Chili...whether you like it hot or mild, with beans or without, heavy on the
grease or light on things like ground turkey and tofu, chili is everyone’s
favorite dish of spicy goodness.
That goes double for Maxie Pierce, heroine of the Chili
Cook-Off mystery series and proprietor of one of the food trucks that
travels the Chili Showdown circuit selling dried peppers and spices. Book #3
in the series, REVENGE OF THE CHILI QUEENS, hits store shelves on August 4
and this time Maxie’s in San Antonio helping to commemorate the city’s Chili
Queens.
Who were the Queens? Back in the day, the Chili Queens were the center of San
Antonio social life, women who spent their days at home cooking and their
evenings in the city’s plazas, selling their chili. Crowds gathered, and so
did musicians and other entertainers, and the plazas rang with the sounds of
conversation, laughter and music, all night long.
The Chili Queens tradition continued in San Antonio from the mid-1800s (some
say even earlier) up until the early 1940s when local government ended the
Queens tradition.
In REVENGE
OF THE CHILI QUEENS Maxie joins other purveyors of chili to raise money for
local charity–and gets mixed up in murder while she’s at it.
Who killed one of the wandering musicians on Alamo Plaza? And for that matter,
who was the man? And why is Nick Falcone, head of security for the Chili
Showdown, the prime suspect?
Maxie has a lot of questions and a lot of surprises in store for her. There
are plenty of plot twists and turns, plenty of craziness what with Maxie
spending her days at the Showdown as the Chili Chick, dressed as a giant red
chili pepper (complete with fishnet stockings and stilettoes) and her nights on
the plaza wearing the costume of a long-ago Chili Queen. There’s plenty of
information about chili, chili spices and cooking, too, along with a recipe for
the original Chili Queens chili.
And all that got me thinking . . . how much do you really know about chili?
Take the quiz and find out! Answers are the end, but no cheating! See if
you’re a Chili Chick!
1. Which city has three times as many chili parlors as McDonald’s
restaurants?
A. Tulsa
B. Cincinnati
C. Taos
2. Which famous outlaw refused to rob a bank in McKinney, Texas, because his
favorite chili parlor was there?
A. Jesse James
B. Al Capone
C. Billy the Kid
3. Where was the first chili cook-off held?
A. Houston, Texas
B. Phoenix, Arizona
C. Terlingua, Texas
4. What unit measures the heat of a chili pepper?
A. Scoville Unit
B. Thermal Unit
C. Capsaicin Unit
5. What’s the best way to cool off your mouth after you heat a too-spicy
chili pepper?
A. A big glass of cold water
B. Eating a slice of bread
C. Drinking milk
Answers:
1. B. Cincinnati. Skyline Chili is famous there, and it’s served over
spaghetti.
2. A. Jesse James, who once said, “any place that has a chili joint like
this ought to be treated better.”
3. C. Terlingua, Texas in 1967. Every year on the first of November,
the Chili Appreciation Society International holds a cook-off there.
4. A. Scoville Heat Units measure the heat of chili peppers. To give
you an idea, the Bhut jolokia (ghost pepper) contains 1 million SHU. A bell
pepper has 0.
5. C. Mouth on fire? Drink a glass of milk. Dairy products help
cool down the capsaicin, the ingredient that makes peppers hot.
Kylie Logan is a pseudonym used by Casey Daniels.
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The author of DEATH BY DEVIL'S BREATH takes the chili cook-off circuit to
southern Texas to prove that revenge is a dish best served hot . . .
Everyone in San Antonio remembers the Alamo, but how many remember the Chili
Queens? Back in the early twentieth century, these spicy señoras sold their
lip-smacking chili in plazas all around the city. Now, as part of the Chili
Showdown, Maxie and her half-sister, Sylvia, are dressing up as the Chili
Queens to raise money for charity.
But someone wasn’t feeling too charitable toward a local troubadour, who is
murdered at the fundraiser. When their friend Nick Falcone, head of security
for the Showdown, actually becomes the prime suspect, it’s up to Maxie and
Sylvia to turn the heat up on a killer, who’s planning a chili reception for
them . . .
2 comments posted.
I love the cover to your latest book!! It's as hot and colorful as the chili peppers!! The story itself sounds like great fun, and I'm looking forward to reading it!! Congratulations on your book, and I'm sure it's going to do well!! Who doesn't love a good bowl of chili - especially when Fall is right around the corner??
(Peggy Roberson 12:38pm August 10, 2015)