“How are the two you getting along?”
“That’s what I came to talk to you about. I’m moving to Boston, and I’m going to take the Massachusetts State Bar. There are only a handful of attorneys in the area who specialize in adoption law, and I think I can do very well there. The fact that grandmother’s attorney is the senior partner in the most prestigious law firm in Boston probably won’t hurt, plus he’s already told me I can have an office and a job at his firm after I pass the bar.”
“That’s wonderful! I’ll bet Marcy is thrilled.”
“I think she is. As a matter of fact, I’ll be living in the Logan House. I was reluctant to do that, but she said that house is so big I can have my own floor, so it would be like having my own house. I thought about it and couldn’t find a reason not to do it, plus it’s close to the law firm and very close to the downtown area. If anyone had told me a few weeks ago my life would change like this, I wouldn’t have believed it, and I owe it all to you.”
“I wish I could take credit for your good fortune, but I just kind of put one foot in front of the other, and it simply ended up the way it did. I’m really happy for you. Have you seen Mark?”
“Yes, actually he and I have become quite close. I feel I know my mother much better because of all he’s told me about her, and certainly he has a different perspective on her than Grandmother.”
“Yes, I would imagine he does. I like him a lot. Have you been up to the Harbor House?” Kelly asked.
“I have, and I love it up there. Mark told me I’m always welcome, and with the money he’s going to receive, he’s planning on adding two new cottages. Although he hasn’t said anything, I think he must be doing much better. I’ve been there twice and each time there were no vacancies, and the restaurant was full from the time it opened until the time it closed.
“Please do me a favor when you return to Boston. Give my best to Mrs. Logan, Celia, Mark, and even Jasper. They were all wonderful to me.”
“I will.” She looked at her watch. “I need to get back to Portland and then fly to San Francisco. The moving van is going to be there tomorrow, and I don’t want to cut it too close.” She stood up and walked over to Kelly, hugging her. “Kelly, I can never thank you enough. Because of you, I have a completely new life. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“Be happy, Megan, just be happy. You deserve it.”
As she closed the door behind Megan, she thought once again that life really was stranger than fiction. Who could have scripted the events of the last month?
Recipes!
SHE CRAB SOUP
Ingredients:
1 lb. lump crabmeat, divided (If you can get fresh crab, it’s better, but if you’re like most of us, it’s going to have to be canned. Just make sure it’s lump crab meat, not some imitation crab meat.)
1 large onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp. garlic, minced
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
2 cups crab stock (Good luck getting that! I’ve used fish stock when I could find it, and if not, I’ve found that chicken stock works well.)
2 cups milk (I know some of you use 2% or skim, but I like whole milk in this. Yes, it’s rich, but that’s part of what makes it so good.)
1 ½ cups heavy cream (Said it was rich!)
2 tsp. paprika
½ cup dry sherry wine
½ cup crab roe, divided (Once again, good luck! It does give the soup a nice red-orange color, but I think it’s close to impossible to find, unless you live on the East Coast, but if you can find it, use it.)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. chopped chives
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Splash of dry white wine (I use a lot of wine in cooking. Think it makes things taste better, but if you choose not to, it’s not going to ruin the dish!)
Squeeze of lemon juice
Dash of hot sauce
Directions:
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and bay leaf, and lightly sauté for 2 minutes. Sprinkle the flour in and stir to coat. Whisk in the stock until the mixture is lump free. Gradually add the milk, cream, paprika, 2 tablespoons of sherry, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, wine, and the squeeze of lemon, stirring constantly for 2 more minutes.
Remove contents from the heat, transfer to a blender, and blend. Return the blended mixture back to the pan. Add half the crab meat and if you’ve been lucky, the roe. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring until it’s thick and blended.
Divide the remaining sherry and crab meat among four bowls. Ladle the hot soup over the crab meat and sherry. Garnish with chopped chives. I like to serve this with warm crusty French bread. Enjoy!
APPLE CRISP WITH TOPPING
Ingredients:
6 apples, peeled, cored, and diced
2 tbsp. white sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon (Freshly ground is lovely, but if you don’t have it, you can use prepared.)
9” square glass pan (If you only have a round one, that’s fine.)
Topping Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar (I prefer light brown sugar.)
¾ cup rolled oats
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ cup cold butter
Whipped cream (You can make it yourself or use canned whipped cream if you’re short on time, but I think freshly made is ever so much better!)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss apples with white sugar and ½ tsp. cinnamon to coat. Spoon into a 9” square glass baking pan.
Mix brown sugar, oats, flour, and 1 tsp. cinnamon in a separate bowl. Use two forks or a pastry cutter to mash the butter into the oat mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Spread evenly over the apples and pat down gently.
Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for about ten minutes. Cut into pieces, plate, and put a dollop of whipped cream on top. Enjoy!
LOBSTER ROLLS
Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs. cooked lobster meat chopped into bite-size pieces (Fresh lobster meat from lobster tails or claws is preferable, but it you don’t live where it’s available, pre-packaged will do.)
4 top slit hot dog buns
½ cup mayonnaise
3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
2 celery stalks, finely chopped (I like to use the ones from inside the celery bundle. I think they’re more tender.)
Directions:
Combine the lobster meat, mayonnaise, celery, salt, and pepper in a bowl. (I like to let the flavors marry for about thirty minutes in the refrigerator before serving.)
Pull the sides of the hot dog buns apart, but don’t completely split them. Fill each roll with ¼ of the mixture. Enjoy!
