Her sister had jumped into community life with both feet when she moved back, volunteering at the food bank and getting herself (and Mom) on a committee to plan future festivals—a real benefit to the town. She was also a benefit to Sweet Dreams and was doing a great job of promoting the company.
In addition to the festival planning, Mom was writing a new book, a cookbook titled A Chocolate Lover’s Sweet Dream, but that didn’t stop her from coming into the office a couple of times a week to assist Cecily with marketing.
Curled up on the sofa next to Blake, looking around at all the people who meant so much to her and thinking about how they’d all helped one another through a difficult time, Samantha felt almost overwhelmed with gratitude. Waldo would have loved this party, she thought with a smile. Everything worked out, Waldo. You’re off the hook.
Blake gave her a kiss that promised fireworks when they were alone, then went to the kitchen counter where the champagne was sitting to freshen their glasses. That done, he turned and cleared his throat. “While we’re celebrating, I have a very important question to ask Samantha.”
“Like when am I going to pay back the money?” she joked.
He returned to the couch and held out a champagne glass. “Like how about making me a silent partner?” At the bottom of the glass something bright and sparkly winked at her.
“Oh, my gosh, it’s a ring!” Bailey cried.
“I knew you were a match all along,” Cecily crowed.
Samantha was the only one of the sisters who was speechless. She stared at the glass and the diamond in it. Then she stared at Blake. Her company was safe, the future was looking good for Icicle Falls once more, and now the most wonderful man in the world was asking her to marry him. Great-grandma Rose couldn’t have dreamed up anything better than this.
“I know I can never properly appreciate your chocolate, but I sure do appreciate you. Samantha Sterling, I’m crazy in love with you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” She kissed him and everyone applauded.
While she fished out the ring and slipped it on her finger, her mother and sisters circulated among the guests, making sure everyone’s champagne glass was filled.
Once that was accomplished Ed York raised his glass. “A toast. Here’s to a sweet future for both of you.”
“I’ll toast to that,” Blake said, and kissed his bride-to-be.
Samantha closed her eyes and savored the moment. No chocolate could compare to Blake’s kisses. Like Waldo said, did it get any better than this?
With the man she’d chosen, she was sure it would.
* * * * *
Recipes from the Sterlings
If you’re ever in Icicle Falls we hope you’ll come visit Sweet Dreams. Meanwhile, enjoy trying some of our favorite chocolate recipes.
Samantha Sterling
THE CHOCOLATE ROSE WHITE CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE
(Our friend Sheila Roberts tried to make this and failed miserably, but her pal Doreen Geidel came through and saved the day. Doreen, you’re a real chocolatier!)
Yield: 48 candies
Ingredients:
2 14-oz bags of vanilla candy disks,
such as Wilton’s Candy Melts
(one for your ganache filling,
the other for the outside coating)
1 cup heavy cream
½–¾ tsp rose water
(Start conservatively. You can always add more.)
Directions:
For ganache, put one bag of candy disks in a large, shallow dish. Bring cream slowly to a light boil, then pour over disks and keep stirring until they all melt. When the ganache is warm, it is very creamy. You can thicken it by whisking it and then putting it in the refrigerator. This may take a couple of hours, which gives you time to go do something else (like read a Sheila Roberts book).
After your ganache is cooled and firm, form it into small, candy-size balls. Place them on parchment or wax paper. Melt the second bag of disks in a double boiler, then dip each ball in the melted white chocolate. Once they’ve set, store them in a cool place.
BAILEY’S CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE TRIFLE
Serves 8
Ingredients:
1 regular size (10.75 oz) frozen pound cake
such as Sara Lee
½ cup raspberry liqueur (Although you can also make this without the liqueur and it will taste great.)
1 cup raspberry jam
1 package instant white-chocolate pudding mix
2 cups whole milk
1 pint fresh raspberries
½ pint heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp sugar (Optional—use this if you like your whipped cream sweetened.)
1 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate truffles
Directions:
Cut pound cake into slices, then cut the slices into thirds. Line the bottom of a trifle bowl (or any large cut-glass bowl) with half the slices. Sprinkle with half the liqueur. Next spread on half the jam. Mix the pudding and milk until thick and layer half of that over the jam. Add half the raspberries and half the cut-up truffles. Repeat the process, using what’s left of the ingredients. Add vanilla and sugar to the cream and whip it until stiff, then frost the top of the trifle.
ICICLE FALLS MOOSE MUNCH
(This one is courtesy of our friend Dee Dee Giordano.)
