“It’s okay if we take Hannah’s dinner back to her, isn’t it?” Andrea asked him.
“Sure. I’ll let you in and you can talk to her while she eats. Follow me and I’ll show you where she is.”
Rick led the little procession and Hannah watched her mother and sister follow him down the hallway. When they arrived at the holding cell, Rick unlocked the door.
“There you go,” he said. “I’ll lock you in and then I’m going to get a cup of coffee and dig into my dinner before it gets cold.”
“You’re going to lock us in?!” Andrea turned to glare at him.
“Well . . . yeah, Mrs. Todd. I have to. Hannah’s a prisoner and I can’t leave the cell door open.”
“But I’m the wife of your boss! Bill’s not going to be happy with you if you lock my mother and me in a cell with my sister!”
Hannah watched as a myriad of expressions crossed Rick’s face. First he looked as if he were about to object, and then he looked as if he’d thought better of it. He vacillated between the two extremes and Hannah knew exactly what was running through his mind. It’s true. She’s Bill’s wife and I don’t want to make her mad. But that doesn’t mean she can waltz in here and tell me what to do. My boss is the only one who can tell me what to do. But will he be mad at me if I don’t follow procedure? Should I play it by the rules and tell her that I can’t do that? She’s got me between a rock and a hard place and I don’t know what I should do. Bill suspended Mike without pay for not doing his duty, and I sure don’t want to end up like that! Jessica will kill me if I come home suspended without pay!
“I’ve got an idea,” Hannah said, feeling sorry for Rick and his obvious dilemma. “Why don’t you bring me the food, lock me up again, and get a couple of chairs so Mother and Andrea can sit right outside in the hall and visit with me while I eat.”
“Yeah, that’ll work!” Rick looked very relieved as he took the food from Delores and Andrea and carried it inside the cell. “Hold on, ladies. I’ll get chairs for you.”
Rick got the chairs in short order and rushed off to enjoy his dinner. Andrea didn’t look happy at this turn of events, but she sat down right outside the holding cell with Delores.
“Oh, Hannah!” Delores sighed deeply. “I just knew something bad would happen today. And it did. I still can’t believe that a daughter of mine is in jail!”
“And my husband locked you up!”
One look at Andrea’s face and Hannah knew her brother-in-law wouldn’t be forgiven soon.
“I am not going to read the paper tomorrow,” Delores declared. “That snake in the grass was there and he heard the whole thing!”
“Rod Metcalf?” Hannah asked, unable to think of anyone else her mother might call a snake in the grass.
“That’s right. And I think he took a picture of you with his cell phone as Bill led you out of the dining room.”
“It’ll probably be on the front page,” Andrea said, frowning deeply. “I wish there was something we could do to kill that story, but I don’t think asking Rod to do it will work.”
There was a moment of silence and Hannah knew her mother and Andrea were thinking thoughts of public scandal and how they could possibly avert it. It was time to change the subject before all three of them got depressed. “So what did Sally send for my dinner?” Hannah asked.
“There’s a new appetizer she made for you,” Andrea replied quickly and Hannah knew she also wanted to change the subject. After all, her husband would be in the infamous article, too. “Open the bags and take a look.”
Hannah opened the two bags of food and looked around for something to use as a table. There was nothing even remotely resembling a table in the cell. She finally settled for the cot nearest the door and then she began to explore the takeout boxes that Sally had sent.
“These are darling,” she said, opening a box with four mini open-faced sandwiches spread with cream cheese that were topped with a small piece of smoked salmon.
“Aren’t they though!” Delores looked pleased that Hannah liked them. “Do you think they’d work as an appetizer for the wedding reception?”
Hannah stared at her mother in shock. They’d been suggesting appetizers for weeks now and Delores had rejected every one of their suggestions. “I think these would be just perfect,” she said, hoping that agreeing with her mother wouldn’t mean that Delores would disagree.
“That’s set then.” Delores gave a quick nod. “I thought of it the moment I saw them. They’re festive, and fancy, and not messy at all. I think that’s important when the guests are wearing their best clothing and don’t want to spill.”
“That’s very smart, Mother,” Andrea complimented her.
“Yes, it is,” Hannah agreed. “We’ll have to keep that in mind when we figure out the rest of the menu.”
“Thank you, dears.” Delores looked pleased. “And by the way, I’ve also decided on the entrée.”
“Really?” Hannah was amazed. If she’d only known that her mother would make decisions about the wedding the minute her eldest daughter was behind bars, she would have figured out a way to get locked up much earlier and saved them all the aggravation. “What did you decide on for an entrée, Mother?”
“Individual Beef Wellington. Sally told me she could make it for a crowd using small filets wrapped in puff pastry.”
“What a good idea!”
“That’s what Mother ordered tonight and she said it was just delicious,” Andrea explained.
“Did she send one for me?” Hannah asked, hoping that Sally had given her a sample.
