Apple Turnover Murder, Key Lime Pie Murder, Cherry Cheesecake Murder, Lemon Meringue Pie Murder
Page 89
“I should have brought sunglasses,” Norman said under his breath, and Hannah hid a grin. Norman was right. On the linear brightness scale, Bill’s shirt was only a point or two short of eye-popping. Mike, who was sitting on Hannah’s other side and had overheard Norman’s comment, stifled a chuckle with his napkin.
Hannah smiled at Norman and then she turned to smile at Mike. On past occasions she’d resented the fact that she was always seated between them. She’d even made cracks about being the filling in a Mike and Norman sandwich. Today she didn’t mind at all. She’d upset their equilibrium by going out with Ross and it was time to reassure them. Ross was like an exotic dessert, a diversion to tingle the taste buds and make her savor her own life with a more discerning palate. He was like a baked Alaska flambéed with fine brandy, flashy and exciting, but not something you’d serve with an ordinary supper of meat and potatoes. Mike and Norman were more like…cookies. Cookies were something you could have every day without ever tiring of them.
The smile on Hannah’s face grew wider. If she had to choose their cookie types, Norman would be an Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookie, one of her very favorites. You couldn’t go wrong with an Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookie. It was perfect for any occasion and at any time of day.
Mike was different, and Hannah gave it some thought. She finally decided that he’d be a Black-and-White Cookie, perfectly shaped and gorgeous to look at. It was sweet on the outside, and darker and more intense once you got past the powdered sugar.
“Hannah?” Andrea raised her from her mental dessert game. “Come up to the buffet with me. I want you to show me which bar cookies you brought.”
Hannah made her excuses and got up to join Andrea at the dessert table. She pointed out the Ooey Gooey Chewy Cookie Bars she’d made in honor of the fact that Dean’s killer was behind bars, but Andrea simply nodded.
“I knew which ones they were,” she said. “I just wanted an excuse to talk to you alone.”
Hannah took a deep breath and prepared for bad news. Andrea and Bill had been smiling throughout the brunch, but that could have been for their mother’s benefit. “What is it?”
“Ronni Ward got engaged and she’s getting married next month!”
“That’s great news! When did this happen?”
“Last week in Miami. Remember when Lisa was trying to make me feel better and she said that maybe Ronni would meet another fitness instructor and they’d do exercises together?”
“I remember.”
“Well, that’s exactly what happened. Ronni met a personal trainer from The Cities and they’re going to open a studio together. Isn’t that just wonderful?”
“It certainly is.” Hannah swiveled around as someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was Michelle and she looked a bit dazed. “What’s wrong, Michelle? You look as if a strong wind could blow you over.”
“That’s because it could blow me over. Lonnie just told me that he entered me in the Miss Winnetka Beauty Contest.”
“He did it without asking you first?” Andrea asked the critical question.
“That’s right. He said he knew I was the prettiest girl in the county and he wanted everybody to see how beautiful I am. Is that crazy, or what?”
“Crazy in love,” Hannah offered, grinning a little. “That’s very sweet, and you don’t have to worry about it. If you get chosen as a finalist, you can always turn it down.”
“I was chosen as a finalist. Lonnie just told me. And I can’t turn it down.”
Andrea began to frown. “Why not?”
“Because Mother signed the papers agreeing I’d be a contestant.”
“Can she do that?” Hannah recovered enough to ask.
“Oh, yes. The rules say that if you’re under twenty-one, a parent can sign the forms for you.”
“Oh, boy!” Hannah muttered. “When is the contest?”
“In June. It’s part of the Winnetka County Fair. And I’m not going to college this summer, so I don’t have that for an excuse. I’m stuck, and I don’t know how to get out of it. But at least I’m not alone.”
“What do you mean?” Andrea asked.
“I’m not the only one Mother signed up. She entered you and Tracey in the Mother-Daughter Look-Alike Contest, and she entered Bethany in the Beautiful Baby contest.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake!” Andrea said, but she didn’t look too upset.
