Birthday Month and #giveaway

by Posted on

News Flash: Maggie M is our lucky winner! Congratulations, Maggie, and please check your email.

Edith/Maddie here, loving full summer north of Boston.

Before you start wishing me happy birthday – please don’t. July isn’t my month, nor that of anyone in my family except my favorite toddler, Luca, who turned three last week.

But it is the birthday month of two very special people from the past, whom I fictionalized in A Case for the Ladies. Please read down for a special giveaway.

Dot Henderson‘s birthday was July 4, 1900, and Amelia Earhart‘s was July 24, 1897. To celebrate, the ebook of my latest historical mystery is on a steeply discounted sale all this month. How else are we partying?

On July 4th, I brought you Dot’s 18th birthday menu here. To celebrate her day, I recreated the fresh strawberry ice cream Dot had at her meal.

Amelia was born in Kansas, but ended up for a few years living in the Boston suburb of Medford with her mother and younger sister. The aviator was a bit cagey about her age, but history tells us her birthday was July 24, 1897.

I wondered what she would have requested for a birthday dinner, and I found a wonderful magazine page (doubling as a Royal Baking Powder paid advertisement, no doubt) with the recipe for her mother’s biscuits and fried chicken.

I don’t do much frying, especially in July this year, but I did make the biscuits. That recipe will be over on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen this Friday.

So, let’s party. Leave a comment to win a tote bag, a recipe card packet, bookmarks, and a signed copy of the book! The contest ends July 24.

Readers: What’s your favorite birthday dinner? I’d love to also hear your knowledge or feelings about the legend that is Amelia Earhart.

Unknown's avatar

Published by Edith Maxwell

Agatha Award -winning author Edith Maxwell writes the historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries (Beyond the Page) and short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she writes the Dot and Amelia Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries series, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries (all from Kensington Publishing). She lives north of Boston in an antique house with her beau and cat Martin, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook.

83 Thoughts

  1. Hi Edith! Please don’t put me in the contest, since I live so far away. More to the point, I already own an eBook copy of A Case for the Ladies, which I read and loved! I always use my mother’s recipe for buttermilk biscuits, but I’m delighted to have your recipe for strawberry ice cream. I’m hoping to see you in Nashville–only a little over a month now.

    Like

    2. Sorry, I forgot to mention a favorite dinner. I love lamb, so a delicious piece of grilled lamb with the kind of tiny, crispy French fries that I call matchsticks, plus broccoli, eggplant, green beans, or just about any veggie would be perfect.

      Like

  2. For my birthday, I like to go out to eat – Chinese buffet works great! No big cake, since it’s just the two of us, but cupcakes are fun!

    I’ve never made actual fried in oil fried chicken, but biscuits – especially Made Well biscuits – are frequently on the menu here!

    Amelia was so incredibly brave, huh? Wowza! I’ve read reports that supposedly her remains, or that of her plane, were found. I hope so!

    Like

  3. I like to go out to eat for my birthday. I prefer steak but anything in the beef category will do. A decorated BD cake is fine and I’d like to share it with family & friends. Amelia Erhart was a lady ahead of her time, daring to do what many women in that era would not have done. It would be wonderful if her remains were found and the mystery to her disappearance was solved.

    Like

  4. EDITH: I did take adventure of the July birthday celebrations and bought an ebook version of A CASE FOR THE LADIES a few weeks ago.

    The mystery of what happened to Amelia has always puzzled me. It would be nice to read about a happy adventure with her and Dot. It’s on my TBR to read this summer.

    My birthday is in late February, which is often a dreary, wintry time of year.
    A good birthday meal would be something hearty and comforting but does not take much time to cook. My local butcher often sells duck confit legs. You just warm it up in the oven for 30 minutes.
    Served with mashed potatoes. And a decadent chocolate dessert to end the meal would be nice!

    Like

    2. Thanks! And autocorrect strikes again: should be “advantage” not “adventure” in the first sentence.

      Like

  6. Think Amelia Earhart was one of the women in history that proved that women can be adventurous, independent, goal oriented and leave marks in history – just as her men counterparts. One can’t help but wonder what all she could have accomplished if her life hadn’t been cut short.

    Since hubby is a fabulous grill master, my birthday dinner would be anything from one of our grills from a steak on the wood fired grill to smoked pork shoulder for pulled pork on the Big Green Egg. If my birthday were today, I’d pick BBQ chicken, fried potatoes and onions, potato salad and homemade rolls. Follow it up with my favorite cake – angel food – possible served with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. If my sweet momma was alive, she would have fixed me the Hungarian Coffee Cake I always asked for as a kid. Think gooey monkey bread with pecans, but have it all homemade from scratch. Although I have the recipe, it just never quite turns out like momma’s did. I think her secret ingredient was love.

