by Joanne Fluke
Once she was certain the oven was clear, Hannah preheated it to five-hundred degrees while she gathered up the rest of the ingredients she needed. Then she got out a wide, flat bowl and began to prepare the Oven French Toast batter.
Hannah smiled as she measured ingredients, mixed them in, and found the perfect pan to use to bake her creation. She would like to cook breakfast for Ross, she thought. Since they never knew whether they could get together for lunch, and dinnertimes were equally uncertain with their fluctuating schedules, breakfast might be the only meal they could share every day. She was looking forward to researching breakfast menus and planning the meals that they could enjoy together.
“Rrrrow!”
Hannah turned to look at Moishe, who was standing by his empty food bowl. “Sorry, Moishe. Just let me put this breakfast in the oven and then I’ll feed you.”
That seemed to satisfy her pet for the moment and Hannah hurried to place the bread in the pan she’d chosen, stick it in the oven, and set the timer. Then she took a can of chicken-flavored cat food out of the cupboard, and gave a fleeting thought to why it was labeled chicken flavored. She mixed it with some dry kitty crunchies, and spooned it into Moishe’s bowl.
As she watched her cat begin to eat, Hannah wondered how busy working wives managed to juggle children, pets, and husbands at breakfast time, not to mention getting ready for work themselves. Here she was with no children and just one pet, and she’d almost forgotten to feed Moishe!
OVEN FRENCH TOAST
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
(That’s not a misprint. It really is five-hundred degrees!)
3 large eggs
¾ cup whole milk
1 Tablespoon white (granulated) sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (freshly grated is best)
8 slices white bread
2 Tablespoons (1 ounce, ¼ stick) salted butter
Hannah’s 1st Note: Lisa says she sometimes uses raisin bread to make this recipe because her husband, Herb, likes it so much. I’ve used cinnamon swirl bread, and that’s wonderful, too.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: You don’t have to use an electric mixer for this recipe. A fork from your silverware drawer will do nicely.
Crack the eggs into a large, flat bowl. Beat them up with a fork or a wire whisk.
Add the whole milk and mix it in. Then add the sugar and the salt.
Sprinkle in the cinnamon and the nutmeg. Mix everything up thoroughly with the fork.
Place the salted butter in a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan. Stick it in the preheated oven for 1 minute.
Use potholders to take the pan out of the oven. It will be hot! Set it on a cold burner on your stovetop to wait for its contents, but don’t shut off the oven!
Working quickly, dip each slice of bread in the batter mixture, flip it over to coat the other side, and transfer it to the hot, buttered cake pan.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: You can scrunch the battered bread together a bit to make room for all 8 slices in the cake pan.
If there is any batter left in the bowl, simply pour it over the slices of bread in the pan, distributing it as evenly as you can.
Again, using potholders, return the cake pan to the oven.
Bake until the bottoms of your Oven French Toast are brown. This usually takes 5 to 8 minutes. (Check by lifting the edge of one slice with a fork and peeking at the bottom.)
Once the bottoms of your Oven French Toast have browned, flip them over with a fork and bake them for 2 to 4 minutes longer or until the tops (which are now the bottoms) are golden brown.
Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a cold, stovetop burner. Shut off the oven, and cover the pan of Oven French Toast with foil until your family comes to the table.
Serve your Oven French Toast with plenty of salted butter, syrups, and jams of your choice.
Yield: 8 one-piece servings or 4 two-piece servings, but only if you don’t invite Mike. He’ll eat at least 3 pieces, and sometimes 4.
Andrea’s Note: This recipe is so easy, even I can make it. Bill loves it with one of the flavored syrups, like blueberry or apricot. Tracey and Bethie want theirs buttered and spread with strawberry jam.
Lisa’s Note: Sometimes, when I make this for breakfast for Herb, I’m in a real hurry. I just turn a stovetop burner to MEDIUM-HIGH, dip the bread in the Oven French Toast batter, and fry it on both sides. It’s really good that way, too. I do this in the summer, too, when it gets really hot and muggy in Minnesota and I don’t want to turn on the oven and heat up my kitchen.
Chapter Five
“So how was the honeymoon?” Lisa asked, the moment Hannah walked in the back door of The Cookie Jar.
Hannah smiled, remembering the lazy mornings when she hadn’t bothered to set the alarm clock by their king-size bed, the carafe of hot coffee that had been waiting for her just outside their stateroom door, and the table on their huge balcony where she’d enjoyed her first cup of coffee with Ross. “It was fabulous, but it’s good to be back.”
“Michelle told me that they refurnished your whole condo while you were gone.”
“That’s true. They did.”
Lisa took a deep breath. And then she asked, “I’m not sure that I should open this can of worms, but . . . do you like it?”
“I love it! They didn’t touch the kitchen. Michelle threatened Mother with dire consequences if she did anything to change the kitchen. And the rest of the place is . . . well . . . you’ll have to see it to appreciate it. Andrea calls the living room a media room because of the gigantic flat screen television, the master bedroom is gorgeous with all new furniture and bedding, and the shower is totally incredible.”