Yield: anywhere from 24 to 36, depending on what size you make them
Ingredients:
2 cups Cap’n Crunch peanut butter cereal
2 cups broken pretzel sticks
2 cups roasted peanuts
1 bag of vanilla or chocolate candy disks such as Wilton’s Candy Melts
Directions:
Mix the first three ingredients together. Then melt the disks in the microwave until completely melted. Pour over the mixed ingredients. Working fast, so the chocolate doesn’t set up, drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. If the chocolate sets before you can spoon them all out microwave for several seconds to reheat chocolate and continue spooning.
WHITE LAVENDER FUDGE
Yield: 9 to a dozen (You can make more or less, depending on how big you want your pieces of fudge.)
Ingredients:
2 cups granulated cane sugar
1 cup half-and-half
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
¾ tsp lavender (You can add more but try this
small amount first. Like rose water,
lavender is powerful stuff!)
Directions:
Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. (This prevents grains of sugar from clinging to the sides of the pan and forming unwanted crystals when the fudge starts to bubble.) In it combine the sugar, half-and-half, corn syrup and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Then cook to soft-ball stage. Immediately remove from heat and cool to lukewarm without stirring. Then add butter and lavender and beat vigorously until mixture becomes very thick and starts to lose its gloss. (Good exercise!) Spread in a buttered 9 x 5 x 3 (or 9 x 9) inch pan. Score into squares while warm. Cut when cool and firm. Store in a cool place. (If you can keep it long enough to store. Good luck with that!)
Note: If you cook this for too long and too high you will wind up with caramels—not a bad thing, either, but we thought we should warn you.
To extend the life of your fudge you can store it in the refrigerator. Line an airtight container
with wax paper and put wax paper between the layers of fudge so the pieces won’t stick to the container or one another. You should be able to store it for up to three weeks this way. Before serving allow it to remain in the container until it returns to room temperature.
BEAR DROPPINGS
(This is courtesy of our friend Carol Hostetter.)
Yield: 24
Ingredients:
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 Tbsp shortening
½ cup raisins
½ cup slivered almonds
(You can substitute walnuts if you wish.)
Directions:
In a double boiler over simmering water, melt the chocolate chips and shortening, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat; stir in raisins and almonds. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper. Chill until ready to serve.
Introduction
Christmas. As the song says, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, and one the women of Icicle Falls always look forward to. Their small town may not have a ball to drop on New Year’s Eve as New York City does, but in the town square they have a giant tree that they light every weekend in December for the tourists. And they’ll be able to enjoy holiday concerts, winter bonfires, skating in the little ice rink, cross-country skiing and sleigh rides. And you can bet there’ll be plenty of Sweet Dreams chocolates on hand. To top it all off, this Christmas Cass Wilkes’s daughter Danielle is getting married. It should be the perfect holiday, right?
Wrong. Cass’s ex and his family are coming to town for the wedding and, with every B and B in town booked, it looks as if her former husband and his trophy bride will be staying with her, making her life miserable.
Cass isn’t the only one Santa’s presenting with a white elephant gift this year. Her friend Charley, who owns Zelda’s restaurant, is about to come face-to-face with the ghost of Christmas past, the man who left her for one of her employees and has now returned with a disturbing proposal. Their friend Ella Swan will find it hard to keep her mind on decking the halls when she’s sharing the house with her gorgeous ex while they wait for it to sell. Santa sure has a sick sense of humor.
Enjoy this first chapter of MERRY EX-MAS and get ready to help Cass plan a wedding, save Charley from the ghost of Christmas past and give Ella romantic advice. They’re going to need all the help they can get!
MERRY EX-MAS is coming in November.
Chapter One
Once in a while, if a woman is really lucky, the perfect day she envisioned turns out to be just that. This was going to be one of those days, Cass Wilkes thought as she set the platter of carved turkey on her dining table.
She surveyed her handiwork with a smile. Everything was “Martha Stewart lovely,” from the china and crystal to the Thanksgiving centerpiece she’d bought at Lupine Floral, and her old Victorian was filled with the aroma of herbs and spices. The dining-room window framed a greeting-card-worthy winter scene: her front lawn with its trees and shrubs draped in frosty white and the snow-capped mountains looming beyond.
The snow had done what good snow should do; it had stopped in plenty of time for road crews to clear the way for travelers. Unlike this time last year, the town of Icicle Falls was humming with visitors looking for a holiday getaway. Good for business, especially when you owned a bakery. This weekend, gingerbread boys and girls would march out the door of Gingerbread Haus in droves and money would march right into Cass’s bank account—a good thing, since she suspected she was going to have a wedding to pay for in a year or so.
A whoop of male excitement came from the living room, followed by cheers. The football game on TV was nearing its end and obviously the favored team had scored a touchdown.
“Okay, that’s everything from the kitchen,” said Dot Morrison, Cass’s mentor and former boss, as she placed on the table a serving bowl heaped with stuffing, along with another full of mashed potatoes. Normally Dot would have been celebrating with her daughter, but Tilda was on patrol, keeping Icicle Falls safe from…who knew? Their town wasn’t exactly a hotbed of crime.
