I’m waiting on fall. With temps at or above 80 degrees (even up to 90) I’m growing impatient.  Hear that, Mother Nature? Baking pumpkin bread while wearing flip-flops is just wrong. Well, except for you who live down south. But here in New England? It’s not normal. Though, while I’m waiting on fall to arrive I can take a moment to review my pantry and make sure I’m well stocked.

There’s nothing more depressing than having a spur-of-the-moment urge to bake something and find that I’m missing one or two ingredients. Either I’d have to run out to the store or get excited about baking something else. And this fall, I don’t have the time for last-minute trips to the grocery store. Not with a book coming out and two manuscript deadlines back-to-back coming up real soon.

Okay, so here’s my list. Give it a look over and let me know if there is anything you have in your Fall Baking pantry that I’m missing. 🙂

Twenty Must-Haves For My Fall Baking Pantry

1. Flours: Unbleached All-purpose flour, Whole-Wheat flour, Cake flour, Oat flour, Gluten-free flour

2. Baking Powder

3. Baking Soda

4. Sugars: White granulated sugar, powered sugar, brown sugar (light and dark), raw sugar

5. Unsweetened cocoa powder

6. Evaporated Milk & Sweet Condensed Milk

7. Pure Vanilla extract

8. Dried fruit: Raisins, cherries, apricots, dates

9. Spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cardamom, cloves, vanilla bean

10. Maple syrup

11. Honey

12. Molasses

13. Corn syrup

14. Cornstarch

15. Unflavored gelatin

16. Nuts: almonds, pecans, walnuts

17. Baking chocolate: unsweetened, bittersweet, milk chocolate, white chocolate

18. Unflavored gelatin

19. Nuts: almonds, pecans, walnuts

20. Canned pumpkin (many, many cans)

Now that the list is all taken care of, I thought I’d share a snippet of THREE WIDOWS AND A CORPSE, the third book in the Food Blogger Mystery series. While participating on a town scavenger hunt, food blogger Hope Early finds one thing not on her scavenger list – a dead body. And what follows with three women claiming to be the dead man’s wife has Hope smack in the middle of a murder investigation and possibly the next target of a vengeful murderer.

Hope and her team have arrived at the Avery Bistro with their hunt list in hand. While her team heads inside the restaurant, something catches Hope’s attention to the back of the parking lot and she’s drawn away from her team – Claire, Drew and Jane. What she finds is a very dead man.

* * *

He was laying on the asphalt with a large red stain spread out on his white shirt and his beady eyes were wide open but lifeless. 

Her stomach clenched and a wave of dizziness threatened to knock her to the ground. She pressed her hand down firmer on the hood of the car and willed herself not to pass out. 

“What are you looking at? We’re going to lose.” Drew came up behind Hope. He grabbed her shoulder. “Oh. My. God!” 

“What’s going on with you two?” Claire reached Drew and tugged on his arm. “Come on. I thought you wanted to win this year?”  

Hope’s mind raced with competing thoughts–she was going to be sick, the police had to be called, and Claire needed to be moved away from the body. The body. A roll of nausea nearly sent Hope heaving.  

A bloodcurdling scream, which all of Jefferson had to have heard, jolted Hope. She swung around. It was Claire screaming. She’d discovered what Hope and Drew were looking at. She’d finally seen the body. 

Jane came up to the three of them and gasped, grabbing ahold of Hope’s arm. “You’ve done it again. You’ve found another body.” 

Happy Baking!!!

Debra Sennefelder is an avid reader who reads across a range of genres, but mystery fiction is her obsession. She’s the author of the Food Blogger Mystery series and the Resale Boutique Mystery series. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery. Born and raised in New York City, where she majored in her hobby of fashion buying, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her family. She’s worked in retail and publishing before becoming a full-time author. Her writing companion is her adorable and slightly spoiled Shih-Tzu, Connie.

I’m in the final stages of my Christmas cookie baking. Just a few more to bake and then I can package up the cookie tins and make my deliveries. 🙂 This past weekend the Cozy Mystery Crew held it’s first Virtual Cookie Exchange and I shared a recipe and also posted a few photos of my baking in progress and I had a request for this recipe so here it is.

I love biscotti. And there’s nothing like homemade biscotti. Nope. This cookie I dip into a pool of bittersweet chocolate and then when it’s hardened, I dip it into my coffee or tea and it’s heaven!!!

If you decide to make this recipe, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.