Read Banana Muffins & Mayhem Online
Authors: Janel Gradowski
Carla leaned forward. "Really? Or did you know about the job opening?"
"I had no idea the nurse was retiring." Amy held up her hands. "Honest. So since you were talking with her and Doctor Hampstead about the job, does this mean you're thinking about going back to work?"
They had chatted with the nurse who ushered Amy to the exam room then got her set up for the stitch removal. Connie mentioned that she was retiring in a month, and the practice was looking for someone to take her place. Amy had almost fallen off the exam table when Carla began asking questions about the nursing position. She didn't even mind that her friend abandoned her to do an impromptu interview with the doctor while an intern removed the stitches.
Carla nodded. "I am. I can't seem to convince myself that I don't miss nursing."
"And working in a doctor's office is much easier and less stressful than an emergency room."
"Exactly. Plus, it's part-time, so I'll still be able to spend plenty of time with Macy."
Amy clapped her hands. "Wonderful! Do you have to go back for another interview or anything?"
She shook her head. "Nope. They've already offered me the job."
"Congratulations!" Amy blinked. The unexpected job was a good thing, but she had heard horror stories of waiting lists to get children into daycare. "But what are you going to do with Macy?"
"I'm not sure. I'll need your help in figuring that out."
"Help—as in you want me to babysit for you?" That would be a recipe for disaster.
"No, I mean help as in asking other parents who you know who their babysitters are." Carla smiled sympathetically. "The job would be infinitely more stressful if I had to push you into something you are uncomfortable with. Coming home to both you and Macy in tears wouldn't make the job worthwhile."
"Did I hear you need a babysitter? I would be happy to do it," Geri said as she walked into the kitchen. She had come to Amy's house to watch Macy while Carla removed the stitches then stayed to babysit while they went to the doctor's office instead.
"But you have a job too, Mom."
Geri sat down on one of the stools beside the kitchen island. She bounced her giggling granddaughter up and down on her knee. "Tommy is going to expand the studio into the space where Charlotte's shop was. She's planning on hiring more employees to help customers paint, while I'm going to just be making the pottery. So I'll have even more flexible hours and can also work after the studio has closed for the night. I moved back here to be close to you and Macy. Please let me take care of her." She raised an eyebrow at Carla. "You know you want to go back to work, and this will make it even less stressful. It's in your nature to help people. Don't fight it."
That was the first Amy had heard of the pottery studio's expansion plans. She didn't have a sibling, so she really couldn't imagine what it would be like for Tommy to know her sister was a cold-blooded killer who also ruined her son's life in a crazy quest for revenge. Over a house. Perhaps closing down the home decorating store was a form of psychological closure. Or a payback.
"Thank you, Mom." Carla smiled. A big, happy smile that Amy hadn't seen in a very long time. "I can't wait to start the new job."
* * * * *
Malted Chocolate Banana Muffins
Streusel:
4 tablespoons butter
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
⅓ cup sugar
¼ cup vanilla malted milk powder
Muffins:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup vanilla malted milk powder
1 cup mashed ripe banana (2-3 bananas)
1 large egg
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place liners in or lightly grease 12 muffin cups.
Prepare the streusel by melting the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. When completely melted, remove pan from heat and add rest of ingredients. Stir with a fork until crumbs form. Set aside.
Make the muffin batter. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, stir together the malted milk powder, mashed banana, egg, butter, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix together until completely combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Fill each muffin cup ¾ full with batter (use an ice cream scoop to make this task easier). Sprinkle streusel evenly on tops of muffins (there will be a little extra—see note below). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Makes 12 muffins
Note: Use the extra streusel topping on ice cream, in yogurt, etc. Put it on a small baking sheet and spread into a thin layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool and break apart into crumbs.
Brown Sugar Tapioca Pudding
1 egg
⅓ cup packed dark-brown sugar
3 tablespoons instant tapioca
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a medium saucepan, beat the egg until frothy. Stir in the sugar, tapioca, and milk. Let sit for 10 minutes. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until it comes to a full boil and is slightly thickened. Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla. Let sit for at least 30 minutes to thicken. Serve warm or chilled.
Lemon Shortbread Cookies
¾ cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
¼ cup light brown sugar
Zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated or demerara sugar, for topping
Combine everything, except sugar for topping, in a large bowl. Using your fingers or a pastry blender, cut butter into dry ingredients until well blended and a firm dough forms. If dough is too dry, add more lemon juice. There should still be bits of butter in the dough. Form into a flat rectangle, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least ½ an hour, up to overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until about ½-inch thick. Sprinkle with topping sugar, and gently roll again to adhere sugar. Using a pizza cutter or long knife, cut into 2x½-inch rectangles. Arrange cookies on ungreased or parchment paper covered baking sheet. They don't spread much so can be arranged close together. Bake for 18-23 minutes or until edges just begin to brown. Remove from oven when done. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Quick Posole
(Green Chile & Hominy Soup)
1 lb. ground pork, turkey, or chicken
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 - 29 oz. can hominy, drained and rinsed
1 - 28 oz. can green chile enchilada sauce (any heat level)
1 - 4 oz. can chopped green chiles, drained
2 teaspoons ground cumin
Topping Suggestions (optional):
Tortilla chips
Shredded cheese
Minced cilantro
Sliced radishes
Chopped onion
In a soup pot, brown the meat and onions over medium-high heat, breaking the meat into bite-sized chunks. When the meat is cooked, drain any fat. Add the broth, hominy, enchilada sauce, green chiles, and cumin. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with toppings, if desired.
