Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pre-bake the bottom piecrust for 10 minutes. (Don’t pre-bake the top crust.)
Combine ingredients in Mr. Appleton’s Secret Concoction. Mix thoroughly.
Whisk the egg wash in a small bowl.
Place cooled apple mixture in prebaked piecrust. Top with Secret Concoction. Place the reserved piecrust on top of pie. Crimp edges to seal the pie. (Don’t have too much top crust hanging down from pie edges as they will fall and burn off during baking.) Smooth egg wash onto top crust. Make four or five slashes in top crust to allow pie to vent.
Place pie in oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Check on it once in a while to make sure the top isn’t burning. Remove and let cool for 30 minutes before serving. Goes great with fresh vanilla ice cream.
(Note. For those who like it less sweet? Cut back on the sugar a little during preparations.)
Nancy’s Blueberry Pancakes
Ingredients:
Two cups Bisquick®
One cup milk OR ½ cup buttermilk and ½ cup milk
Two eggs
One tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup granulated brown sugar
½ tsp. lemon rind
Two cups fresh or frozen blueberries (thawed)
Instructions:
Pre-heat non-stick skittle to medium temperature. Mix all ingredients (except for the blueberries) together in a bowl with a wooden spoon until there are no lumps. Now add and stir in the blueberries.
*Note that thicker batter makes a cakier pancake. Thinner batter makes a thinner pancake. If the batter seems too thick, add ¼ cup of milk or water.
Pour scant ¼ cupfuls of batter onto the skittle. Allow the cake to bubble on the top. After this happens flip once.
Best served warm with fresh syrup.
Recipe courtesy of Charlotte and Zach’s Mom.
Strawberry Daiquiri Jell-O Shots
Ingredients:
1 small box Strawberry Jell-O
1 cup boiling water
1 cup white rum (Or on the lighter side, ½ cup white rum and ½ cup strawberry juice) (Or on the lushier side, ½ cup white rum and ½ cup vodka)
Small plastic cups
Instructions:
Dissolve Jell-O in boiling water.
Remove from heat.
Let cool.
Mix your liquors and/or juices together. Add to cooled concoction. Stir.
Pour into little cups.
Refrigerate for at least two hours. Place in freezer for several minutes before serving.
Serve to those of legal drinking age.
Frank Plank’s Franks and Beans
Ingredients:
One lb. navy beans
Two tablespoons brown sugar
Two tsp salt
½ cup chopped onions
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Two tablespoons blackstrap molasses
¼ cup ketchup
½ cup pure maple syrup (not cheap pancake syrup – the good stuff)
One cup water (This is separate from the water needed to boil the beans)
Two thick strips of bacon
Two packages, 12 oz each, of polish sausage (your favorite brand/variety) cut into small pieces
Instructions:
Boil beans in a large pot of water for an hour. Rinse and drain beans. In a large Dutch oven, sauté bacon until cooked but not too crispy.
In a large bowl, mix beans and all other ingredients. Pour this into the Dutch oven covering the bacon and the bacon fat. Cover the Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to a simmer and let cook for two hours.
Check the oven periodically to make sure there is enough liquid in the pot. If not, add ½ cup water at a time. Stir periodically.
Serve warm, not scalding. Great dish on a cool autumn day.
Recipe courtesy of Charlotte and Zach’s Mom.
Dust Bunny Chocolate Drop Cookies
Ingredients:
½ Cup butter
1 Cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Two 1 oz squares baking chocolate, melted and cooled
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup sour cream
(If you like nuts, add this. If you don’t, skip this.) ½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, ream butter with brown sugar until smooth. Add egg, vanilla, and cooled chocolate, mixing well; set aside. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients alternately with sour cream to chocolate mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in pecans (if you like nuts.)
Drop batter by teaspoonfuls two inches apart onto a greased and floured baking sheet. Bake ten minutes or until set. Remove from baking sheet to a wire rack to cool.
White Powdered Sugar Frosting Ingredients and Instructions:
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted.
½ tsp vanilla
1 tbsp water
Mix frosting ingredients thoroughly. When cookies are cool, dab with frosting.
Wild Women’s Piña Coladas
Ingredients:
Six oz of light rum
Six Tbsp of crushed organic pineapple
Six Tbsp of organic coconut milk
Four cups crushed ice
Pineapple wedges
Instructions:
Blend rum, crushed pineapple, coconut milk and crushed ice in an electric blender till smooth. Pour into festive glasses. Garnish with pineapple wedges on rim of glasses. Serve with straws.