BOSTON CREAM PIE
Ingredients:
Cream Filling:
1 ½ cups whole milk
2 large egg yolks
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla (Don’t skimp on costs and use imitation. You can taste the difference!)
Plastic wrap
Cake:
Baking spray & 2 tbsp. flour to prepare pan
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour or 1 ½ cups cake flour
1/3 cup butter
¾ cup whole milk
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt
1 large egg
Rubber spatula
9” round cake pan
(Truth be told, I have substituted a yellow cake mix or even bought a yellow cake at the supermarket when I was tight on time, although I think “from scratch” is always preferable. Let your schedule be your guide!)
Chocolate Icing:
3 oz. unsweetened baking chocola
te
3 – 4 tbsp. water
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
¾ tsp. vanilla
1 glass measuring cup
Filling Directions:
Place the yolks in a bowl and beat with a fork until mixed. Stir in 1 ½ cups milk and set aside.
In a medium saucepan stir ½ cup sugar, cornstarch, and 1/8 tsp. salt until mixed. Gradually stir the egg mixture in. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens and boils. Boil for 1 minute and remove from heat. Stir in 2 tsp. vanilla. Cover the top with a sheet of plastic wrap to prevent a tough layer from forming. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. It will hold up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9” round cake pan with spray and flour, tapping out the excess flour. Combine cake ingredients in a bowl and beat with an electric beater for 30 seconds on low speed. Scrape sides from time to time with a rubber spatula. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top of the batter. Bake about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan on a cooling rack for 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan and keep it on the cooling rack for one hour.
Chocolate Icing:
In a small saucepan melt 3 tbsp. of butter and the chocolate over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Microwave the water in a glass measuring cup until hot, 15 – 30 seconds. Remove chocolate mixture from heat, whisk in the powdered sugar and ¾ tsp. vanilla. Stir in 3 tbsp. of water. Stir in additional water, l tsp. at a time as needed, until the icing is smooth and thin enough to spread.
Assembly:
Split the cake horizontally. Place the bottom layer on a serving plate, cut side up. Spread filling over bottom layer. Place the top of the cake on the filling, cut side down.
Using the back of a spoon or a frosting knife, spread the icing over the top of the cake, allowing some to drizzle down the sides. Refrigerate uncovered. Slice into pie-shaped pieces, plate, and enjoy!
PASTA WITH SEAFOOD AND FRA DIAVOLO (BROTHER DEVIL) SAUCE
Seafood:
8 oz. scallops
8 oz. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 oz. mussels
8 oz. clams
(I like to prepare this dish with fresh seafood, but I realize this may be a problem for some of you. It’s usually pretty easy to get frozen shrimp and scallops, but clams and mussels may not be available. If not, use a large can, 16 oz., of whole baby clams and forget the mussels. I made it that way a few nights ago, and it was delicious!)
Sauce Ingredients:
4 tbsp. olive oil, divided
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 cups canned chopped peeled tomatoes, with liquid
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
16 oz. package linguine
Directions:
In a large saucepan, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil. Add garlic. Cook for one minute and stir in tomatoes and liquid. Season with salt and red pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. If using fresh clams and mussels, put them in the last ten minutes. (If they don’t open after ten minutes, toss them. They might be bad.)
Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (It literally should taste like the ocean.) Cook pasta for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on package instructions.
In a large skillet heat the remaining 1 tbsp. of olive oil over high heat. Add the shrimp and scallops and cook for about 2 – 3 minutes. (Caution! Don’t overcook them, because they’ll taste rubbery.) Add them to the tomato mixture and turn up the heat to medium high. If using canned clams, add them now. Cook for about 4 minutes. Serve the sauce over the cooked linguini and enjoy!
*****
I'm giving away seven free autographed paperbacks. Find out more at www.dianneharman.com/freepaperback.html
ABOUT DIANNE
Dianne lives in Huntington Beach, California, with her husband, Tom, a former California State Senator, and her boxer dog, Kelly. Her passions are cooking, reading, and dogs, so whenever she has a little free time, you can either find her in the kitchen, playing with Kelly in the back yard, or curled up with the latest book she’s reading.
Her other books are available below:
Amazon: Blue Coyote Motel
Amazon: Coyote in Provence
Amazon: Cornered Coyote
Amazon: Coyote Series
Amazon: Kelly’s Koffee Shop
Amazon: Murder at Jade Cove
Amazon: White Cloud Retreat
Amazon: Marriage and Murder
Amazon: Murder in Cottage #6
Amazon: Murder in the Pearl District
Amazon: Murder and Brandy Boy
Amazon: Murder in Calico Gold
Amazon: The Death Card
Amazon: Murder at The Cooking School
Amazon: Murder & The Monkey Band
Amazon: Murder at The Bed & Breakfast
Amazon: Murder at The Secret Cave
Amazon: Murder in Cuba
Amazon: The Blue Butterfly
Amazon: Trouble at the Kennel
Amazon: Murdered by Words
Amazon: Murdered by Country Music
Amazon: Murder at the Big T Lodge
Amazon: Murdered in Argentina
Amazon: Murder on the East Coast
Please feel free to follow her on these social media sites:
Website: http://www.DianneHarman.com
Blog: http://www.DianneHarman.com/blog
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @DianneDHarman
Google+
Facebook Author Page (Thriller)
Facebook Author Page Cozy Mystery
Amazon Author Page
Blue Coyote Motel, an Amazon Kindle Best Seller, was a quarterfinalist in Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award Contest and was also a Goodreads Psychological Thriller of the Month Book.
Murder on the East Coast: A Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Page 14