    Thank you for the chance to win such an awesome and most generous giveaway!
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

    Like

  7. Amelia Earhart is a fascinating person, and knowing that her real-life story ends in a mystery of its own makes for an even more intriguing book character.
    My birthday usually wasn’t a big deal but my mom did make and decorate our cakes herself. She had a bunch of the shaped pans (or we could borrow ones from the library) and mostly taught herself, along with some classes later, to do all the fancy piping and such.

    Like

    1. My mom did the same, Alicia! She took a cake decorating class and had a whole box full of tips and little jars of various professional food coloring.

      Like

  8. Happy Birthday to you!!!!! Sounds like a perfect birthday meal. Amelia Earhart was an amaxing woman and what a fascinating career. Thanks for your great generosity. Linda May

    Like

  9. Happy birthday to Dot and Amelia. They share a birthday month with my kids.

    For my own birthday, I like going out. Mexican or Italian. I did do Thai one year. Top it off with a little cake and I’m good.

    Amelia Earhart was amazing. I think the mystery of her disappearance only adds to the excitement of her story.

    Like

  10. My favorite birthday dinner is Baked Salmon with Tzatzaki Sauce, along with a Spring Garden Salad with Dried Cranberries and Strawberries. For dessert nothing is as good as cake with plenty of frosting. The story looks intriguing with Amelia Earhart and wasn’t her crash site recently discovered underwater in the Pacific Ocean?

    Like

  11. Thanks for sharing this interesting information. For my birthday, which is in the Spring, I go to nurseries and buy way more plants than I really need!

    Like

  13. A birthday celebration has always taken place in our home with family. This is meaningful, special and unforgettable. A home cooked meal, and a delectable baked marble cake gives me the feeling that lasts for a long time.

    Like

  15. Your novel is a captivating treasure. I would love to be feted with an over the top birthday outing. A fancy restaurant meal with a beautiful dessert. An old fashioned and memorable house party lunch that I prepare is what we look forward to. Many tasty dishes, sides and a lemon sponge cake that is loved by all.

    Like

  16. Thank you, Edith for always educating us via your excellent research! I do so enjoy reading interesting facts about the past that may or not be directly related to your books! My favorite Birthday dinner has to be ice cream, since that is what I eat for dinner almost every night. I even embellish my gluttony with homemade Alfajores, which consists of two round, shortbread-like cookies with Dulce de Leche sandwiched beiween them. Oh…bliss!!! I also enjoy reading about Amelia and all the interesting facts about her..like the fun fact that she was only the sixteenth lady to be issued a pilot’s license…and that her first plane was named “The Canary” necause it was bright yellow. I am anxious to read A CASE FOR THE LADIES, and I thank you for your generous giveaway. Congratulations to the winner! JOY! Luis at ole dot travel

    Like

  17. Great birthday 🎂 meal for Dot &Amelia. Would love to read a copy of book especially in print, great giveaway &prizes too.
    Hopefully I win giveaway, thanks for the chance to win

    Like

  18. Loved my Mothers Fried Chicken and biscuits if she was here I would ask for that. I usually get for my Birthday a 6 oz Sirloin, mashed potatoes and a salad with ranch. Thank you Deborah

    Like

  19. Because my favorite birthday meal includes fresh caught Florida lobster, I always planned my birthday dinner for a week or so later than the actual event. Florida mini-season doesn’t occur until the fourth Wednesday in July and only runs for two days. With that caveat to keep me legal – my favorite birthday dinner is fresh Florida lobster, corn on the cob, tabbouleh salad and chocolate fudge cake with fudge frosting. Good thing scuba diving burns calories!

    Like

  24. Hi there! It’s been so long; I’d love an ice cream cake for my birthday.
    Pineapple Upside Down cake, as above, would be delightful. Paella once upon a time was a wondrous birthday (or anytime) treat, but one does not find this easily in Maine.

    Like

  25. I loved my Appalachian grandmother’s caramel cake, three layers with a half inch of caramel fudge icing between each layer, also spread generously over the top and sides of the cake.

    Like

  26. My fav female aviator was Mildred Benson of Toledo OH. She was one of very few female pilots in the 1930’s. She also wrote the first 29 Nancy Drew Mysteries under the syndicated Caroline Keene official author name. She was the inspiration for my 65 year old Nancy Drew wannabe -Nancy Drouillard Mystery Series- Debut- The Mystery of the Smoldering Mattress.

    Like

  28. A nice cooked dinner at home . Has to have mash potatoes. I think her life is mysterious

    Like

  29. Happy birthday! (Wait, you mean I should read the post before commenting and not just the blog post title?)

    Seriously, I don’t know that I have a favorite birthday meal. It’s kind of whatever I feel like doing to celebrate at the moment. (No need to enter me in the giveaway.)

