Murder is on the Clock
Page 19
Rizzie serves stuffed peppers with Gullah Corn Salad.
Gullah Corn Salad
First, prepare the dressing.
Dressing Ingredients ½ cup vinegar
½ cup sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ teaspoon minced garlic ½ teaspoon black pepper ½ teaspoon celery seed
Directions for Dressing Combine all ingredients and heat in a small saucepan over medium heat only until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Other Ingredients 3 cups corn*
½ cup chopped onion**
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped bell pepper
1 cup fresh tomato, seeded and chopped
Directions Stir vegetables into dressing and allow to marinate in refrigerator for several hours or more. This may be used for several days so long it’s kept refrigerated.
*Best with fresh corn cut from the cob and cooked only a short time so that it remains crisp. Frozen corn may be used the same way. If using canned corn, don’t cook at all. Just drain it. Regardless of the kind of corn used, set on paper towels to absorb excess liquid before proceeding.
**Green onions may be used.
Aunt Lila’s Marinated Veggies Pa makes Marinated Vegetables that are very similar to Rizzie’s Corn Salad. He got the recipe from his sister Lila, who was my aunt. The dressing is exactly the same as Gullah Corn Salad dressing.
Other Ingredients 1 can whole kernel corn
1 can tiny green peas*
1 can kitchen-cut green beans**
1 small jar chopped pimento
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped bell pepper (any color)
Directions
Drain all ingredients in a strainer. It’s not necessary to separate them. Strain together and stir into dressing. *Pa said Aunt Lila always used LeSeur garden peas, but any quality brand will do.
**”Kitchen cut” means sliced into pieces ½ to 1 inch long.
Molly’s Variation After eating both Rizzie‘s Gullah Corn Salad and Aunt Lila’s version, Molly came up with this side dish for tacos and other Tex-Mex dishes using the same basic dressing.
Ingredients 1 can corn
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes* ½ teaspoon cumin ½ cup chopped cilantro
Directions Drain all vegetables. Stir cumin and cilantro into the basic dressing. Stir vegetables into dressing. Cover and refrigerate. This will stay good for several days.
Rizzie’s Seafood Pie
Ingredients 1 pie shell*
½ pound picked crab meat**
½ pound peeled, deveined, chopped raw
shrimp
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
½ cup diced onion or chopped green
onion
½ teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon mayonnaise 1 teaspoon prepared mustard*** 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 3 beaten eggs
1 cup cream or half-and-half ½ to ¾ cup crushed crackers**** ¼ cup melted butter or margarine
Directions Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spread cheese over bottom of piecrust. Double pick the crab to be sure it’s free of shell fragments. Combine onion, mayonnaise, mustard, garlic, and parsley. Stir shrimp and crab into mayo mix. Spread over cheese. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and cream together with a wire whisk. Pour evenly over seafood. Bake uncovered for forty-five minutes. Spread cracker crumbs over top and drizzle with butter. Bake fifteen more minutes. Rest pie for ten minutes before cutting.
*Use refrigerated or frozen pie crusts if you don’t want to make your own.
**There’s three kinds of pickin’ in my world. First is making a choice or selection, like picking sides to play kickball when you’re a little kid at school. Second is playing on a guitar, banjo, or other stringed instrument. Third is what Rizzie and other good cooks do with crab meat. After removing it from the shell or even from a container if it’s bought instead of caught, crab has to be picked. This means not just looking carefully, but feeling the meat through clean fingers to find any tiny pieces of shell or cartilage. Rizzie uses fresh-caught blue crabs for this, but any edible crab will do.
***This can be what Rizzie calls “hot dog yellow” mustard, but she prefers to use Dijon or stone-ground mustard in this recipe. ****Any cracker that isn’t sweet will do, but plain old saltines work fine.
Gullah Berry Cream Pie
Ingredients 1 unbaked pie shell (thawed if frozen)
2 pounds washed fresh berries* ½ cup plain flour
½ cup light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
4 ounces butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine flour, brown sugar, and salt. Cut butter into flour mixture using a pastry cutter or fork until it is coarse and crumbly. Spread half of the flour mixture over bottom of piecrust. Sprinkle granulated sugar over berries and toss lightly before putting them on top of the flour mixture in the shell. Whisk together egg, cream, sour cream, and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over berries and top with rest of the flour. Bake forty-five minutes.
*I like berry pie best made with all blackberries. Rizzie has made it with all kinds of berries as well as a mixed version that has blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries.
HUGUENOT TORTE This is the dessert Rizzie served at Pa’s Wedding Rehearsal Dinner. It was delicious that night, and the leftovers were just as good the next day.
Ingredients 2 eggs
1½ cups sugar
4 tablespoons plain flour
2½ teaspoons baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped tart cooking apples
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla
Butter to grease pan
Directions Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 8” x 12” baking pan with butter or Pam. Beat egg until frothy and lemoncolored in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients in order listed. Bake 45 minutes until crusty and brown. Cut like brownies and top with whipped cream and sprinkle of additional pecans.
PA’S FINGER FOODS We all expected Pa to barbecue a pig for his wedding reception, but Miss Ellen wanted to begin with a cocktail hour and finger foods to entertain guests while photos were made in the church.
