Wedding Cake Murder Page 7

  16-ounce bag of frozen pearl onions (I used Birds Eye White Pearl Onions)

  two 7-ounce by weight cans of Salsa verde sauce

  diced green chilies (I used one can of Ortega Green Chilies 4-ounces by weight)

  diced jalapenos (I used one can of Ortega Diced Jalapenos 4-ounces by weight)

  Additional Ingredients:

  You will add these ingredients 1 hour before you’re ready to serve your Green Tomatillo Stew.

  1 teaspoon garlic powder

  1 teaspoon onion powder

  two 7-ounce cans mushroom stems and pieces (NOT drained!)

  14-ounce can of green tomatillos (If your store doesn’t carry these, use a 13-ounce can of chopped stewed regular tomatoes instead—it won’t be the same, but it will be tasty)

  two .88-ounce packets of chicken gravy mix (or turkey gravy mix—I used Schilling Chicken Gravy Mix)

  Hannah’s 1st Note: You may notice that there is NO SALT in this recipe. This is not an omission. The gravy packets that are called for in the recipe are very salty. They will usually add enough salt to the recipe. If your family would like more salt, you may add it later, when you adjust the seasonings right before you serve it.

  Place the chopped onions in the bottom of the slow cooker.

  Lay the frozen chicken tenders on top of the onions.

  Sprinkle the frozen pepper strips on top of the chicken.

  Put the celery on top of the pepper strips.

  Place the pearl onions on top of the celery.

  Open the cans of salsa verde sauce and pour them over the pearl onions.

  Open the can of diced green chilies. If there’s any liquid, you can add that to your stew. Then sprinkle the chilies over the top of the salsa verde sauce.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: CAUTION!!! If you use your fingers to sprinkle in the chilies, WASH YOUR HANDS IMMEDIATELY! If you touch your eyes without washing your hands, your eyes will burn and smart from the chilies.

  Cover your slow cooker with the lid, plug it in, and cook it on LOW for at least 8 hours.

  Hannah’s 3rd Note: If you cook on LOW in a slow cooker, the time is not that critical. You’ll need 8 hours of cooking time, but if you don’t get back home for 9 or 10 hours, that’s okay, too.

  When you get home from work, give the contents of the slow cooker a good stir and then add the additional ingredients in this order:

  Sprinkle the garlic powder over the top.

  Sprinkle the onion powder over the top of the garlic powder.

  Stir the contents of the crock again to mix in the ingredients you just added.

  Add the two cans of mushrooms, liquid and all. Stir them in.

  Sprinkle in ONE packet of gravy mix and stir that in. Reserve the 2nd packet of powdered gravy mix for later, if you need it.

  Put the lid on the crockpot, turn it up to HIGH, and let the contents cook for another hour.

  Right before you’re ready to serve, take off the lid of the slow cooker and taste the broth again. If it’s not thick enough, stir in the 2nd packet of powdered gravy mix, put the lid on again, and let it cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.

  Hannah’s 4th Note: Some people like this stew with a dollop of sour cream with fresh salsa on top of the bowl. Have these bowl toppers handy on the table if your family likes them.

  Hannah’s 5 th Note: If you invite Mike Kingston for dinner (or anyone else who likes things very spicy) make sure you have a bottle of Slap Ya Mama Hot Sauce on your table. If your guest is Mike, have a BIG bottle!

  Serve the stew in bowls with a basket of hot crusty bread or Michelle’s Spicy Cheesy Corn Muffins as an accompaniment.

  Yield: 6 to 8 large servings, unless you invite Mike. Then you’d better prepare a second crockpot.

  CHEESY CHILI CORN MUFFINS

  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

  enough packages of corn muffin mix to make 18 muffins (Michelle used 3 packages of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix, the kind that makes 6 to 8 muffins per package—each package weighed 8.5 ounces.)

