Mormon Life - Baking tag

Lemon Tart: Chapters 10-12

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:04:00 -0600

by Josi Kilpack
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Enjoy the fourth installment of Lemon Tart, a culinary mystery by Josi Kilpack. Stay tuned for next week's installment, chapters 13-15. To read a previous installment, click here.

Chapter 10

Sadie straightened and clenched her jaw. “You followed me?”

“And for good reason,” he said. “Now give me the papers.”

Sadie hesitated a moment and then held the items in question even closer. “I don’t think so,” she said, lifting her chin. “They were given to me to put with her other things.”

“Her other things are all part of a crime scene—those papers are hereby part of the investigation too.”

Sadie pursed her lips and said nothing as she tried to figure a way out of this.

“You don’t want to push me,” Madsen said, leaning so close to her that she could smell the coffee on his breath. Library patrons continued to walk in and out of the building, looking at them. “I’ve taken as much interference from you as I’m going to.”

“And I’ve helped you out a great deal as well,” Sadie fired back—not bothering to whisper at all. An older woman stopped to stare at them openly. Sadie couldn’t tell if she was simply watching for entertainment or truly concerned for Sadie’s safety. “Yet you continue to suspect me, and now you’re even following me after Detective Cunningham told me I could return Anne’s books.”

“Detective Cunningham?” he asked, raising an eyebrow, a look of amused arrogance on his face.

Sadie reviewed what Officer Malloy had said when he handed over the books. He’d simply said the detective asked him to bring them over. She’d assumed it had been Cunningham. Apparently she’d assumed wrong. “Why go through all the trouble of having me do this?”

“Because I wanted proof that you’re a troublemaker, that’s why. I’m on my way to a hearing and thought I’d give it a shot. And sure enough, you found something and you want it for yourself.”

Sadie rolled her eyes. “You have all the logic of a fourteen-year-old,” she said. “I haven’t even left the library—I didn’t have time to call you.”

The old woman was still standing there, glancing between Sadie and the check-out counter as if trying to decide whether or not to call for help. Sadie looked at her imploringly, until another woman several feet ahead of her turned and said, “Julia, are you coming?” The old woman gave Sadie a shrug, as if to say she’d help her if she didn’t need to get inside. Sadie was not impressed. Was there no such thing as a good citizen anymore?

“Come with me,” Detective Madsen said through clenched teeth. He took her arm, none too gently, and led her out of the building. Sadie tried not to show her own panic, though she realized what she ought to do was scream for help. She stumbled to keep up with him until they reached the same blue sedan she’d seen in front of Anne’s house earlier. He opened the back door.

“I’m not getting into that car with—” The next thing she knew she felt his hand on the top of her head and within mere moments she was in the car. How’d he do that? The next second he was in the car too, right beside to her.

“Look,” he said in a voice thick with frustration as he slammed the door shut. “I’m trying to solve a murder here.”

“That you think I committed.”

“You are not helping yourself by being so difficult.”

She scooted as far away from him as possible—it wasn’t decent to be squished up against him in a parked car, even if she was a decade or two older than he was. What if someone saw them? She tried to open the door to get out, but it was locked.

“I’m not being difficult,” she said. “I’m only trying to help. I don’t believe it is within your authority to detain me against my will.”

“I think you happen to know an awful lot about things you shouldn’t know and it’s most certainly within my authority to investigate that.”

Sadie furrowed her eyebrows. “What do I know that I shouldn’t know?”

“Where she was killed. Where all her important papers were kept—”

“You people asked me those things!” she yelled.

“And you knew the answers!” he yelled back.

“I’m trying to be helpful!”

“You’re making a mess of it. This is real life, lady, not some game. You’re not going to beat us to the punch and solve the crime, so if that’s what you’re trying to do, it’s time to give it up.”

“I’m only trying to help,” Sadie said again and folded her arms over her chest.

“If you wanted to help, you’d keep your nose out of things.”

Sadie pursed her lips to keep from saying that she had no choice but to put her nose into things. This wasn’t just about Anne. Ron was involved, and Trevor was still gone. She considered the enormity of the answers she still needed to find, and felt tears rise up; she quickly blinked them away. “Fine,” she said, handing over the papers. “But I want it on the record that I think you are treating me very unfairly and that I have cooperated at every turn. Whatever issues you have with Detective Cunningham are your problem. Trying to one-up him by badgering me is a pretty lousy substitution for whatever you’re trying to get.”

Madsen’s neck turned a dark pink and his jaw flexed. She’d hit a nerve. He let out a grunt and shook his head. “Just back off and let the professionals do their job,” he said as he took the papers from her.

She bit back the sarcastic comment on the tip of her tongue about just how professional he was being. He looked through the papers and lifted his eyes to meet hers. “I need the other one too,” he said with exasperation.

“Look, I gave you what I was given, if—”

“The business card,” Madsen said in sharp tones. “Give it to me or I’ll arrest you for interfering with a police investigation. I’m already late for the hearing so just give me the card and let me do my job.”

Sadie let out a sigh and pulled the card from the sleeve of her hoodie where she’d managed to hide it. She told herself she would have given it to him later, but he brought out the worst in her and made her act like the Sadie who once hid her dad’s golf clubs because he wouldn’t let her go to a party after a high school football game. He never did find out she was the one who put them behind the water heater and made him miss his tee time. Passive-aggressive was likely the technical term, but Sadie thought of it as quiet justice. Madsen took the card and then held her eyes. She didn’t flinch.

“Can I expect you to stay out of this now?” he asked in what she supposed was a professional tone but was actually a ten on the offensive scale.

“Does Detective Cunningham know you’re here, pulling me into an unmarked car and threatening me?”

The pink on Madsen’s neck inched its way up. He said nothing.

Sadie nodded sharply. “That’s what I thought. Will you please let me out, or should I start screaming for help?”

He let out a long breath and finally opened his door. He slid out and she stepped out a moment later, not looking at him or allowing him any parting comments. Her car was only a few spaces away, and once inside, she waited until Madsen had pulled out of the parking lot. Then she reached under her seat to retrieve her local phone book. She always kept last year’s edition in her car for reference while running errands.

It took less than a minute to find Attorney Gimes’s address. She smiled to herself and shifted into drive.

Chapter 11

Sadie pushed through the glass doors and approached the reception desk. She cleared her throat. “Hi,” she said to the twenty-something blonde behind the desk. The desk groaned under the weight of papers and files piled everywhere and the receptionist was sufficiently frazzled. “I wondered if I could speak with Susan Gimes,” Sadie asked.

“Do you have an appointment?” the young woman asked without looking up from the files in her hands.

Sadie shook her head. “No.”

