by Joanne Fluke
Michelle gestured toward the counter where a cake pan was cooling on a wire rack. “I made my Cheese and Sausage Breakfast Bake. It’ll be cool in a few minutes if you want to try some.”
“Of course I want to try some!” Hannah walked over to look at the breakfast dish. “It looks divine and it smells really heavenly.”
“It sure does!” Ross appeared in the doorway, wearing a velveteen robe and the leather bedroom slippers they’d bought in Puerto Vallarta on their honeymoon.
“Sit down and I’ll get you both some coffee,” Michelle promised, pointing to Hannah’s kitchen table. “I know it’s black for you, Hannah, but you take cream, don’t you, Ross?”
“That’s right,” Ross responded. “It’s your fault I cut my shower short, Michelle. It smelled so good out here that I could hardly wait to see what was cooking for breakfast.” He gave her the grin that Hannah loved to see, reaching out to take Michelle’s hand once she’d delivered his coffee. “I don’t suppose you’d consider dropping out of college and coming to live with us so you could cook us breakfast every day, would you?”
“Thanks for the offer, but not right now. I’d like to graduate and earn a living for myself first. Then you can come to visit me.”
“It’s a deal,” Ross said, smiling at Hannah. “What time do you have to be at work, Cookie?”
“Soon,” Hannah said, smiling back. “I’ll eat my breakfast, take a quick shower, and go off to work. What time do you think you’ll be home tonight, Ross?”
“Six at the earliest and eight at the latest. It depends on how much time P.K. takes to edit the footage we’re shooting this afternoon. If it’s going to be later than eight, I’ll call you.”
“That’s fine,” Hannah said. She’d known that their schedules would differ, but Ross was trying to give her a ballpark figure. “I should be home by six, too. And if something comes up and we’re not here, I’ll leave you a note, or text you to let you know.”
Michelle brought over plates with pieces of her Cheese and Sausage Breakfast Bake while they were sipping their coffee. “I hope you like it,” she said.
“I do,” said Hannah after the first bite. “It’s delicious, Michelle.”
Ross nodded. “It really is. It’s almost like a quiche, except not quite, isn’t it?”
“In a way,” Michelle told him. “Quiche doesn’t usually have bread in it and this does, and a standard quiche is made in a round pan with straight sides that’s a lot like a pie pan, but it’s really the same concept. It’s basically an egg and cheese pie whether it’s round or made in a cake pan.”
“We should take a piece of this to Lisa,” Hannah recommended. “She could make it for Herb for breakfast. I’m willing to bet that it would be almost as good cold as it is warm.”
Michelle glanced at the cake pan that had only three pieces gone. “I think we’re going to find out if you’re right, Hannah. I made two pans and there’s not a lot left. Unless we finish it this morning, we may have to eat it for breakfast tomorrow, too.”
“What a pity,” Ross said, winking at Michelle. “I guess we’ll just have to suffer through it.”
“Indeed,” Hannah agreed, taking another bite of her piece. Breakfast with Michelle and Ross was fun and it was wonderful to have her sister there. She was sure that Ross had been kidding when he’d asked Michelle to drop out of college to live with them, but right now, with a bite of Michelle’s breakfast bake in her mouth, it sounded like a really good idea to Hannah.
* * *
“So who are we interviewing this morning?” Michelle asked as Hannah drove them to town.
“I’m not sure. I think we should go over that appointment calendar of Tori’s and see if there’s anyone who might tell us more.”
“I have a rehearsal of the Lake Eden Players at one this afternoon,” Michelle reminded her. “Maybe I’ll learn something there. Everyone in the play is bound to be talking about Tori’s murder and speculating about who might have done it.”
Hannah turned off the highway and took Main Street to Third. Then she turned the corner and went down the alley to The Cookie Jar parking lot.
“There’s Mike,” Michelle pointed out, although Hannah had already noticed the black and white cruiser parked in the spot next to hers. “Do you think he’s in the kitchen pumping Lisa for information?”
“Maybe. Lisa did take acting lessons from Tori. There’s no way she’s a suspect, but she could provide some background on Tori and everybody else from Lake Eden who took private acting lessons from Tori at her studio.”
“Hurry up, Hannah,” Michelle said, opening her door and getting out the moment Hannah had stopped the truck. “We’d better get in there and rescue Lisa.”
“Rescue?” Hannah asked, dropping the keys in her purse and getting out of the driver’s side.
“That’s right. You know how Mike is when he’s digging for information. If he’s grilling Lisa too much, we can always distract him with a cookie or two.”
“True,” Hannah agreed, heading for the back kitchen door. “It’s a good thing we baked Double Fudge Brownies before we left The Cookie Jar last night. Mike loves those, and he has to stop asking questions if his mouth is full of chocolate.”
CHEESE AND SAUSAGE BREAKFAST BAKE
Preheat oven to 350 F., rack in the middle position.
1 pound breakfast sausage patties (I used Farmer John’s)
8 to 10 slices of bread of your choice (I used white, Michelle uses rye from the bakery near her house just off campus at Macalester.)
