The Chicks are super delighted to welcome author Korina Moss, whose fifth Cheese Shop Mystery is out now! (Congratulations!) We’re so excited to get a peek behind the scenes…
Thanks for inviting me to be a guest Chick! I’m so excited to have Fondue or Die, my fifth Cheese Shop Mystery, out in the world! This one takes place at the autumn Dairy Days, a three-day festival dedicated to all things dairy, including cheese.
I was excited to set this book at a festival, because I love fairs and festivals. I have such fond memories of the agricultural fair that I attended every year of my childhood in Dutchess County, NY, despite my first memory of it. I was maybe two or three years old, and my parents and five siblings and I were visiting the dairy cows in the open stalls. One brown cow showed interest in me and stepped toward me, pushing her snout against me for a head rub, but she was so big that I lost my footing and fell backward, falling directly into a bucket of water. Startled, I began to cry, while the rest of my family broke out into laughter, thinking it was hilarious. (Don’t fret. They rescued me from the bucket.) As I was reminiscing about that memory to my siblings many years later and asking how they could’ve been so careless as to let a giant cow get so close to me, a mere toddler, they began to laugh all over again—only this time it was because of my faulty memory. It had been a large dog who’d pushed me over, not a cow. All I remember is that it was big and brown, and my bottom got wet.
Luckily, I’ve only had good memories of fairs and festivals since (being sure to steer clear of water buckets), which is what inspired me to set my latest cozy mystery at the Dairy Days Festival. I love the atmosphere of a festival—the games, the animals, the ribbon-winning contest entries, the aromas, and of course, the food!
It’s also a great atmosphere for a mystery. Between selling cheese grazing boxes, helping out at the Miss Dairy pageant, and trying their luck at the cow chip bingo tent, my cheesemonger protagonist, Willa, and her Team Cheese sleuthing friends—Baz, Archie, and Mrs. Schultz— investigate the murder of Nadine, the pageant director. The chief of police isn’t too keen on disrupting Dairy Days, so he seems all too happy to lay low and keep the blame on their first suspect—Nadine’s successor, Mrs. Schultz!
In the past twenty years attending The Big E, New England’s premiere fair in Massachusetts, the only mystery I’ve had to contend with is how my son and I manage to eat so much in a single day at the fair, including this giant meatball. (Spoiler: we couldn’t finish it.) Willa and Team Cheese put their lives on the line for a killer, my son and I for a one-pound meatball. Call it research.
Readers: what memories do you have of your favorite fairs or festivals? For your chance to win a signed paperback copy of Fondue or Die, comment below your favorite fair food. One person who comments before October 25th will be randomly selected. U.S. entries only.
KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner for Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead and the Agatha Award finalist for Best Contemporary Novel, Case of the Bleus. Her books have been featured in USA Today, PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, AARP, and Fresh Fiction. To learn more or subscribe to her free monthly #teamcheese newsletter, visit her website korinamossauthor.com.
About Fondue or Die: In Korina Moss’s Fondue or Die, the lazy, hazy, dairy days of summer are coming to a close in the Sonoma Valley. . . and so is someone’s life. The small town of Yarrow Glen’s neighbor, Lockwood, hosts an annual Labor Day weekend bash: Dairy Days. And Willa Bauer and her cheese shop, Curds & Whey, refuse to miss out on the fun. Willa is thrilled to celebrate her favorite thing—she is a cheesemonger after all—and this festival goes all out: butter sculptures, goat races, cheese wheel relays, even a Miss Dairy pageant. Too bad the pageant runner, Nadine, is treating Dairy Days prep like it’s fondue or die and is putting everyone around her on edge. When Willa finds Nadine’s dead body under years’ worth of ceramic milk jugs, the police aren’t sure whether the death was an accident. But fingers are pointing at Willa’s employee, Mrs. Schultz, who steps in to help the pageant after Nadine’s death. Someone wanted Nadine out of the whey, and Willa is going to find out who.