The receptionist looked at her for the first time. “Are you a client?” she asked and Sadie could have wrung the condescension from her voice like water from a dishrag.

“No, but a friend of mine was.”

The woman’s face hardened even more—apparently being the friend of a client and having no appointment didn’t count for much. “I just wanted to talk with Susan Gimes for a minute. I guess I should have called first.”

“A call would have been nice,” the receptionist said almost too quiet to hear. Louder, but with no more enthusiasm, she added, “Have a seat. I’ll see if she has a minute.”

“Thank you,” Sadie said. She backed up and sat in one of the red upholstered chairs in the waiting area. She’d no sooner sat down when her cell phone rang, causing her to jump.

Is it Ron? she wondered, her insides knotting up. She wasn’t ready to talk to him, but a look at the caller ID showed a number she didn’t recognize. Deciding not to take the chance, she hit the end button and waited until she heard the chime indicating a voice message had been left. After dialing her mailbox, she listened to the message.

“Mrs. Hoffmiller? This is Jean from the library. After you left I remembered something else Anne Lemmon left at the library at story time on Friday. She’d been on the computer and had printed some pages. But her son started throwing a tantrum and she left without paying for her copies. We put them aside for her to pick up next time. If you wanted to put them with her other things, you’re welcome to pick them up—but you’ll need to pay the fees for them. It’s fifteen cents a page. I’m so sorry for your loss—let us know if there’s anything we can do. Thanks.”

Sadie saved the message before closing her voice mail. She remembered that day because Anne had asked Sadie to watch Trevor while she went to her job interview that afternoon. Anne had still been frustrated about Trevor’s tantrum when she dropped him off but Sadie told her she’d done the right thing, taking him home and putting him immediately in time-out.

Sadie wondered what Anne had printed and was eager to get back to the library. But first things first. She looked around the office, feeling antsy. It wasn’t large or fancy, but it was very cozy and Sadie made a note to compliment Ms. Gimes on that if she had the chance.

Sadie had never been very good at waiting. When she went to the doctor’s office she always took a book. But she’d not anticipated waiting in the office of an attorney she’d never heard of and the minutes felt like hours. She tapped her fingers on her purse and tried not to watch the second hand of the large clock hanging above the reception area, but it was hard not to. After four minutes she considered making an appointment and coming back, but that was silly. She was a grown woman, surely she could wait a few more minutes.

She scanned the waiting room again and saw copies of Time and Working Woman on an end table. Neither one held any interest for her. She did have the library book in her purse, but there was no way she was going to read that in public. It had been a lot of years since she’d read a romance novel and she wasn’t sure she was prepared for other people to see her with it. Then she remembered the book list the library had printed for her. That was something she was planning to go over anyway. With anxious relief to have found something to do, she reached into her purse and dug out the list.

After scanning half the list, one title stood out to her: My Father’s Eyes. Sadie fumbled in her purse for a pen and underlined it, even though she was unsure why it had caught her attention. She read through the rest of the tape and found at the bottom, where fines or unreturned items were listed, that My Father’s Eyes had never been returned—Anne had paid for it before it was even overdue. Sadie stared at the title again. There was something familiar about it but she couldn’t think what it was. Had Sadie read the book? Not likely.

After reading through the list again and determining there was nothing else that stood out, she folded the list and returned it to her purse, ignoring the hidden romance novel for a second time. However, her nerves tightened with every second, and she finally gave in. The waiting area was empty anyway. She unzipped her purse and opened the book hiding inside, careful to keep the cover in her purse. She had barely gotten through the flowery description of the buxom main character, when the receptionist interrupted her, bringing her back to the present.

“Mrs. Gimes will see you now,” the receptionist said in a tone of forced politeness as Sadie quickly zipped her purse back up.

Susan Gimes was on her feet when Sadie entered the office. She was very tall, at least six feet, Sadie guessed, with black hair cut short and trendy, and large brown eyes. Her very presence was quite imposing, something Sadie felt sure was an asset in her line of work. The two women met halfway across the room and Sadie shook the proffered hand before taking the seat offered to her.

“My apologies for my receptionist—we’re in the middle of updating our files and computer system and we ended up shorthanded today. Because of that I’m afraid I only have a couple minutes to meet with you,” Susan Gimes said with a very professional smile as she sat behind the large mahogany desk.

“That’s okay,” Sadie said with a nod. “I’m sorry to have interrupted you, Ms. Gimes, but—”

“Call me Susan.”

“Okay, thank you. My name is Sadie Hoffmiller—you can call me Sadie.” She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to continue.

“You headed up the Youth in Action program a few years ago, right?”

Sadie blinked and allowed her thoughts to shift. “I did,” Sadie said with a smile. “Did we meet then?” It would be nice if they had, though Sadie would be embarrassed not to remember.

Susan shook her head. “No, we didn’t. But you worked with my daughter, Laura Johanson—I remarried after her father and I split up and I took my new husband’s name.” She gave Sadie a soft smile. “She was really struggling. In fact she was arrested for shoplifting and the judge offered her the option of working with Youth in Action instead of putting it on her record. She had a wonderful experience working with you, Mrs. Hoffmiller.” She looked down, seemingly embarrassed. “I always meant to send you a thank you card, and I didn’t get around to it.”

“Oh, it was my pleasure,” Sadie said, invigorated by something positive, by the reminder that she had done good things in the lives of other people. “Laura was a sweet girl. Did she ever make those cinnamon-ginger cookies I taught her to make?”

Susan nodded. “She did and they were wonderful. She makes them every Christmas now. I have to admit I was surprised she took to cooking so well. I grew up watching my mother slave away in the kitchen and swore I’d never do it. I’ve been good to my word, so it’s been surprising to me to see how much Laura enjoys it.”

“Well, Laura was a good girl and a quick study in the kitchen. It was my philosophy, especially with those young girls, that directing them back to the basics of cooking, cleaning, and taking care of themselves allowed them to build self-confidence from the inside out instead of basing so much of their self-image on social labels. If they know what they are capable of at home, then they can enter the world with that same confidence and help themselves and the people they love.” She suddenly realized she might be offending this woman who had just told her she personally hated kitchen work; she felt her cheeks heat up. “Um, I mean, it works for some girls, and then others are, uh, directed elsewhere for those same—”

Susan’s smile got even bigger as Sadie attempted to save herself and she finally laughed out loud, cutting Sadie off. “Laura’s in culinary school in New York right now. You were a wonderful influence for her at a difficult time in her life and set her on a good path—I’m not the least bit ungrateful for that. In fact she taught me how to make a few things and cooking’s not as bad as I thought.”

“I’m so glad to hear it,” Sadie said. “Tell her hi from me; I’m excited for her success.”

