Give Em Pumpkin To Talk About (Pumpkin Patch Mysteries Book 1) (24 page)
Read Give Em Pumpkin To Talk About (Pumpkin Patch Mysteries Book 1) Online
Authors: Joyce Lavene,Jim Lavene
Tags: #Female Sleuth, #Cozy Mystery
Sarah was surprised and happy. “Maybe there’s an answer besides ghosts and aliens. Thank you, Steve.”
“Sure. And Peggy says you should come visit for Christmas. Her new tree is decorated. We’re having a party on the seventeenth. Nothing formal. Come if you can. You can stay with us.”
“I’ll try to be there.” They exchanged goodbyes. Sarah stared straight ahead at the kitchen wall for a long time. “Do you think it’s possible?”
“Anything is possible,” Jack replied. “Maybe we’ll see them again.”
Which had brought them to the river on the last day of November when other people were frantically traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Jack came up out of the water. He was wearing a snorkel and a wet suit against the cold current. In his gloved hand were three pea-sized pieces of gold.
Sarah held out the bowl. “It looks like Big Mike did a good job of hiding the gold.”
“I think he spent most of it.” Jack looked at the paltry findings in the bowl. “You’ll probably make more money on tourists coming to put their kayaks in the river as part of the Blue Way.”
She sighed. “Every little bit helps. Is that it for today?”
“I think so. I can’t feel my fingers anymore.”
“I expected more from you. You seemed tougher.”
“Thanks.” He pushed himself up on the rock beside her. “You know I get half of this as a finder’s fee since I’m always the one in the water.”
“You’ll have to get in line behind my brother if you want to sue me.” She stood up and reached down for the bowl. But before she could get it, he pushed her into the freezing water.
Sarah came up shivering and calling him every name she could think of. “Why did you do that?”
“I just wanted you to have the feeling that you’d done something to earn your share.” Jack picked up the bowl and started toward the river bank.
“Hey wait! Aren’t you going to help me out? Jack?” she yelled after him. “You can’t just leave me here.”
“See you back at the house.”
From the Pumpkin Patch
Pumpkin Word Lore
Pumpkins date back for hundreds of years. The word ‘pumpkin’ originated from the Greek word for large melon, pepon. Pepon was changed by the French into pompon. Down through the years, the English changed pompon to pumpion which it remained until the 1700s when the Americans changed it to pumpkin. It has resided there happily ever since.
The pumpkin has been useful to writers almost since it was first named. Shakespeare spoke of ‘pumpion’ in his
Merry Wives of Windsor
tale. It is also used in
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
, and
Cinderella
.
Types of Pumpkins
There are dozens of types of pumpkins with many interesting names including Cinderella, One Too Many, and Red Warty Thing. Each has its own colors, sizes, and desirable traits. Choose your pumpkin according to your needs.
·
Jack Be Little is a miniature pumpkin variety, perfect for table decoration.
·
Autumn Gold is great for carving and decorating. It’s a good choice for Jack-o-Lanterns.
·
Sugar Treat is just right for cooking and baking.
·
Dill’s Atlantic Giant variety can grow to 200 pounds. This is a massive pumpkin.
Recipes
Pumpkin Pound Cake
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
4 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree, canned or fresh
Confectioner’s sugar (if you’d like to dust the top)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F and use vegetable spray to grease a 12-cup Bundt cake pan.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom.
Separate eggs in two bowls. Place yolks in a small bowl and whites in a large mixing bowl.
Beat the butter until smooth in another large bowl. Add the brown sugar mixing well after the addition. Beat in vanilla and continue beating for about 3 minutes.
Beat the yolks with a fork then add to sugar mixture. Scrape the sides of the bowl as you mix.
Add pumpkin puree to this mixture and beat until smooth. With a wooden spoon, add in the flour mixture. Beat only until dry ingredients are lightly blended.
Add cream of tartar to egg whites and beat until soft peaks form then fold whites into the pumpkin batter.
Spoon batter into prepared Bundt pan. Spread batter evenly around pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing then allow to completely cool. Dust with powdered sugar (if desired). Makes 20 servings.
Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients:
2 cups finely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1 green chili pepper, seeds and veins removed, and finely chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 cans vegetable broth
2 cups fresh pumpkin puree or 1 16 oz. canned pumpkin
1 bay leaf
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 cup evaporated skim milk
Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley (if desired)
Instructions:
In a 6-quart saucepan, sauté onions, celery, and chili pepper in oil. Onions should be translucent, but not brown.
Add broth, pumpkin, bay leaf, and cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove bay leaf.
Add evaporated milk and cook over low heat 5 minutes. Do not boil. Add salt and black pepper, if desired.
Serve hot. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese or chopped parsley. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Toasted, Delicious Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar (or sweetener)
1 teaspoon salt (if you wish)
1 teaspoon fresh, grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
Instructions:
Separate pumpkin seeds from the pulp. Sorry – there’s no way around this. Separate the seeds from the pumpkin in water to make it easier.
Toss the clean seeds in a bowl with the melted butter, coating completely. Add seasonings and toss together.
Spray vegetable shortening across a cookie sheet and spread seeds in an even layer.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the seeds are golden brown. Stir the seeds once or twice as they are baking so that they toast evenly. Remove from oven and cool before saving in a tightly covered container. Serves 2-4 people
About the Authors
Joyce and Jim Lavene write award-winning, bestselling mystery and urban fantasy fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant. Their first mystery novel, Last Dance, won the Master’s Choice Award for best first mystery novel in 1999. Their romance, Flowers in the Night, was nominated for the Frankfurt Book Award in 2000.
They have written and published more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Penguin, Amazon, and Simon and Schuster that are sold worldwide. They have also published hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. They live in Midland, North Carolina with their family and their rescue pets—Rudi, Stan Lee, and Quincy.
Visit them at:
www.facebook.com/joyceandjimlavene
http://amazon.com/author/jlavene
https://twitter.com/AuthorJLavene
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