    Like

  30. My birthday is in July and one of my favorite hot weather meals is sautéed shrimp and peas over rice with a side salad and a glass of sparkling apple cider or prosecco. Of course, for my birthday a slice of cake for dessert would be added!

    Like

  32. Love the cover, Edith! I’m looking forward to reading the book. Amelia Earhart has always fascinated me and hopefully one day they will they will locate her plane. My favorite birthday dinner is a rib-eye with a baked potato and Brussel sprouts.

    Like

  33. A lobster dinner would be my favorite birthday dinner! Amelia Earhart was such a trailblazer and a brave and fearless woman!

    Like

  34. Happy birthday to Dot and Amelia. Amelia’s dinner sure sounds good to me, but I like just about everything. I just don’t want to cook on my birthday. And I really prefer fruit pie to cake which works out well since my birthday is in August. Would love to win the book, or otherwise, Aaron’s, here I come!

    Like

    1. Amelia Earhart was a very brave woman!! She has always fascinated me. Your recipe looks great! My birthday is in March and I prefer not to cook and enjoy a nice dinner out!

      Thanks for the chance!

      Like

  35. Thank you so much for sharing. My husband and I share a birthday in February. The weather in NW Ohio can be dicy. If we can, we usually order take out and bring it home. One of our favorite places is Longhorn Steak House. My husband loves the ribs. I usually order a steak. If we bake a cake, it is usually marble. My husband likes chocolate cake. I enjoy vanilla. That way we both can have what we like. We alternate on a frosting. God bless you.

    Like

  36. For a birthday dinner my twin sister and I usually like to go to a local Japanese restaurant. They have great sushi and there is a seafood entree they do that I love. I have always been intrigued by Amelia Earhart’s history. I have always admired her courage.

    Like

  37. Finding out more about Amelia Earhart is always a good read. Hope her mysterious end is solved one day!
    Love reading your books and trying to solve those mysteries before the end!
    My favorite birthday meal as a child was my grandmother’s fried chicken and corn on the cob and her super chocolate cake with the candles on it.
    Or sometimes, if we didn’t go to Grandma,s house, we would go on a birthday picnic!

    Like

  38. Edith, I am fascinated by Amelia Earhart and her history.
    as for birthdays, ours are celebrated by cake, ice cream, birthday cookies, ice cream cakes depending on the person. My favorite celebration is that of my friends who has Bananna Pudding yearly instead of cake.

    Like

  39. Wow!! Many things here that I like. I have had a fascination with Amelia Earhart since I was a child Probably because she was daring, and it is a mystery as to what happened to her. I am really into research and should have done that for a career, but I was a teacher (sort of like research). I still work on my genealogy. I loved the 1920s and collect movie star photos starting from silent stars to the 1980s stars. Mother gave me her collection from the 1920s that started me out. I still watch the old movies from that era on TCM daily. Growing up in way South Texas, I cut my teeth on good old Fried Chicken though we did not eat it with biscuits back then. Now, every Fried chicken place always serves biscuits with its Fried Chicken, like Popeye’s, Chruch’s, etc. My parents made big deals of our birthdays and always decorated (my mother and father were both very creative). I had a Mother Goose party that made the papers. We all came out of my house which had the door turned into a Mother Goose’s shoe home. My mother decorated it. At one time she had a shop in our porch called The Party Bazaar. We had pinatas, pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and other games led by our local TV clown Clooney (a friend of the family). We all dressed in costumes as did our parents. I was Little Bo Peep and have a photo of the event along with the newspaper article. This was in 1953. Then (since my father was district manager of the theatres in town–now you see why I love movies and stars) every birthday was a movie party where he would get a movie that would not be out for several months, and I could invite any one I wanted. Daddy would make the invitations to match the party (Pinocchio, Perry-the Disney squirrel to name a few and the last was Elvis in G. I. Blues). It would be held on a Saturday morning, and everyone got sodas, popcorn, and cake. Mother always made a cake (Nutmeg, Angel Food or Devil’s Food). I loved poodles, so another party was all about dogs. Mother made a large Styrofoam poodle with angle hair for the fur. Very cool! For a birthday meal, it was either Fried Chicken, Veal Cutlets with mashed potatoes and gravy. Once I was older and tasted lobster, by birthday meal has been a Lobster Tail with drawn butter and a baked potato made for me by Hubby Dearest or eating it out somewhere. Sorry, this got so long but you always ask questions that make me remember my life. And mysteries are my forte. I love them. I can’t wait to read your new book and hope to win it. I have read all of your series and love them all. Thanks for the chance and the memories.

    Like

  40. I am an empty nester and I am lucky if I buy my own cake! No birthday is complete without chocolate cake in my opinion!!

    Like

Comments are closed.