Later in the day our phone would not stop ringing. Someone (ahem . . . Lizzie) had videotaped the performance and loaded it on social media; Liliana’s performance of “Amazing Grace” had gone viral as “Holy Moment, Holy Voice.” Wynter Woods Performance Center was trending on Twitter—as was the Autumn Vale Methodist Church Choir and their backup on “Go Tell It on the Mountain”—and Pish had bookings lined up for the year following our construction finish date and beyond. My mother-in-law, Gogi, called to tell me it was all anyone was talking about in town, in the coffee shop and new yoga studio that opened a week before.
I was under no illusions; there was still a lot of work to be done. There were negative Nancies and naysayers aplenty, still. But there was time, and I was determined, and there were good people all around wishing us success.
• • •
The next morning I took a walk in the woods behind our house. Becket followed, and we headed deep into the Fairy Tale Forest. I heard their voices before I saw them, and was smiling as I came into the opening where the stone structure stood, one of the remaining decrepit but amazing structures my father, grandfather and great-uncle had started building for me.
Alcina and Lizzie—together again, the best of friends—were working on a scene. My photographer friend was snapping photos as Alcina, fairy wings in place, long, rippling blonde hair shimmering in waves over her shoulders, and a long white gown from a thrift shop—a dress that may have once been a wedding gown—dragging on the forest floor, as she built a tiny scene of toadstools and acorns and mouse figurines at the base of the cobblestone structure. Alcina was now fifteen, but I hoped she would never grow out of her fairy wings and gnome homes.
Becket crept up to them and dashed forward, stealing one of the fuzzy mousies and taking off into the woods, Alcina racing after him, her laughter floating back over her shoulder. Lizzie turned and looked at me, a radiant smile on her face. “She’s back,” she said, glowing with joy. “My friend is back.”
I smiled. “Go find them. When you’re done, come back to my place for lunch and show me your photos.”
I left them and returned home, grateful that the eighteen- and fifteen-year-olds still felt able to play in the woods, their childlike wonder intact after all they had seen and learned. I had been reminded that the sense of play and fun is resilient and, in the best people, cannot be vanquished by the evil men and women do. Jim Henson once said that the most sophisticated people he knew were still children inside, and who could argue with the man who created Kermit and Miss Piggy?
Not I.
Recipes
Cheese-Stuffed Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Thighs
These are delectable and company-worthy. They are a little tedious and finicky, but you can prepare them ahead of time, then put them in a container in the fridge until they need to go into the oven.
¾–1 cup shredded cheddar
¼ cup parmesan
Pinch of Old Bay or your favorite seasoning blend
1 cup cream cheese
3 green onions
12 boneless skinless chicken thighs
12 – 24 slices of thin-sliced bacon (depending on how ‘wrapped’ you want these!)
Mix the shredded cheddar with the parmesan, tossing it lightly . . . this keeps the shredded cheese from clumping. Then blend well the seasoning, cream cheese, shredded cheddar and parmesan mix, and finely chopped green onions in a bowl. Set the cheese mixture aside; I would cover it and put it in the fridge while you do the next step, since the cheese handles better chilled.
Using the flat side of a meat tenderizing hammer, open out and flatten the thighs, being careful not to tear them up too much.
Scoop a good-sized dollop of the cheese mixture and put it in the center of the inside of the thigh, then wrap the thigh around it, tucking in any bits and pieces of the thigh meat.
The bacon wrapping is highly individual. I like these bundles nice and neat, so I wrap a half piece of bacon around the thigh end to end, and then use another full piece of bacon to spiral-wrap the whole thigh. I use super-thin bacon for two reasons: it stretches slightly, so like a good pair of tights it keeps everything snug and eliminates bulging (Spanx of the meat world, I salute you!), and it crisps up well.
These, once done, can be put in the fridge until dinner.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes, or until done. Add a minute or two extra to the time if you are baking them from the fridge. If the bacon isn’t crisp enough, stick them under the broiler, but watch them carefully!
These are even good heated up the next day for lunch, with a salad!
Merry’s Mandarin Orange Cranberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
Have you ever had a Terry’s Chocolate Orange? I don’t know if you can get them here, but a British friend of my grandmother’s used to bring them back in her suitcase when she visited “over ’ome,” as she called England still, after forty years in the States. They are a milk chocolate treat in the shape of an orange and with orange flavoring, and you whack it on the table to break the “orange” segments apart! These treats were the inspiration for the flavor combination of chocolate and orange.
Makes 12 Muffins
1 10-ounce tin mandarin orange segments, diced, liquid reserved!
½ cup sweetened dried cranberries
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
2½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon spice blend (mixed spices: cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg) OR ¼ teaspoon each cinnamon and nutmeg. *Note: next time I make these I may boost the spice blend to a whole scant or level teaspoon to get more of the spice flavor!
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 egg
¾ cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 400°F. These are very moist muffins; I did use muffin liners, but if you do so, the muffins must cool completely before serving or they stick to the liners. Alternately, you can spray a muffin tin with oil and flour lightly.
Drain the mandarin segments and set them aside. Heat the nectar from the mandarins in a microwave-safe bowl—not boiling, just fifteen or twenty seconds on high will do. Soak the dried cranberries in the warmed nectar for about fifteen minutes (or as long as it takes to put together the rest of the recipe!) to plump them.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices together. Toss the cup of chocolate chips in with the flour mix.
Dice peeled orange segments.
Beat the egg, milk and vegetable oil together.
Add to the dry and stir just until combined.
Fold in the diced orange pieces and the plumped cranberries, discarding the liquid. (Pish says the liquid, strained, might make a good simple syrup–type sweetener for a cocktail!)
Pour batter into prepared muffin tins and bake for about 23–25 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check at 23 minutes . . . ovens vary so much!
Remove muffins from muffin tin and allow to cool before serving.
Serve with butter, jam, or orange cranberry conserve!
Books by Victoria Hamilton
A Gentlewoman’s Guide to Murder
Vintage Kitchen Mysteries
A Deadly Grind
Bowled Over
Freezer I’ll Shoot
No Mallets Intended
White Colander Crime
Leave It to Cleaver
No Grater Danger
Breaking the Mould
Merry Muffin Mysteries
Bran New Death
Muffin But Murder
Death of an English Muffin
Much Ado About Muffin
Muffin to Fear
Muffin But Trouble
Lady Anne Addison Mysteries
Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark
Revenge of the Barbary Ghost
Curse of the Gypsy
About the Author
Victoria Hamilton is the ps
eudonym of nationally bestselling romance author Donna Lea Simpson. She is the bestselling author of the Lady Anne Addison Mysteries, the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, and the Merry Muffin Mysteries. Her latest adventure in writing is a Regency-set historical mystery series, starting with A Gentlewoman’s Guide to Murder. She is also the bestselling author of Regency and historical romances as Donna Lea Simpson.
Victoria loves to read, especially mystery novels, and enjoys good tea and cheap wine, the company of friends, and has a newfound appreciation for opera. She enjoys crocheting and beading, but a good book can tempt her away from almost anything . . . except writing!
Visit Victoria at www.victoriahamiltonmysteries.com.
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