Friday, April 21, 2017

Shawn Reilly Simmons & Hoosier Lemonade



Shawn Reilly Simmons is here to match her new book, Murder is the Main Course, to the perfect drink - Hosier Lemonade. I first met Shawn at the Malice Domestic Conference years ago. So happy to have her here today on Drinks with Reads. 

Murder is the Main Course is the fourth book in the Red Carpet Catering mystery series, which features Penelope Sutherland, a behind-the-scenes movie set caterer. Each book takes place in a different location beginning with New Jersey, then Florida, New York City, and now rural Indiana. At one point I was an on-set caterer myself, so my experiences have inspired the books, and each location I've chosen has been somewhere I've lived. I was born a Hoosier, and even though we moved to Florida shortly afterwards, I went back to visit every summer and holiday season.  
 In Murder is the Main Course Penelope and her Red Carpet Catering crew find themselves transported to a different world when they arrive on their newest movie set in rural Indiana. Surrounded by prickly locals, a nervous director out to prove herself, and a vast forest with secrets all its own, Penelope feels more homesick for the big city than ever before. When she finds their host, owner of Indiana's newest culinary hotspot, dead of an apparent suicide, Penelope works to uncover the darker truths boiling beneath the surface of his seemingly perfect life.

Asked to help keep the late chef's restaurant afloat, Penelope is fried trying to juggle two kitchens and a ravenous cast and crew. When the chef's suicide turns out to be murder, and the restaurant is vandalized in the middle of the night, Penelope must find out who is behind it all before she's the next one on the chopping block. 
Steve McQueen, being from Indiana also, inspired my drink recipe in my choice of Bulleit Bourbon. But any other label will do, as long as it's smooth enough for sipping. Lemonade was always on my grandmother's table in the summertime, so in putting those inspirations together we have we have my recipe for Hoosier Lemonade: 

Hoosier Lemonade
1 & 1/2 ounces Bulleit Bourbon
4 ounces fresh lemonade 
(lemonade recipe: the juice of 5-6 lemons mixed with 4 cups filtered water 1/2 fine sugar)
Lemon wedge & Ice
Sugar for rim (if you like things a little sweeter)


Combine the above and serve over ice in a tall glass rimmed with sugar (if you wish) and garnished with a lemon wedge.  Enjoy!

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