They both smiled at one another, but the silence became awkward.

“I’m sorry,” Susan finally said. “I got off the subject. What can I do for you today?”

A pall fell over the room. “Well, I’m here because . . .” She paused, not sure where to start. “My friend, Anne Lemmon, passed away this morning—actually, she was murdered.”

Susan Gimes’ eyes went wide and her back straightened. “I found your card in her papers and I’m trying to . . .” She paused. What was she trying to do? Detective Madsen thought she was trying to solve the case. But she wasn’t. Was she? Sadie felt her shoulders slump. “Well, I guess I don’t know what I’m trying to do. I just . . . well, I never asked much about Anne’s past—she was trying to make a fresh start. And now that all this has happened, I’m hoping to find something that will help me find her son and I—”

“Her son?” Susan leaned forward slightly. “What happened to her son?”

“He’s gone,” Sadie said. “Sometime this morning or last night Anne was killed, and we haven’t found her son.”

Susan leaned back, her fingertips together. “And so you came to me to try to find out more about her?”

“She kept all her papers and things in a filing cabinet and it was stolen. Both the police and myself know very little of where to start.”

“Do the police know about me?”

Sadie nodded, trying to keep the sour expression off her face as she thought about Madsen taking the card. “Yes, I’m sure they will be contacting you.”

Susan fixed her with a pointed look. “Do they know you’re here?”

Sadie squirmed. “Uh, not really.” Though she wouldn’t be surprised if Madsen showed up as soon as his hearing was over. “Anne was a good friend of mine, and I helped her with her son. I can’t do nothing. I’m hoping to get some answers—something to help things move forward. I know she was from Boston, but I don’t know who her parents are, and with the filing cabinet gone, I have nowhere to start.”

The room was silent for several seconds. “I’m afraid I can’t give out any information about Anne. It’s protected by client privilege.”

“Oh,” Sadie said. “I hadn’t thought of that.” She looked at her hands and let out a breath. She looked up and smiled apologetically. “I’m very sorry to have taken your time today—though it was wonderful to hear how Laura’s doing. I should have thought things through better before I came.” She stood up, embarrassed to have wasted the time of this woman, but grateful that Susan was as kind as she’d been.

“Why don’t you give me your name and number,” Susan suggested. “There might be something I can give you, but I’ll need to review the file first.”

“That would be wonderful,” Sadie said. She started fumbling in her purse, looking for a pen. Susan handed her one along with a pad of paper. Sadie thanked her and began scribbling down her information.

A buzzer from the desk startled her and she jumped slightly as the receptionist’s voice came over the intercom. “Susan, Garrison PD is here. They need to speak with you.”

Sadie felt her face fall and her hand freeze, but she tried to contain her panic and finish writing her phone number. Her mouth was suddenly dry as she anticipated how she would explain her being here. Would they believe it was just a coin-cidence?

“You don’t want them to know you were here?” Susan asked, correctly reading the look on Sadie’s face.

“I wouldn’t ask you to lie about it,” Sadie replied, forcing a smile. She handed the pad of paper to Susan and was relieved when the other woman quickly put it in her desk. “But, well, no, I’d rather they didn’t know.”

“Why don’t you wait here,” Susan said as she stood. “I can talk with them in the waiting area and then show you out when I’m finished.” She was dressed in heeled boots and a long skirt that she smoothed in anticipation of leaving the room.

“I don’t want to get you in trouble,” Sadie said.

“Not at all,” Susan said with a smile. “Just sit tight, this will only take a few minutes. You might want to sit over there.” Susan indicated a chair next to the door that was out of view from anyone looking in from the waiting area.

Sadie nodded and sat in the chair, taking a deep breath while Susan took long strides to the door. When the door opened and she heard Madsen’s voice, she felt her stomach tighten and she pressed herself against the back of the chair. Hadn’t he said he had a hearing to go to? She’d expected that to buy her some time. Susan closed the door and the voices became muted. Sadie was forced to wait again. Even with the adrenaline rush of knowing Madsen was out there, Sadie was bored and fidgety within thirty seconds.

After a full minute, she began wondering if she could shimmy down a drainpipe. The fantasy became even more tempting when the voices in the waiting area increased in both volume and speed. Sadie couldn’t make out exactly what was being said, but the overall gist of the conversation came through perfectly clear. She swallowed. If Madsen found out she was in here. . . . She shuddered at the probable scene that would follow. The door opened and she looked up. Susan’s face was tight as she headed for a bank of long filing cabinets along one wall. She didn’t acknowledge Sadie was there and left the door open.

“Of course it’s up to you,” Madsen’s voice called through the door. “But you know the drill. If I come back with a warrant, I can look through whatever I think might be helpful.”

“And make as big a mess as possible,” Susan said hotly over her shoulder.

Madsen said nothing, and Sadie remained frozen, pressed against the chair with the open door just a few feet away. Susan looked up for just a moment, shooting Sadie the quickest don’t-move look Sadie had ever seen. Sadie was quiet as a mouse and still as a statue while Susan retrieved a file and left the room, closing the door behind her again and allowing Sadie to breathe once more. She assumed Susan would be right back, but the moments stretched into minutes again. Sadie tried to resist, but kept thinking about the romance novel still in her purse. She gave up after a few more seconds and discreetly cracked it open.

Sadie was on page twelve when the door opened and then shut behind Susan Gimes. The book disappeared into her purse again and Sadie’s cheeks flushed hot. Sadie would have never guessed the captain’s quarters on a merchant ship could be so . . . exciting. She’d nearly forgotten where she was.

She looked at Susan expectantly as she zipped up her purse and held it on her lap. Susan went around her desk and sat back in her chair.

“Detective Madsen and I have a short but unsavory history,” Susan said with a tight smile. “I hate taking on other people’s problem children.” She took a deep breath.

“Problem children?” Sadie questioned.

Susan looked up with an incredulous look. “Yeah, don’t you know?”

Sadie shook her head, not having the slightest idea what Susan was referring to but wanting very much to learn. Especially if it went to further discredit Madsen.

“The name Madsen—doesn’t it ring a bell?”

Sadie thought hard. Madsen—Marlene Madsen had been a girl in Sadie’s graduating class, but Sadie didn’t think that’s what Susan meant.

“Think upper levels of the Colorado state judicial system,” Susan prodded, a half smile showing her amusement.

Sadie’s eyebrows went up. “Madsen as in Barney Madsen, attorney general of Colorado?”