Note! This recipe only makes TWO drinks. Multiply accordingly.
No-Marshmallows-Allowed Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream
Hot Chocolate Ingredients:
Yield: 4 mugs
½ cup white sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
A pinch of salt
Three ½ cups milk
1/3 cup boiling water
½ cup half and half cream
½ tsp vanilla
Hot Chocolate Instructions:
Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in mixing bowl. Pour into cooking pot. Slowly add boiled water. Stir concoction and bring to boil. Let it simmer while stirring for another two minutes. Don’t allow contents to burn. Add and stir in the milk and heat until it is very hot. Do not boil. Take off the burner, and add the vanilla, stirring gently.
Whipped Cream Ingredients and Instructions:
Pour one cup heavy cream into electric blender and blend until little crests take shape. Top hot chocolate mugs with the cream.
Serve warm and toasty, but not hot enough to burn mouths. Yummy!
Acknowledgments:
Many giving, loving people helped me create this book.
Thanks to Rita Kempley, my author friend and early reader who gave me notes. Thanks to my editors Ramona DeFelice Long and Chase Heiland (caeditorials.com). A huge thanks to Deborah Daly Roelandts who read an early draft and helped with so many details on Oconomowoc as well as police procedures. (Any mistakes are mine, not hers.) Michael James Canales – screenwriter, poet, and Mr. Talented – thanks for another great book cover. You rock! Thanks to my beta readers – Terri Dunn and An’gel Molpus. Thanks author Bob Bernstein for helping me dent the mystery of how to make a paper book. Thanks to the book clubs and blogs that have been so kind to me – Sassy Girls, Chick-Lit Central, Cupcakes Take the Cake, Forever Young Adult –you’re the best! Thanks to POV. Thanks Joe Wilson creator of indie TV show VampireMob.com. Thank you to my family - the DuMonds, Stallters, and Timmels. Thanks Monica Mason, Melissa Black Ford, Elise Ford, Cheree Dussair Plank, Celia Boyle, Carrie Hartney, D.C., John Montaghue, D.C., Adrienne Kramer, Nestor O’Tazu, Debra Sanderson, and Rachel Browning for keeping me sane. Thanks author Shelly Fredman – (You are awesome!), Jenny Milchman, Sadie Gilliam, Andrew Goldstein, Jamie Duneier, Jason Koffeman, Jacqueline Carey, Kristin Warren, Ed Schneider, Doug Solter, Kim Goddard Kuskin, Jacq
ueline Radley, and Laura Schultz for being so cool. Thanks Mike Snyder and The Trailer Guys for making such a great book trailer. Thanks Aurora de Blas for starring in it. Thanks Kenneth Lewis at Krill Press for giving me my first break in publishing. And, thanks to the crew at BookNook for doing a superb job formatting my e-books..
Special thanks to Laura Devries co-owner of Cupcakes-A-Go-Go located in Madison, Wisconsin, for the margarita cupcake recipe. (Cupcakes-A-Go-Go 6642 Mineral Point Road, Madison, Wisconsin. Ph: 608/836-3400 www.cupcakes-a-gogo.com)
Thanks to all the readers and cupcake lovers who have supported me on this journey. I am grateful.
Go read a good book and tell someone you love about it!
Xo,
Pamela DuMond
About the Author
In grade school Pamela DuMond was an A student but stuttered and was badly bullied. Reading became her refuge. She devoured every thriller and mystery she could get her hands on, and eventually wrote her own. When she was twenty-two years old, she conquered stuttering and finally started talking. Her brother commented that she hasn’t shut-up, since.
Pamela’s the writer who discovered, pitched and sold Erin Brockovich's life story to a production company and Universal Studios. Erin Brockovich the movie was nominated for four Academy Awards.
Besides writing the comedic mystery Cupcakes, Lies, and Dead Guys – An Annie Graceland series, Pamela also writes Young Adult romantic time travel novels. The Messenger’s Handbook, is the first book in a trilogy.
When she’s not writing, Pamela is a chiropractor and cranio-sacral therapist. She loves reading, writing, the beach, yoga, movies, animals, her family and friends. She lives in Venice Beach, California, with her furballs. Pamela loves appropriate questions and feedback from her readers. Feel free to contact her at [email protected].
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