Buried in Books
Page 23
“Oh, she’s a doll. Feisty with a heart of gold. I don’t look forward to losing her anytime soon.”
“I don’t blame you.”
We talked for a few more minutes and then I hung up. I really hoped that Gus would make her happy. She deserved it after all those years of suffering at the hands of Sara and Rod Martin.
Sitting back on the couch, I watched Robin pick up the platter of leftover slices of Beef Wellington—which Derek had insisted on serving at our wedding dinner. I had gleefully agreed. We served it with a yummy Swiss cheese sauce but Robin had also found a spicy mustard in our refrigerator and spooned some of it into a small bowl. She strolled around the room offering it to our guests. We also had some of our vegetarian selection left over—cauliflower steak with a savory sesame-ginger dip—so Savannah and Daphne and her children were happy. We had six more huge platters of leftover wedding hors d’oeuvres and side dishes, so I was anxious to get rid of everything before we left for Paris. And I knew I could count on my family to do the job.
“You were very brave, Brooklyn,” Daphne said, swirling her wineglass. “If you ever want a job hunting down cyber spies, please call me.”
My eyes widened and I shot a glance at Derek, who just chuckled at the idea.
“Is that what you do?” I asked, dying of curiosity about the woman.
“Among other things,” Daphne said with a light shrug. “Mostly I’m a mom.”
I had to laugh. Not that being a mom wasn’t awesome, but Daphne had said that very thing when I first met her. Now I was pretty sure it was a vast understatement of what her life truly entailed.
She gave me a wink, then set her wineglass down on the coffee table and reached for Charlie to snuggle for a moment. “I need this kitty.”
“She’s a sweetheart,” I said.
“Indeed she is.” Charlie seemed happy to oblige her and purred contentedly.
“Hunting down cyber spies sounds super exciting,” I said. “But I suppose I’m a bookbinder down to my soul. Thanks, though.”
“The world should be grateful for that,” Douglas said. “You have a real gift, Brooklyn.”
“Oh, thank you, Douglas. But how . . .”
“Ian gave us a tour of your work on exhibit yesterday,” Daphne said. “You are a true artist.”
“Wow, I didn’t know that Ian was doing that.”
She smiled. “I believe he’d had several glasses of champagne before we were able to coax him into it.”
I laughed. “He probably would’ve done it stone-cold sober because he’s very proud of the Covington collection. You couldn’t have asked for a more expert guide.”
“I’m craving a Twisted Honey right about now,” London admitted. “God, those were good.”
“I’ll be happy to make a pitcher,” Derek said jovially.
I stood and rounded the room to make sure everyone was eating and drinking enough. I stopped at the kitchen island, where Dad was doing an impromptu wine tasting with Derek’s father and two of his brothers, plus Douglas’s wife, Delia, and my sister China. Robin joined us, still carrying the platter of Beef Wellington slices, and the wine-tasting group jumped on it.
I smiled as Dad took the opportunity to turn the moment into a wine pairing mini-lecture.
“What about that FBI guy?” Robin asked. “What was he doing there?”
Derek took that one. “Inspector Lee talked to him and got the whole story. He admitted that he’d been hired by Sara’s college to investigate all of the stolen books. It turns out that they had lost over five hundred thousand dollars’ worth of rare books in the last three years.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah,” I added. “And Rod was perfectly willing to blame all of it on Sara.”
“Well, she did the work,” Robin said.
“I know. But he was such a skeevy jerk, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he had somehow forced her into it.” I thought about that for a long moment and finally had to face facts. Yes, Sara had given me The Three Musketeers in the first place in order to one-up Heather. But it was becoming more and more apparent that she had also wanted to stick it to Rod. I hoped that was true, anyway, because I wanted my memories of Sara to include at least a few redeeming qualities. Now I had to wonder if maybe Sara had been a bit of a grifter herself.
“Skeevy,” Robin repeated. “Is that really a word?”
“It should be, don’t you think?” I took a sip of champagne and leaned into Derek. My husband.
She nodded. “I like it.”
Derek stood and raised his glass. “I would like to propose a toast.”
“This makes number three hundred and twelve,” Dylan said, chuckling.
“We did have quite a few toasts last night,” Derek admitted, grinning. “So here’s one more.” He gazed at me. “To the love of my life. May we always have interesting times together.”
“Is that a toast or a curse?” Douglas wondered out loud.
I laughed. “I was thinking the same thing. But I’ll certainly toast to that.”