“No, dear. Sally said it wouldn’t travel well. You have Fettuccini Porcini. It’s a pasta dish Sally’s cousin had when she was in Australia.”
“It’s really good. That’s what I had tonight after you left,” Andrea said. “I told Sally that there was a microwave in the break room here at the station and she told me that we could warm it up if it got too cold.”
“It feels hot enough to me,” Hannah said, pulling the pasta dish out of the hotbox and feeling the bottom. “How about dessert?”
“You have two desserts,” Delores said. “Sally sent a slice of that Buttermilk Pie you tasted, and there’s a slice of Rummy Tum Tum Cake.”
The dessert box had a see-through plastic lid and Hannah’s stomach growled as she gazed at the pie and the cake. “They both look absolutely wonderful.”
“I had the cake for dessert,” Andrea told her. “I was really upset and Mother thought I needed chocolate. It’s delicious, but the slice you have is special.”
Hannah picked up the fork that Sally had sent and pried the lid from the box. “I’ll have a bite of the cake first.”
“Careful!” Andrea warned her, getting up to move right up against the bars. “I said yours was special, Hannah. Don’t eat it yet!”
“Why not? There’s nothing wrong with having a bite of dessert before I start my entrée.”
“Stop!” Delores hissed out the word, jumping up to join Andrea at the cell bars. “We said it was special.”
“That’s why I wanted to taste it.”
“Not special that way,” Andrea tried to explain. “Special because . . .” she lowered her voice to a whisper. “It’s special because it’s got something in it.”
“Of course it has something in it. All cakes have ingredients in them. Why are you whispering, Andrea?”
Andrea pressed right up against the bars. “This cake is special because we put a file in it,” she whispered.
Hannah stared at her sister in amazement. “You’re trying to help me break out of jail?”
“Yes!” Delores whispered. “It was my idea. I asked Sally if she had a file and she didn’t, but Andrea had one in her purse.”
“Andrea had a file in her purse?”
“Shhh!” Delores hissed. “It’s right near the bottom and it’s wrapped in foil. All you have to do is pull it out.”
“The cake’s still good. You can eat it,” Andrea explained. �
�That’s why we wrapped the file in foil.”
Hannah stared down at the piece of cake. It was a big piece, but it wasn’t big enough to contain a file. She felt around with the fork and found a hard object at the bottom, just as her mother had said. She pulled it out, unwrapped it, and began to laugh. “A nail file?”
Andrea looked highly embarrassed. “It was the only thing we could find.”
Hannah was still laughing, but she managed to gasp out her questions. “What did you expect me to do? Pick the lock on the cell door?”
Delores shrugged. “No, but we wanted to bring something . And your nails are looking a bit ragged, dear.”
“Then thank you. If Rick doesn’t confiscate it, I’ll file them. It’s not like I don’t have the time. I’ll be in here for two more days before I’m arraigned.”
“Oh, no!” Delores looked very concerned. “Will you be all right, dear? It’s rather dreary in that cell.”
“We should have stopped at my house and brought a nice bedspread,” Andrea said. “And a few throw pillows to dress up the place.”
“What a good idea! I’ll do it tomorrow.” Delores looked pleased that she had something she could do.
“They’ll grant you bail, won’t they?” Andrea asked Hannah. “I mean, you have strong ties to the community, you own a business and a condo here, and you’re not a flight risk . . . are you?”
“Not really. For one thing, I wouldn’t know where to go. And for another thing, I don’t have the money to fly to a foreign country where they can’t extradite me.”
“Don’t worry, dear,” Delores told her, but Hannah saw the worried look in her mother’s eyes. “They’re bound to give you bail.”
“That’s another problem,” Hannah told her. “I don’t have the money to make bail.”
“But I do. I’ll be there at the arraignment, dear. And I’ll bail you out.”
“That’s nice of you, Mother.”
Delores shrugged again. “What else is a mother to do when her daughter’s in jail? I’m certainly not going to leave you here! Now eat your dinner, my dear. You must keep up your strength.”
Right, Mother, Hannah thought. I won’t be able to use my super powers and bend these steel bars if I’m as weak as a kitten. But she smiled at her mother, anyway. Delores meant well. And then she dug into Sally’s excellent dinner like there was no tomorrow.
CREAM CHEESE AND HERB SCONES
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
3 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
2 teaspoons cream of tartar (this is important)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup salted butter, softened to room temperature (1 stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound)
8 ounces (by weight, not volume) whipped cream cheese at room temperature (I used Philadelphia brand, which is also 8 ounces by volume)
6.5-ounce (by weight) package Boursin Cheese with Herbs at room temperature (one package)
2 large eggs, beaten (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)
1 cup sour cream
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
Mix in bits of salted butter with two forks or a piecrust blender, just as you would for piecrust dough.
Hannah’s 1st Note: If you have a food processor, you can use it to do this. Cut ½ cup COLD salted butter into 8 chunks. Layer the chunks of butter with the dry ingredients in the bowl of the food processor. Process with the steel blade in an on-and-off motion until the mixture is the texture of cornmeal. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and proceed to the next step.
