Wedding Cake Killer (22 page)
Read Wedding Cake Killer Online
Authors: Livia J. Washburn
Tags: #Fiction, #Mystery & Detective, #General
Eve got to her feet and hugged her. “Thank you,” she said, her voice catching a little. She looked around at the others. “Thank you so much, all of you. You never lost faith in me.”
“We certainly didn’t,” Carolyn said.
“And you, Phyllis,” Eve went on. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“She’s had to develop those detective abilities,” Carolyn said, “because it seems like the police around here think she lives in a house full of serial killers!” She pointed at Sam. “They’ll arrest you next. Mark my words!”
Sam grinned and lifted his hands in surrender. “Not me. I’m walkin’ the straight and narrow from here on out!”
* * *
Phyllis wasn’t sure what made her come downstairs late that night, after the house was quiet and dark. She turned the light on in the hall, and in the glow it cast into the living room, she saw Eve sitting and looking out the window.
“Eve . . . ,” Phyllis said as she stepped into the room.
“Go on and live my life,” Eve said quietly. “That’s what Juliette told me to do. But I can’t really do that, can I? Because my life . . . the life I believed I’d lead from now on . . . was going to be with Roy.”
Phyllis knelt beside Eve’s chair. “That wasn’t meant to be,” she said, making her voice as comforting as she could. “It’s not your fault. You were honest and sincere—”
“I loved him, you know.” Eve turned her head to look at Phyllis in the dim light from the hallway. “I really loved him. Even after . . . even after that woman told us the truth about him, about what he did in the past, I might have forgiven him if he’d just . . . stayed with me.”
“I know,” Phyllis whispered. “But that was never what he intended.”
“I know that . . . in my brain. But in my heart . . .”
Phyllis clasped Eve’s hand and leaned her head against her shoulder as Eve began to cry. In the morning, Phyllis thought, Eve would be all right. She would put all this behind her and move on, just as Juliette had told her.
But the scars on her heart would remain. Those scars always did. They might heal over, but they never went away.
The two of them stayed together for a long time into the night.
Recipes
Sweet Bacon Crack
ers
Ingredients
32 Club crackers
8 slices bacon, cut into fourths
Cayenne pepper (optional)
1
/
4
cup brown sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 275°F.
Arrange the crackers in a single layer on a large, ungreased baking sheet. Top each cracker with
1
/
4
slice of bacon, add a light dash of cayenne, and sprinkle brown sugar over all.
Bake for 1 hour, or until bacon is browned and brown sugar is caramelized. Serve warm.
These sweet and spicy bites are better warm than cold, but they reheat easily.
Makes 32.
Nutty Caramel Pretzels
Ingredients
15 ounces mini twist pretzels
4 cups mixed nuts
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1
/
2
cup light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 250°F.
In a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, combine the pretzels and nuts. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Stir together over medium heat until the brown sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture is very thick and reaches the firm-ball stage (260°F on a candy thermometer). Remove from heat, pour over pretzel-nut mixture, and mix.
Bake for 20 minutes, stirring once after 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and spread on parchment paper to cool.
Serves 25–30.
Cheddar Garlic Palmiers
Ingredients
1
1
/
4
cups (3
1
/
2
ounces) finely grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1
/
4
cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 puff pastry sheets (from a 17.3-ounce package), thawed if frozen
Directions
Toss the Cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, minced garlic and garlic salt in a bowl.
Sprinkle
1
/
4
cup cheese mixture onto a work surface. Unfold 1 pastry sheet and place it over the cheese. With a rolling pin, roll the pastry into a 10-inch square. Sprinkle
1
/
2
cup cheese mixture all over the top of the pastry, pressing lightly to adhere. Fold the sides of 2 ends to meet in center. Fold once more, lengthwise, into the center, and press the ends together. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 1 hour (or freeze 15–30 minutes). Repeat with remaining cheese and second sheet of pastry.
While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 400°F with racks in the upper and lower parts of the oven. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Working with 1 piece at a time (keep remaining chilled until ready to use), unwrap the pastry and cut, seam side up, into
1
/
4
-inch-thick slices, arranging them 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. Bake, turning the palmiers over and switching the positions of the pans halfway through, until the pastry is golden and cooked through, 18–22 minutes total. Transfer the palmiers to a rack to cool. Cut and bake the remaining pastry on the cooled baking sheets.
Makes 6–7 dozen.
Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
12 whole fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1
/
4
cup grated Parmesan cheese
1
/
4
teaspoon ground black pepper
1
/
4
teaspoon onion powder
1
/
8
–
1
/
4
teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off the stems. Chop the stems extremely fine, discarding the tough ends.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Saute until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn the garlic. Set aside to cool.
When the garlic-mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in the cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder, and cayenne pepper to taste. The mixture should be very thick. Using a small spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on the prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to appear under the caps.
Makes 12.
Zesty Cheeseball
Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (8-ounce) container Philadelphia Garden Vegetable cream cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1
/
4
cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1
/
2
green bell pepper, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1
/
2
teaspoon hot sauce
1
/
2
teaspoon garlic salt
Directions
In a medium bowl combine the cream cheeses,
3
/
4
cup of the Cheddar cheese, and the pepper jack cheese, green bell pepper, jalapeño pepper, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and garlic salt. Mix together and form the mixture into a ball. Roll the ball in the remaining
1
/
4
cup shredded Cheddar cheese and serve with your favorite crackers.
Serves 20–25.
Mini Curried Turkey Croissant Sandwiches
Ingredients
2 cups cubed cooked turkey
1 medium unpeeled red apple, chopped
3
/
4
cup dried cranberries
1
/
2
cup thinly sliced celery
1
/
4
cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
1
/
2
cup fat-free mayonnaise
1
/
4
cup fat-free yogurt
2 teaspoons lime juice
1
/
2
teaspoon curry powder
12 mini croissants
Lettuce leaves
Directions
In a medium bowl, combine the turkey, apple, cranberries, celery, pecans, and green onions. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, lime juice, and curry powder; add to the turkey mixture and stir to coat. Split croissants, spread on mixture, and top with lettuce leaf. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Makes 12 mini sandwiches.
Blue Punch
Ingredients
Blue Hawaiian Punch
Lemon-lime soda
Pineapple juice
Pineapple sherbet
Directions
Combine equal parts punch, lemon-lime soda, and pineapple juice. Taste and adjust quantities as desired. Add scoops of sherbet (about
1
/
2
gallon per punch bowl). Float an ice ring in the middle if desired.
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Ingredients
2 cups (12 ounces) milk chocolate chips
3
/
4
cup (1
1
/
2
sticks) butter or margarine
1
1
/
2
cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2
1
/
2
cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1
/
2
teaspoon salt
1
1
/
2
cups water
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place 24 cupcake liners in muffin pans.
Melt 1 cup of the chocolate chips and the butter together in a microwave oven or on the range over low heat. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Pour the mixture into a large bowl. Add the sugar and beat with an electric mixer on low until well blended. Beat in the eggs, one at time. Add the vanilla and stir until incorporated. Stir in
1
/
2
cup of the flour and the baking soda and salt; mix well. Add the remaining flour and the water and mix until smooth. Pour the batter into the cupcake liners.
Bake for 3 minutes; then add the remaining cup of chocolate chips, sprinkling the chips evenly on the cupcakes. (This keeps the chocolate chips from dropping to the bottom.) Return to the oven and bake for 18–24 minutes more, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Make sure you don’t stick the toothpick through a chocolate chip. Cool completely before frosting.
Makes 24 cupcakes.