Murder on the Great lake Read online

  “Sure. Why?”

  “Oh, nothing. You just seem upset or something.”

  The women locked eyes with each other for a moment before Colleen revealed a more convincing grin.

  “Don’t worry about me, sweetie. It’s just been a long day, and Bobby can be very demanding. Actually—speaking of Bobby—I must go.”

  Ashley watched Colleen take off, only to stop and linger by the banquet hall door. Moments later, the lights brightened, signaling the end of the speech. Heads immediately turned to the dessert table, like sharks smelling blood. A crowd formed around the croquembouche, some taking pictures of Ashley’s masterpiece.

  She didn’t mind the food photography phenomenon. Patty always said that cuisine’s fleeting nature was what made it such a beautiful art; after painstakingly placing carnation petals and clover blossoms between the spun caramel, Ashley liked knowing that her work would be immortalized before disappearing down those rich gullets forever.

  CHAPTER 2

  The next day, Ashley pulled in to the back entrance of the Gulf Coast Women’s Club, mentally replaying the highlights of their biggest catering job yet. Her only regret was that she had not seen Ryan again after she tripped over herself and hid in the bathroom; she found herself wishing she could have told him about some of the hilarious kitchen bloopers of the night. The dessert spread had been such a hit that she’d been too distracted with all the compliments to clean up properly, accidentally leaving behind a few baking trays.

  She made her way into the kitchen and grabbed the trays. The kitchen door swung open, startling her. All the pans fell out of her grasp and clattered on the floor.

  “Ashley? What’re you doing here?”

  It was Sheriff Mueller, staring at her with a look of apprehension. Seagrass had always been such a peaceful town, so the odd time something did happen, it could be seen on Old Man Mueller’s face. Also, the fact that he wasn’t at the diner drinking coffee and brushing breakfast crumbs from his grey stubble, like every other morning, meant that something really bad had happened.

  “I’m getting my pans. What’s wrong?”

  His eyebrows scrunched together, wrinkling his forehead even more.

  “You were here for the event last night, and you cooked the food?”

  She nodded. “The desserts.”

  “Why don’t you come out here with me?”

  His tone was serious, but Ashley had always found a southern drawl comforting. She felt that if you had to get bad news, at least it sounded better blanketed with an accent.

  A crowd of Seagrass’s small police force was gathered in front of the side hallway, which was blocked off with caution tape.

  “We’re waitin’ for the state police to get here for forensics,” Mueller offered, taking a notebook from his pocket. “Would you mind answering a few questions?”

  “Uh, what’s this about?” She crossed her arms, wishing that she hadn’t thrown on sweatpants and a Texans jersey.

  He sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder.

  “Colleen Abramson fell ill at the dinner last night. Someone found her in the bathroom this morning—deceased.”

  Her mind raced with questions. “Colleen? Dead? I just saw her. Talked with her. I stood right in front of her. How could she suddenly be dead?”

  “We don’t know much yet. Bobby says she grew ill near the end of the night and left to go to the bathroom. There was a miscommunication, and everyone at her table assumed that someone else had seen her home.”

  “They just left her there?” Ashley’s hand rose to her forehead, “and no one found her till morning?”

  “I know. Bobby feels terrible,” the sheriff said, “but by all accounts, it seems it was an honest mistake.”

  She felt guilty about her harsh tone, knowing that Mr. McCay would be a million times harder on himself. Her eyes were welling with tears.

  “I know this is hard, but there’s some things I need to ask you.” Mueller hesitated. “Please understand, I’ve gotta ask these questions. It’s my job.”

  Ashley wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “Okay.”

  “Now, by all accounts, Colleen was a healthy young lady, but who knows, it coulda been a heart attack or something.” He placed his hand on her shoulder again. “Still, I gotta ask. You made the dessert, right?”

  “What?” Ashley was confused by the question. What did she have to do with any of this?

  Mueller grimaced. “They said all Colleen had to eat was dessert. And then—well, she got sick. I need to know what ingredients were in the cream puffs, and you need to confirm that you used proper food safety protocol to make them.”

  “What kind of question is that?” She could feel the heat rising up her chest into her neck. “Of course I did. I am trained by a world-renowned chef, you know. She’s the best in the business.”

  She knew that it wasn’t Mueller’s fault, yet she couldn’t help raising her voice. It didn’t matter how good the food was; any murmurs of a sick guest could cripple a catering business, not to mention a baker’s reputation. She took a deep breath.

  “What I mean—what I mean is that my food safety standards are among the highest you’ll find.”

  “Even so,” said Mueller, “I just need to get this information in order to rule it out.”

  Ashley rattled off the recipe from memory. “Flour, eggs, butter, sugar—” You couldn’t get any more basic than the standard pastry and cream filling recipe. The decorative flowers came from an organic grower, free of all pesticides and herbicides, and double washed with her own hands. It couldn’t be her fault, could it?

  “Did anyone else get sick? If it was only Colleen, it must have been something she’d had before.”

  “Darlin’, I know, but we’ve got to rule out something contaminating the portion Colleen ate,” Mueller said.

  “Poisoning. You’re talking about straight-up poisoning someone,” Ashley said. “I don’t make those kinds of mistakes, especially not with a partner like Patty, who’s always gone above and beyond food safety standards.”