Miniature Tomato Pies
Ingredients 4 pie shells
4 fresh red tomatoes
1 teaspoon dill weed
or freshly chopped tarragon ½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese Miniature cupcake pans and liners
Directions Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread pie shells on cutting board and use a shot glass to cut miniature circles of crust. Put liners in cupcake pans and place a circle of dough in each. Pierce bottom of each with a fork. Bake five minutes. Then remove and set aside. Peel and coarsely chop tomatoes. Mix your choice of tarragon or dill weed into tomatoes. Place a tablespoon of tomatoes in each cup. In separate bowl, combine cheese and mayonnaise. Spoon 1 teaspoon of cheese mixture over tomatoes. Bake additional five minutes or until cheese mixture is golden brown.
Cousin Linda’s Rum-Raisin Spread
Ingredients 14 ounces raisins
½ cup drinking quality rum
24 ounces softened cream cheese
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
Directions Soak raisins in rum for at least thirty minutes. Drain raisins and discard rum (unless you want to drink raisinflavored rum). Combine all ingredients until well blended. Best served with ginger snaps. These are the quantities Pa used when he made this for the reception. To make this in a more reasonable amount, reduce ingredients as follow:
Reduced Quantity Ingredients 5 ounces raisins
¼ cup drinking quality rum
8 ounces cream cheese, softened ¾ cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup
granulated sugar
Note: This should not be a part of the Spread and Crackers table because the other spreads are served with unsweet crackers.
Party Cheese Tray Until people try it, they don’t realize how good Dijon or stone-ground mustard is with cheese. Put the mustard in a small dish in the center of a tray. Surround it with various cheeses cut into ½- to ¾-inch squares. No crackers are necessary. Just put a shot glass of toothpicks beside the tray.
Fancier Party Cheese: Baked Brie
Ingredients 1 sheet of defrosted puff pastry
1 seven-ounce wheel of brie
¼ cup raspberry jam
Egg wash
Crackers
1 small bunch seedless green grapes 1 small bunch seedless red grapes 1 cup granulated sugar
Directions Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and cut puff pastry into an eight-inch square. Place wheel of brie in the center of the pastry and top with jam. Fold the four corners of dough up so that they meet in the center of the brie.
Seal and brush with egg wash. Bake twenty to twentyfive minutes. Remove from baking sheet and place in the center of small platter. Surround with alternating clusters of red and green grapes moistened and dipped in sugar. Serve crackers on the side.
Note: Pa tried this recipe and liked it, but he decided it would be too difficult to serve these at the reception. Callie liked it with apple butter instead of raspberry jam and a dash of cinnamon over the top.
After discarding the idea of serving baked brie, Pa and Miss Ellen decided to have an Assorted Spread, Dip, and Cracker Table. They filled the table with several kinds of spreads with baskets of assorted crackers and breads so guests could match them to their own tastes.
A favorite spread at the Parrish house is Ham Spread made by the following recipe. It can be used with crackers or to make sandwiches. My favorite way is to eat it with Hawaiian rolls.
Ham Spread
Ingredients 1 lb. ham, finely chopped or ground
8 ounces cream cheese, softened ¾ cup mayonnaise
¾ cup finely chopped green onion ¼ cup finely minced sweet pickle relish
Directions Combine ingredients until well mixed. If too stiff, add a little juice from the relish. Chill. Serve with crackers or small rolls. Makes about four and a half cups
Crab Spread
Ingredients 1 cup chopped crabmeat
¼ cup tarragon vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped bell pepper (any color except red)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons drained pimento, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions Even if you think the crabmeat is completely free of shell pieces, pick over it again. Soak crabmeat in the tarragon vinegar for at least thirty minutes, then drain. Discard vinegar. Combine all ingredients, cover, and chill.
Shrimp Spread or Mold
Ingredients 1 ten-ounce can condensed cream of tomato soup
2 one-fourth-ounce envelopes unflavored gelatin
½ cup cold water
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 pound peeled, deveined, cooked shrimp
1 cup finely chopped celery
½ cup finely chopped onion
Directions Chop shrimp and set aside. Warm soup in small pan. Mix gelatin into cold water and stir until dissolved. (It’s okay if it starts to congeal.) Remove soup from stove and stir in the gelatin, scraping sides so that all of it is mixed with the soup. In a separate bowl, mix mayonnaise and cream cheese until smooth. This is easier if you use an electric mixer. Combine soup mixture with mayo mixture and stir until well-mixed. Fold in shrimp, celery, and onion. Miss Ellen said to tell you that this is a gorgeous, shrimp color and should be put in your fanciest clear glass bowl or it can be made into a mold. Cover with plastic wrap sealed tight and refrigerate.
PA’S SHORT CUT SPREADS After trying lots of recipes, Pa discovered prepared sour cream ranch dip in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. He buys it, adds other ingredients, and serves them as homemade.
Short Cut Beer Spread Combine 1 pint container of prepared ranch dip with 1 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese and 1/3 cup of your favorite brand of beer. Especially good with pretzels or pretzel crackers.