Enough salted butter, softened, to cover 8 to 10 slices of bread
8-ounce can mushroom stems and pieces, drained
3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 12 ounces)
6 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half or light cream
2 Tablespoons ( cup, 1 ounce, ¼ stick) salted butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Dijon-style stone ground mustard
½ teaspoon ground paprika
Several dashes of hot sauce (I used Mike’s favorite Slap Ya Mama)
1 cup chopped, fresh parsley
Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray and set it on the counter.
Using a large frying pan, fry the breakfast sausage patties over MEDIUM heat until almost all of the fat is rendered out and the sausage is nice and brown.
Remove the sausage from the pan and place it on paper towels on top of a large plate or platter to soak off any excess fat.
Cut the crusts from the slices of bread and spread one side with the salted butter.
Place the bread slices in the bottom of your prepared cake pan, buttered side up. (If necessary, you can cut them to make them fit.)
Place the breakfast sausage patties on top of the buttered bread in the cake pan. Distribute it as evenly as possible.
If you haven’t already done so, drain the mushroom stems and pieces and pat them dry with a paper towel.
Sprinkle the mushroom stems and pieces on top of the breakfast sausage.
Sprinkle the sharp, grated cheddar cheese over the top of the ingredients in the cake pan as evenly as possible.
Crack the 6 eggs into a medium-sized bowl and beat them until they’re thoroughly mixed.
Add the half-and-half to the bowl with the eggs and mix it in until everything is thoroughly incorporated.
In a separate small bowl, mix the melted butter with the salt, mustard, and paprika.
Add several dashes of hot sauce and mix them in thoroughly.
Stir in the butter, salt, mustard, paprika, and hot sauce mixture into the egg and half-and-half mixture. Stir until everything is thoroughly combined.
Pour the resulting mixture into the baking dish, making sure to cover everything as evenly as possible.
Sprinkle the chopped, fresh parsley over the top of the pan.
Bake, uncovered, for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a table knife inserted one-inch from the midd
le of the cake pan comes out clean and without any milky egg mixture clinging to it.
Remove the cake pan from the oven and set it on a cold stovetop burner or on a wire rack on the counter.
Let your Cheese and Sausage Breakfast Bake cool for at least 10 minutes. Then cut it into pieces, remove them from the cake pan with a metal spatula, and serve them to your guests.
Yield: At least 10 servings of a delicious breakfast dish that your guests will love and ask you to make again and again.
Michelle’s Note: When I make this breakfast dish for my roommates at college, I prepare everything the night before and place it in the cake pan. Then I cover the cake pan with aluminum foil and put it in the refrigerator overnight. Then all I have to do in the morning is preheat the oven and bake it. If you decide to do this and you bake your Cheese and Sausage Breakfast Bake cold, baking time could be increased by as much as 10 or 15 minutes. Be sure to test for doneness before you take it out of the oven.
Hannah’s Note: I’ve made this breakfast bake with ground sausage rather than sausage patties. It works just fine as long as you fry it to reduce the amount of fat.
Andrea’s Note: I made this for Bill on his birthday. Tracey helped me do it. Since I didn’t have any breakfast sausage, we used slices of ham. Bill loved it and it was delicious that way.
Chapter Eleven
“Hannah!” Mike greeted her the moment she and Michelle came in the door. “Just the person I wanted to see.”
Wish I could say the same, Hannah’s mind made a sharp retort, but of course Hannah didn’t voice it. Mike was sitting on his favorite stool at the stainless steel work station, drinking a cup of coffee. “Good morning, Mike,” she greeted him pleasantly. “I see Lisa gave you coffee. Where is she?”
“Lisa had to straighten up in the coffee shop. She said you hadn’t had time to do it after you closed last night and it was a mess. She told me she’d come back as soon as she could, but there were a lot of things she had to do before she’d be ready to open.”
Somehow, Hannah managed to keep the delighted grin off her face. Absolutely nothing needed to be done in the coffee shop and Lisa knew it. They’d straightened up and prepared for opening before they’d left for the night.
Smart move on Lisa’s part! Hannah thought, but again, she said nothing of the sort. She’d compliment Lisa on her quick thinking after Mike had left. Then she’d be able to find out what Mike had asked her.
“How about a couple of Double Fudge Brownies?” she offered.
“Chocolate for breakfast?” Mike asked, looking pleased when Hannah nodded. “Sounds good to me.” He turned to Michelle. “I heard you two went out to the bar at the Lake Eden Inn after we left Hannah’s place last night.”
“Yes,” Michelle replied, giving Hannah one of their silent but communicative sisterly glances that said, I don’t know how you want to play this, so you’d better get me out of it.
Hannah interpreted Michelle’s meaningful look and responded immediately. “That’s right. We were there. Michelle, why don’t you get the brownies out and cut some for Mike? And heat up his coffee a bit, will you?”
Michelle gave Hannah a grateful smile and went off to do as her sister had suggested. When she’d poured more coffee for Mike and given Hannah a cup, she walked to the walk-in cooler to get the brownies. When she came out of the cooler with the brownies and passed behind Mike, she gave Hannah a wink.
“Dick said Ross wasn’t there with you,” Mike continued.
