“Time to go.” Detective Hudson moved the crowd aside, forming a small aisle across the courtyard to a waiting squad car. Within minutes, the car was on its way to the police station.
Sadie took a glass of wine from a passing tray and held it up as she flipped her scarf behind her shoulder and faced the crowd.
“Wine, anyone?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Did you see the new sign on Matteo’s door? He posted new shop hours. He’ll be closed every Sunday now.” Amber handed Sadie a cup of coffee.
“Is that so?” Sadie raised her eyebrows at the news. “I’ll have to go see what that’s all about.” She took a sip of the fresh brewed coffee and set it down on her desk, picking up the most recent sales reports. She scanned the column of items sold, pausing at one point to grin and hold out her hand, palm up.
“I knew you’d spot that right away.” Amber laughed as she slapped a crisp ten dollar bill into Sadie’s hand. “Mrs. Abernathy was thrilled with that extra discount on the purple sweater. She snapped it right up.”
“I knew she would,” Sadie said. “That woman was only waiting for one more sliver of savings.”
After getting Coco settled in on the front counter’s cushion, she went next door, where she found Matteo setting out a fresh tray of vanilla nut fudge for the day’s customers.
“What’s this about you being closed on Sundays from now on? I’m in chocolate withdrawal just thinking about it. Is this true”
Matteo nodded. “I’ve decided to spend Sundays at the winery now. Angelo and Luisa could use some help in the tasting room, since weekends are busy.”
“I’ll have to stock up on Saturdays to make sure I won’t run out before Mondays, I suppose,” Sadie said.
“I’ll be glad to drop a small batch off to hold you over. I’ll be packing up an assortment for the winery each week, as well.”
“Now, that’s good news,” Sadie said, nodding with approval. “It’s about time they started carrying your chocolates at the winery.”
“Not just at the winery,” Matteo said proudly. “Stefano is going to bring some into Vines and Tines, and Tina will be setting out a single truffle for each guest at night.”
“I take it Stefano is fine with that,” Sadie said.
Matteo smiled. “We talked our personal issues out on the phone after the police hauled that scumbag lawyer away.”
“Wasn’t that something,” Sadie mused. “You never suspected Nick Perry was involved?”
“Not at all,” Matteo admitted. “Our business dealings were either over the phone or through email. I hadn’t talked to him since the negotiations for the sale ended. He’d always behaved admirably, so I had no reason to suspect him.”
“To think Nick’s law practice was a set-up from the start, a move on the part of Serrano-Flanagan to trick wineries into selling to them,” Sadie said. “And that John Serrano, actually Giancarlo Peroni-Serrano, the one pressuring Flanagan all along, was Nick’s father. You might have been able to figure that out sooner if Flanagan had been willing to reveal the name of the person threatening him. He might still be alive.”
“I understand why he wouldn’t tell me. That’s not the kind of family you want to mess around with.”
“Clearly.” Sadie eyed a particularly appealing tray of caramel cashew clusters. “Poor Luisa. That was quite a shock for her.”
“Don’t worry, Luisa will land on her feet,” Matteo laughed. “She’s a tough one.”
“Yes, I got that impression,” Sadie smiled. “By the way, I talked to Tina last night, after I drove back here. She said the family’s very grateful that you blocked the sale. In retrospect, that is. They credit you with keeping them from a huge mistake.”
“The family business means a lot, to all of us Tremiatos. It’s our tradition.” Matteo’s expression was strong and proud. “And now it will continue to be.” He set out a row of small gold-foil boxes on the inside work counter and began to fill each with assorted truffles. “What about you, Sadie? What’s next, now that you’ve solved the Flanagan murder?”
Sadie leaned forward and admired a tray of raspberry bark. She’d been known to enjoy a white chocolate creation now and then. Matteo’s version was the best she’d ever tasted. She’d have to come back later in the day and pick some up.
“I have no idea, but I’m sure something will come up.”
