A Crime of Poison
Page 28
Fill your bottle as much as you like, but probably not more than three-quarters full so the mixture will blend well when you shake it. To the water, add drops of essential oil until you’re happy with the strength of the scent. I add 15 to 25 drops, depending on the size of the bottle. Cap the spray bottle, shake, and spritz. If you want to increase the scent’s intensity, add oil. If you want to cut it, add water.
Although oil and water aren’t supposed to mix, this method of making sprays has always worked fine for me. I do shake the bottle before each use. Do NOT use essential oils or oil sprays in your mouth or on an open wound, or allow contact with any mucous membranes without having specific, expert information on such use. For instance, I dilute clove oil in a carrier oil (virgin olive oil) and apply the mixture to my gums with a cotton swab. If not properly diluted, clove and other oils will burn like crazy, and possibly cause tissue damage!
In addition, the purity and quality of oils will vary, so educate yourself about the companies bottling essential oils. I buy therapeutic grade always, and buy the less expensive oils for some applications.
What are my favorite oil scents? Rosemary, mint, and lavender are my top three at the moment, but I also find uses for coconut and pear scents. Tea tree oil has antibacterial, antimicrobial, antiseptic, and antiviral properties. It also helps when I have a sinus headache, and so does tei-fu oil. Citrus scents are great for boosting mood. (I wonder if that’s why so many cleaning products are lemon scented!) My friend Deb Baker created a soap for me to give as swag, and the scent is lavender and lily of the valley. It is divine!
Have fun experimenting with the scents you enjoy! And remember to spritz responsibly!
Recipes
SNICKERDOODLES
Fun to Say—to Sniff—to Eat
From Mrs. Floyd Rich
Presented here as it appeared in the cookbook compiled by the First Presbyterian Church Guild Committee, 1956
Edited for clarity
1 cup shortening
1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
2¾ cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Cream the shortening and 1½ cups sugar together, add the eggs, and beat well. Sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together and add them. Mix well.
Roll the dough into small balls (about the size of walnuts). Roll the balls in a mixture of the cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 400 degrees F or until lightly browned but still soft.
These cookies will puff up at first, then flatten out with crinkled tops. Makes about 5 dozen 2-inch cookies.
“Give schoolchildren these snickerdoodles hot from the oven with a glass of milk.”—Mrs. Floyd Rich
DANIEL’S BANANA ICEBOX CAKE
Contributed by Daniel Stefanic
Hello, bakers! Making this banana icebox cake is a process. You’ll be preparing 4 “elements” in the recipe and then assembling those parts into a whole. The process takes more than 9 hours, including 6 hours or more in the fridge (actual prep and cooking time is about 2 hours). A time-saving tip is to make the banana bread and crust the day before and let it cool overnight before making the mousse and assembling the cake. Have patience! The result will be worth it! The recipe serves 12 to 14 people.
BANANA BREAD
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3½ ripe bananas
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 heaping teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 × 5 × 3 inch loaf pan.
Sift together the flour and cornstarch.
Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In another bowl, mix together the flour-cornstarch mixture, cream of tartar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the banana mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and stir until combined. Add the flour-cornstarch mixture, mixing just until the flour disappears.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan, invert onto the rack, and cool completely before slicing.
CHOCOLATE COOKIE CRUST
1 cup graham cracker cookie crumbs
1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs (white centers removed)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
⅔ stick unsalted butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a bowl, mix the cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter with your hands. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. (It will seem like an excessive amount of crumbs, but it will compress down quite a bit with pressure.) Press the crumbs down quite firmly to make a smooth surface. Bake for 5 minutes for a soft crust or 10 minutes for a crisp crust.
Remove the crust from the oven and let cool completely before filling.
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
9 ounces quality bittersweet chocolate chips
2 ounces espresso or strong coffee
3 tablespoons butter
1½ cups heavy whipping cream
½ teaspoon plain granulated gelatin
2½ tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ containers (5.2 to 6 ounces each) banana-flavored Greek yogurt
Chill a metal mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer.