Hannah burst out laughing. “I’m going to have fun at the fair this year. I can hardly wait to see both of you up there on stage.”
“Don’t laugh too hard,” Michelle warned.
“Why not?”
“Mother signed you up to judge the baked goods at the fair.”
“That’s fine with me. It sounds like fun.” Hannah smiled, but her smile turned into an anxious look as Michelle burst out laughing. “What?”
“Don’t crow yet. She also volunteered you for the Lake Eden Historical Society Booth.”
“That’s not so bad. I don’t mind passing out literature for the Historical Society.”
“It’s not literature this year.”
“It’s not?”
“No, they’re doing a fund-raiser. Have you ever seen the type of booth where a lady in a fancy silk dress and a parasol sits over a tank of water?”
Hannah gasped. Surely Mother wouldn’t do that to her! “Are you talking about the kind of booth where people try to hit a target with a baseball and dunk the lady?” she asked.
“That’s right. You’re in the booth from two to four on Saturday afternoon. According to Mother, that’s a heavy traffic period. And Bill says to tell you that Norman and Mike have already signed up with a coach to take pitching lessons!”
OOEY GOOEY CHEWY COOKIE BARS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position
For the Crust:
½ cup white (granulated) sugar
¾ cup flour (not sifted)
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa*** (I used Hershey’s)
¼ teaspoon salt
½ stick melted butter ( ¼ cup– 1/8 pound)
For the Filling:
2 cups milk chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli’s)
3 cups miniature marshmallows (pack them down in the cup)
1½ cups flaked coconut (pack it down when you measure it)
1 cup chopped nuts (I use either pecans, or walnuts)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
Mix the sugar, flour, cocoa, and salt together in a medium-sized bowl. Drizzle the melted butter over the top of the bowl and mix it in with a fork. When the butter is incorporated, the mixture should resemble small beads. (You can also do this in the bowl of a food processor, using chilled butter and the steel blade.)
Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with Pam (or other non-stick cooking spray) and dump the crust mixture in the bottom. Gently shake the pan to distribute evenly and then press it down a bit with a metal spatula.
Sprinkle the chips evenly over the crust layer. Sprinkle the marshmallows over that. Sprinkle the flaked coconut on next and then sprinkle on the chopped nuts. Press it down again with the metal spatula. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top.
Bake the bars at 350 degrees F. for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the bars are nicely browned on top.
Let the bars cool on a rack. When they’re cool, cut them in brownie-sized pieces.
WARNING: DON’T REFRIGERATE THESE COOKIE BARS WITHOUT CUTTING THEM FIRST—THEY’RE VERY DENSE AND SOLID WHEN CHILLED.
A Note From Edna Ferguson, the Queen of “Cheat” Recipes: If you want a shortcut for the crust, just buy a chocolate cake mix and use half of it, dry, mixed with the melted stick of butter. (Keep the rest of the cake mix in an airtight bag and you can use it the next time you bake them.)
Kids really love these cookie bars, especially the name.
Index of Recipes
Cocalattas
Peanut Butter and Jam Cookies (PBJs)
Fruit Pocket French Toast
Cherry Cheesecake
Mock Turtle Cookies
Jane’s Mini Cherry Cheesecakes
All-Nighter Cookies
Chocolate Truffles
Cream Cheese Puffs
Double Flake Cookies
Lemon Cream Torte
Angel Kisses
Ooey Gooey Chewy Cookie Bars
Baking Conversion Chart
These conversions are approximate, but they’ll work just fine for Hannah Swensen’s recipes.
VOLUME:
Note: Hannah’s rectangular sheet cake pan, 9 inches by 13 inches, is approximately 23 centimeters by 32.5 centimeters.
