Macaroni and Freeze
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PRAISE FOR
THE COMFORT FOOD MYSTERIES
Diners, Drive-ins, and Death
“Christine Wenger serves up a delicious helping of comfort food with a dash of mystery and a cast of lovable characters that’ll keep you laughing long after the book ends.”
—Kate Carlisle, New York Times bestselling author of the Bibliophile Mysteries
“A delightful series with colorful characters in a to-die-for setting, nicely seasoned with humor. As down-home and satisfying as the daily special served at the Silver Bullet Diner.”
—Krista Davis, New York Times bestselling author of the Domestic Diva Mysteries and the Paws and Claws Mysteries
“Sandy Harbor delights with its unique characters. . . . Readers will enjoy ample amounts of humor, indulgent cooking, and the often shady side of the restaurant business.”
—Kings River Life Magazine
“Boasting a quirky cast of characters, good dialogue, and a comfortable atmosphere, I look forward to the next book in this pleasantly charming series.”
—Dru’s Book Musings
A Second Helping of Murder
“Like good old-fashioned comfort food, A Second Helping of Murder will satisfy your mystery-loving taste buds. Trixie Matkowski is a frisky, sassy sleuth with a heart of gold.”
—Daryl Wood Gerber, national bestselling author of the Cookbook Nook Mysteries
“All the right ingredients: humor, good food, a charming heroine, and a compelling mystery. Trixie is instantly likable with her sharp wit, warm heart, and hardworking attitude. . . . Well-developed secondary characters enhance the story line and add local flavor. Overall, an impressive mystery with recipes that will surely satisfy cozy lovers.”
—RT Book Reviews
“A Second Helping of Murder is a fun cozy mystery with a likable female sleuth, great supporting characters, and lots of puzzles to solve.”
—Fresh Fiction
“Good humor, down-home food, and fun diner dialect all make this a very lighthearted mystery with a feisty heroine, steadfast deputy, and even more adorable rescue dog companion.”
—Kings River Life Magazine
Do or Diner
“The first Comfort Food Mystery is a real treat! Well plotted, it’ll keep you guessing right up to the last chapter. Trixie’s involvement as an amateur sleuth is well motivated, and her witty sense of humor makes her instantly likable.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Plenty of local color and warm characters add to the investigation with a surprise ending that few will see coming. Readers will enjoy spending more time in Sandy Harbor as Trixie makes it and the Silver Bullet her own.”
—The Mystery Reader
“A spunky heroine, a handsome cowboy from Houston, a Latino cook, and assorted colorful others make for a fun read.”
—Gumshoe
“This is the first book in a new series that I hope will be around for a long time. It was such a fun read. It had me laughing and at the edge of my seat. The author knows how to plot a great mystery. I loved the characters.”
—MyShelf.com
“This is a thoroughly enjoyable mystery with a plot that keeps the reader engaged and very surprised by the reveal, always a joy for mystery-reading veterans. In this debut Comfort Food Mystery, recipes are of course included as are delectable descriptions of decidedly low-fat but down-home cooking. Trixie is a very relatable and likable character deserving of her starring role in this promising and very well-written series.”
—Kings River Life Magazine
“Culinary mystery fans have a new series to sample.”
—The Poisoned Martini
“A comfort foodie and cozy reader’s delight.”
—Escape with Dollycas into a Good Book
ALSO BY CHRISTINE WENGER
The Comfort Food Mysteries
Do or Diner
A Second Helping of Murder
Diners, Drive-ins, and Death
OBSIDIAN
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014
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A Penguin Random House Company
First published by Obsidian, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC
Copyright © Christine Wenger, 2015
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
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ISBN 978-0-698-18778-8
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book.
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Contents
Praise
Also by CHRISTINE WENGER
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Recipes
Excerpt from IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE
For my lovely sister-in-law, Jean Matyjasik,
and to my sweet and beautiful nieces, Jill Sweeney and Megan Matyjasik.
And for cozy mystery readers everywhere!
Chapter 1
I just loved wintery Sunday mornings in my Silver Bullet Diner.
It was organized chaos as families filed in after church, workers came in for breakfast after their shifts, and snowplow drivers shuffled in to get warm, refill their coffee, and get something to eat.
I loved how the cold weather brought people together and was glad that they came to my diner for good food and to warm their bones. The diner’s windows were frosty and gave the feeling that everyone was inside a cozy cocoon.
As I was refilling my mug behind the counter, I paused to listen to the chatter of my customers and the clatter of silverware on plates—another one of my favorite things.
The smell of bacon frying and bread toasting permeated the air along with the strong aroma of coffee brewing. Mmm . . .
