“I’m fine. Sam’s the one who was hurt.”
Sam touched the bandage taped to his head. “I’ll be all right. Takes more than one wallop to dent this old noggin of mine.”
Clifton turned to Phyllis and went on, “You forgot something, Mrs. Newsom. You left before the awards were handed out.” He extended a painted plate toward her. “First place in the cookie category went to the Oatmeal Delights, baked by Mrs. Phyllis Newsom.”
Phyllis put a hand to her mouth and said, “Oh.” She looked at Carolyn. “You didn’t tell me. You said your chocolate strawberry pie came in third, but you didn’t tell me the cookies won.”
Carolyn smiled and shrugged. “The chief said that he would deliver your trophy plate later. Who am I to argue with the police?”
Phyllis almost laughed at that sentiment, but instead she reached out to take the plate from Clifton. “Thank you, Chief,” she said.
“Thank you,” he replied with a grin. “Those were mighty good cookies.” He leaned a shoulder against one of the pillars supporting the porch roof. “I hope all this unpleasantness hasn’t soured you on our little part of the world. We want everybody who visits the coast to come back again.”
“We certainly might,” Phyllis said as she slipped her hand into Sam’s. “It’s beautiful here, no doubt about that.”
“Paradise,” Chief Clifton murmured as they all looked out at the water gently rolling in from the bay.
But there was a serpent in paradise, Phyllis reminded herself, and that had been true here, too. Murder could happen anywhere, even in surroundings like this.
She wasn’t going to think about that now. Not with a warm breeze blowing and the golden light of late afternoon fading toward dusk and the cry of a seagull in the air as it sailed above the waves. Right now she held tightly to Sam Fletcher’s hand and thought only good thoughts.
Recipes
Sweet Peach Rolls
Jam:
1 cup chopped fresh peaches
½ cup sugar
4 teaspoons liquid fruit pectin
Rolls:
2 packages dry yeast
2½ cups warm water
1 package yellow cake mix
5 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup dried cranberries
Glaze:
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ to 1 teaspoon water
Jam: In saucepan combine peaches and sugar. Heat over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly to dissolve sugar. Add liquid pectin, and then bring to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Refrigerate overnight.
Rolls: In a large bowl combine the yeast and warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in the cake mix and then the flour one cup at a time. Cover the bowl with a cloth and let the dough rise in a warm place about 2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
Roll out the dough onto a floured surface into a rectangle about ½-inch thick. Spread with peach mixture and sprinkle with cranberries. Roll up the dough, starting from the long side. Chill 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 15-x-10-inch jelly-roll pan.
Slice the chilled dough roll into ½-inch pieces. Place each slice on the prepared pan. Bake 23 to 25 minutes.
Glaze: In small bowl, mix sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla, adding the water until the glaze is the right consistency. Drizzle glaze over warm rolls.
Note: You can use a small jar of peach jam instead of the homemade jam.
Peachy Bread Pudding
6 to 7 slices bread
¼ cup melted butter
4 eggs beaten
1 can skim evaporated milk
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 cups fresh sliced peaches
Cut bread in cubes and allow to dry overnight. Put bread cubes in large bowl. Drizzle butter over bread. Mix eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon. Pour over bread-and-butter mixture. Add sliced peaches and toss mixture. Put in baking dish and let set for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 30 minutes.
Killer Crab Cakes
1 small white onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter divided
¼ cup whole milk
2 eggs
½ teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon spicy Dijon mustard
1½ cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs), divided
1 pound fresh crabmeat
½ cup finely chopped pecans
2 teaspoons lemon pepper
Sauté chopped onions with 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat until barely limp, about one minute. Transfer to a small bowl to cool.
In medium bowl whisk milk, eggs, vinegar, Old Bay seasoning, salt, and mustard until well blended. Add ½ cup bread crumbs, onions, and crabmeat and mix thoroughly.
In a shallow bowl or pan mix 1 cup bread crumbs, pecans, and lemon pepper.
Divide crab mixture into 8 equal piles and form cakes, or use ameasuring cup filling until almost full, pack down into cup to form patties, dump, and then flattening them lightly into the cakes. Turn cakes in the bread crumb mixture until well covered.
Place cakes on a large baking sheet covered with parchment paper, cover pan with plastic wrap and chill 2 to 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Put about ½ teaspoon butter on each crab cake. Bake around 20 minutes.
Note: If you like spicy crab cakes add ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper with the milk/egg mixture.
Seafood Quesadilla
1 cup cooked crab (can use imitation crab)
1 cup cooked small shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 ounces softened cream cheese
½ cup green chile enchilada sauce, mild or hot
⅓ cup green onions, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
8 10-inch flour tortillas
Oil for pan
In medium bowl blend crab, shrimp, cream cheese, green chile sauce, onion, and salt and pepper. Place ¼ of the mixture and ½ cup cheese on tortilla, and cover with second tortilla. Brush skillet with oil and lightly brown each quesadilla on both sides. Cut into fourths and serve with salsa.