It’s Tri-County fair time and Lake Eden, Minnesota, is buzzing with more than mosquitoes. Hannah Swensen, owner of The Cookie Jar, is hot on the trail of a killer whose perfect carnival prize would be getting away with murder…
It promises to be a busy week for Hannah Swensen. Not only is she whipping up treats for the chamber of commerce booth at the fair, she’s also judging the baking contest, acting as a magician’s assistant for her business partner’s husband, trying to coax Moishe—her previously rapacious feline—to end his hunger strike, and performing her own private carnival act by juggling the demands of her mother and sisters.
With so much on her plate, it’s no wonder Hannah finds herself on the midway only moments before the fair closes for the night. As the lights click off, she realizes that she’s not alone among the shuttered booths and looming carnival attractions. After hearing a suspicious thump, she goes snooping only to discover Willa Sunquist, a student teacher and fellow bake contest judge, dead alongside an upended key lime pie. But who would want to kill Willa and why? Before long Hannah is sifting through motives and a list of suspects that include a high school student Willa flunked, the hot-blooded brothers of a disqualified beauty contestant, a rodeo cowboy, a baking competitor who failed to win her yearly blue ribbon, and the college professor Willa was dating.
As fair week draws to a close, Hannah cranks up the heat, hoping that the killer will get rattled and make a mistake. If that happens she intends to be there, even if it means getting on a carnival ride that could very well be her last…
Please turn the page for an exciting sneak peek at
Joanne Fluke’s
KEY LIME PIE MURDER
coming next month in hardcover!
Hannah felt a bit like a salmon swimming upstream as she headed for the Lake Eden Historical Society booth. It was never easy bucking a crowd. Everyone seemed to be streaming toward the exit in a giant wave. She doubted that the bag with Moishe’s Paul Bunyan Burger was still where she’d left it, but she had to find out.
“Excuse me,” Hannah said, resisting the urge to elbow three high school boys walking with their girlfriends six abreast. But they didn’t even notice her, so Hannah stepped aside to let them past. This happened more times than she could count as she treaded water in the sea of humanity and darted forward against the surge of boisterous fairgoers whenever she saw an opening.
“Aren’t you leaving?” someone shouted out, and Hannah turned to see Carrie passing her.
“Yes, in a second. Did I leave…” Hannah’s voice trailed off. It was too late. Carrie had passed her in the opposite directly and she couldn’t possibly hear Hannah’s question.
“’Bye, dear,” Delores hailed her. Hannah’s mother and her two companions, Bernie “No-No” Fulton and Wingo Jones, were being carried along on a tide of humanity that was heading for the turnstile at the exit. If there’d been any doubt in Hannah’s mind about the identity of the person who’d contacted the Triple A pitcher and invited him to visit the dunking booth, it was now erased.
“’Bye, Mother,” Hannah shouted back. No sense in asking Delores if her takeout burger bag was still at the booth. Her mother was already several booth-lengths away and there was no way Hannah could make herself heard over the din of the crowd.
Hannah considered her options. It was obvious that the Lake Eden Historical Society booth was closed since she’d seen both her mother and Carrie leaving. Finding the bag with Moishe’s burger was unlikely, but she’d come this far despite the aggravation of opposing human traffic, and she might as well finish her quest.
She made good progress for several more feet and then things came to a standstill. There was no way she could paddle upstream any longer. Hannah accepted the inevitable and moved laterally, heading for a handy booth where she could wait out the rush.
The Tri-County Dairy booth beckoned and Hannah flattened herself against the shuttered front. She found an anchor of sorts, a giant milk bottle carved from wood and painted white. She held on as the crowd surged past her, hoping that no one would bump into her and knock her from her feet. She’d wait until the foot traffic had thinned, and then she’d set out for the historical society booth again.
Over the next several minutes, Hannah called hello to at least two dozen people she knew and the lights flickered several more times. At last the crowd thinned out and Hannah set off for her mother’s booth. It didn’t take long to get there and she met only one or two people walking rapidly in the direction of the gate.