Short Cut Taco Spread
Combine 1 pint container of prepared ranch dip with 1 envelope of Taco Seasoning Mix. Top with grated cheese.
Coming in 2016 from
ODYSSEY SOUTH
Ring around the Rosie
A Skull Full of Posies
A Callie Parrish Halloween Mystery
Fran Rizer
“Nothing like a divorce to leave a person commitmentshy,” Sheriff Wayne Harmon said as we talked by phone while I drove to the Halsey place. To be honest, and I try to be, I’d had enough of this conversation for the past few weeks and if I weren’t trying to be more of a lady, I would have done the cell phone equivalent of hanging up on him. I miss the old days before everyone had a cell because simply disconnecting doesn’t have nearly the pow factor of slamming down the receiver.
I wasn’t happy to be heading toward the Halsey property anyway, but this commitment was my own fault.
Tyrone, my friend Rizzie Profit’s teenaged brother, had called me at work and asked could I “get” him a real casket for the haunted house his TEAM class planned to sponsor for St. Mary High School’s Fall Festival (aka Halloween Carnival). TEAM is an instructional program that teaches leadership and cooperation through community projects and fund-raising.
“Ty,” I’d said, “caskets cost thousands of dollars, and I’m sorry, but I can’t afford to buy one for you even with the discount Otis and Odell Middleton would allow me.”
“Callie, I didn’t want you to ‘give’ us one. I told my friends that since you worked at the funeral home, the Middletons might lend us a casket.”
“We can’t do that because the law forbids us from selling a used casket, so it wouldn’t do us any good to get it back.”
“We won’t put a real corpse in it,” he said.
“I should hope not, but legally it would still be considered second-hand.”
“Oh.” The disappointment I heard in Ty’s voice sent me on a guilt trip. I pictured him bragging to his friends that he could get a real casket for their project. I should have apologized for not being able to help and let it go at that.
Instead, my mouth flew open and out came, “Tell you what, Ty. I’ll find something for you to use for a coffin, and I’ll volunteer to help set up the haunted house.”
That’s how I wound up driving out to the Halsey house on a Saturday morning arguing with my current beau (same thing as a boyfriend except I’m a little past thirty, and “boyfriend” sounds sixth-gradish to me). I’d known Sheriff Wayne Harmon since I was a little girl and he was my oldest brother John’s best buddy. Recently we’d spent a lot of time together, and our relationship had moved to a higher—much, much higher—level. Some folks might think it was a lower level, but we didn’t.
Wayne was headed to Virginia to attend a seminar at Quantico, and he saw no reason why I didn’t just donate a healthy check to the TEAM project and go with him. He’d volunteered to supply the contribution and even talked to the Middletons about giving me time off. He also couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t agree to marry him.
I’m not about to claim I’ve never told a lie to a man. If I said that, lightning might come down from the perfectly clear and crisp morning sky and strike me dead. Or hit my new car.
My 1966 Mustang had been my ex-husband’s pride and joy before the judge gave it to me in divorce court, but my new creamy yellow Corvette is now my most prized possession and has eased the pain of losing the Mustang significantly.
What I can say is that I’ve never broken a promise to a child, and though Ty looks like a man, he’s still a kid to me.
Confession is supposed to be good for the soul, so
I’ll admit that all those thoughts about Tyrone, Wayne, and my car were just ways to escape thinking about the Halsey place. I’d nearly passed out when Tyrone told me the bank had foreclosed on that property and since one of his classmates was the bank president’s daughter, the TEAM class had been given use of the old home. That place housed many of my bad memories.
They could not have chosen a worse place for me per- sonally. My Mustang died in the woods behind that house when my brother Bill crashed it into a tree. I’d come close to death there myself several years before when a killer kidnapped me and locked me in a sealed casket in the barn. I’d been rescued by my current sweetheart, Wayne.
The Halsey property was wooded behind the pasture and barn, but the long driveway from the road to the old Southern farm house in front was typical coastal South Carolina at its best. Oak trees draped in Spanish moss lined both sides of the drive. Just beyond the trees were fields on each side that had been farmed in the past, probably cantaloupes or tomatoes.
The two-story building at the end of the driveway wasn’t a Southern mansion with a veranda, big white columns, or a balcony. The flat front of the house had a small porch that stuck out from the exterior wall.
Near the path leading up to the door was a white passenger van with a grown man and about eight teenagers including Ty standing around it. They all gathered around my Vette the minute I parked.
Ty held my car door open for me and said, “Everybody, this is Callie Parrish, the volunteer I told you about.” He pointed toward the only adult and said, “Callie, this is Mr. Douglas, our teacher.”
“Glad to meet you, Miss Parrish. We appreciate your offer to help.” The instructor motioned toward the steps. I glanced over and noticed that some of them had been repaired with new boards.
“I came out earlier this week and saw some wood that didn’t look safe, so I replaced it, but I want everyone to be especially careful. Let’s go in and look around. We can decide what fright to put where,”
He opened the door for me, and the students followed us. We entered a hall with closed doors and a stairway leading to the second floor.
“Let’s start upstairs,” I said and began climbing.