Bound For Murder (30 page)

 

Why not create a special Holiday Scrapbook every year? Gather cards, photos, bits of gift wrap, menus from holiday dinners, and favorite recipes for party treats. And be sure to have family and guests pen a few lines or recall a favored tradition!

If you or someone in your family has a small business that could benefit from a scrapbook, why not create a “commercial scrapbook” just like Carmela does? Florists, caterers, wedding planners, interior designers, landscapers, restaurants, and lots more businesses could benefit from displaying their talents and finished products in a beautifully done scrapbook.

The same papers, press type, stamps, and stencils you use to create scrapbook pages and cards can be used to create special “gift coupons.” Give your husband or special fella a coupon that entitles him to One Free Foot-Rub or a Game Day Snack Extravaganza! Kids love Zoo Day or Pizza Party coupons.

It’s easy to turn ordinary, inexpensive pillar candles into designer candles. To decorate a six-inch pillar candle, cut a two-inch high strip of paper or card stock to wrap completely around it. Gold emboss the edges and stamp designs in the center of the strip. Wrap the strip around the candle and glue the ends together, then tie a gold cord or ribbon around the candle to finish it off. Crinkle paper also looks surprisingly elegant when wrapped around candles and embellished!

You can use your rubber stamps and colored pens to turn ordinary white cubes of note paper into fun desk items. Wrap paper cube with a rubber band to keep paper together, then stamp your favorite motifs on the sides and fill in with colored pens. Four beads hot-glued to the bottom as feet complete your memo cube.

Ever get “creative block” when it comes to designing new scrapbook pages? You can find fresh ideas in all sorts of places. Art books, graphic design books, and fashion magazines all offer fresh takes on typography and layout.

Bon Tiempe’s Bell Peppers Stuffed
With Rice and Shrimp

 

 

Cut tops off bell peppers and clean, then set aside. Sauté shrimp, onion, and garlic in butter until cooked. Add tomato sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. Fold in rice, bay leaves, parsley, egg, and bread crumbs. Gently spoon mixture into peppers and place peppers in baking dish with 1 inch of water in bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

Ava’s Dirty Martini

 

 

Pour vodka, vermouth, and olive juice into a martini shaker half-filled with ice. Shake quickly, then strain into martini glass. Garnish with 2 olives.

 

 

 

Mississippi Mud Cake

 

 

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in cocoa and salt, then sift flower into creamed mixture. Mix well and add vanilla and peanuts. Pour into greased and floured 9” × 13” pan and bake at 300 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately spread marshmallow cream over top of cake. When cake has cooled, cut into squares and place on dessert plates, top with brandy sauce.

 

Brandy Sauce

 

 

Melt butter, then add sugar and egg yolks. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly for 3 to 4 minutes until sugar dissolves and mixture forms a thick sauce. Remove from heat and add cream and brandy, then continue stirring until mixture is creamy.

 

 

 

Carmela’s Big Easy Chocolate Chip
Peanut Butter Cookies

 

 

Melt butter in microwave, then place in mixing bowl with sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter. Mix on medium speed until blended. Add eggs and beat mixture for 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Add the flour, a little at a time, until blended. Add the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips and stir in by hand. Place 1-inch balls of cookie dough on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Yields 4 dozen cookies.

 

 

 

Momma’s Pumpkin Muffins

 

 

Combine pumpkin, vanilla, eggs, oil, and sugar in a bowl, then set aside. Sift flour and combine with baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Combine wet and dry ingredients and beat until batter is smooth. Add raisins. Pour batter into greased muffin tin, filling each cup 2/3 full. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees until lightly browned.

 

 

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

 

 

Combine all ingredients and mix at medium speed until smooth. Frost pumpkin muffins when cool.

 

 

 

Big Eye Louie’s Crawfish Gumbo
(Less adventuresome eaters can substitute crab meat!)

 

Melt butter in sauce pan, then add onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and tomatoes. Simmer gently and stir occasionally until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle flour over mixture and blend well. Gradually add in chicken broth, okra, and parsley. Broil to boil, stirring occasionally, then lower heat and simmer for five minutes. Add crawfish (or crab) and simmer 5 or 6 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

 

 

Ava’s Bubbling Brown Sugar
Hot Chocolate

 

 

Stir chocolate and water in saucepan over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture thickens. Gradually whisk in milk, then add sugar and salt until blended and bubbly. To serve, pour into mugs, reheating in microwave if necessary. Garnish with peppermint sticks or whipped cream. Yields 4 servings.

 

 

 

 

Bon Tiempe’s Sea Bass with Mango Salsa

 

 

MANGO SALSA (Can be prepared one day ahead) Peel and dice 2 ripe mangos. In mixing bowl, combine mango with cilantro, 2 tsp. olive oil, lemon juice, red pepper, and green pepper.

 

SEA BASS

Sear sea bass in 2 tsp. olive oil over high heat until lightly browned. Brush each filet with barbecue sauce and transfer to roasting pan. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes. Carefully transfer sea bass to serving plates and garnish with mango salsa. Yields 4 servings.

“Who knew hobbies could be so dangerous!”

 

Keepsake Crimes
is trademark Laura Childs. Filled with unforgettable characters, edge-of-the-seat suspense, detailed locales, and a strong, sassy heroine.

 

“Laura Childs has created a winner.”

—
Scrapbooking with Rebecca Ludens at
About.com

 

“Keepsake Crimes
is the start to a series that should quickly become as popular as the current scrapbooking craze.”

—
The Mystery Reader

 

“An in-depth murder with great characters . . . scrapbooking tips . . . and New Orleans recipes. It’s great! Bravo!”

 

“Readers are racing to checkout counters with Laura Childs’ books.”

—Sun-Sailor
(Plymouth, MN)

 

“A fun read, filled with all the sights, sounds and flavors of New Orleans and the excitement of Mardi Gras.”

 

“A great new series.”

—
Blether Book Review

 

“Cutting edge.”

 

“Bring on the second (in the series) and hurry!

 

“With scrapbooking references, an intriguing locale, and fun characters,
Keepsake Crimes
is a must for mystery lovers and scrapbookers.”

 

“Well written . . . with enough possible suspects to prevent the audience from guessing who the killer really is.”

On the Booksense Bestseller List and the
Independent Mystery Booksellers Bestseller List

 

“Murder, mayhem, atmosphere, food and scrapbooking . . . what more could you ask for? Author Laura Childs delivers yet another wonderful tale, full of excitement, memorable characters and surprises. The reader is swept into Carmela’s world and hates to leave it. A brilliant follow-up to its predecessor,
Keepsake Crimes.
”

 

“An exciting amateur sleuth mystery starring a heroine who is impossible not to like. She moves at supersonic speed which means a fast plot, plenty of action and a lot of hair-raising adventure.”

 

“A great read . . . characters are not only believable, but feel like old friends by the end of the story.”

 

“Carmela Bertrand is one clever and appealing amateur sleuth.”

 

“For cozy mystery lovers and scrapbookers, this is the perfect combination. The narrative contains many scrapbooking tips and the characters are delightful.”

 

“Full of crafty details that will have fans busily cutting, pasting and preserving while waiting for the next scrapbooking mystery.”

 

Spoleto festival ushers in a two-week explosion of music, art, theater, and dance for Charleston. But during the Heritage Society’s first-ever Poets’ Tea, Roger Crispin, the head of Charleston’s staid auction house Crispin & Weller, ends up a hapless performance art victim!