1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Be forewarned: “Murder By Cheesecake” feels more like a mix of “Murder, She Wrote” and “Miami Vice” than a “Golden Girls” episode. Rarely do the characters talk in sitcom rhythms of two lines, a beat and punchline. Sarcasm and sass were what made the original series sparkle. In this genre, some of that is there but not as sharp as on the hitcom. Sophia, known as a comeback queen, sometimes comes off more mean than amusing toward daughter Dorothy.Still, the plot does a decent job of leading readers on a twisty chase to figure out who the victim was and who the murderer is. The women decide to play amateur detectives to clear Dorothy’s name. And it’s a hoot while reading to picture it: Dorothy, Rose, Sophia and Blanche donning disguises and clumsily snooping in the hotel manager’s office and the victim’s home. Even though their climactic showdown with the culprit seems pretty outrageous, it’s fun to see four “old ladies” get an action-hero moment.

There’s no doubt author Rachel Ekstrom Courage is a true “Golden Girls” devotee. She takes the time to describe even the furniture in the women’s home to bring us fans back to that familiar kitchen and living room. References to plots and recurring characters from the show are sprinkled throughout the pages.The novel is primarily told through the angst-ridden thoughts of Dorothy and Rose. Unfortunately, Blanche and Sophia feel more like sidekicks. But, it’s likely that if this book is the first in a series, then those two will be at the center of things next time.With the show’s cast all deceased, “Murder By Cheesecake” is an especially pleasant, breezy way to have “the girls” back again for a little while.

Pulitzer Prize-winning authorof the country’s most enduring figures, including

So it comes as no surprise that his biography of author and humorist Mark Twain clocks in at more than 1,000 pages.

It’s also forgivable, considering that Twain was such a colossal figure in American literature and history that his authorized biography was more than 1,500 pages long.hired the first American executive chef, Walter Scheib, and had the kitchen avoid serving heavy sauces and creams.

She said, “I learned so much” about Southwestern cuisine from Bush, the former Texas governor who liked Tex-Mex food. “We made thousands of tamales for Christmas,” she said of the popular Mexican meal of stuffed corn dough wrapped in a corn husk and steamed until cooked.Comerford got ideas from

when she was promoting healthy eating, primarily for children. “We used the garden as kind of like our backbone for our menu development,” she said.Trump and first lady