Happy Holidays Everyone!

No, I’m not sending salad to my friends for Christmas this year. I’m making gingerbread stars and brownies. But other years this salad is what I often made if someone asked me to, “bring something healthy.” My other choice is a pan of Mr. K’s rolls. (Yes, he makes bread. He’s cute and he cooks!)

Apple-carrot salad only has two main ingredients and uses things I have in my kitchen most of the time.

Apple-Carrot Salad

Ingredients

• 2 medium carrots
• 1 large apple (I like Granny Smith or Honey Crisp but any firm apple will work)
• 2 tablespoons of lime juice
• 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• Squirt of mustard (about half a teaspoon)
• Sprinkle of salt

Whisk the lime juice, vinegar, honey, mustard and salt together. About 10 seconds in the microwave will help the honey dissolve. If you don’t have any mustard that’s fine.

Grate the carrots and apple. Pour the dressing over the top and mix well.

That’s it. If I happen to have some celery I’ll finely chop some and add that too.

The 8th Second Chance Cat mystery, Undercover Kitty, is coming on January 26th. Sarah, Elvis, Rose and the rest of the Angels are back. Elvis and the gang are undercover on the cat show circuit, trying to figure out who has been sabotaging shows. Click here to read an excerpt.

What am I Doing?

Reading:

The Diva Cooks a Goose by Krista Davis

I like all three of Krista’s series, but the Diva books are my favorites. This time a Grinchy thief threatens to ruin Sophie’s celebration by stealing the holiday gifts from her family and neighbors. Sophie restores everyone’s Christmas by organizing a toy swap for the kids. And then the dead body turns up.

The Perfect Cookie from America’s Test Kitchen

The list of cookies I want to try keeps getting longer the farther I get into this cookbook. Everyone is getting cookies for their birthday in 2021!

Watching:

I’ve been re-watching Murdoch Mysteries—there are 13 seasons so far—and I’m becoming a bigger fan of Jonny Harris who plays Constable George Crabtree. The series is set in Toronto in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. It follows Detective William Murdoch of the Toronto Constabulary, who solves many of his cases using forensic techniques that are ahead of their time. The storylines often involve real historical figures including Henry Ford, Annie Oakley and Winston Churchill.

I’ve been urging all my friends to check out the Vancouver Pop Choir’s Covid Parody of Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You.

(Warning: There’s a tiny bit of strong language that is beeped.)

David Myles’ Santa Never Brings Me a Banjo is one of my favorite Christmas songs. I never asked Santa for a banjo, but I did ask for a set of drums one year. Santa very wisely didn’t bring them.

Giveaways

Each month, two of our newsletter subscribers win a book from Sofie Kelly or Sofie Ryan. Stay subscribed, keep an eye on your email and not only could you win one of my books, sometimes you’ll get the chance to win a book written by one of my friends. 

Congratulations to November winners Marla B. and Cindy B. who each won a copy of Claw Enforcement. December’s winners are Pen W. who wins a copy of A Case of Cat and Mouse and Mindy M. who receives a copy Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon.

Of course it wouldn’t be the holiday season without Mr. K’s Holiday Giveaway. This year he has four holiday gifts to share because we all know that even though he says he’s doing two, the two always turns into three or four!

As I said, I never asked Santa for a banjo when I was a child, but I did ask for a drum set that Santa did not bring.  Mr. K wanted a Lionel train. He didn’t get that, either. Now, I still don’t have the drums but Mr. K did buy himself a Lionel train set. My friend, Bill, always wanted a ham for Christmas when he was a kid, which seemed to confuse the heck out of the mall Santa by the way. The reason Bill asked for a ham was because he didn’t and still doesn’t like turkey. So now that he’s an adult, every Christmas there’s always a big ham along with the turkey at Bill’s house.

We’d like to hear what Christmas gift you wished for as a child that Santa didn’t bring and were you like Mr. K and my friend, Bill? Once you grew up did you play Santa Claus for yourself?

Share your story by sending us an email at sofiebooks@sofiekelly.com. Please put “Christmas Wish” in the subject line. We’ll use the random number generator to select four lucky winners from all the entries. Two winners will each receive a copy of A Case of Cat and Mouse along with a copy of Booking the Crook from Laurie Cass or a copy of Late Checkout from Carol J. Perry, and a pair of fingerless gloves with a kitty flap because kitty gloves go with whatever you’re wearing. Two more winners will each get a copy of Claw Enforcement and our favorite gingerbread cookie cutter.

You have until the end of the day on December 13th to enter. We’ll pick the winners and notify them on Monday, December 14th. (Please make sure we’re on your Accepted Senders list so we don’t get lost in the black hole of your Spam Box!) US and Canada entries only, please. Good luck, everyone!

Happy Holidays!

Thanks for reading!