Serves 6-8
Tamale Soup
1 pound ground pork or beef
1 pound ground chicken or turkey
1 chopped onion
2 tablespoons oil
2 beef bouillon cubes
2 cups water
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ can green chile enchilada sauce (about ½ cup)
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained
10 fresh tamales, frozen
Grated cheese
Brown ground meat with onion in oil in a large skillet. Drain off grease. Add bouillon that has been dissolved in water. Add other ingredients, except tamales and cheese. Cook on low heat until flavors are blended. Ten minutes before serving, cut the frozen tamales into one-inch pieces and add to soup. If tamales are not frozen, they will fall apart after a short time. Top servings with cheese and serve with tortilla chips.
If fresh tamales are not available, use canned. Drain, remove paper, and slice into one-inch pieces. Add at last minute to soup to heat through.
Makes 8-10 bowls.
Oatmeal Delights
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon va
nilla
2 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chopped shredded coconut
1 12 ounce bag white chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Then add oatmeal, set aside. Mix butter and sugars in large bowl until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time. Gradually mix in flour mixture until well blended. Chop pecans and coconut in food processor until finely chopped. Then add to dough. Fold in white chips.
Drop by tablespoon 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
Bake 12 to 14 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 5-6 dozen.
Chocolate Strawberry Pie
Butter Crust:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
¼ cup very cold water
In large bowl combine the flour, sugar, and salt and mix well. Cut the butter up in ¼-inch pieces and scatter over the dry ingredients. Toss to mix. Using your fingers, two knives, or a pastry blender, rub or cut the butter into the flour until it is broken into small pea-size pieces. Sprinkle half of the water. Toss with a fork to dampen the mixture. Add the remaining water in two stages. Continue tossing the mixture until it seems packable. If it’s still too dry, add 1 teaspoon of cold water at a time until the dough is the desired consistency, working in the water with your fingertips. Using your hands, pack the dough into a ball. Then flatten into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour before rolling. Try not to handle dough too much.
Filling:
¼ cup butter
2 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
1½ cups sugar
1 tablespoon flour
pinch of salt
½ cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 unbaked 9-inch butter pastry shell
1 pound washed, hulled, and halved strawberries
Melt butter with chocolate either in saucepan, or microwave in small bowl. In mixing bowl, combine chocolate and butter mixture with sugar, flour, salt, milk, eggs, and vanilla; beat with electric mixer at medium speed until well mixed. Pour filling into prepared pastry shell; bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 to 45 minutes, until set. Cool. Arrange halved strawberries on top of pie.
Drizzle:
4 tablespoons butter
⅛ cup cocoa powder
⅓ cup sugar
1 tablespoon milk
In small saucepan melt butter. Add cocoa, sugar, and milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a good boil for one minute. Drizzle the warm fudge sauce over the strawberries.
Author’s Note
Rockport and Fulton are real towns on the Texas Gulf Coast, and they’re every bit as charming, picturesque, and friendly as I’ve tried to describe them in this novel. I’ve taken a few minor liberties with the geography of the area for dramatic purposes, and none of the characters in this book are based on any real people who reside there. The SeaFair, including the Just Desserts competition, takes place at Rockport Harbor every fall, and if you ever find yourself in the area at that time of year, I highly recommend that you pay it a visit. But really, any time of year is a great time to visit these wonderful towns.
About the Author
Livia J. Washburn has been a professional writer for more than twenty years. She received the Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award and the American Mystery Award for her first mystery, Wild Night, written under her maiden name, L. J. Washburn, and was nominated for a Spur Award by the Western Writers of America for a novel written with her husband, James Reasoner. She lives in a small town in Texas with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs. Her Web site is at www.liviawash-burn.com, and you can e-mail her at [email protected].
It’s a Thanksgiving feast in Weatherford, Texas!
Read on for a special sneak peek at the next
Fresh-Baked Mystery from Livia J. Washburn
Cornucopia of Death
One thing you never forgot about being a parent, Phyllis Newsom thought, is the feeling of helplessness that comes over you when your child is sick. Of course, Bobby was her grandson, not her son, but that didn’t matter. He felt miserable, and she had done everything she could to make him feel better, but he still sobbed in pain as she held him and carried him back and forth across the living room of her house, trying to calm him down.
“It’ll be all right, Bobby,” she told the four-year-old. “Don’t worry. Everything will be just fine. You’ll be all well soon.”
