Lemon Tart (38 page)

Granny’s Gingerbread

1⁄2 cup sugar

1⁄2 cup butter

1 egg

1 cup molasses (mild)

1⁄4 cup applesauce

2
¹
⁄
₂
cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cloves

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

2⁄3 cup hot water

Whipped cream (optional)

Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar and
butter, add egg and mix well. Add molasses and applesauce—mix
well. Add dry ingredients and spices—mix well. Add hot
water—mix well. Pour into greased and floured bundt pan (don’t
cheat with cooking spray!). Bake 45 minutes, cool in pan before turning out
onto a plate. Serve with whipped cream, applesauce, or sprinkled with powdered
sugar.

Tastes better on the second or third day as flavors
mingle.

(Smells just like Christmas!)

Acknowledgments

As mentioned in my dedication, I must first
acknowledge my gratitude to my mother and the many ways in which she has shaped
my life. Not only has she showed me how to be the right kind of woman (though
I’m still working on the application part of some of those lessons), but she
taught me the difference between bread from the oven and bread from the store.
It wasn’t until I left home that I realized how priceless a gift that really
was. Many of the recipes featured in this book came from her and are the taste
and smells of my childhood.

Big thanks to Jeff Savage who a few years ago hosted a first
chapter contest for a food-based mystery; without that contest this
book would never have come about. Thanks to Willard Boyd Gardner for his
insight into police procedure, although he certainly doesn’t deserve the blame
for any mistakes included here. Thanks to my writing group members who over the
years have helped fine-tune this story—Janet Jensen,
Carole Thayne, Ronda Hinrichsen, Anne Ward, Becki Clayson, and Jodi Durfee.
Thanks to my sweet cousin, Melinda Rich, for finding time to do a last-minute
edit amid all her new adventures, and to my dear friend Julie Wright who, once
again, came to my rescue and buoyed me up every time I needed buoying.

Thank you to everyone at Deseret Book, your support and
enthusiasm is priceless. Specifically Lisa Mangum, the assistant editor who
first said that, despite this book being different from my others, she’d like
to take a look at it; Jana Erickson, who orchestrated all the details, Shauna
Gibby for the great cover, Rachael Ward for the typesetting, and the entire
marketing team for getting the word out. A big thank you to Erin Crouse,
assistant to Jana, who tested each recipe to make sure they were doable in a
kitchen other than my own.

Thanks to my husband, Lee, who remains my sun, moon, and stars,
and my children—the beneficiaries (and victims) of my baking
obsession. I’d be in trouble if I had to eat it all myself, and it wouldn’t be
any fun to eat alone anyway. I love you guys and so appreciate each of you in
my life.

And thank you most of all to my Father in Heaven, for this
story, the others, and all things stated above. I am blessed.

About the Author

Josi was born and raised in Salt Lake City, attended
Olympus High School and made an appearance at Salt Lake Community College
before marrying her high school sweetheart, starting a family, and moving to
Willard, Utah. In addition to her writing, she loves to bake, travel, can her
own peaches, watch criminal justice TV, and study the oddness of human nature. Lemon Tart is her ninth published
novel, and the first of the Sadie Hoffmiller mystery series that combines many
of her great loves into one delicious book.

In her spare time, she likes to overwhelm herself with a
multitude of projects and then complain that she never has any spare time; in
this way she is rather masochistic.

She also enjoys cheering on her children and sleeping in when
the occasion presents itself. She loves to hear from her readers and can be
reached at [email protected].