“Bingo,” Susan said, leaning forward across the desk with a glint in her eye that Sadie knew too well—gossip was on its way. “Barney Madsen has one son—Sterling.” She said “Ster-ling” as if she were a serpent, elongating the S and letting the rest of the name seep out from between her teeth. “He was a second-year cop in downtown Denver, maybe you remember how our distinguished AG made a big deal about his son finding the criminals and Barney prosecuting them.”

Sadie nodded. She had a vague recollection of that very sentiment being part of Barney Madsen’s reelection campaign a couple years ago. The good ole boy who’d raised a son who would fight on the front lines of their own community.

“What you probably didn’t hear about, because it was quickly buried,” Susan continued, “was that Sterling was also part of the street racing scene, assisting in setting up races where he knew there were no officers on patrol. Any other cop would have lost his badge. But our little Sterling disappeared for a year and then shows up in Garrison about ten months ago with a stamp on his forehead and a promotion to detective.”

Sadie gasped. “That’s awful.”

“I agree. In fact it makes me, and every other professional in the justice department, a little sick to our stomachs.” She leaned back in her chair and threw her hands up. “But what do you do about it? He came with a clean record and nothing but gossip and supposition to discredit him.”

“He sure isn’t making any friends in Garrison,” Sadie said, remembering the power struggle between him and Detective Cunningham. “He’s been an absolute bear to deal with so far and I just met him this morning.”

Susan grunted and nodded. “I’ve dealt with him on two other occasions and let me tell you, he’s a piece of work; one of those men who love lording their power over everyone else.” She straightened in her chair. “But back to the topic of Anne—I’ve decided I can tell you a few things.” Sadie got the impression that Susan’s newfound cooperation was her way of rebelling against Detective Madsen. Since it meant Sadie would get answers she otherwise wouldn’t, she wasn’t about to argue. “Anne wasn’t actually my client,” she said just as Sadie’s cell phone began to ring.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Sadie said, unzipping her purse and fumbling through the contents until she found her phone. She quickly hit the end button, sending the caller to her voice mail without seeing who it was. “Sorry,” she said again.

Susan smiled. “As I was saying, Anne wasn’t my client, something the detective out there made a big deal about—demanding my file since it wasn’t privileged.”

“She wasn’t your client?”

“Well, not officially,” Susan said with a nod. “Anne came in about three weeks ago for a free consultation. No money exchanged hands and she didn’t show up for her second appointment, hence I wasn’t officially retained as counsel.”

“Oh,” Sadie said dumbly. She had no idea how these things worked.

“Anyway, she came in with some questions about filing a—”

Sadie’s phone rang again. This time Sadie looked to see who it was and swallowed when she saw Ron’s cell phone number on the display. She made a split-second decision and turned the entire phone off, accidentally pushing her purse off her lap in the process. She couldn’t risk being interrupted again, and she wasn’t up to talking to Ron right now. “I’m so sorry,” she said as she shoved the phone into the pocket of her hoodie and replaced the purse on her lap. “I turned it off this time—sorry.”

Susan smiled a bit tighter than before and nodded almost imperceptibly. Sadie hoped she wasn’t regretting her decision to help.

“You were saying that Anne came to ask some questions about filing something?”

“Yes, a paternity suit against the father of her son.”

“Paternity,” Sadie repeated as everything seemed to make sense. “She needed more child support. Of course.”

“Well, actually, she was already receiving support—quite a bit. She brought in bank statements to prove that he had acknowledged his fatherhood through the financial responsibility he’d taken, but he wasn’t on the birth certificate and she wanted legal institution of the paternity.”

“She wanted her son to have a father,” Sadie summed up, her heart softening at the understanding that what Anne wanted was a good thing, the right thing. And she wanted it for Trevor.

“Right,” Susan said, her voice a bit softer as well. “We discussed her options and she was going to return and get the ball rolling as soon as she had all the documentation.”

Sadie blinked and tried to take in all the new information. Why didn’t Anne ever tell her about this? It was almost . . . offensive that Anne hadn’t confided in Sadie. But since discovering Ron’s involvement, she knew Anne and she weren’t as close as Sadie had thought they were. And yet it still hurt that Anne hadn’t trusted her.

Susan looked in the file and let out a breath. “I keep meticulous notes of every meeting and we made copies of the bank statements as well as of the child’s birth certificate she’d brought in with her, but I can’t find her file.” She looked up. “We’ve spent the last week and a half scanning all our documents into the computer so we have a copy of everything on the server. This one should have been done already, so my receptionist is looking to see if we have an electronic copy somewhere.”

As if on cue, the speakerphone on Susan’s desk came to life. “I’m sorry, Susan, it doesn’t look like that file got scanned in.”

“Great,” Susan grumbled. Then she raised her voice and spoke toward the phone. “Wasn’t it K through M that was supposed to be done just yesterday?”

“Yes,” the receptionist said. “I’m sure they got mixed up somehow—like the Anderson stuff. I’ll keep looking for the hard copy.”

“Thank you,” Susan said and the line clicked off. She looked at Sadie. “I can’t wait to call Detective Madsen and tell him that,” she said dryly before shaking her head. “Anyway, until I find the contents of the file I’m afraid I’m not much use to either of you. I remember that the birth certificate said the little boy was born in Boston.”

Jean at the library had said enough that Sadie had all but figured that out.

“But it didn’t have the father’s name on it?” Sadie asked.

“No, that’s why she was here—to fill in that blank.”

Oh, right. “And she didn’t say who the father was?” Sadie asked. “I’ve wondered if he could have . . . well, taken Trevor.”

“I’m afraid she never told me the name. In fact she was pretty secretive about it. She wanted to know exactly how the process of establishing paternity worked before she gave me any information.” She paused for a moment, pursing her lips slightly as if she were concentrating.

“There was, however, a cosigner on the bank accounts. One was for her use and one was a college fund set aside for her son, but the same cosigner was on both accounts so she couldn’t just clean them out; all withdrawals had to be approved.”

“Do you remember the name of the cosigner?” Sadie asked.

Susan closed her eyes in concentration. “His first name was Ronald—I remember because that’s my brother’s name. The last name was Bronson or Bradshaw or—”

“Bradley?” Sadie offered as her stomach lurched off a cliff.

Susan opened her eyes, smiling widely. She nodded her head. “That’s it. Ronald Bradley—but I think she called him Ron.”

Cinnamon-Ginger Cookies

1 cup butter

1½ cups white sugar

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup quick oats

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Cream butter and sugar. Add corn syrup and eggs. Mix well. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture, and mix well. Roll into teaspoon-sized balls (refrigerate if dough is too soft) and bake at 350 degrees for about 6 minutes or until bottom edges are barely browned.

Remove cookies from oven and press flat with a glass dipped in sugar. (Spray bottom of glass with cooking spray for first “press” and then dip back into sugar between each cookie thereafter.) Let cookies cool 1 minute on baking sheet before removing to cooling rack.