  2 large eggs, beaten (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)

  14.15 ounce net weight can of creamed corn (Michelle used Libby’s Cream Style Sweet Corn)

  10 and ¾-ounce net weight can of condensed cheddar cheese soup (Michelle used Campbell’s)

  one 4-ounce net weight can of diced green chilies (Michelle used Ortega Diced Green Chilies)

  8 ounces shredded cheese to sprinkle on top of your muffins before baking (Michelle used Kraft Mexican Style Four Cheese mixture of shredded cheeses—if you can’t find that, a mixture of Monterey Jack and Cheddar will do just fine)

  Prepare your muffin pans by spraying the inside of the cups with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or lining them with double cupcake papers. You will need 2 regular-size muffin (cupcake) pans with 12 cups in each, or 2 jumbo muffin pans with 6 cups in each.

  Pour the dry muffin mix into a large mixing bowl.

  Add the beaten eggs, but let them sit on top of the muffin mix.

  Add the creamed corn on top of the eggs, but again, don’t mix it in.

  Add the condensed cheddar cheese soup on top of the creamed corn. Don’t mix quite yet.

  Drain the can of diced green chilies and put them on top of the cheese soup.

  Mix all the ingredients together. Continue to stir until everything is thoroughly incorporated.

  Hannah’s 1st note: There will be some lumps in the muffin batter from the chilies and the corn. That’s perfectly fine. Just make sure there are no dry spots of muffin mix that haven’t been stirred into the batter.

  Using a large spoon, fill the muffin cups three-quarters full.

  Hannah’s 2nd note: If you’re using the jumbo muffin cups, divide the batter equally to fill the 12 large cups. They may be a little more than three-quarters full, but that’s all right. If you’re using the regular-size muffin cups, you may not have enough batter to fill all the cups in both pans three-quarters full. That’s okay. Just take out the cupcake papers in the empty cups so that you can save them for future use.

  Once your batter is in the muffin cups, sprinkle the tops of the cups with shredded cheese. This will melt and turn golden as you bake your Cheesy Chili Corn Muffins.

  Bake the muffins at 375 degrees F. for 25 to 30 minutes if you’re using the regular-size muffin pans, and 30 to 35 minutes if you’re using the jumbo muffin pans.

  When the time is up for the size of muffins you made, test your muffins with a cake tester, long toothpick, or thin wooden skewer by plunging it into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean with no muffin batter clinging to it, your muffins are done. If it still has sticky batter on the tester, toothpick, or skewer, return your pans to the oven for additional 5-minute increments until they test done.

  Remove your muffins from the oven and let them cool in the muffin pans on wire racks or on cold stove burners for at least 10 minutes. Then turn the muffins out of the pans and cool them right side up on wire racks until they feel warm, not hot. Then line a basket with a napkin and place them inside to serve them.

  Serve your muffins with plenty of soft butter. They’re delicious!

  Yield: Approximately 18 regular-size muffins or 12 jumbo muffins.

  Michelle’s Note: Despite the fact that Mike was there the night I first made these, there were two muffins left over. Hannah and I stored them in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator and heated them in the microwave to have for a snack. If there had been more leftover muffins, we would have sealed them in a freezer bag and frozen them to accompany another meal.

  Chapter Seven

  Mike and Lonnie left shortly after Ross and Norman. Once they were gone, Hannah and Michelle cleared the table, rinsed and stacked the dishes in the dishwasher, and tidied up the kitchen. When they were through, Hannah poured a glass of white wine. “Do you want a glass of wine?” she called out to Michelle.

  “No, thanks. I’m going to turn in for the night. I want to get up early and t
ry another recipe. Aunt Nancy gave me an idea today, and we’ll have it for breakfast.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’m not going to tell you because it doesn’t have a name yet. It’s just an idea.”

  “What’s in it?”

  “You’ll find out in the morning. I’m just hoping it’ll work.”

  Hannah smiled as she headed for her customary spot on the couch. The moment she sat down, Moishe jumped down from his perch on the back of the couch and settled in her lap.

  “I thought you’d deserted me,” Hannah said, scratching him behind the ears. “You spent the whole night begging scraps from the guys. If you keep that up, you’ll have to go on a diet again.”

  “Rrrowwww!”

