Bonus With Purchase!!

Okay, so I thought this particular vintage item would be easy to find information about... turns out I was WRONG!

I think I need to explain.

When I was a kid, my mom had some big spoons that were used to serve vegetable; they were slotted or perforated spoons, so the liquids would strain off of the veggies. the handles were some black material, very comfortable in the hand. I've coveted them for years.

Then I went to this junk store and found some with the same handles... not the slotted spoons, but a couple of random forks. Over the years I've found a long tined fork, a pickle/fish fork, a bread & butter knife and a big spoon, and finally, a kind friend gave me the slotted spoon she had found at a garage sale. I also got my mom's slotted spoons at long last! The handles are kind of ruined, but I think that was probably the result of putting them in the dishwasher.

I went on Ebay several times, trying to find full sets, and couldn't and that is when, finally, I figured out where the items came from.
They were gifts-in-the-box bonus items with detergent!

Do you remember back in the 'good old days' when powdered laundry detergent - for example, a brand named Duz, and another brand named, pointedly enough Bonus - came with a 'gift' in each box? Bonus brand detergent appearently came with a towel in each box, and Duz, wikipedia says, came with glasses and plates.

But... darned if I can find the brand that came with cutlery in each box!! I suppose nowadays people would look askance at finding a knife in their box of powdered laundry detergent, but in the good old days, people expected brands to court them with gifts!!

So... do you remember this trend? Do you have any like these? Do you know what brand of detergent these came out of? It has to be something that was sold in Canada.

If you know, please tell me, but I'm also interested in any memories pertaining to bonus items in laundry detergent! Click on the photo to see a larger picture of these utensils.

More to come...

I went to the mother of all garage sales on the weekend... 16,000 square feet of stuff! Well... I was in heaven, and bought far more than I ought to have. But not as much as I wanted. Of course.

I will be taking photos over the next couple of days and sharing my treasures, so... stay tuned!!

BTW... this photo is not of the sale. I wish I'd taken my camera!! Well, next year; it's an annual event. Oh, and the sale had the added benefit of being for a charity, providing shelter for women in need!

Do you like going to garage sales? Have you ever made an exciting purchase, or found something rare?

Today join me for Cozy Wednesday at Escape with Dollycas!! And she's hosting a Giveaway, too!
http://www.escapewithdollycas.com/2012/05/16/cozy-wednesday-with-victoria-hamilton-giveaway-too/

First Week Excitement & Queen Elizabeth Cake

My first-ever cozy mystery novel release has been an unmixed blessing. Those are rare, right? I had a couple of difficult days at the same time, but always, ALWAYS... A Deadly Grind and the folks who are reading/have read it was a bright light. The reviews have been wonderful, and so have the comments from readers.

However... I was clearly so overcome that I forgot to do one thing I had intended to do on May 1st, and that was post the photos of the Queen Elizabeth Cake from the recipe in the book! How did that happen??

Anyway, here we go.

I did make this cake to test it, and I have to say, I wasn't really expecting much.It is a simple enough recipe, kind of a date jut cake. Not many people cook with dates anymore... dates, the foodstuff, not the guy you're going out with... though... hmm... maybe Jaymie should try cooking with her date??

Anyway, back to the recipe. I made the cake, and even used the weird coconut brown sugar cooked drizzle thingie, and... WOW! This was a really yummy cake!! It was moist, and full of flavor - not bland at all, and yet not oversweet - and I knew Jaymie would be proud to serve it to the guests at the annual Queensville, Michigan 'Tea With the Queen' event!

Hope someone tries the recipe and reports back to me how it went for them!??? I'd love to hear about it.

In the days to come I'll be blogging at more places.

Update: Today I'm at Lesa's Bookblog... here is the link! Lesa reviewed A Deadly Grind and liked it... she really liked it!  Drop in and comment!!http://www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.ca/2012/05/victoria-hamilton-guest-blogger.html

Bottle O' Buttons

Have you read my May 1st release, A Deadly Grind, yet? Well, in it, among the junk Jaymie buys at an estate auction, is a box of sewing odds and sods with a bottle of buttons in it. (She has a reason... read the book to find out why she buys the box of sewing stuff!! LOL) Being the borderline hoarder that I am, I do have a big bottle of buttons, and this is it.

Some of the buttons are old, ones I've been hauling around for 25 years. Some are those pesky 'one of' buttons that come attached to a new sweater or blouse. What the heck are you supposed to do with those things? I never lose buttons, so long after the sweater or top has gone bye bye to the Goodwill or Sally Ann, I'm left with the randomness of odd buttons. I've got a virtual tidal wave of weird little buttons in tiny plastic bags with random bits of thread.

But my bottle o' buttons has come in useful at times. I make hand wipe cloths for my kitchen using half a tea towel and crochet cotton, and I always need a big button for it so it can hang on my cupboard drawer handle, right beneath the sink. My big bottle o' buttons has never failed me yet.

So... do any of you have a mason jar of buttons, or am I alone here?

The Book Day Cometh...

I haven't blogged much lately, but that's just because I've been busy busy busy! My release day is fast approaching and I've been very very busy (with secret projects, too, but I'll talk about those soon!!) with organizing my release month activities. So far I've got a few blogs lined up.

I know there will be more, so this list will be amended and improved, with links and information, as I go along.

Here's the beginning...

April 29^th, 2012 - Mystery Lover’s Kitchen blog with recipe and giveaway.

May 1^st, 2012 – Release Day! I'll be at Dru Ann Love’s Blog "A Day in the Life of Jaymie Leighton" with book and bookmark giveaway.

May 10^th, 2012 - Lesa Holstine’s blog... Jaymie's junk obsession from her sister, Becca’s, viewpoint.
May 16^th, 2012 - Escape with Dollycas blog... subject to be announced!

See you all around... 

Surprise!!

Okay, so this photo may not mean a lot to some, but to me it is the beginning of a new 'chapter' (ahem - pun intended) in my life. I have been a romance novelist for many years, but I am now 'reinvented' and have finally stepped up into the life I always, since I was twelve, wanted. I am - ta-da - a mystery novelist!

These are review copies, or galleys, or ARCs (whatever you want to call them) of the first Vintage Kitchen Mystery, A Deadly Grind, coming to a store - online and in the real world - near you! I was so excited I did a happy dance right there in the kitchen.

BTW, the table the box is on is in the front window, and is actually where the cats sit to look out on their domain. They let me borrow it... LOL. I gave it right back to them.

Anyone want to review a mystery??

The Gallery of Regrettable Food

I love vintage cookbooks, and when I'm surfing the web, I often go to blogs and sites of other people who love vintage cookbooks. I set out this morning in search of a particular type of vintage recipe for the completion of Book 3 of my Vintage Kitchen Mystery series. The book is tentatively entitled Picked for Murder, and my heroine, Jaymie Leighton, as usual, gets into a bit of a pickle.

So then I found this site, The Gallery of Regrettable Food.

I'm not going to say how I wandered onto this site, but once I did... be prepared. Some of these cookbooks are 'snorting coffee out your nose' funny, and some are just a little... scary. Especially click on the 'Meat Fisting At Home' link for some creepy food fun.

http://lileks.com/institute/gallery/index.html

Enjoy!

Libraries and Authors

Publishing is one of those industries that seems perpetually on the edge of collapse. I have been in the business long enough to hear so many doomsday warnings and threats that whatever new thing coming down the pike is the 'death of the publishing industry'. As long as the industry keeps evolving, I think it will be just fine. People will always read, despite warnings to the contrary.

But one thing I do know, is that readers are not oblivious. Conscientious readers worry that they are contributing to the decline by buying books at used book stores and borrowing them from libraries.

I received a lovely letter from a future reader of my May release, my first mystery novel ever, A Deadly Grind, Book 1 of my Vintage Kitchen Mysteries cozy series.

Maureen said: "I am on the waiting list at my local library for the book and am eagerly awaiting reading it. I apologize for not purchasing it. I live with multiple illnesses which have put me on disability, and money is extremely tight. I am sure at some point I will either buy it, or perhaps ask for it as a Christmas gift! I read voraciously and love to lose myself in a good book. Especially at night, or when the pain or fear are bad, it is nice to live vicariously through the characters and escape for awhile."

 

I was deeply touched. Whenever I have been frightened or lonely, a good mystery has done the same thing for me, and I have spent many hours at a hospital bedside with a riveting mystery.

 

I wrote back to her that she must never apologize to a writer for borrowing their book from the library, or buying it at a used book store. Sure, we, as novelists, need the sales, but it is so much more important that people read the books, enjoy them, and look forward to more. There have been many times in my life when the library has been my solace and saving grace. I've used it voraciously my whole life, and consider libraries one of the most vital signs of a civilized nation. Any country that encourages its citizens to read (openly, and without censor) is, if not already a democracy, well on its way.

 

So if you borrow books from the library, but want to do the author a solid, review the book for a review site, click 'like' on amazon.com and the other sales sites, talk about the book and recommend it.

 

Oh... and hug a librarian. It'll surprise the heck out of her/him!

Cozy Mystery Writer

It's Online!!

I'm so excited to be able to announce that at long last my Victoria Hamilton Mysteries webpage is done and online!


I would love for folks to click through and tell me what you think. Obviously, I love it. I like the lightheartedness of it, and the simplicity, and that Hoppy the Yorkie-Poo and Denver the Crabby Tabby are in residence. I also am excited that folks will get their first - albeit brief - taste of A Deadly Grind, Book One of my Vintage Kitchen Mysteries. Chapter One is online.


Better still, concerning the website, I think my designer has captured the essence of A Deadly Grind, because ultimately, while my book has what I believe is a compelling mystery at the heart of it, it is also about life and love and growing up, while holding on to joy and standing up for what you want in life.

Whoo, that seems like a lot! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that readers like it as much as I loved writing it!


So, check it out, and PLEASE tell me what you think!

Victoria Hamilton Mysteries