“They changed the shower?”
“Yes. I didn’t really discover how great it was until this morning. It has all new tile, a bench you can sit on, and four adjustable jets. You can stand there and massage your back and neck.”
“Wow!” Lisa looked duly impressed. “I’ll bet Herb would love to have a shower like that. His neck is always stiff when he gets up in the morning and he’s tried every remedy there is. We spent a fortune buying special neck pillows and creams right after we were married. Do you know how much a shower like yours costs?”
“No, but you can ask Mother. She’ll be here in a half-hour or so. At least that’s what she said when we had dinner last night.”
“You had dinner with your family last night?” Lisa looked shocked when Hannah nodded. “But you just got back from your honeymoon yesterday. Don’t tell me you cooked for your whole family last night!”
“I didn’t cook. Everybody was waiting for us when we got home and they brought takeout food.”
“That’s nice . . . I think. Unless you and Ross wanted to be alone.”
“Not really. We were alone for a week. And it was nice to see everybody again.”
“I’ll bet your mother could hardly wait to tell you about . . .” Lisa stopped and swallowed hard. Then she cleared her throat. “Sorry. I get a little teary-eyed when I think about Tori Bascomb. She was so good to me, giving me acting lessons for free. She said I had real potential and I should be starring in every Lake Eden Players production.”
“You should be if you can find the time. Maybe I should stay late and let you go early when they have rehearsals and . . .”
“No,” Lisa said firmly, cutting off the rest of Hannah’s offer. “I’d much rather tell stories here. Tori taught me a lot about good storytelling.”
“I think you do just fine right now.”
“I do okay and it sure brings in the business. I’ll be telling the story about Tori today, and that’s one of the reasons I’m here early. We always sell out of cookies and so I’m baking more this time.”
“Is that what smells so good?” Hannah smiled as she sniffed the air. “Do I smell chocolate and orange?”
“You do. It’s a new recipe I just made up l
ast night. I call them Orange Fudge Cookies. I just put them in the oven and . . .” Lisa glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall, “. . . they’ve got a few more minutes to go. Tell me what your mother said about the murder.”
“Not a word. I think Andrea and Michelle managed to convince her that she shouldn’t bring it up on my first night home.”
“That must be it. She didn’t waste any time telling me about it. As a matter of fact, she was waiting for me when I unlocked the back door at five o’clock yesterday morning.”
“Really?” Hannah was amazed. “Mother was here at five in the morning?”
“On the dot. And it was before I’d even baked anything with chocolate.”
Hannah laughed. Delores was, and had always been, a real chocolate lover. “She’s going to love your Orange Fudge Cookies.”
“I hope so. She was pretty upset when she told me about finding the body, Hannah. Her voice was shaking and she had to sit down. I really don’t know how you do it.”
“Do what?” Hannah was puzzled.
“I don’t know how you stay so calm when you find a murder victim.” Lisa stopped and thought about that for a moment. “I guess it’s because it’s happened to you so many times in the past. After a while, you must almost . . . well . . . expect it.”
Hannah thought about it. “Sometimes I do expect it. There are times when I just know there’s something wrong. I hope against hope that it’s not what my instincts tell me it is, but my instincts are usually right. But even if I’m almost expecting it, it’s still a shock.”
“Maybe, but you always do everything right. You call the sheriff’s department, you wait for Mike or another detective to arrive, you’re coherent when you tell them what happened, and you seem so in control. I think I’d fall to pieces if I ever found . . . well, you know.”
“No, you wouldn’t. You’d do what you had to do. Everyone’s stronger than they think they are. And it’s not that I’m used to finding murder victims. It’s just that I don’t show my emotions right away, that’s all.”
Lisa looked thoughtful. “It must be that way with Mike, too.”
Hannah took a moment to consider it. “You could be right, Lisa. It probably bothers him when he’s at home alone.”
“There’s the timer,” Lisa said, reacting to the electronic beeping that had just begun. “I’ll take the cookies out of the oven. As soon as they cool a little, you can taste one and see if your mother will like them.”
“They have chocolate, don’t they?”
“Yes. Both baking chocolate and chocolate chips.”
“Then she’ll love them. Mother thinks chocolate is a food group.”
* * *
“These are wonderful cookies!” Delores said to Lisa, who was placing sheets of unbaked cookies on the racks in their industrial oven.
“Thank you, Delores,” Lisa responded to the compliment. “I’m glad you like them.”
Delores took a sip of her coffee and reached for a third cookie. “I love the combination of chocolate and orange.”
“I know you do, Mother.” Hannah said and smiled at her. “You’d love the combination of chocolate and absolutely anything.”
Delores thought about that for a moment. “Maybe not chocolate and pickles, although there is that wonderful chocolate sauerkraut cookie you make, dear.”
“Thank you.” Hannah reached for another one of Lisa’s cookies, even though she’d intended to limit herself to one. Although she hadn’t stepped on the scale to validate her suspicions, she was quite certain she’d gained at least five pounds on the honeymoon cruise. “Go ahead, Mother. Tell me about finding Tori Bascomb’s body.”