Arriving customers shrugged out of their winter regalia and helped their children out of theirs. They stuffed mittens, hats, and whatnot into the pockets of their coats and hung them on the pegs near the front door. If they were lucky enough to find a red vinyl booth right off the bat, they shuffled
over to claim it as their own by hanging everything on the brass treble hooks screwed into the frame.
Heads were hunched over my big plastic menus, and fingers were pointing to the colorful pictures as my morning-shift waitress walked around with pots of coffee—regular and decaf—and exchanged friendly banter.
Because Sandy Harbor was such a small village, most everyone knew one another. Joking, shouting, and table hopping were common, much to the confusion of my waitresses. But that was the way of it here. There were plans being made for ice fishing, shopping trips to Syracuse or Watertown for clothing and after-Christmas sales, and a rather in-depth discussion about dairy cows and where to buy hay if there was a shortage.
And as always, weather was a big topic. I tuned in to a conversation between Guy Eastman, who owned a zillion cows and grew the best butter and sugar corn during the summer season, and Dave Cross, who was our area plumber and fishing guide.
Dave stirred his coffee absentmindedly. “My bunions tell me that we are going to have one hell of a blizzard. And that it’s going to be bad.”
“My right elbow was aching this morning, so I think you’re right, but my left knee was calm, so you might be wrong,” replied Guy. “My hammertoe was throbbing, and so was this blister I got from my new work boots. I wonder if that means anything.”
Dave shrugged. “My right knee was creaking this morning. That’s usually a sign of frost, but we’re beyond frost. Maybe it’s warning me about more sleet coming.”
“Creaking? Both of my knees were creaking when I walked in here—it’s my bursitis and arthritis. Oh, and I had pain shooting up and down my right leg. That tells me we’re in for a couple feet of snow.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Guy!” Dave exclaimed. “That’s not a snow predictor; that’s your sciatica.”
A big laugh started in my stomach, and it was just about to make its way to the surface. I was in trouble. I had just taken a big gulp of coffee, and I was going to spray it all over my pretty diner if I couldn’t swallow both the coffee and the laugh at the same time. Leaning over, I opened one of the cooler doors below the counter and made like I was looking for something until I could tamp down the laugh and the liquid.
These were the sights, sounds, and smells of my diner this Sunday morning in January. And I could think of nothing better in this world.
But both Guy and Dave were right, according to our local weatherperson, Heather “Flip a Coin” Flipelli. She was the daughter of the station manager and had no training in meteorology, and she was too young to have weather predictors like Dave’s bunions and Guy’s sciatica. Too bad she didn’t have them, though. Maybe she’d do a better job predicting the weather.
Heather’s morning segment was currently closed-captioned on an ancient TV hanging from the rafters at the end of the counter. I shivered when I saw that she was wearing a sleeveless tank top and denim miniskirt. Heather noted, with a toss of her shiny black ponytail, that it was sleeting outside—a combination of rain and heavy snow and whatever else Lake Ontario was throwing at little Sandy Harbor, New York. Heather named it a “weather event” and identified it as a “lake-effect polar vortex,” but I, Trixie Matkowski, just called it another “massive weather mess.”
“It’s supposed to turn into a blizzard,” said Huey Mobley, making a general announcement to everyone in the diner and who, having just walked in the door, had missed the bunion weather debate. Huey was delivering the Sunday edition of the Sandy Harbor Lure, our local newspaper, and stocking the paper box. “And this new bout of sleet will make the roads slippery and icy. It says so right here in the Lure.”
And the Lure was sacred in this area.
“Don’t you worry. Your friendly Department of Public Works has the icy conditions under control, Huey.” Snowplow driver Karen Metonti set her fork down on her plate, which had once held a stack of blueberry pancakes and crispy bacon, and raised her coffee mug in salute. “My hopper is loaded with sand and salt, and I’m ready to go at it again just as soon as I refill my coffee.”
“It’s on me, Karen,” I said, bobbing to the surface of the counter. “And help yourself to a couple of donuts for the road on your way out.”
“Thanks, Trixie. It’s going to be a long week if Flip a Coin is right,” Karen said, zipping up her insulated orange jumpsuit. She slipped on sheepskin mittens and a matching hat, which were both so stuffed with fur they looked like they lodged a whole sheep. Then she clomped out in snowmobile boots, stopping to get a refill on her coffee from Nancy, my day waitress, and slip a couple of donuts into a white bakery bag.
Spotting several fruit hand pies my Amish friend Sarah Stolfus made revolving in slow circles in the pastry carousel, I walked toward it as if in a trance.
“Beatrix Matkowski, don’t you dare eat one of those hand pies, particularly not the cherry one. You just started another diet this morning,” I mumbled to myself. I was hoping that maybe myself would listen, since I hated to be called Beatrix.