Not soon enough to suit her, though. The pediatrician had said that it might be a week or more before Bobby’s ear infection cleared up. And it would have to heal on its own, because this wasn’t like the old days when doctors prescribed antibiotics for such ailments. Phyllis remembered giving her son, Mike, the wonderful pink liquid when he was little and came down with something like this. That stuff seemed to cure anything.
Now the doctors claimed that it really didn’t, and Phyllis supposed that they ought to know what they were talking about. They were doctors, after all. But she missed being able to feel like she was accomplishing something, like she was helping her child get well sooner.
Ah, well. She sighed and held Bobby closer, letting him rest his head on her shoulder. She was wearing a nice thick robe over her pajamas, so she supposed it almost felt like a pillow to him.
The sound of footsteps made her glance toward the stairs. Sam Fletcher’s long legs came into view, followed by the rest of his lanky form. He was dressed in pajamas, robe, and slippers, too, although his were a nice manly brown rather than the purple of Phyllis’s nightclothes.
“Thought I heard the little one carryin’ on,” Sam said as he came from the foyer into the living room.
“I’m sorry, Sam. He just can’t rest comfortably with his ear hurting that way. I gave him some pain reliever like the doctor said, but …”
Sam nodded. “Yeah, I reckon it must hurt, all right.” He held out his arms. “Here, let me hold him for a while.”
Phyllis hesitated. Not because she didn’t trust Sam, of course. In the nearly two and a half years that he had rented a room in her house here in Weatherford, Texas, she had grown to know him very well. He was both strong and gentle—just the sort of man who wouldn’t think twice about offering to comfort a sick child. But Bobby was her responsibility, not his.
“It’s the middle of the night,” she told Sam. “You should be sleeping. I’ll be all right.”
A smile spread across Sam’s rugged face. “Shoot, I wasn’t asleep anyway. Seems like the older I get, the less easy it is for me to sleep. I was on the computer lookin’ at YouTube. You know they got clips on there from all the TV shows I used to watch back in the fifties? I haven’t seen George Burns and Gracie Allen in a long time.”
Phyllis couldn’t help but smile back at him. They were roughly the same age, in their late sixties, and it wasn’t unusual for either of them to discover something new and wonderful on the Internet that most younger people had probably known about for years.
“I’ll have to check that out,” she said. “Are you sure you don’t mind … ?”
Sam motioned with his fingers to indicate that she should give Bobby to him.
“Well, all right.” She handed the whimpering youngster over.
Bobby immediately threw his arms around Sam’s neck and buried his face against the man’s shoulder. His sobs began to subside.
“I think I’m jealous,” Phyllis said with a laugh. “He appears to like you more than he does me.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. He just senses that we’re kindred spirits.”
Phyllis raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“Normally, I sleep like a baby, too. I kick and fret all night.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Phyllis said as she arched an e
yebrow.
Sam chuckled as he started walking slowly back and forth across the living room. Bobby quieted even more. Within a few minutes, he appeared to be sound asleep.
Sam looked at the boy, then grinned at Phyllis. “Say good night, Gracie,” he whispered.
“Good night, Gracie,” she responded. She held her arms out. “I’ll put him in bed.”
“No, I got him. We start passin’ him around like a football, he’s liable to wake up again.”
Sam left the living room and started carefully up the stairs. A couple of days earlier, when Bobby had come to stay with Phyllis, Sam and Mike had climbed up in the attic of the old house and brought down the crib Mike had slept in twenty-odd years earlier. Bobby had complained that he wasn’t a baby and shouldn’t have to sleep in a crib, but that was really the only place Phyllis had for him to sleep. They had compromised by leaving the sides down when they put the crib in Phyllis’s bedroom.
She was in the kitchen brewing some herbal tea when Sam came back downstairs. “Figured I’d find you in here,” he said.
“Did he keep on sleeping?”
“Like a rock. I reckon that medicine finally caught up with him and made him conk out.”
“You want some tea?”
“Is it made from flowers and stuff?”
“Well, I’m not going to drink regular tea at this time of night. I never would get to sleep.”
“All right, sure. I guess I don’t need anything else keepin’ me awake, either.”
Phyllis poured the tea when it was ready, and they sat down on opposite sides of the kitchen table. She sipped from her cup, then said, “I wish Bobby had been able to go to California with Mike and Sarah. This may well be Bud’s last Thanksgiving.”
“That’s Sarah’s dad?”
“Yes.”
“At least she’s gettin’ to spend this time with him.”
“Yes, and that’s a blessing.”
Phyllis thought about her daughter-in-law. She knew from experience how terrible it was to have to face the impending end of a loved one’s life. She had lost her husband, Kenny, a number of years earlier. And Sam had gone through the same thing when cancer claimed his wife. But Phyllis also knew that the last days spent together could be some of the most precious of all, easing the passing of the one who had to leave and creating memories that those left behind would carry with them for the rest of their days.
Killer Crab Cakes Page 24
