Fortune Cookie (Culinary Mystery) (43 page)

Her phone chimed again, and she regarded the phone with increased irritation before picking it up.

You’re not even going to guess? I thought you’d missed me.

Annoyed at the interruption but determined to get to the bottom of it, Sadie took the phone with her across the room where she sat down at her desk and opened her laptop. She typed the unknown phone number into the Google search bar and scrolled through the links until she found one that would give her the origination information about the owner of the phone number.

The link didn’t give names, but it did tell her that the number was registered through an AT&T wireless store in Fort Collins, Colorado—the closest large city to Garrison—and that the account had been opened in 2002. Not only was the caller someone from town, it was someone who’d had the same number for more than a decade. That should give her some comfort, but it didn’t give her as much as she’d have liked.

“This is ridiculous,” Sadie said, standing up from the desk and heading back to the kitchen table and her to-do list for tomorrow. She wanted to make sure it was complete before she turned in for the night.

Ridiculous or not, however, her anxiety was triggered and she felt tense. In search of a remedy, her eyes were drawn to the pan of rice pudding still on the stove; she crossed the room toward it. Shawn had requested his favorite dinner—Evil Chicken—and she’d made enough extra rice to make rice pudding for dessert. Shawn had left for the bachelor party before the rice pudding was ready, so she’d enjoyed a bowl herself and had been waiting for it to cool before she put it in the fridge. She really shouldn’t have a second bowl, especially this late at night, but she knew that the creamy dessert would help her calm down and focus—good food always did.

Sadie took a bite of the still-warm perfection while expertly pushing the feelings of tension from her mind. It was all about compartmentalization, and she was not going to give the obnoxious texter more power than they deserved. Especially when so many other things needed her attention.

She scanned the to-do list to see if she’d missed anything. In fact, she had! With a smile, she wrote, “Clear out space in bathroom for Pete” and felt her stomach flip-flop at the thought of how soon they would be sharing the master bathroom. The master bedroom. Pete was still in his house, for now, but after the honeymoon he’d move in with her.

Holy moly, this is happening!

The chime of another text message shattered the glitter-tipped thoughts, and her eyes snapped to her phone, still on the desk where she’d left it. The tension returned. She looked at the clock—it was just after 9:00 p.m.—then reminded herself that this newest text could very well be from someone else. Perhaps one of the guests who hadn’t yet confirmed their attendance. Or maybe it was
Pete
texting to tell her he loved her.

Sadie pushed away from the kitchen table and walked toward the phone. The screen had gone black by the time she reached it. She picked it up and slid her finger across the screen to wake it up.

Didn’t I tell you that you’d never be free of me?

Jane!

Sadie’s breath caught in her throat as the name came unbidden to her mind. Her heart began to race. Her tenuous optimism faded. She had become so used to not thinking of the woman who had threatened her life in Boston—it had been almost two years, after all—that it was a shock to suddenly jump to that conclusion, and she immediately tried to dismiss it.

There were several people who blamed Sadie for getting caught in a variety of criminal behavior—it could be one of them toying with her. But Jane was the only one of them who had gotten away, so to speak. And Jane
had
said those exact words: “You’ll never be free of me.” Wouldn’t it be just like her to wait until two days before Sadie’s wedding, on an evening when she would be home alone, to make good on that threat?

Sadie took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. Pete would want her to call him about this. She turned back toward the kitchen and began toggling to the keypad on her phone.
Did I lock the doors after Shawn had left for the party?

She told herself, again, not to overreact. It was probably nothing. A moment later, the squeak of a floorboard froze her in place. Her head snapped up but her eyes stared blankly at the cabinets in front of her.

This is not happening two days before my wedding!

Sadie felt the warmth of another person standing behind her at the precise moment something suddenly covered her eyes. She screamed, dropped her phone, and grabbed at the hands that were blinding her, pulling her backward.

A throaty whisper in her ear nearly paralyzed her. “Guess who?”