Before the hand pie could jump into my hand, I zoomed past the carousel and hustled back to my usual spot in the kitchen between the steam table and the huge black stove.
Phew. Crisis averted.
I’d been here since midnight, and my shift would end at precisely eight o’clock—in about ten minutes. I enjoyed working the graveyard stint because I always found that the customers who came in to eat then were an interesting group. We had the extroverts who relished the camaraderie in the diner, loners who just wanted to be left alone, and customers who were full of energy and thrived on the night. Almost every shift, I had customers who simply ran out of steam, maybe after a long work shift, and happily snoozed in a booth.
But no matter who they were, they all wanted something to eat—something warm and comforting—and that was my specialty.
Right now I had four different kinds of soup on the stove in huger-than-huge pots: chicken noodle, broccoli and cheese, New England clam chowder, and bean soup. That was quite a variety, but there were a lot of people in Sandy Harbor who worked out in the elements and needed thawing out, and that meant soup—lots and lots of comforting soup.
It also meant chili, mac and cheese, meat loaf. . . . I could go on and on, but before I got carried away by my thoughts, I needed to get some batter started for chocolate chip cookies, for the lunchtime rush.
I looked at the clock on the wall. Juanita Holgado, my morning cook, should be arriving momentarily. She loved to bake, so she could finish them for me. I was dead on my feet and yawning.
Maybe it was the weather. Thank goodness I didn’t have any bunions or other body parts that could predict the weather. I usually took my chance on Flip a Coin’s predictions.
But today all I needed to do was look outside the diner window—the snow was falling fast in big, wet flakes. I could barely make out the outlines of Max and Clyde through the plummeting snow. They were my jacks-of-all-trades when they weren’t taking long breaks to talk. Right now they were trying, in vain, to shovel and snow-blow the sidewalks around the Silver Bullet so that my patrons wouldn’t slip, twirl, and triple flip and get a low mark from the Olympic judges.
But thank goodness for Karen, the first female snowplow driver in Sandy Harbor, who let the blade down on the village’s snowplow and made a couple of swoops in my parking lot.
Karen wasn’t supposed to use village equipment to do personal things or for local businesses, but sometimes we close the rule book here in small-town Sandy Harbor. The people here like to look out for their own and help out wherever and whenever they can.
In gratitude, I was going to make sure that Karen was well supplied with free coffee and donuts every time she stopped by the Silver Bullet this winter.
Deputy Sheriff Ty Brisco, a Texas transplant who lived above the bait shop next door, would accuse me of bribing a governmental official. But I’d just call it being neighborly.
Ty was getting to
o stuffy lately anyway. He needed to loosen up. But then again, maybe he had weather-predicting body parts that were giving him a hard time. Or perhaps he was just grumpy about the snowy weather since he was from Houston.
Just then I saw Ty’s big monster of an SUV do a half spin into the parking lot. He easily got the big black machine under control before he ended up in the ten-foot-high snowbank, and he safely parked in a spot cleared by Karen.
I peeked from the corner of the pass-through window, waiting for Ty to walk into the diner. It wasn’t because I loved to watch the way he walked or liked to listen to his sexy cowboy drawl or because I enjoyed bantering with him.
No way.
I just liked to talk to him.
I wasn’t interested in any kind of a personal relationship with Ty. I was still busy building and cementing a brick wall around myself and my heart—mainly due to my divorce from my ex-husband, Deputy Doug Burnham, slimy cheater. A couple of years ago he’d found a fertile twentysomething-year-old who gave him twins, Brittany and Tiffany, and I became yesterday’s birdcage liner.
After all was said and done, I’d left Philly and headed for my favorite place on earth: Sandy Harbor, New York. And then the planets aligned when my aunt Stella decided that the diner, cottages, and Victorian farmhouse she owned weren’t going to be the same without her beloved husband, Porky, and she offered to sell everything to me with for a “family discount and easy-payment plan.”
We worked out the details on a Silver Bullet place mat. After the dust settled, she handed me a wad of keys and I handed her the contents of my purse, my bank accounts, and all the change I had in the ashtray of my car. Aunt Stella then took off for Florida and an Alaskan cruise with her gal pals, leaving me with balloon payments scheduled through our lifetimes and a diner that was OPEN 24 HOURS A DAY, AIR-CONDITIONED, BREAKFAST SERVED ALL DAY.
Trying to be casual, I took another peek through the pass-through window to see if Ty had appeared yet.
The pass-through window didn’t have any glass in it and wasn’t used for passing anything through it, but it was my way to see what was going on in the front of the diner whenever I was in the back.