“That’s right. We were only there for a short while and Ross wanted to watch something on the giant flat screen.”
“Wasn’t it a little late for you two girls to go out for a drink?”
“Of course it was, but that’s not why we went out there.” Hannah stopped speaking and did not explain further. Perhaps it was a bit mean, but she knew that not being completely forthcoming about last night’s visit to the Lake Eden Inn would drive Mike crazy. Now Mike would have to dig for the information, and it served him right for waylaying her the moment she’d come in the kitchen door.
Mike looked up as Michelle set a plate of brownies on the worktable. “Those look really good!”
“They are,” Michelle told him. “I cut one a little crooked so of course I had to eat it.”
“Of course you did,” he said with a grin.
Michelle turned to Hannah. “I’ll put the rest of these back in the cooler, Hannah. And then I’ll put on some more coffee. The kitchen pot’s almost empty.”
“Thanks, Michelle.” Hannah watched her sister walk back to the cooler. She had no doubt that Michelle would take her time about putting the brownies away and making another pot of coffee. She waited just long enough for Mike to take a huge bite of his brownie, and then she asked, “So how is the investigation coming along, Mike?”
“Mmmmff,” he said, waving aside her question and indicating that he’d answer her in a moment or two.
“Poor Mother’s still very upset over Tori’s death,” Hannah continued. “I probably should have invited her to join us for dinner last night since Doc had a staff meeting at the hospital, but I just didn’t feel like discussing Tori’s murder and I knew she’d ask you a bunch of questions.”
Mike swallowed and took another sip of coffee, so Hannah went on. “Mother’s going to want to know how you’re doing on the investigation, Mike. What should I tell her?”
“Just. . . . well.... just tell her it’s going as well as possible. How about you, Hannah? Is that why you were out at the Lake Eden Inn last night?”
“No, we went to see Michelle’s friend, Tricia Barthel. She works out there and we wanted to catch her before she was through with her shift.”
“Do you know that Tricia was one of the last people to see Tori alive?”
“Yes, she mentioned something about having an acting lesson at six that night, but that Tori had cut it short. Of course we asked her if she’d seen anyone who might have been going up to Tori’s condo, but she said she hadn’t met anyone on her way out of the Albion.”
“Yes. That’s what she told me. What is Michelle doing here, Hannah? I thought she was going back to college.”
“She did, but she came back to direct the Thanksgiving play.”
Mike looked over at Michelle, who was filling the display cookie jars at the far end of the kitchen. “Do you think she can do it?”
“I’m sure she can. Michelle’s very capable. She can do anything she sets her mind to.”
“And you think she’ll be able to help you investigate Tori’s murder?”
Hannah sighed. All the misdirected talking she’d done hadn’t done any good. Mike had gone straight to his goal.
“Hannah?”
“If Michelle does find out anything, I’m sure she’ll tell me.”
“And will you tell me?”
He’d zeroed in again! There were times when Hannah wished that Mike didn’t have such a one-track mind when it came to solving crimes. “Yes, Mike. I’ll tell you.”
“You’ll tell me right away? Or will you put off telling me until I uncover it myself?”
“I’ll tell you right away,” Hannah said, crossing her fingers under the table in the childish gesture they’d always used to negate a promise.
“Okay, then.” Mike finished his coffee in one swallow, grabbed another brownie, and stood up. “Thanks for the brownies, Hannah. I’d better get back to work . . . unless there’s anything you want to tell me right now?”
“I can’t think of anything,” Hannah said, deliberately steering her thoughts away from the subject of Mayor Bascomb and whether or not he’d gone up to Tori’s condo to confront her about her will.
* * *
Hannah had just taken the last two pans of Citrus Sugar Cookies out of the oven and slipped them onto shelves in the baker’s rack when Michelle came into the kitchen, carrying an empty display jar.
“We need more cookies,” she announced. “I’ll fill this and take it out to Lisa and then I’ll
help you bake. Aunt Nancy came in early, and Marge and Jack are due in an hour, so Lisa said I could stay in the kitchen and help you.”
“That’s good news! I can’t believe how many cookies we went through in the past two hours. Every time I turned around, you were here with a display jar, filling it from the racks.”
“I know. If Lisa gets any better at telling murder stories, you’ll have to hire more kitchen help,” Michelle laughed.
“That or come in two hours earlier,” Hannah said, brushing back a curl that had escaped her baker’s cap.
“That might put a real crimp in your marriage,” Michelle warned. “You’re tired enough as it is. I’d suggest more help.”
“I agree. The way I feel right now, I could use a four-hour nap. And it’s not even noon yet.”
“Sit down and I’ll get you a cup of coffee,” Michelle offered. “You’re going to need some caffeine.”
“Caffeine may not help. I think my get up and go, got up and went.”
Michelle came over to the workstation with two cups of coffee and plunked one down in front of Hannah. “Do you know there’s a County-Western song like that?”
“Like what?”
“My get up and go, got up and went. I can’t remember the name of it, but it has a line like that.”
“That figures.” Hannah took a sip of her coffee. “Did you know that a lot of Country-Western songs that were popular in the fifties and sixties were written by a lady who lived in the country in Minnesota?”