“Yes, Sadie.” Matteo laughed. “You seem to have a knack for falling into these situations.”
“Yes, Matteo, I suppose I do. But I wouldn’t call it a knack. I believe I’d call it a flair.”
“A flair, you say?” Matteo repeated. “As in a flair for your shop? A flair for chocolate?
Sadie grinned as she headed to the door, stopping just briefly to look back at her favorite chocolatier and friend.
“Why, a flair for anything that comes along, my dear Matteo. Life is an adventure. I never know what’s around the next corner, but I know there’s something there.”
“Yes, Sadie, knowing you, I’m sure there is.”
Pate a Choux Recipe
For Cream Puffs
(Courtesy of Chef John Clover)
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cups water
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon of salt
200 grams all-purpose flour (about 1 ½ cups)
8 large eggs
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large saucepan, combine the water, butter, sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderate. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until a tight dough forms and pulls away from the side of the pan, 2 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat. In a bowl, beat 7 eggs and add to the dough in four batches, stirring vigorously between additions until the eggs are completely incorporated and the pastry is smooth. The dough should be glossy and very slowly hang, stretch and fall from the spoon in thick ribbons. If necessary, beat in the remaining egg.
4. Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe 1 1/2-inch mounds onto the baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between them.
5. Spray the mounds with nonstick cooking spray. Bake the choux for about 35 minutes, until browned and puffed, shifting the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Let cool completely.
6. Using a serrated knife, slice off the tops and reserve. Fill the bottom halves with sweetened whipped cream and fresh raspberries, or Pastry Cream. Replace the tops, dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve.
Pastry Cream Recipe
(Courtesy of Chef John Clover)
INGREDIENTS
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped
Pinch of salt
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan, combine milk, 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, and salt. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a simmer.
In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cornstarch, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Whisking constantly, slowly pour about 1/2 cup of the hot-milk mixture into the egg-yolk mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until it has been incorporated.
Pour mixture back into saucepan, and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 minutes. Remove and discard vanilla bean.
Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter, and beat on medium speed until the butter melts and the mixture cools, about 5 minutes.
Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hou
rs or up to 2 days. Just before using, beat on low speed until smooth (you can also whisk by hand).
Chocolate Ganache
(Submitted by Samantha Anderson)
INGREDIENTS
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
DIRECTIONS
In a glass bowl, microwave chocolate about 2 minutes, taking out and stirring every 30 seconds, until just melted.
Add in heavy cream and microwave another 20 seconds.
Stir until smooth and drizzle over cream puffs.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Books only come to be through a network of people working together. A Flair for Chardonnay is no exception. I owe tremendous thanks to many family, friends and professionals for helping bring this story to life.
Elizabeth Christy deserves a vineyard of gratitude not only for her always exceptional editing, but for her brilliant help in developing Sadie Kramer’s personality. Her patience with my often neurotic writing process is also commendable. Keri Knutson of Alchemy Book Covers has created a fun, colorful cover concept for the Sadie Kramer Flair Mysteries, beginning with this book, the first in the series. Leah Banicki is responsible for eBook and full-cover formatting. Credit goes to Tim Renfrow at Book Design and More for print formatting. Jay Garner, Karen Putnam and Carol Anderson provided insightful beta reading. Carol gets extra credit for her keen proofreading eye.
I owe special thanks to Susan Foppiano-Valera for giving me an inside view of the winery business, including a fascinating and educational tour of Foppiano Vineyards in Healdsburg, CA. In addition, Chef John Clover also kindly contributed by sharing recipes for pate a choux and pastry cream. Samantha Anderson graciously added a recipe for chocolate ganache.
Above all, I am grateful for my family, friends and readers, who provide constant support as I translate the crazy scenes in my head into stories. Sadie tells me you all deserve chocolate-drizzled cream puffs. I whole-heartedly agree.
Also by Deborah Garner
Above the Bridge
The Moonglow Café
Three Silver Doves
Cranberry Bluff
Mistletoe at Moonglow
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