To make sandwich cookies, spread a layer of cream cheese frosting between cookies.

Cream-Cheese Frosting

¼ cup butter or margarine

8 oz. cream cheese (Neufchatel or fat-free works fine)

½ teaspoon vanilla

1½ cups powdered sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla and mix until smooth. Add powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached; you want a thick frosting to hold the cookies together. If frosting is too thick, thin with evaporated milk. If frosting is too thin, thicken by adding more powdered sugar. Spread between cookies when cookies are cool.

Makes about 2 dozen sandwich cookies (or 4 dozen single cookies).

Chapter 12

Sadie managed to thank Susan for her help without falling apart. Once outside the building she headed for her car where she sat for almost ten minutes, absorbing what she’d just learned. Ron had been at Anne’s house and he was a cosigner on her bank accounts. There was no way around it—Ron had to be Trevor’s father.

The betrayal ran deep. What a fool she was. “He moved her here,” she said out loud as she put details together. “He moved her to the same neighborhood I lived in?”

And Anne pretended to be Sadie’s friend, acting as if she were so needy. It was bad enough to be played by Ron, but Anne too? That cut twice as deep. And yet Sadie couldn’t even cry. She felt so spent of all emotion that to cry seemed like a waste of water at this point.

She shoved the keys into the ignition and started the car as a barrage of questions engulfed her. Why had she come here at all? Why hadn’t she listened to Detective Madsen when she had the chance and kept her nose out of it? And yet, would she rather not know any of this? Not really, she admitted. She just didn’t know what to do with the information now.

She threw the gearshift into drive and headed for home. It was almost two o’clock and she was ready to climb into bed and pull the covers over her head. Maybe she’d make her famous German chocolate cheesecake. It had taken second place at the state fair two years ago and had the perfect chocolate content to calm her nerves.

It wasn’t until she was driving past the library that she remembered the papers Jean had called about. “Forget it,” she said out loud. She wanted to put her hands over her ears and sing “La, la, la, la” like a six-year-old child. But as she came up on the last entrance into the library parking lot, she cranked the wheel to the right and pulled in. She didn’t even allow herself to think about her motives as she parked the car and went inside. She’d never been a quitter and even though she wanted to forget all of this, she had started something and after years of habitual follow-through she couldn’t stop now.

It only took a minute to pay the sixty-cent fee, claim the manila folder, and thank Jean. Sadie knew at the very least what Jean had done for her was a gray area—at the most she may have broken all kinds of federal library patron privacy regulations. Sadie made a mental note to bake her some sugar knots as a thank you gift.

As soon as she got back in the car, Sadie took a breath and opened the folder. The first few papers were regarding establishing paternity in Colorado and looked to be printed off some official Web site. Sadie felt her stomach tighten and she quickly put them behind the other papers. The next paper was an e-mail Anne had printed out.

On Oct 19, at 4:54 pm, Marla Boyd wrote:

Anne—

We’re very excited to have you join our team as well. The Boston office had nothing but positive things to say about you. They miss you. I think you’ll find our office and staff a lot like Boston, just on a much smaller scale. We’ve been very successful on the local level here—unprecedented for such a small town. As for training, since you’re a previous employee for the company, we don’t need to do the full regime. We’d like you to come in next Wednesday, just to brush up and get familiar with the Garrison office. You can start the following Monday. Let me know if there’s a problem; otherwise, I’ll see you Wednesday.

Sincerely,

Marla Boyd

Director of Human Resources, Garrison office

Riggs and Barker Realty

It wasn’t until the company identification at the bottom of the e-mail that Sadie caught her breath.

Riggs and Barker Realty.

It was the national real estate brokerage Ron had worked at for almost twenty years. He’d recently been promoted to senior sales manager of Northern Colorado.

And Anne had worked in the Boston office?

The main office?

The office that hosted the quarterly training conferences?

Sadie swallowed, but the lump in her throat didn’t go away. It was all laid out for her like a road map. Ron had met Anne in Boston. He’d fathered her child, left her in Boston, then brought her here two years later, and now he was getting her a job.

Sadie wanted to throw up. A million questions swirled in her head, but the big question was what purpose did Sadie serve? Ron had a young, beautiful mother of his child. Why date Sadie—a fifty-six-year-old widow who, though remarkably well-kept for her age, if she did say so herself, wasn’t exactly in her prime?

Why move Anne just down the street? That part didn’t make sense and she wasn’t sure she wanted it to. She thought back to what Anne had told her about Trevor’s father, that he had another family. Was Sadie the other family? Did somehow, for some depraved reason, he want both of them? She was going to be sick.

She started the car and was shifting it into gear when a young mother and her children walked in front of her car. There was a little girl who looked to be four or five, and a little boy close to Trevor’s age.

Trevor.

He was out there somewhere, alone and scared, missing his mother who he may or may not know was dead. Sadie refused to consider that he could also have been killed. The police had enough to do with investigating Anne’s murder; could they truly give Trevor the attention he needed? The attention she could give him?

New resolve rushed through her and she mentally put Anne and Ron and whatever may have existed between them on the back burner. She couldn’t give up. She’d come this far, learned so much, and she would tell Detective Cunningham everything as soon as she could. But facts were facts—Trevor was Ron’s son, Anne was his mistress, and he’d been at Anne’s house last night. That meant that Trevor must be with Ron. The whys and the how-comes were irrelevant in contrast to the need to find Trevor. She drove past the turn that would take her home.

She’d made her decision—it was time to talk to Ron.

To continue reading, click here.

- - -

Josi Kilpack is the author of 13 books, including five in the Sadie Hoffmiller culinary mystery series. Josi is happily married with four children, a fat dog, and a varying number of very happy chickens. Click here for more information about Lemon Tart, and here for information about Josi's other books.

Delicious Weekend Food Storage Recipes

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 11:54:00 -0700

by Augason Farms
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: These are a couple delicious and simple recipes that incorporate food storage - perfect for a weekend brunch.

Augason Farms® Sweet Strawberry Muffins

2 ½ cups Augason Farms Buttermilk Pancake Mix

1 ¼ cup water

½ cup sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon Augason Farms Whole Egg Powder

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup Augason Farms Sliced Strawberries crushed

Muffin Topping:

4 tablespoons melted butter

½ sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all muffin ingredients together until well blended. Fill muffin liners 2/3 full. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

While still warm, roll muffin tops in melted butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Augason Farms® Crock-pot Cheese & Chive Potato Shreds

4 cups Augason Farms™ Potato Shreds

4 cups prepared Augason Farms™ Creamy Potato Soup Mix

2 cups Colby Jack Cheese

1 cup sour cream

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 - 8 oz. pkg. chive and onion cream cheese

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, add potato shreds, simmer 15 minutes, drain. Combine potato shreds, soup, Colby Jack Cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper. Place in a greased 3-quart crock-pot. Cook on low for 3 ½ hours. Stir in chive and onion cream cheese before serving.