“My life since I met you,” Derek said, gazing into my eyes, “has been an adventure that I wouldn’t have missed for anything. I look forward to another fifty years of it.”
My eyes filled with tears and this time I let them fall. “Our adventure is just beginning, Derek.” I raised my glass and looked up at him. “I love you forever.”
“And I love you more.” He took a sip, then added with a wink, “But, darling, let’s try to avoid running into any dead bodies while we’re in Paris, shall we?”
Recipes
These recipes are just a few of the delectible items served at Brooklyn and Derek’s wedding! Now it’s a well-known fact that Brooklyn can barely cook an egg, so she requested that we make these recipes easy to follow with ingredients that can be found at the local supermarket. Brooklyn shyly admits that she dreams of someday preparing these recipes herself. Her sister Savannah, the professional chef in the family, finds this idea hysterically funny (and frankly, so do we). But since it’s all about Brooklyn, we will comply with her wishes. We hope you’ll find them easy to prepare. And Brooklyn hopes you’ll enjoy them!
TWISTED HONEY
BROOKLYN AND DEREK’S SIGNATURE COCKTAIL
1 oz. VSOP cognac (Derek uses Camus, but any good cognac or brandy will do)
½ oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
½ oz. honey syrup (combine equal parts honey and water, both at room temperature)
½ oz. Cointreau (or other fine orange liqueur)
Lemon twist for garnish
Combine first four ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Dip rim of martini glass lightly in lemon juice and then fine white sugar. Garnish with a generous lemon twist.
STUFFED MUSHROOM CAPS
APPETIZER
8 oz. mushrooms, stems removed
5 oz. Boursin garlic & fine herbs cheese
¼ cup bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Discard the mushroom stems. Stuff each mushroom cap with cheese. Mix together bread crumbs and melted butter, then sprinkle over the mushroom caps. Roast until brown, 20-25 minutes.
BEEF WELLINGTON WITH SWISS CHEESE SAUCE
Main Dish for the Meat Eaters
1 3-lb. beef tenderloin
Garlic salt and black pepper
8 oz. mushrooms, diced
2 medium shallots, diced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. steak sauce, such as A1
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but still cold
4 thin slices Swiss cheese
1 egg, whisked with 1 Tbsp. water
Liberally sprinkle the tenderloin with garlic salt and black pepper. Broil 5-7 minutes (until well browned), then
turn and broil the other side for 5-7 minutes until browned. Chill in the refrigerator until cool to the touch.
Sauté the mushrooms and shallots in olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds longer. Remove from heat and stir in steak sauce.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Unfold the sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Roll just enough so that it will completely wrap around the tenderloin. Put mushroom mixture along the center of the puff pastry in a rectangle the length and width of the tenderloin. Cover the mushroom mixture with thin slices of Swiss cheese, then put the beef on top. Wrap the puff pastry around everything, pinching to close. If you have extra puff pastry after wrapping the tenderloin, you can cut out leaves or other decorations. Affix the decorations to the puff pastry with egg wash, then brush the egg wash over the whole thing.
Place seam side down in a roasting pan. Roast 45 minutes to an hour. Check halfway through, and if the puff pastry is looking too brown, tent loosely with aluminum foil. When the meat in the center reaches 135 degrees, remove from oven and allow to sit while you make the Swiss cheese sauce.
SWISS CHEESE SAUCE
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
8 oz. Swiss cheese (or whatever’s left after the 4 thin slices are cut), shredded
Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add flour a little at a time and stir thoroughly. Then add the milk just a little at a time, stirring until incorporated each time. Once all of the milk has been added, heat to a simmer, stirring frequently, and simmer until thickened. Stir in the shredded cheese a little at a time.
CAULIFLOWER STEAK WITH SESAME-GINGER DIP
Main Dish for the Vegetarians
1 head cauliflower, cut into 1-inch thick slices
½ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the cauliflower. If florets fall off, it’s fine. Just try to keep the chunks 1-inch thick as much as possible. Mix together the olive oil and lemon juice and brush all over both sides of the cauliflower. Roast 15 minutes, flip, and roast another 15 minutes. The outside will get nice and crispy, and the inside soft.
SESAME-GINGER DIP
¼ cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
Put all ingredients in a food processor and combine. Serve in small bowls alongside the cauliflower.
About the Author
Kate Carlisle is the New York Times bestselling author of the Bibliophile Mysteries, including Once Upon a Spine and Books of a Feather, as well as the Fixer-Upper Mysteries, including Eaves of Destruction and Deck the Hallways.
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