Hi Friends,

The holidays were wonderful… and also a complete blur. I’m pretty sure there’s a meme about that weird week between Christmas and New Year’s where you eat nothing but cookies and cheese and have no idea what day it is. Consider this my formal statement: I have never felt more seen.

I baked several hundred (yes, hundred) cookies and put together pretty platters for family and friends, and then promptly crashed between Christmas and New Year’s. Horizontal. Unmoving. Powered entirely by sugar and dairy.

After that lull, life ramped right back up. I started a new job right after the holidays, which has kept me pleasantly busy, the “collapsing into bed at 8:30” kind of busy.

We’re currently buried under about a foot of snow, which means more time at home and leaning hard into my cozy gremlin era.

• I’ve started baking my own bread (more on that cry for help in a second).
• I picked crochet back up, because why not surround myself with half-finished yarn projects?
• I kicked off the year with a new read, an Elin Hilderbrand book (this one, if you’re curious). So far, I’m really enjoying it, and it is perfect snowy day reading with a hot drink and something carby.

My boys made out like bandits at Christmas with a stack of Barnes & Noble gift cards, and our post holiday shopping spree was ridiculously fun. Nothing like turning kids loose in a bookstore and watching them debate Very Serious Things, like which manga to get next.

Given how hectic things have been after the holidays (how is it already February?), I’ve only made a bit of progress on my latest book. But rest assured, it is in the works. Words are happening. Slowly. Stubbornly. Like a cat you’re trying to coax out from under the bed.

If you’re new here and have not dipped into my cozy mysteries yet, Pembury Acres is waiting for you, complete with murder, small town drama, and chickens.

For many reasons, 2025 was a bit of an off year for me, and I only read one book the whole year. One. Singular. For a writer and a reader, that number is… not ideal.

So this year I’m making a deliberate effort to log off social media more, dig back into real life, and actually sit down and read again, without my phone in my hand.

I’d love your help with that, which brings me to my favorite part: you.

What’s on your nightstand, Kindle, or library hold list right now?

Hit reply and tell me:

• The best book you’ve read lately
• Your favorite comfort read
• And if you’re a rereader or a “one and done” type

I’m especially interested in anything cozy, twisty, or set in a small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business, purely for research purposes, of course.

In my quest to become a person who “just whips up bread,” I’ve started baking my own loaves. It’s going… not badly, but I have definitely not mastered a good sandwich bread yet.

So, I’m officially crowdsourcing:

Do you have a tried and true sandwich bread recipe?

Nothing too fussy, ideally something you actually make on a regular basis and not just “technically would work if I had six hours and the patience of a saint.”

Reply with your favorite recipe, blog link, or grandma’s scribbled index card version. My family (and my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) thank you in advance.

I hear it’s Super Bowl weekend. Shocking, I know.

I’m fully, unapologetically:

• In it for the food
• In it for the excuse to entertain
• And very much not in it for understanding what’s actually happening on the field

So: go sports ball team or whatever!

If you have a favorite game day snack recipe, especially dips, sliders, or anything involving melted cheese, I will happily steal it.

Thanks for sticking with me through the chaos of holidays, snowstorms, new jobs, and slow but steady book progress. I’m grateful you’re here, and I’m excited to share more about the new mystery as it takes shape.

Have a wonderful week ahead,

Daphne - Author of the Pembury Acres Cozy Mystery Series

P.S. Don’t forget to hit reply and tell me:

• What you’re reading
• Your best sandwich bread recipe
• And your must have Super Bowl snack

I really do read your replies, especially now that I am trying to spend more time in the real world and less time scrolling.

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