Goldy's Kitchen Cookbook: Cooking, Writing, Family, Life by Diane Mott Davidson

My grandmother may not have been the one to ignite my reading passion but she sure did feed it regularly. My parents got me started on horror and my grandmother got me started on mystery/thrillers with the likes of Patricia Cornwell, Janet Evanovich, Faye Kellerman, Nevada Barr, and, of course, Diane Mott Davidson.

Anyone who's read Diane Mott Davidson knows that in addition to the fantastic mysteries and getting to know Goldy and her family, there are recipes. It makes sense right? Goldy is a caterer and many of the plots revolve around food in one way or another: in the series debut, Catering to Nobody, Goldy's own ex-father-in-law dies after eating her food and Goldy has to prove that she didn't kill him!

Readers, every time a new Goldy mystery hit shelves I'd borrow my grandmother's copy and tear through it. Throughout the reading I'd slap the recipe pages on the copy machine so I could try them after returning the book to her (or while reading but avoiding splatter). Over the years I've tried recipes like Models' Mushroom Soup, Rainy Season Chicken Soup (an absolute favorite for cold weather eating), Slumber Party Potatoes (three words: THE CHEESE SAUCE!), Penny-Prick Potato Casserole, New Potato Salad ('cause you can never have too many potato recipes in your pocket), Shuttlecock Shrimp Curry, and many others. I even recall with great fondness (and probably still have) recipe promo cards the publisher printed to go with the books.

That shrimp curry, by the way, is to die for. Seriously. In college I started making it with chicken (budget friendly) and it's equally as good.

The Goldy recipes have had pride of place in my collection since I started reading the series, so when I found out that there was going to be a whole cookbook full of them, of course I had to have it!

The book, which came out in September, features almost every single recipe that's appeared in the series. Honestly, without checking against the originals I couldn't even tell you what's missing. All I know is that all of my own personal favorites are featured, along with many others I've meant to try over the years. And best of all? They're all in one place!

Alongside the recipes, the author has included stories about her own family life, writing, and notes on the recipes themselves - origins, tips, etc. Honestly, guys, this is the absolute perfect cookbook for any fan of the series. PERFECT! I don't know anyone who can resist trying Diane Mott Davidson's recipes while reading the series and I bet I'm not the only one with messy copies of these recipes on hand.