I also went every year to the Durchess County Fair when I was a kid. Looked forward to it all year. Loved visiting the animals especially since I had friends in 4H.
I’ve also have been to the Big E a few times along with the Topsfield Fair and different fairs in NH, where I live.
My favorite fair food is fried dough with just a little powdered sugar.
Oh my gosh! We’ve lived near each other in the past and now?! I used to live in NH too!
I live in NH!
Welcome, Korina. My favorite memory isn’t of the fair, necessarily, but when it came to town. The train rolled right by our house and we got to watch it. This was particularly exciting for my brother who loved trains AND fairs.
We also lived near the railroad tracks, and it was fun hearing the trains come through (not for the fair, though).
Thanks for having me, Liz! That would actually be exciting for me even today! I also love trains and fairs.
I always enjoyed the crafts on display at the fair, particularly the crocheting entries since I also crochet.
Wasn’t a fair for me but some of the older train cars from the 1940’s to 1960’s now that was style back then. Still in good shape.
Thank you so much for visiting us today, Korina! Congratulations on your book!
What I’m remembering most from the New York State Fair is the machine that made a statue out of melted wax (or plastic?). Probably was super toxic but it lasted for years!
Also: the machine that took a penny and smushed it into a little oval souvenir (is that even legal, I wonder?).
I want to see a pic of the statues! And those penny machines are still out there…
Thanks for having me, Cynthia! i remember those penny smushers! For all the years I used to live in NY, I can’t believe I’ve never been to the NY state fair.
I went to the Great Fair every year growing up, too, Cynthia–and then took my kids. My favorite? The butter sculpture! My uncle headed up the dairy stuff. (My dad’s family lived in Camillus.) I saw a lot of cows, lol. Another fave? The exhibit with the fake house and clueless residents where you had to find all the safety hazards. Like an iron plugged in near the tub and frayed wires and open bottles of hazardous liquids under the sink with the baby crawling toward them. So fun.
I’d find the clueless residents’ house fun too! The Big E has a butter sculpture too, so I had to include it in Fondue or Die.
Thanks for being here, Korina, and yay for Fondue or Die! I have fond memories of the fair; for a while, my family would take me every year. (It was an easy way for them to celebrate my birthday since it happened around that time.) They had these famous cinnamon rolls, but I never got a chance to try them because the lines were always so loooooonng. But I did enjoy the cotton candy a lot!
Thanks for having me, Jen! Birthdays at the fair – how fun! The Big E has maple cotton candy made from VT maple syrup and it’s divine.
That sounds delicious!
Thanks for being with us Korina. I was in 4h as a kid . When I was 9 years old I join 4 h. I won the local pie contest and that means you make it again for live judging at the county fair. I got another blue ribbon. You bring you pie to the show ring where they auction them off. A group of male county council members bought mine and all the guys had to kiss me. At 9 years old it was quite something. I love the strawberry rhubarb pie at the church dinner at the fair. They also have some tasty fresh kettle corn.
What a great story!! A blue ribbon at 9 years old! (I’m not so sure I like the kissing part, lol.) Was it a strawberry rhubarb pie that you made?
Congrats!! And now I want samples of the winning pie…
So glad you could join us today, Korina! When my family had a cottage on Bantam Lake in CT, I used to love going to the town and county fairs, especially in Goshen and Terryville. I really miss them and the whole region. I adored it.
I always forget that you grew up in CT. There’s still so many New Englandy things here, especially in fall. I love it.
I didn’t grow up there – I wish! I grew up in NY. But for 36 years, we had a summer cottage on Bantam. I LOVED it.
I have never been there but it sounds like alot of fun, and wow, what a giant meatball. Your book sounds and looks like a great read, very intriguing. Have a great day and a great rest of the week. Alicia Haney. aliciabhaney(at)sbcglobal(dot)net
Thank you, Alicia!
fried dough has always been a carnival favorite of mine
Classic and what’s not to love?