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Janel Gradowski lives in a land that looks like a cold weather fashion accessory, the mitten-shaped state of Michigan. She is a wife and mom to two kids and one Golden Retriever. Her journey to becoming an author is littered with odd jobs like renting apartments to college students and programming commercials for an AM radio station. Somewhere along the way she also became a beadwork designer and teacher. She enjoys cooking recipes found in her formidable cookbook and culinary fiction collection. Searching for unique treasures at art fairs, flea markets, and thrift stores is also a favorite pastime. Coffee is an essential part of her life.
To learn more about Janel Gradowski, visit her online at:
http://www.janelgradowski.com/
* * * * *
Culinary Competition Mysteries
:
Christmas Canapés & Sabotage
(holiday short story)
Barbecue & Bad Juju (shorts story in the
Killer Beach Reads
collection)
The Bartonville Series
:
Must Love Sandwiches (novella)
* * * * *
If you enjoyed this Culinary Competition Mystery, check out this other funny, romantic mystery from
Gemma Halliday Publishing
:
AMARETTO AMBER
by
TRACI ANDRIGHETTI
CHAPTER ONE
"It could be the angel of death," I whispered to my Cairn terrier, Napoleon, as I peered from the peephole at the black feather-winged figure on my front porch. "I mean, today
is
my thirtieth birthday."
The dark form shifted, and a bony wrist and hand came into view. The palm was extended upward, and the skin was shriveled and ghostly white.
As my eyes traveled the length of the long, curled fingers, the hand lowered slightly, and I saw a sickening sight.
A Mae West-style cigarette holder.
I sighed and rested my head against the door. "No such luck, buddy," I breathed. "It's Glenda."
"Open up, Miss Franki," Glenda O'Brien, my sixty-something landlady, called in her sultry, Southern voice. "The birthday fairy is here, and she's got a surprise for you."
At only nine-thirty a.m. on the Saturday I'd turned thirty I was in no mood for surprises. And judging from the way Napoleon was rubbing his eye with his paw, he wasn't up for any of Glenda's shenanigans either.
"Like it or not, sugar, you're no spring chicken anymore," she bellowed for the whole neighborhood to hear. "So let Miss Glenda in. She'll make it all better."
I was quite sure that she wouldn't, but I opened the door anyway. Along with the cigarette holder and the set of black wings, Glenda was clad in a studded black leather micro triangle top, a tiny tutu, and thigh-high boots. I couldn't decide whether she looked like a winged Hell's Angel or a geriatric Victoria's Secret model whose wings had been clipped. "Um, is that supposed to be your fairy costume?"
"I just made that crap up so you'd open the damn door," she said as she shoved a Bloody Mary into my hand.
I eyed the drink suspiciously. "What's this for?"
She batted her inch-long crimson eyelashes. "Aren't you hung over?"
"No, but I might as well be."
She put her hand on her tutued hip. "The night before I turned thirty, I drowned my sorrows in champagne, and I soaked in it too. A bubbly bath does wonders for a lady's soul and her skin, you know."
On my private investigator's salary, I couldn't afford a glass of champagne, much less a bathtub full. But Glenda was an ex-stripper who'd invested her money in real estate and antiques, including the fourplex we lived in and the not-so-chic seventies brothel pieces in my furnished apartment, so she could afford to bathe in booze. In fact, she had a six-foot-tall champagne glass in her living room for precisely that purpose. "Actually, I wouldn't know."
"Well, don't you fret about that, sugar," she said, waving a bony finger. "Because this year your birthday's gonna be full of fun surprises."
An alarm siren sounded in my head as she took a drag off her cigarette. "What exactly do you mean by 'full of fun surprises'?"
"I can't tell you that, now can I?" she exclaimed, exhaling smoke into my face as she spoke.
I sucked down half the spicy Bloody Mary to calm my nerves. Despite her age, Glenda was as wild as a sorority girl at a Mardi Gras-themed mixer, so one of her surprises could pack a real punch (and not of the delicious rum variety).
She tucked the cigarette holder behind her ear and stepped toward me. "Hold still, sugar."
I eyeballed the lit cigarette, which was dangerously close to my long, brown hair. "What for?"
"You'll see." She pulled a crisp dollar bill from the waistband of her tutu and removed a pin from the teensy triangle of leather tasked with covering her nipple and areola.
I, in turn, uttered a silent prayer to the wardrobe fairy that there would be no malfunction.
"Now stick out your chest."
"No way." I shielded my breasts from both the pin and the ash that was now dangling from the cigarette. We lived in New Orleans, so for all I knew she was about to perform some kind of stripper voodoo ritual to ward off the evil spirits of sagging and wrinkling. "Not until you tell me what you're going to do."