for fall and winter.

Click for the Free Recipe PDF

To download our recipe now for German Potato Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing as a free PDF, click here.

To read my full blog post, scroll down. Or click here or on the "Read more" link below, and...

Eat with joy!

~ Cleo

Sweet Potato Casserole with Crunchy Brown Sugar Pecan Topping: A Lighter Version of the Classic Thanksgiving Side Dish (No Marshmallows)

Buttery mashed sweet potatoes baked with a crunchy-sweet pecan topping is a beloved American side dish for Thanksgiving. One of the earlier places I saw it published was a 40-year-old cookbook celebrating heritage recipes from Georgia--and that recipe likely had its roots in the "sweet potato pudding" published in the first American cookbook, circa 1796.

Click here to get
the recipe PDF, and...

With the countdown now on for the big feast, I'm happy to share my version of this show-stopping recipe. It's just as decadent in flavor, but uses less butter, sugar, and flour (you won't miss it!). And if you make it, I promise you will absolutely...

Eat with joy!

~ Cleo Coyle, author of 
The Coffeehouse Mysteries

To download this recipe in a PDF document you can print, save, or share, click here.

To see the entire blog post with big, step-by-step photos, scroll down, or click here...

Cheddar Corn Spoon Bread: A No-Fail American Souffle from Cleo Coyle

This no-fail "American soufflé" is incredibly easy to cook and makes an impressive comfort-food side dish for fall and winter dinners, especially roast chicken or turkey.

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My husband (and partner in culinary crime writing) finds it hard to stop eating this one, and so do I.

May you, too, eat with joy!

~ Cleo Coyle, author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries

To download a free PDF of this recipe right now, click here.

To continue viewing this post and its big, step-by-step photos, scroll down or click here.

Fully-Loaded Irish Colcannon by author Cleo Coyle

When you're writing mysteries, murder is your business. When you're writing cozy mysteries, so is wordplay. And that is how this dish came about. My husband and I were writing one of our Coffeehouse Mysteries, Roast Mortem, a book that pays tribute to the FDNY, which has a long history of Irish pride. During our collaboration, we joked about what might happen if we "loaded" the colcannon...

Wait, we thought, why not 
fully load it, like a baked potato?

Marc and I then put the recipe together much like New York City puts its cultural communities together. We started with a basic Irish colcannon of cabbage and potatoes; added an Italian kiss of olive oil and hug of warm, sweet garlic; and finished the dish with an American-style flourish of gooey melted cheddar and smoky crumbled bacon...

Sound good so far? 

Enjoy the recipe!

Click for the free recipe PDF.

Alone in the Kitchen with a Cabbage: An Insanely Easy Recipe from Cleo Coyle

I give you The Cabbage...

It looks like a big green planet, doesn't it? See the solar warmth on the left and the chilly dark side on the right? As the subject of a photo, I think it should have its own atmosphere. As the basis for a recipe, it's a smart choice. It's low in fat and calories and high in nutrition. As for what to do with it, there are countless ways to go. 

Click here for
the free PDF.

I found myself alone in the kitchen with this cabbage the other day, and decided to try Extreme Simple Cooking. Let's abbreviate it to ESC, like the Escape key on your computer keyboard. Seems appropriate because recipes like this one let you escape from the kitchen as fast as possible. And to that end, away we go! 

To get my cabbage recipe, scroll down, click here or on the read more link below. To download a free PDF click here.

Eat with joy!
~ Cleo Coyle, author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries