SPOTLIGHT: DEATH A SKETCH by Cheryl Hollon Plus Giveaway and Recipe!

Paint & Shine Mystery: Book 3
Publication Date: July 26, 2022

In eastern Kentucky, Miranda Trent runs a unique tour company called Paint & Shine, but sometimes the peaceful mountains play host to murder . . .

Miranda’s business—combining Appalachian adventure tours with art and a bit of moonshine—is the perfect place for an outdoor sporting goods company to hold an employee retreat. It’ll be a challenge, but the money they’re paying will definitely help with building her new distillery.

Miranda has lots of teamwork-fostering activities planned, from sketching classes to Southern cooking, but the executive running things prefers a more competitive spirit. In fact, after the workers are split into teams, they’re told that only the winners will keep their jobs, and tensions begin to spike. Even after a participant is found dead, the contest continues—while Miranda starts drawing her own conclusions about the ambitious attendees. Now she just has to find the proof . . .

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Homemade Herb Crackers

Cheryl Hollon

George and I love to make these crackers together in the kitchen the afternoon before we have visitors.

We try to include their favorite seasonings.

There's something special about serving fresh, rustic crackers customized to your guests!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Servings 50 crackers

Equipment

• Parchment paper
• Baking sheets
• Mixing bowl
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Spatula
• Rolling Pin
• Pastry brush
• Pizza cutter or sharp knife
• Dinner fork
• Cooling rack
• Airtight container

Ingredients

  

• 3 cups cups all-purpose flour, or a mixture of all-purpose and whole grain flours
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 tblsp herb seasoning

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Position bottom rack to lower third of the oven. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the baking sheet. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together in a medium sized mixing bowl.
• Add the oil and water to the flour mixture. Stir until the flour is incorporated. If flour remains in the bowl, add more water a tablespoon at a time until a sticky dough ball is formed.
• Divide the dough in half and shape one portion into a flat square. Sprinkle your work surface as well as your rolling pin with a little flour.
• Roll out the dough working from the center out shaping it into a 1⁄8-inch-thick or thinner rectangle. The thinner the dough, the crisper the cracker.
• Brush the surface of the dough very lightly with water. Shake the herbs onto the surface of the dough in an even coverage. Using the pizza cutter or knife, cut the dough into individually shaped crackers. You can make squares, diamonds, rectangles, or use cookie cutters.
• Transfer the crackers to a baking sheet, then prick each cracker with the tines of the dinner fork to prevent them from puffing up too much.
• Bake the crackers for 12–15 minutes, until the edges are browned. Thinner crackers will bake quicker, so you can remove them and continue baking the thicker ones.
• While the first batch is baking, roll out and cut the remaining dough.
• When the crackers are browned to your preference, transfer them to a wire rack to cool. They can be stored in an airtight container for 3–5 days. If they turn a little less than crispy, reheat in a 350-degree oven for a few minutes.

Notes

Note to cook:

My husband and I love these crackers with chili, and also with soup. They look fabulous on a charcuterie board of meats and cheeses. For a variation, I top the crackers with kosher salt, chili powder, or a Greek seasoning. This recipe is extremely flexible and very forgiving. It also lends itself to experimentation. Another variation is to make flatbread instead of cutting into crackers. Have fun!

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Cheryl Hollon now writes full-time after she left an engineering career of designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind her house in St. Petersburg, Florida, Cheryl and her husband design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass, and painted glass artworks.