By the time Hannah arrived, panting slightly, the lights had flickered on and off again. She was too late. The wooden shutters that served as counters were raised and padlocked shut. Hannah walked around to the side, where the dunking stool was located, and gave a dejected sigh. These counters were also locked into place, tightly shuttering the booth for the night. She should have known the futility of coming all the way back to the booth. If her mother or Carrie had found the bag when they were closing, they would have thrown it away.
“Trashed,” Hannah muttered, wondering how she was going to explain this to Lisa and Herb. But then she realized what she’d said and looked quickly around for the nearest trash container. If no one had emptied the trash yet, Moishe could be feasting on hamburger tonight.
A fifty-gallon drum painted red and labeled TRASH in big black letters stood only feet from the side of the booth. Hannah set her key lime pie on the ground next to the trashcan, glad that she’d found a bakery box to put it in, and peeked inside the receptacle. There was a white bag right on top and it certainly looked like the one she’d left on the counter.
Hannah sent up a silent plea for luck and good fortune, and then she opened the bag, hoping that it didn’t contain any gross leftovers. She was almost afraid to look, but she did. And then she grinned from ear to ear. There was Moishe’s Paul Bunyan Burger, still neatly wrapped in wax paper that was stamped with the green and white logo of the Burger Shack.
Hannah tucked the bag inside her shoulder bag purse and picked up the pie box again. She’d accomplished her mission and now it was time to get back to the gate to meet Mike before he fell asleep on the bench and someone locked her in for the night.
As she walked, Hannah began to feel uneasy. Everyone else had left and the only noise was the sound of her own footfalls. The thump of her rubber soles hitting the dirt was deafening in the surrounding silence, and she resisted the urge to tiptoe. There was something very unnerving about being alone on the midway at night.
She was just passing the Family Farms Association booth when everything went black. Hannah came to a standstill and reached out to steady herself against the mechanical bull. Rather than just a saddle and a mechanism that bucked and swiveled, this bull looked like a real Brahma bull and cost five dollars to ride.
For a moment Hannah just stood there gripping the bull’s ear, feeling even more apprehensive and wondering how she was ever going to find her way to the gate in the darkness. There were occasional flashes of heat lightning way off in the distance, but that provided no real illumination. She could hear a low rumbling, barely audible. Thunder? Whatever it was, it added to Hannah’s growing apprehension.
She told herself not to panic. She’d just wait for her eyes to adjust and pick her way to Mike, lifting her feet high so she wouldn’
t trip over any ropes or cables. She was about to set out when there was a hollow clunk, as if someone had thrown the lever on a transformer, and a long string of dim lights went on overhead.
If Hannah hadn’t been so nervous, she might have chided herself for borrowing trouble. Of course they had nightlights on the midway. It was a safety precaution and it probably served to discourage kids from climbing the fence and sneaking in after hours.
Although the lighting was by no means bright, now she could make out the rectangles of the shuttered booths and the looming, almost menacing shapes of the carnival rides. Hannah shivered even though the night was hot and her skin felt slick with moisture. It wasn’t good being here alone. It wasn’t good at all.
As she made her halting way forward, Hannah kept to the center of the path, her eyes scanning the shadows for movement. Every bad horror movie she’d ever seen flashed through her mind and she thought about what she might use for a weapon if someone or something emerged from the darkness. There was her shoulder bag purse. It was heavy enough to knock someone off balance, especially if she swung it in an arc. The key lime pie she was carrying could be used to render someone temporarily blind. It was a terrible waste of a first-place-winning dessert, but if push came to shove, she wouldn’t hesitate to use it. If she took it out of the box and shoved the sticky meringue right in an assailant’s face, it would take him a minute or so to wipe it from his eyes. By that time she’d be well on her way to the gate to alert Mike.
Hannah walked on, but her mind was in turmoil. The old adage against borrowing trouble was warring with the advice to be prepared. The Boy Scout motto won, hands down. She stopped at the next trashcan she passed and removed the pie, tossing the bakery box on top of the refuse the evening’s fairgoers had left behind them.