  The yowl was definitely irate. Hannah knew him well enough to recognize the difference between contented and alarmed. He was looking up at her with wide, startled eyes, and Hannah gave him another pet to reassure him. “Just kidding,” she said. “You’re okay. And if you’re not okay now, you will be when I go off to the Food Channel competition and you go to stay with Norman and Cuddles.”

  Hearing the name of Norman’s cat, Moishe’s favorite kitty friend, gave Moishe an expression that Hannah interpreted as a kitty smile. Moishe purred very loudly, and settled back down in her lap. Norman had offered to keep Moishe while she was in New York, even before Hannah had thought to ask him.

  “I think Norman missed you the past couple of weeks,” Hannah said. “What do you think?”

  “Rrrow!”

  “That’s right. I’m glad you agree with me. You get two days to play with Cuddles and both of you can sleep in front of the fireplace in his bedroom.”

  “Rrrow!”

  Hannah smiled. She knew full well that Cuddles and Moishe didn’t sleep in front of the fireplace. They slept on feather pillows in Norman’s bed. Norman had told her that.

  Since Michelle had already gone to bed and Hannah didn’t know how to access the show they’d recorded, she settled for watching the Food Channel live. They were showing a chef Hannah didn’t recognize, and he was preparing shrimp scampi. Hannah watched intently. She’d never made shrimp scampi, and Ross might like it. He’d told her he loved anything with pasta, and he’d raved about how good her Fettuccine Porcini was when she’d made it for him.

  Hannah turned up the volume so that she could hear the chef. She still couldn’t hear the directions, and she turned it up even further. It took her a minute to realize that the reason she had to have the volume so high was because the cat on her lap was purring so loudly.

  She glanced down at Moishe to find that he was staring intently at the screen, ears perked forward and tail twitching in excitement as the chef deveined the jumbo shrimp.

  “So you like this episode, do you, Moishe?”

  Moishe didn’t turn his head to look up at her. He just kept watching the shrimp in the chef’s hand and purring so hard, she could see his ears vibrate.

  “Next we put the cleaned shrimp into the pan on the stovetop,” the chef said, tumbling them in and picking up the sauté pan to shake it. As he did, the camera zoomed in on the prepared pasta and the sauce that was in a separate pan on the stove.

  “Rrrrowww!” Moishe yowled, and Hannah could hear the outrage in his voice. He jumped down from her lap, headed directly to the television set, and leapt to the top of it.

  “Moishe! What are you doing up there?” Hannah asked, not expecting an answer, but Moishe yowled again, this time a yowl that sounded plaintive.

  “Relax. They’ll show the shrimp again,” Hannah told him. “Jump down and you can watch it from my lap.”

  But it seemed that her cat had other ideas, because he inched forward and draped himself over the front of the television set, hanging over with his head and his front legs so that he could look down at the screen.

  Hannah stared at him and then she gave an amused chuckle. She’d seen Moishe do something like that only once before. The incident had taken place several years ago, when her cable company had previewed a new channel for dogs and cats. She’d turned to the channel and left it on to see if it amused Moishe. When she’d come home from work, she’d found him draped over the top of the television set, exactly the way he was now, batting at the screen. The picture on the screen had been a close-up of a large fish tank, and it had been perfectly obvious that Moishe had been trying to catch the fish.

  “Are you going to try to snag one of those shrimp when they show them again?” Hannah asked him. He just lifted his head to look at her, gave her a glance that she was sure meant Don’t bother me, lady! and lowered his head so he could go back to watching the screen again.

  Hannah wished that Ross were here so that she could show him what Moishe was doing, and at that very second, there was a soft knock at her door. She rushed to answer it, pulled open the door, and saw Ross standing there.

  “Come in, but don’t say a word,” she whispered. “Just follow me to the couch and watch Moishe. He’s about to attack the television set.”

  Ross looked every bit as surprised as a man could look, but he did exactly as she asked. He followed her to the couch, sat down quietly, and grinned as he saw Moishe draped over the top.

  The chef on the screen was shaking the sauté pan with the shrimp again. As they watched, all three of them, he picked it up and carried it over to the dish with the pasta. Obviously, he’d combined the sauce with the pasta and tossed it while Hannah had answered the door. Now he was ready to finalize the dish by adding the shrimp to the pasta.