{Food Dish} Fab Five: FHE Lessons and Matching Desserts

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:10:00 -0700

by Kate Ensign-Lewis
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: These are a five of our most popular FHE lessons and coordinating desserts to match the topic.

Good for the sweet tooth and for the soul. Yum.

Photo from Pinch of Yum.

1. FHE: Time Management

Make the most of your time with this quick and delicious Lazy Chocolate Cherry Fudge Cake.

Photo from Pham Fatale.

2. FHE: Light

Mango Cream Cheese Mousse: a beautiful, light dessert (both in color and texture). Like a little bowl of sunshine.

Photo from SemiSweetie.

3. FHE: Agency

These Unique Cakes in Mason Jars let your family or friends make their own choice.

Photo from Food Network.

4. FHE: Character

You'd be hard pressed to find a dessert that's both as effortless and cool as this Peanut Butter and Banana Semifreddo. (Note: recipe calls for liqueur; you can omit it.)

Photo from Create with Mom.

5. FHE: Humility

Yes, another banana dessert, but there's a purpose behind it: it may just be simple Chocolate Banana Popsicles, but it shows that Humility can be just as wonderful as Character. (Ba-dum-ching!)

Exclusive Recipes from the Lion House's Cakes and Cupcakes

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:04:00 -0700

by The Lion House
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: The Lion House is releasing a new cookbook dedicated to cakes and cupcakes. Check out this exclusive sneak-peek at some of the recipes!

The upcoming Lion House Cakes and Cupcakes cookbook promises to be full of delicious (and time-saving) dessert recipes. (To learn more about the book, click here.) These are some of the recipes that stuck out to us – so much that we decided to try them out for oursevles. To read our staff reviews of these recipes, click here.

Banana Split Cake
Makes 15 servings

Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

Filling
1/2 cup pasteurized eggs* (enough to equal 2 eggs)
2 cups powedered sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, room temperature

Topping
4 large bananas
1 (20-oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (12-oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 bottle fudge ice cream topping
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/4 cup quartered marashcino cherries

For crust: Mix together graham cracker crumbs and butter; press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13-inch cake pan. Refrigerate 10 to 12 minutes.

For filling: In a large bowl, beat together eggs, powdered sugar, and butter until light and fluffy, approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Spread filling on top of crumb mixture.

For topping: Slice bananas on top of the filling; spread crushed pineapple on top of the bananas. Spread whipped topping on top of the pineapple. Warm fudge topping slightly and drizzle on top of the whipped topping. Garnish the top with nuts and cherries.

Refrigerate at least 4 hours. For best results, refrigerate overnight. This dessert is very rich.

*Pasteurized eggs can be found in the supermarket dairy section by the regular eggs.

Cream-Filled Cupcakes
Makes 24 to 30 cupcakes

Cupcakes
1 (18- to 18.5-ounce) package cake mix, any flavor
1 cup hot water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs

Filling
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 plus ¾ cup sugar, divided
1 cup milk
½ cup margarine
½ cup white shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
Dash of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers and set aside.

For cupcakes: In a large bowl, beat together cake mix, water, oil, and eggs until well mixed. Fill cupcake papers one-third to one-half full. Bake 13 to 15 minutes. Cool.

For filling: While cupcakes cool, combine flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir out all lumps. Bring to a boil and cook until thick. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool. Add margarine, shortening, remaining ¾ cup sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until fluffy. Fill a decorating bad that has a number 4 tip attached. Insert tip into center of the cupcakes and squeeze in a small amount of filling. Frost tops of cupcakes with remaining cream filling.

Grasshopper Cheesecake
Makes 16 servings.

Crust
1 ½ cups slivered almonds
¼ cup powdered whey
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup butter, melted

Ganache
4.5 oz bittersweet baking chocolate
¼ cup heavy cream

Filling
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Green food coloring, as desired
4 eggs
Whipped cream, for garnish
Chocolate sauce, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust: Place almonds in food processor fitted with an S-blade. Process until almonds are a medium-fine texture. Add whey and sugar and pulse once. Place almond meal in a bowl and drizzle melted butter into it. Mix with your hands until it feels slightly squishy. Press into the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and slightly pulling away from the sides of the pan. Remove from oven and let crust cool while you make the ganache.

For ganache: Melt chocolate with cream in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Whisk well to make a smooth, shiny ganache. Spread evenly over the crust and set aside.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Place a pan of water on bottom rack of oven.

For filling: In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Beat in sugar and sour cream and mix well. Add peppermint extract and food coloring. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until very smooth and creamy.

Pour the mixture into the chocolate-coated crust. Place cake in the oven, on the rack above the pan of water. Bake 1 hour. Turn off oven and prop the door open to cool cake slowly for 1 hour so the cake will not crack.

Remove from oven and chill at least 2 hours. Remove sides of pan and slice into 16 even pieces. Garnish with whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.

Lemon Surprise
Makes 12-14 servings

1 (18.25 oz) package yellow or white cake mix
1 (6 oz) package cook-and-serve lemon pudding and pie mix
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Prepare cake mix and bake in a 9x13-inch cake pan. Cool. Prepare lemon pudding according to package directions. Spread warm lemon pudding over top of cooled cake. Refrigerate several hours until chilled. Before serving, spread whipped topping over pudding layer. Store cake in refrigerator.

To read our staff reviews of these recipes, click here.

{Food Dish} LDS Living in the Kitchen: Lion House Cakes and Cupcakes

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:05:00 -0700

by LDS Living Staff
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Lion House desserts are the stuff of legend. When we found out about the upcoming Cakes and Cupcakes cookbook, we had to try a few for ourselves. Read about the results.

Click here for the recipes that go with these reviews.

Banana Split Cake

Kaela Worthen, Associate Editor

The greatest thing about this cake is how unique it is--I've never seen anything remotely like it. If you're aiming for a lot of wow factor with little effort, this is the cake for you. The cake is ridiculously easy (as long as you have a food processor to grind your graham cracker crumbs) and is more assembly than actual baking. I doubled the graham cracker crust because I'm a sucker for those things, and I also added some ground walnuts into the crust to give it a better flavor depth and to help counteract some of the sweetness of the dish. Beware of the filling, though. It said to beat it for 10-12 minutes (the hardest part of the recipe) until light and fluffy. I beat it 12 minutes and saw minimal change. It was nice and light, but it was definitely still liquid and not "fluffy" like whipped topping. But it tasted great anyway.

