This recipe comes from the pages of Murder on the Ten-Yard Line, where a murder is committed during a college football game. After a long day of interviewing potential suspects and following clues, Detective Ormsberry and his college student friend and protege, Bill Adams, have a late night snack:

Chocolate Cake with Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce.

You can print the recipe from the recipe blog: www.recipesinhistory.com
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Our new food blog features recipes for foods found in the pages of the John Stephen Strange Mystery novels. Our first feature is Chicken-a-la-Maryland, from a scene in Murder on the Ten-Yard Line. You can find the recipe and print it from:

Recipes in History

In Murder on the Ten-Yard Line, the coach of a college football team is killed during a game. While interviewing one of his friends, the detective discovers that the coach had asthma and smoked medicated cigarettes to help his lungs. Just 85 years ago people were smoking for their health! Amazing.

While working on the proofreading and editing of our latest reprint, Black Hawthorn, I've found some words and phrases I don't usually see while reading modern books, and some that were just nice images.

"Officer Roberts appeared out of the swathing fog."

Swathing: wrapping up.

"He thought, with a lover’s bromidic enthusiasm, that she looked like an angel."

The interesting origins of "bromidic": In the 1830's and 1840's, compounds which contained bromine were used as sedatives. By the early 20th century the term bromine had come to mean boring or trite and bromidic became an adjective to describe someone who used platitudes or trite sayings.

 "'Certainly not. I’d love to jug those two,' he admitted."

Jug: slang for put in jail. I haven't found an origin on this one, but I hadn't heard it lately, either.

I'd enjoy hearing words and phrases any of you have found in older books, too.