Recipes

Download a free PDF of all the recipes in this book at josiskilpack.com or shadowmountain.com

Wonderful Jam Bars

Crust

1½ cups flour

½ cup quick-cooking oats, uncooked

½ cup sugar

¾ cup butter or margarine, softened

½ teaspoon baking soda

Topping

¾ cup flaked coconut

¾ cup chopped nuts (walnuts work best)

¼ cup flour

¼ cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 to 1½ cups strawberry, raspberry, or apricot jam

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Combine all crust ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on low speed 1 to 2 minutes, scraping the bowl often until mixture is crumbly. Using your hands, press mixture into the bottom of greased pan. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

While crust is baking, combine coconut, nuts, flour, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl often until well mixed. It will be crumbly.

Remove crust from oven and spread evenly with jam while crust is still hot, almost to the edges. Sprinkle topping mixture over jam. Return pan to the oven and bake an additional 18 to 20 minutes, or until top is lightly browned. Allow bars to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Makes 15 to 24 bars, depending on size. Serve warm with ice cream or cooled with whipped topping.

Fresh Peach Pie

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups water

1 (6-ounce) package peach-flavored gelatin

4 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches*

Two pre-baked 9-inch pie crusts

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In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil, whisking consistently until mixture becomes thick and clear. Add gelatin and mix well. Remove from heat and set aside. Allow mixture to cool, but not set—about 15 minutes.

While glaze is cooling, peel and slice the peaches. Once glaze has cooled, add peaches. Mix well. Divide filling between the two pie crusts. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until set—at least 2 hours. Garnish with whipped cream.

*You can use canned peaches in a pinch, but it isn’t recommended.

Note: Breanna likes to add ½ cup of raspberries to the peaches. Delicious!

Makes two 9-inch pies.

Gyoza

4 cups finely chopped cabbage, boiled until soft, drained

1 pound ground hamburger or pork (cooked or uncooked—your preference)

½ cup green onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½- to 1-inch fresh ginger, grated

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 package gyoza wrappers (round or square)*

¼ cup water

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In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except wrappers and sesame oil. Mix well.

Place a tablespoon of the mixture in the center of a wrapper. Wet one edge of the wrapper, then fold in half and pinch shut around the filling.

Heat sesame oil in large skillet over medium heat until hot. Brown filled gyozas on both sides. Add ¼ cup water to skillet and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Steam until water is gone (about two minutes), shaking the skillet every 20 seconds or so to prevent gyozas from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Remove gyozas to a plate and repeat cooking instructions for remaining gyozas.

Makes approximately 50 servings.

*You can find these in some grocery stores as well as all Asian markets.

Note: You can make and fold gyozas, then flash freeze them and cook at a later date. Store in airtight container.

Gyoza Sauce

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 to 2 tablespoons sugar (start small and add more to taste)

1 clove garlic, diced or pressed

¼ teaspoon grated ginger root

¼ cup green onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon sesame oil

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Mix everything together in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for approximately five minutes (to cook out some of the vinegar flavor). Sauce will be thin, so if you prefer a thicker sauce, mix in 1 tablespoon cornstarch.

Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Ghirardelli Truffle Cookies with Sea Salt

1 (10-ounce) bag Ghirardelli 60% cocoa bittersweet baking chips, divided

2 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 to 3 tablespoons coarse sea salt

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Set aside ⅓ cup baking chips for later use. In a medium-sized heatproof bowl over a double boiler, melt the remaining chocolate chips and butter until smooth. Turn off the stove and let melted chocolate sit over warm water.*

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar, mixing until well combined. Remove chocolate from the double boiler. Slowly add egg mixture to the warm chocolate, whisking constantly. Add vanilla. Mix well. Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well and let batter cool for a few minutes. Add reserved ⅓ cup of baking chips. (If batter is too warm, chocolate chips will melt.)

Chill batter in fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

After batter has chilled and thickened slightly, drop batter by rounded tablespoons on greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle each cookie lightly with a pinch of sea salt. Bake for approximately 8 to 10 minutes until the outside edge looks slightly cracked, but centers are soft and gooey. Cool cookies for four minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to cooling rack.

*To melt chocolate in microwave: Heat chocolate in a microwave-safe container at medium power (50%) for 1 minute. Stir until bowl no longer feels warm. Continue heating at 20-second intervals, stirring after each heating until mixture is smooth.