Lemon Surprise Cake
Jamie Lawson, Managing Editor

I don't love to bake, but there are plenty of times when I need to bring a dessert to some kind of social gathering. The lemon surprise cake is a fabulous option. There are just three simple steps: 1. Bake a cake from a yellow or white cake mix (I chose yellow) 2. Top cake with cook-and-serve lemon pudding 3. Add a layer of whipped cream. The lemon pudding and whipped cream toppings add a great twist to what would otherwise be an ordinary frosted cake, so you're sure to win points for creativity. The cake is light, moist, and tastes delicious. Tip: keep the layer of whipped cream thin so the lemon flavor is sure to come through.

Grasshopper Cheesecake
Ashley Evanson, Online Editor

The first thing I noticed about this recipe is that it calls for powdered whey. I thought that stuff only existed in nursery rhymes, but I guess it does in baking, too. It’s really tough to find in the grocery store, so I recommend skipping it altogether and going for a more traditional crust. The whey is used with almonds to make a graham cracker-like crust, but a real graham cracker crust will work just fine. The cheesecake was pretty good, very basic. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time to make it—five hours!

Cream-Filled Cupcakes

Kate Ensign-Lewis, Online Editor

Homemade cream-filled cupcakes are a new favorite of mine, so (as usual) I was really excited to make these. The cupcake part was easy enough—just dress up a chocolate box mix cake. The cream filling was . . . not so easy. This is an old-fashioned frosting that starts on the stovetop and ends with lots of whipping in a stand mixer. After following the steps (substituting butter for margarine, since I’m morally opposed to margarine), I realized my filling was WAY too loose to work inside or on top of cupcakes. Even after adding lots of extra powdered sugar, and refrigerating, it was too loose. It was delicious—like custard—but it melted right off the cupcakes (you can see as much in one of the cupcakes in the background of my photo).

What had I done wrong? After re-reading the recipe, I realized it was similar to another I had recently read in a magazine—so I went to read that recipe again. The problem was with how long I had cooked the frosting. The Lion House recipe simply says to cook “until thick,” but “thick” is subjective. My magazine said to cook “until it’s so thick, it’s difficult to whisk.” I had only cooked until it was the consistency of crème pie filling. Oops. So, if you make this frosting (and I suggest you do—like I said, it’s delicious), make sure to cook it until it is really thick (about 6 minutes). And enjoy the fluffy goodness of custardy frosting inside, and on top of, a chocolatey cupcake.

Click here for the recipes that go with these reviews. And, to learn more about the cookbook, Lion House Cakes and Cupcakes, click here.

Gallery: The Life of a Lion House Roll

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 00:56:00 -0600

by Kate Ensign-Lewis
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Discover the story behind the Lion House Roll recipe, and watch how they go from mixer to mouth! The Lion House Roll lives as a legendary thing in the memories of many. Fluffy, buttery, large, and mild—the signature item of the bakery is enough to send anyone into raptures. But it doesn’t come from a long-used family recipe or pioneer cookbook. The current roll is credited to former head baker Bill Ellis and some enterprising Relief Society sisters.

In 1975, at a time when the Relief Society oversaw operations at the Lion House, the Relief Society general presidency came to Bill Ellis and expressed interest in a new roll for the Lion House. Ellis produced several different recipes, and the women chose the current recipe, but requested a few “tweaks” as Ellis said. The rest is history.

Today, 960 rolls are baked at a time, and 4,500 are made daily. Check out our gallery (see the picture box, above) to see how it all works!

And, just for good measure, here's a home-friendly version of the recipe for Lion House rolls. (Don't worry—you won’t be making 960.)

Lion House Dinner Rolls

2 cups warm water (110 to 115° F)

2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup butter, shortening, or margarine
1 egg
5 to 5 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or bread flour
1/2 cup butter, melted

In large bowl of an electric mixer, combine water and dry milk powder, stirring until milk dissolves. Add yeast, then sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet. Increase mixer speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes. Add 2 cups flour; mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. (Dough will be getting stiff, and remaining flour may need to be mixed in by hand.) Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix again until dough is soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff. (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour.)

Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about one tablespoon of vegetable oil; work oil all around sides of bowl. Turn dough over in bowl so it is covered with oil. (This helps prevent dough from drying out.) Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Sprinkle cutting board or counter with flour and place dough on floured board. Roll out and shape as desired. Place on greased or parchment-lined baking pans. Cover lightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place until rolls are doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Bake at 375° F for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. Brush with melted butter while hot. Serve with honey butter or raspberry honey butter. Makes 1 1/2 to 3 dozen rolls, depending on shape and size of rolls.

Note: You can freeze shaped rolls for later use. Simply double the amount of yeast used when making dough. After the first rise, shape the rolls but do not rise again. Instead, place rolls on a baking sheet and immediately place in freezer. When dough is frozen solid, remove rolls from pan and place in a plastic bag, squeeze excess air out of bag and seal. Rolls can be frozen for 3 weeks.

Recipe from Lion House Bakery, copyright Deseret Book.

Easter Bread

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:00:00 -0600

by Patrick Flanagan
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: After I got married, my wife and I talked about traditions from our families that we would like to pass on to our children. One that I especially enjoyed was that every Easter for breakfast my mom would make boiled eggs, polish sausage, and this Easter bread. Our first Easter together my wife was able to try the bread and became a fan. When we asked my mother where the recipe came form, we learned that her grandmother had memorized the recipe before she came to the United States from Poland. Eating this bread on Easter is now a tradition we carry one with our children.

1 1/2 tablespoons dry yeast
1 cup warm water, divided
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1 cup milk, scalded
6 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
8 cups flour

Soften yeast in 1/2 cup warm water and 2 tablespoons sugar. In a separate bowl, combine remaining water, remaining sugar, salt, and butter in scalded milk. Cool to lukewarm. Mix with yeast mixture. Add eggs and vanilla. Add flour a little at a time, and knead until dough falls off hands (about 10 minutes). Let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1 hour). Punch down. Split into 3 greased load pans and let rise for about 45 minutes in a warm place. Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes.

Note: Make sure not to add flour all at once. The flour amount is approximate, and you may need more or less, depending on weather conditions. Makes 3 loaves.

Patrick Flanagan Prairie 8th Ward Prairie Utah Stake West Jordan, Utah

--- Excerpted from Worldwide Ward Cookbook: Mom's Best Recipes, copyright Covenant Communications, 2010. Click here to buy.