Delores took a deep breath and another bite of her cookie before she began. Then she launched into her account of the evening before Hannah and Ross had come back to Lake Eden. Hannah knew that her mother had given the account at least two times before. Certainly Mike had heard it when he’d interviewed Delores, and she’d told Lisa so that the story could be told at The Cookie Jar. Andrea and Michelle must have heard all about it right after it had happened, but her mother’s hands were still trembling slightly and Hannah slid the cookie plate closer to her.
Long moments passed while Delores spoke. Hannah listened carefully, occasionally asking questions she hoped would help her mother recall certain details.
“And that’s it,” Delores concluded, looking up to meet her daughter’s eyes. “Doc said I was very brave.”
“Very,” Hannah agreed. “You did everything just right, Mother.”
“Mike doesn’t think so. He didn’t like me going into Tori’s condo all by myself.”
“Of course he didn’t.”
“Do you think it was foolish of me to do it?”
“Without a doubt it was,” Hannah said with a smile as she prepared to use one of her grandmother’s favorite phrases. “That was about as foolish as foolish can get. But honestly, Mother . . . if I’d been there, I would have done exactly the same thing.”
Delores laughed and then she stopped abruptly. “I think Mike was a little angry with me.”
“Of course he was. Mike’s a by-the-book cop and he likes to take charge. He probably told you to wait until he got there.”
“I did,” Mike said from the doorway, startling both of them. “She disobeyed a direct order from a police officer. Do you know that’s actionable, Delores?”
“I didn’t disobey your direct order. I didn’t hear you. The phone was squawking, but I couldn’t make out the words because I was busy trying to find Tori.”
“And now she’s telling me I squawk. Parrots squawk. Police officers don’t.” Mike reached out to pat Delores’s shoulder to show that he was teasing and then he took the stool next to hers. “I was just concerned for you, Delores. It could have been dangerous.”
“I know. If I’d thought it through, I might not have gone in alone. But I didn’t think. I was too worried about Tori to think. All I cared about was finding out if she was hurt and if she needed my help.”
“Water over the bridge, or under the bridge, or whatever that is,” Mike said, dismissing the subject. Then he thanked Lisa as she brought him coffee and reached over to take a cookie. “I don’t know about your mother, Hannah. First she disobeys my direct order and now she’s hogging the cookies. If there isn’t a statute on the books against that, there ought to be.”
The three women laughed and Mike took a bite of his cookie. He finished it in three gulps and reached for another. “There ought to be a statute against these cookies, too.”
“Why?” Hannah asked, knowing full-well that Mike was teasing again.
“Because not only are they criminally delicious, I can testify that they’re definitely addictive.”
“I’ll get more,” Lisa said, grabbing the empty platter and heading off to the bakers rack to refill it.
“Story time today?” Mike asked Hannah.
“Yes. Lisa told it yesterday, too.” She turned to her mother. “Did you hear Lisa yesterday?”
Delores shook her head. “No. I couldn’t bear to hear it. The whole thing was still too fresh in my mind. I’ll listen today, though. The audience might like to ask me a couple of questions.”
“I’m sure they will,” Mike said, standing up. “It’s been fun chatting with you ladies, but my coffee break’s over, and I have to get back to work.” He turned to Hannah. “Will you be home later?”
Hannah was surprised by the question. “Yes, of course I’ll be home.”
“What time will you get there?”
Hannah frowned slightly. It was a strange question for Mike to ask. “I’m not sure. I might have to stop at the store, but I should be home by five-thirty. Why?”
“Because Norman and I bought you a wedding present and we need to bring it out to you. Will Ross will be there, too?”
“He should be. He told me he’d be home by six at the latest. Would you and Norman like to stay for dinner? I’m trying out a new recipe in the crock po
t.”
“You bet! Whatever it is, it’s bound to be good. I’ll check in with Norman later today and we’ll come out together.”
Mike hesitated and Hannah knew he wanted to say something else, but he must have thought better of it because he headed directly for the back door. He turned to give her a wave, and then he went out into the frosty early morning.
“I wonder what they bought for you and Ross,” Delores said. “Neither one of them asked me for suggestions.”
Hannah shrugged. “I have no idea, but I’ll tell you tomorrow, Mother.”
“That’s fine, dear. And I have to leave, too. I’m opening at Granny’s Attic this morning. Donald Meyers called and he wants to take a look at the hand crank sewing machine I have in the front window. He says he thinks it might be perfect for the leather work he does.”
Lisa set a full cookie bag in front of Delores. “Take these cookies, Delores. You can have them on your coffee break.”
“Thank you!” Delores smiled as she took the bag. “These cookies are going to be a real winner for you. I just know it. And, Lisa?”
“Yes, Delores.”
“I’m going to come in at noon to hear you tell your story.”
Hannah got up to escort her mother to the door. She opened it, expecting Delores to step out and hurry through the chilly morning to her antique store, but Delores stood there with her hand on the door.