  If you enjoyed this preview of Cream Puff Murder, check your local ebook retailer where it is free right now.

  Recipe: Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting - gluten free, dairy free, soy free

  You will need: Two cake pans, 8 inch round by 2 inches deep and Pastry Star Tip (I use Kaiser 45-9)

  Cake

  1 cup potato starch (I use Bob's Red Mill flours)

  1 1/2 cup white rice flour

  1 cup sorghum flour

  1/2 cup tapioca starch

  2 teaspoons baking soda

  2 teaspoons kosher salt

  1 1/2 cups organic evaporated cane sugar

  8 ounces Earth balance Soy Free Spread, room temperature PLUS extra for greasing cake pans

  1/2 cup organic light brown sugar, packed

  3 organic large eggs

  1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use Nielsen Massey)

  2 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 6 bananas)

  1 cup vegan sour cream ( I use Way Fare)

  1 10 oz bag gf/df/sf chocolate chips (I use Enjoy brand)

  Frosting

  1 3/4 cups organic creamy peanut butter

  1 1/2 cups organic powdered sugar

  7 oz Earth Balance Soy Free Spread, room temperature (leave out for an hour)

  2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  Extra Chocolate Chips for decoration, optional

  Preparation

  Preheat Oven Temperature to 350 degrees F

  For the Cake:

  Line the bottom of the round cake pans with parchment paper (I use precut ones sold at baking stores), grease cake pans, also under parchment paper. Set aside.

  In a medium bowl, whisk flours, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

  Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium high speed, beat sugar, Earth balance, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

  Add eggs on
e at a time, beating to blend after each egg, then add vanilla.

  Add dry ingredients.

  Mix on low speed, just to blend.

  Add mashed bananas and sour cream; mix until just blended.

  Fold in chocolate chips.

  Divide the batter evenly among the two cake pans. Smooth tops.

  Bake cakes for 35-45 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

  Transfer to wire racks.

  Let it cool in the pans for 15-30 minutes.

  Invert cakes onto the wire racks; peel off parchment paper and let it cool completely, about an hour, before frosting.

  For the Frosting:

  Using an electric mixer, or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat peanut butter, powdered sugar, Earth balance, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.

  Place 1 cake on a platter.

  Spread 1 1/4 cups of frosting for the inner layer.

  Place the other cake on top.

  Frost the top and sides with remaining frosting.

  Pipe along the bottom edge with a star tip.

  Chill frosted cake for 2-3 hours to set.

  Garnish with chocolate chips.

  Serve chilled or room temperature. Chilled will result in a firm peanut butter frosting.

  Note: For mess free decorating, put two halved sheets of parchment paper (cut apart) next to each other on the cake platter before putting the cake on it.

  Slowly pull out from opposite ends of the cake when done piping.

  Recipe from Foodista.com

  Recipe: Cheesy Kale Chips

  Ingredients

  2 head Kale

  3/4 cup Tahini

  1/4 cup Tamari

  1/4 cup Cider Vinegar

  1/2 cup Water

  2 scallions

  1 clove garlic

  1 lemon (juice of)

  1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

  1/4 cup of nutritional yeast

  Preparation

  Wash Kale. Remove stem of kale and tear kale leaves into pieces(don’t tear too small, as they shrink in size when cooked). Place kale in a large mixing bowl.

  Combine the rest of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth to get a thick consistency. You may have to add more water. Pour over kale and mix thoroughly with your hands to coat the kale. You want this mixture to be really glued onto the kale.

  Place kale onto a Teflex sheet, on top of a mesh dehydrator screen, and dehydrate for 6 hours @ 115 degrees. You’ll need to use two trays. Rotate kale occasionally to dry uniformly. (If using the oven method, place in oven on cookie sheets lined with foil at lowest degree setting and bake for 2 hours or place on 375 degrees and bake for 15 minutes...it just depends on how much nutrients you want kept in the Kale)

  Recipe from Foodista.com

  Recipe: Gluten and Sugar Free Mini Peppermint Cream Puffs

  Ingredients

  For the shells:

  3 egg whites

  1/8 tsp cream of tartar

  3 egg yolks

  3 ounces cream cheese, softened

  1 Tbsp sugar substitute equivalent

  For the filling:

  1 cup heavy whipping cream

  1 Tbsp sugar substitute equivalent

  1/4 tsp peppermint extract

  3 drops red food coloring

  Preparation

  Preheat oven to 300 degree Fahrenheit.

  In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on high speed until thick, stiff peaks form, about 3-5 minutes. Set aside.

  In another mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, cream cheese and sweetener.

  Carefully fold yolk mixture into whites.

  Spoon batter into greased cupcake pans (large for bigger cream puffs; small for tiny cream puffs).

  Bake for 30 minutes.

  While rolls are still warm, loosely separate from the pans.

  In a mixing bowl, whip heavy white cream, sweetener, peppermint extract and food coloring until still peaks form, about 3-5 minutes.

  To Assemble:

  Carefully pull apart or slice shells.

  Spoon whipped cream into shells.

  Place top shell and refrigerate until serving.

  Recipe from Foodista