I remember the rides
I remember my sister and I spending about twenty minutes trying to figure out how many marbles were in a jar at our local county fair many years back. We were racking our brains over how to solve for the surface area of a circle using marbles as the value (which we’d then multiply by the number of layers of marbles). We thought we were pretty darn smart till we realized neither of us could remember much of anything from high school geometry. Needless to say, we did not win. But we had a lot of fun trying!
So glad to have you with the Chicks today, my dear, and congrats on the new book!
That’s funny! Thank you so much, Leslie!
Congratulations on your new release. I love corn dogs, apple fritters and cotton candy. Thank you Deborah
Congratulations on your new release. I like cotton candy, apple fritters and corn dogs.
And this is what I love about the fair. Where else would you eat those 3 things in one day? It’s fantastic!
I’ve been to the Big E a few times. I enjoy the food features in The Avenue of The States.
The Avenue of States are my favorite places to get food.
the last fair I attended was the Erie county Fair near Buffalo, NY. I grew up going to Canfield Fair in Ohio. I love to go to a fair.
My favorite fair food would be a funnel cake!
Nancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com
I grew up going to The East County Fair in San Diego County. It was always so much fun. As a teenager, with my friends, it was the first time I laid eyes on my future husband. I have very fond memories.
Ooo, how did you meet?
Love story at the fair! How wonderful!
I went to the county fair and the state fair in Idaho with my 4-H projects when I was a kid. It was a lot of work and it was fun.
I’m always so impressed by the 4-H kids I see at the fair with their animals.
We moved to central California at the end of 2007, and we have been to different fairs around the area. The closest is the Monterey County Fair that always falls in early September. I enjoyed the games, some crafts, some live bands or magic show, and especially the food. We love its turkey legs, lumpia (filipino rolls) and funnel cakes!
I am not a roller coaster or any rides person, but I enjoy spending time with hubby at the fair.
cwkuen(at)yahoo(dot)com
Sounds delicious!
you can’t beat biting into a crispy yet fluffy elephant ear covered in cinnamon sugar while walking through the dairy barn at the la Porte Indiana county fair!
I’ve got to get to a midwest fair!
Anything fried at the Texas State Fair in Dallas is my favorite. I have not been in a long time since we now live in Georgia and there are many new, succulent, fried items–more than can be imagined. But I will still say my favorite are the State Fair Corn Dogs. They have them in the freezer section at grocery stores, but they do not hold a candle to the real thing. As Big Tex says, “Howdeeeeeeee Foooooooooolks!”
I’ve heard some of the craziest things fried and sold at fairs! Someone had fried Ranch dressing at their fair and it was their kids’ favorite food this year!
I do not know how they do that either, but the fair people are coming up with so many weird things and everyone seems to love them.
My family and I have gone to the fair for years now and our favorite part is always the entertainment and spending time together. My mom love to go to the craft fair on Sunday and spend some money on some much needed jewelry.
My favorite fair food is definitely a slice of their cheese pizza with some french fries. Bonus points if you put the fries on the pizza!
Fries on pizza — that’s walkaway food!
Hi Korina, Congrats on Fondue or Die! Woohoo! And thanks for visiting Chicks today. At fairs here in New England, I go for the whoopie pies. But at the New York State Fair (you have to go!), it’s the BBQ chicken dinner for me–with the corn and salt potatoes. Yum. (Lots of butter.)
Yum! And I DO have to go. I’m going to put it on next year’s calendar and see if I can swing it.
Congrats on your new release, Korina. I love the series so hard.
We always had a county fair with a petting zoo, blue ribbon awards for quilts, pies, etc. I loved getting funnel cakes and cotton candy. And kettle corn.
barbiefan at comcast dot net
Thank you so much, Ann! The fresh kettle corn is also a favorite of mine.
For sure my favorite fair food are funnel cakes!