Check your cheeses. If they haven’t come up to room temperature, take them out of the packages, put them in a microwave-safe bowl, and soften them on HIGH for 20 seconds or so. Then take them out and add the beaten eggs and sour cream. Mix everything together thoroughly.
Add the cheese, egg, and sour cream mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir the dough with a fork until everything is thoroughly combined. The resulting mixture should be roughly the consistency of cottage cheese.
Use a large spoon to drop the biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet. You can make 12 very large scones, 24 medium sized scones, or 4 to 5 dozen mini scones. (You can bake one sheet at a time with this dough—it’ll be fine in the bowl for a half-hour or so while you wait for the first batch to bake.)
Hannah’s 2nd Note: I line my baking sheets with parchment paper for easy removal.
If your scones look a little ragged around the edges, wet your fingers and shape them into rounds.
Bake the scones at 425 degrees F. for 14 to 16 minutes for very large scones, 12 to 14 minutes for medium-sized scones, or 8 to 10 minutes for mini scones baked in miniature cupcake tins sprayed with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. To test for doneness, touch them with the back of a spoon to see if they’re “set” on top.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: DON’T OVERBAKE these scones. That will make them dry. My very large scones took a total of 15 minutes, the medium-sized scones took 14 minutes, and the mini scones in the miniature cupcake tins took 9 minutes. The rule of thumb here is that if they look done, they are done.
Cool the scones for at least 5 minutes on the cookie sheets, and then remove them with a spatula. (If you used parchment paper, all you have to do is pull the paper off the baking sheet and peel off the scones.) The mini scones in the miniature cupcake tins should cool for at least 8 minutes before you remove them.
Serve the scones in a towel-lined basket so that they stay warm.
Yield: Makes 12 very large scones, 24 medium-sized scones, or 4 to 5 dozen mini scones. These scones are simply delicious served with extra cream cheese, capers, and smoked salmon.
Hannah’s 4th Note: To serve mini scones as appetizers, simply cool them and cut them in half horizontally. Top them with more cream cheese, press on a few capers, and place a small slice of smoked salmon on top. You can either serve them that way, or spread a little more cream cheese on the top half and use it to make a mini sandwich the way Sally does.
FETTUCCINI “PORCINI”
(Australian Fettuccini)
Trudi’s 1st Note: We just returned from a trip to Australia. This is my version of a recipe we experienced in Sydney. It’s easy to make and a wonderful flavor.
For the Pasta:
Prepare a package of your favorite brand fettuccini pasta as instructed on the package. Use the size that serves 4. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, give it a stir to keep it from sticking together, cover it loosely with foil and set it aside on a cold burner to wait for its yummy sauce.
For the Sauce:
¼ pound bacon (regular sliced, not thick)
½ pound (8 ounces) fresh mushrooms sliced, or chopped
½ cup chopped onions (regular yellow onions or green onions—if you use green onions, you can use up to 2 inches of the stem)
4-inch square of fresh salmon filet
15-ounce (approximate—if it’s a bit more, that’s okay) jar of prepared Alfredo sauce
Pan fry the bacon until it’s crispy and lift it out of the fat with a slotted spoon to drain it on paper towels.
Use the remaining bacon fat in the pan to fry the mushrooms until they are very well done.
Add the onions to the pan and continue to fry until the onions are translucent and fully cooked.
Cut the raw salmon into cubes and add it to the pan. Fry it until the salmon is fully cooked.
Add the drained bacon pieces to the pan and add the Alfredo sauce. Stir everything together until it’s well-combined and heated through.
Arrange the pasta you’ve cooked on 4 plates. Ladle the delicious mixture in the frying pan over the pasta and serve to rave reviews!
Trudi’s 2nd Note: The porcini is in quotes because I’m sure the restaurant used them, but regular mushrooms work just as well and are easier on the
budget.
Fresh salmon works great but since it sort of falls apart in the cooking anyway, you probably could use canned or packaged salmon and get the same results.
If you prefer, you could also use packaged Alfredo sauce mix and prepare it yourself.
RUMMY TUM TUM CAKE
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
1 box chocolate cake mix (the size that makes a 9-inch by 13-inch cake) (DO NOT use cake mix with pudding in it because your cake will stick to the pan. I used Devil’s Food Cake Mix when I tested this.)
1 box chocolate instant pudding mix (NOT sugar-free—the size that makes 4 half-cup servings)
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
cup rum (I used Appleton’s Rum)
2 teaspoons rum extract (If your store doesn’t have this, you can use vanilla extract instead)
4 large eggs
6-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips (approximately 1 cup)
Spray a Bundt pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. Make sure to spray the little tube in the middle so the cake won’t stick to that.
Place the dry chocolate cake mix and the dry chocolate pudding mix in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat them together on low speed until they’re combined.
Blackberry Pie Murder (A Hannah Swensen Mystery) Page 8