  Moishe leaned over the screen so far, Hannah was afraid that her cat would fall to the floor. But he didn’t, and that made her wonder if the scratches on the top of her television set were from previous shows that had excited him so much, he’d dug in his claws.

  “Watch this,” she whispered and glanced at Ross’s face. He was grinning, and she could feel the couch shaking from his silent laughter.

  When the first shrimp tumbled from the edge of the pan, Moishe gave a yowl and batted at it. The rest of the shrimp followed, and Moishe’s paw moved so fast it looked as if he might punch a hole through the glass.

  “I’ve never seen a cat do that!” Ross said, clearly shocked. “I don’t know why he doesn’t fall. He’s leaning over so far that . . .”

  “Uh-oh!” Hannah exclaimed, watching in fear as Moishe began to slip. She was just jumping up from the couch when it happened. Moishe took a nosedive from the top of the television console, but somehow he managed to twist his body so that he landed on his feet.

  “Moishe! Did you hurt yourself?” Hannah gasped.

  Moishe turned toward her with a startled expression that quickly turned to something she interpreted as nonchalant. Then he began to wash his face as if he’d planned the whole thing to amuse her.

  “I think he’s trying to tell you he’s fine,” Ross commented, pulling her back down on the couch. “And I also think he’s trying to tell you that he’s a little embarrassed by the fall.”

  Moishe glanced up at Ross, gave a welcoming yowl that Hannah thought could have meant, You’re right, but don’t tell her, and began to wash his face again.

  “Looks like I got here just in time,” Ross said, taking Hannah into his arms. “I need to talk to you, Cookie.”

  He sounded serious and Hannah looked up to try to read his expression. “What about?”

  “The Food Channel competition. Why didn’t you call to tell me that they changed the date?”

  Hannah felt a sudden stab of guilt. “I’m sorry, Ross. I should have called you right away. Andrea told me that and she was right. It was just I . . . well . . . it never occurred to me to call you at work.”

  “But didn’t you think I’d want to know?”

  Hannah sighed and admitted defeat. “I didn’t think. That’s the problem. I’m over thirty, Ross, and I’ve never been married. I’ve always been alone, and I guess I’m just used to handling things on my own. It’s a big change, but I really am sorry, and . . .” she stoppe
d as she realized that tears were gathering in her eyes. “I . . . I’ll do better. I promise I will.”

  “Oh, honey!” Ross hugged her tightly. “It’s okay. I know you’ve never been part of a couple and it takes some time to get used to it. Don’t worry. We’re not joined at the hip, or anything like that. The only thing it took was a little arranging.”

  “Arranging?”

  “Yes. I didn’t want to tell you until it was firm, but KCOW is sending me with you to New York. I’m going to film a special about your experience as a contestant in a national baking competition.”

  Hannah was so surprised, she stopped feeling guilty. Instead, she was flabbergasted. “You mean you’re going with Michelle and me?”

  “Not just me. P.K.’s going along, too. He’s their best cameraman, and they want him to get the experience. He told me he met you?”

  “Yes, he did.” Hannah smiled. “He was the night engineer at KCOW then.”

  “He told me. He said he met you during the Hartland Flour Competition and he helped set up some outtakes for you to watch.”

  “Does he still wear a ponytail and an earring?”

  “Not anymore.”

  “I really liked him, Ross. We got to talking and he told me that someday he wanted to direct.”

  “He still does. He also wants to make independent films, and I’m training him. That’s why I’m taking him along with us to New York. He’ll be my second cameraman, but he’ll also be learning about producing independent segments.”

  “That’s just wonderful! I’m so glad you’ll be with me in New York, Ross. I didn’t like the thought of leaving you right before the wedding.”

  Ross gave her a quick kiss. “Were you worried that I’d get cold feet?”

  “No, it’s not that. I just knew I’d be lonely without you.”

  Hannah’s answer generated another, much longer kiss. Hannah was just wishing that they were already married and Ross could stay when she heard footsteps coming down the hallway.