In the top of a double boiler, combine the chocolate chips, coffee, and butter. Melt over barely simmering water, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat while a couple of chunks are still visible. Cool, stirring occasionally, until no longer warm to the touch.
Pour ¼ cup of the cream into a metal measuring cup and sprinkle it in the gelatin. Allow the gelatin to bloom for 10 minutes. Then carefully heat by swirling the measuring cup over a low gas flame or candle. Do not boil or the gelatin will be damaged. Stir the mixture into the cooled chocolate and set aside.
Whip the remaining 1¼ cups cream with the sugar and vanilla using the chilled bowl and beaters. When the cream starts to thicken, add the yogurt and continue whipping until soft peaks start to form. Slowly fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, mixing and folding as little as possible. There may be white streaks still visible in the mousse in the end; this is fine.
WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 heaping teaspoon plain granulated gelatin
3 tablespoons butter
8 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ containers (5.2 to 6 ounces each) banana-flavored Greek yogurt
Keep in mind that white chocolate is much more temperamental than regular chocolate. When making white chocolate mousse, you want to use the lowest temperature possible when melting your white chocolate—barely simmering water in your double boiler—in order to produce a smooth end product. If your melted white chocolate appears grainy, like it has sand in it, this is due to crystallization of the sugar in the chocolate, and your resulting mousse will not be smooth.
Chill a metal mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer.
Pour ¼ cup of the cream into a metal measuring cup and sprinkle in the gelatin. Allow the gelatin to bloom for 10 minutes. Carefully heat by swirling the measuring cup over a low gas flame or candle. Do not boil or the gelatin will be damaged.
Melt the butter and very slowly stir it into the gelatin mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature.
In the top of a double boiler, melt the white chocolate and 2 tablespoons of the cream. Cook and stir until the white chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
Whip the remaining 1¼ cups cream with the sugar and vanilla using the chilled bowl and beaters. When the cream starts to thicken, add the yogurt and continue whipping until soft peaks start to form. Then add the butter-gelatin mixture and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Fold about ¼ cup of the whipped cream into the white chocolate mixture.
Carefully fold in the remaining whipped cream.
ASSEMBLY
After the chocolate cookie crust and banana bread have cooled, trim the crust off the bread and cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. Slice 3 bananas into about ¼-inch-thick slices. Put a layer of banana slices directly on the chocolate cookie crust so they come to the outer edge, touching the walls of the springform pan.
Spread a layer of chocolate mousse, about ¾ inch thick, on top of the sliced bananas. Add another layer of sliced bananas on top of the mousse, assembling the bananas the same as the first layer to the outer edge of the pan.
Put a layer of banana bread cubes on top of the banana slices, bringing the layer of bread cubes to the edge of pan.
Add a very thin layer of chocolate mousse on top of the bread cubes, just to fill the gaps in the bread and barely covering the bread cubes. Be careful not to go all the way to edge of the cake, to ensure that the bread layer is clearly visible and separated.
Finish with a layer of white chocolate mousse. Cover the cake completely so the mousse comes slightly above the top of the pan. Scrape the white chocolate mousse smooth with the back of a bread knife to be even with the top of the pan.
If desired, decorate the top of the cake to your liking, for instance, with melted chocolate drizzle. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Keep refrigerated until serving time, and serve cold.
Enjoy!
Nancy Haddock is the national bestselling author of the Silver Six Crafting Mysteries Basket Case and Paint the Town Dead, as well as the paranormal novels La Vida Vampire, Last Vampire Standing, and Always the Vampire. A native Oklahoman and longtime resident of Texas with family roots in Arkansas, she now makes her home in the fascinating city of St. Augustine, Florida. A former speech pathologist and high school teacher, Nancy lives with her husband and a rescue dog named Baron in a little pink house on the beach with a fake flamingo in her front yard. Visit the author at nancyhaddock.com.
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