Dot had dressed for the occasion, wearing jeans and a white sweatshirt decorated with a turkey holding a sign that said, “Think outside the box. Serve ham.” Dot, owner of the Breakfast Haus, had encouraged Cass to think outside the box years ago, even lent her money to start her bakery. Cass owed her Thanksgiving dinners for life.
“Get those clowns in here,” Dot said. “There’s nothing worse than cold food.”
Cass could think of a few things—taxes, yeast infections, exes.
Oh, no, she wasn’t going to ruin a perfectly good holiday with even a hint of a thought about her ex-husband. That man, that self-centered, undeserving rat who’d tried to lure the kids away this weekend with a trip to Vail, who… No, no. No thoughts about Mason. It was Thanksgiving, after all, a time to count her blessings.
Three of those blessings were sitting out there in the living room—her kids, Danielle, Willie and Amber. Dani’s boyfriend, Mike, was there, too, tucked beside her in an overstuffed easy chair built for one and perfect for lovers.
Twenty-year-old Dani was Cass’s oldest and her right-hand woman at the bakery. She’d inherited Cass’s passion for creating in the kitchen, and after a year of community college had opted to work full-time at the bakery. “I can learn more from you than I can from any college professor,” she’d told Cass. When it came to baking, well, what could Cass say? Dani was right.
Amber, fifteen going on twenty, sat curled up on one end of the worn leather couch, texting. A few months earlier she’d been adding to Cass’s gray-hair collection, hanging out with the kind of kids no mother wanted her child to be with or, worse, become. Thank God (and possibly Cass’s pal Samantha Sterling) Amber had changed direction and found some new and improved friends.
Willie, Cass’s high school jock, was sprawled on the floor, holding the favored stuffed animal of high school boys everywhere—a football. The only trouble she had with Willie was keeping him full. The boy was a two-legged locust.
Then there was her younger brother, Drew, who’d come over from Seattle. Recently divorced (was this tendency toward divorce something in their genes?), he’d been more than happy to spend the weekend. He’d never had kids of his own, so she’d shared. He’d made a great uncle and a better father figure than her ex. No, no, no. Not giving him so much as a thought today.
Cass stood in the archway like a lady butler and announced, “Dinner, guys.”
Of course, no one was listening. Another touchdown happened in TV Land. “Yay!” whooped Mike.
“My team sucks,” Willie muttered, giving his football an irritable bounce.
“My dinner’s going to suck if you don’t get out here and eat it right now,” Cass warned.
“The game’s as good as over anyway,” Mike said, demonstrating good boyfriend etiquette. He stood, pulling Dani up with him. He was a big boy, a former football star and her son’s new hero. Mike was currently employed at the local hardware store, which, as far as Cass was concerned, was perfect. Once he popped the question, he and Dani would get married and live in Icicle falls, near family and friends, a win-win for everyone.
“You’re right,” Drew agreed. He shut off the TV and led the parade to the dining-room table.
Unlike Cass, who only had to look at a cookie to gain five pounds, Drew was tall and reedy, and well-dressed. Her brother had always been a better dresser. And better-look
ing. But he couldn’t cook, and when he came to town he was her best customer. He was also her best friend and her biggest fan.
The only ones missing as everyone settled around the table were Cass’s mother and stepfather, who were with his family in Florida. But Mom and Fred planned to come out for Christmas, and if Cass had to choose she’d rather have her mother with them for that holiday.
Drew reached for the turkey and Cass rapped his hand with a serving spoon. “Grace first, you heathen.”
Willie snickered, which earned him the privilege of offering thanks. He barely had amen out of his mouth before he was into the dressing, piling it high on his plate.
Any other day she’d remind him that other people might actually want some, too, but not today. Thanksgiving was for feasting and she’d made plenty. Besides, she planned on taking an extra serving herself.
For a while conversation consisted of comments like, “Pass the rolls,” and “Where’d the olives end up?” As plates and then stomachs filled, new topics arose: whose fantasy football team was going to win, how well Cass and Dani’s new gingerbread necklaces were selling, Dot’s upcoming bunion surgery.
Then it was time for pie. In spite of how crazy-busy Cass had been with work, she’d managed to bake pumpkin, pecan and her brother’s favorite, wild huckleberry. “This will be enough for me,” he joked, grabbing the whole pie.
With dessert came another tradition, one Cass had started when the kids were small.
“Okay,” she said, “it’s gratitude time. Who wants to start?”
Gratitude. Sometimes the challenge to be grateful had been as big as the word. Often she’d been a world-class hypocrite, encouraging her children to look on the bright side while she indulged in resentment.
Sweet Dreams on Center Street Page 33