Gourmet Cupcake Platter

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:00:00 -0700

by Wendy Paul
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Put a twist on the traditional Christmas cookie plate by offering your friends these gourmet cakes. And don't worry about spending hours in the kitchen—they're all a snap to make!

Chocolate Cream Chocolate cream cupcakes are simple to prepare, yet elegant and full of rich chocolate flavors.

1 box chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup grated chocolate, for garnish

Mix together cake mix, eggs, and sour cream until smooth.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

Cool completely on a wire rack. When cooled, cut the top off and pull out some of the cake filling, leaving a solid wall of cake to support the filling. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form and add powdered sugar. Add whipped cream by the spoonful to the holes of all cupcakes and top with cupcake lid. Frost with desired frosting and garnish with grated chocolate.

Frosting suggestion: Chocolate Ganache

1 cup heavy whipping cream
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips

Heat cream in a saucepan until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate in a mixing bowl. Stir to mix together. You can pout it over your cakes warm, or allow to cool slightly and be spread like frosting.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup My neighbor said these cupcakes are sinful. But believe me, they are worth every bite.

1 box chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 bag chocolate peanut butter cups

Mix together cake mix, eggs, and milk. Pour 2 tablespoons batter into paper liners and place a peanut butter cup on top. Fill paper liners 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. When completely cooled, frost.

Frosting suggestion: Peanut Butter

1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine peanut butter and butter in a large bowl, mixing together until light and fluffy. Stop mixer before adding sugar.

Add sugar, 3 tablespoons milk or cream, and vanilla. Start slow and mix together, gradually increasing the speed. Mix until smooth and creamy. Add 1 tablespoon milk or cream if frosting is too thick.

Gingerbread Cookie Feel like you aren't getting enough gingerbread with the holidays? Now you have a new way to satisfy the craving!

1 box spice cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup milk

Mix together cake mix, eggs, molasses, oil, and milk. Pour into paper liners and fill 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched.

Frosting suggestion: Orange Cream Cheese

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon orange extract
1/4 cup frozen orange concentrate

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and light. Stop mixer and add sugar, orange extract, and orange concentrate. Start mixer on slow and gradually increase the speed until frosting is fluffy. Frost and refrigerate.

Candy Cane Make these for any Christmas gathering, and please your friends and family. The white chocolate chunks and crushed peppermint candy add to the taste and texture of the little cake.

1 box white cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 recipe vanilla buttercream frosting
Peppermint candy for garnish
1 cup white chocolate chunks for garnish

Mix together cake mix, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Pour batter into the paper liners and fill 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until cakes are light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Frost with vanilla buttercream frosting and top generously with white chocolate chunks and crushed peppermint candies.

Vanilla Buttercream

1/2 cup butter, softened
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3-4 tablespoons milk or cream
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Stop beating before adding sugar to avoid a large mess.

Add sugar, 3 tablespoons milk or cream, and vanilla extract. Beat frosting starting on slow, increasing yours peed until frosting is nice and creamy. Add up to 1 more tablespoon milk or cream if frosting is too thick.

Excerpted from 101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 Minutes by Wendy Paul; Cedar Fort. Now available at Deseret Book.

Lion House Recipes

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:00:00 -0600

by The Lion House
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: The smell of baked goods is about the homiest scent in the world. And what better way to ring in the school year than giving everyone something to look forward to when they open the door? Try some of the Lion House’s best recipes, including their famous dinner rolls. Lion House Dinner Rolls

2 cups warm water (110 to 115° F)
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup butter, shortening, or margarine
1 egg
5 to 5 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or bread flour
1/2 cup butter, melted

Pumpkin Cake Roll

3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts
powdered sugar
1/4 cup margarine, softened
2 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 10x15-inch jelly-roll pan with parchment paper, and grease paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with an electric mixer until lemon colored. Gradually add sugar. Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt; fold into egg-pumpkin mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth out top, and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Bake for 15 minutes.

Lay a clean kitchen towel out on the counter. Sprinkle powdered sugar on kitchen towel. Turn the warm cake onto towel and remove parchment paper. Roll up cake and towel lengthwise. Cool in refrigerator or freezer.

While cake cools, beat margarine and cream cheese together until smooth. Beat in 1 cup powdered sugar. Add vanilla. Unroll cake and spread with filling. Roll up again. Cut cake roll in half. Wrap each roll in plastic wrap until served. Store in refrigerator, or freeze for later use. Cut rolls in 1-inch slices to serve.

Picnic Brownies

4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease two 9-inch round pans.

In top of a double boiler or a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate and butter. In medium bowl, mix sugar, vanilla, and salt; add to melted chocolate mixture and blend well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and mix well. Divide batter equally into prepared pans. Spread evenly and sprinkle top of each with chopped nuts and chocolate chips. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Brownies are done when a knife inserted an inch from center comes out clean. (Do not over-bake.) Allow to cool completely before cutting. Run a thin knife between pan and brownies and turn upside down. With knife that is longer than brownies are wide, cut brownies by pressing knife straight down through brownies; cut each round into 8 wedges. Makes 16 brownies. These brownies store and stack well, for easy portability.

Excerpted from Lion House Bakery; Deseret Book. Now available. Click here to buy the book!

Check out more great Lion House recipes!

More Lion House Recipes

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:00:00 -0600

by The Lion House
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Fall is the perfect time to bake something warm and spicy. Check out these recipes in addition to the great Lion House Recipes in LDS Living magazine! Carrot Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
3 cups peeled and grated carrots
1 recipe Cream Cheese Icing (below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour two 9-inch round or square cake pans or a 9x13-inch pan; set aside.

Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl; set aside. Combine coconut, walnuts, and raisins in a food processor or blender and process until very fine (or chop with knife until very, very fine). In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and oil and mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until creamy. Add dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Add ground nut mixture and grated carrots and beat until blended. Divide batter equally into pans and bake 40 to 45 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before removing from pans and placing on cooling racks. When completely cool, frost with Cream Cheese Icing. Makes 12 servings.

Cream Cheese Icing

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat cream cheese until softened. Add butter and mix until blended. Add 3 cups powdered sugar and beat until blended. Add remaining powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth and fluffy. Do not over mix; icing will be runny.

Whole Wheat Bread

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
3 cups lukewarm water
1 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup molasses
6 tablespoons nonfat dry milk
6 tablespoons shortening
5 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
2 cups white all-purpose flour

Directions for mixing with electric mixer: Soften yeast in 3 cups lukewarm water in large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and beat until dough forms a ball and leaves sides of bowl (part of flour may need to be mixed in by hand). Remove beaters, cover bowl, and let dough rise for 1 hour in a warm place, away from drafts. Punch down and shape into 2 loaves. Place in 2 well-greased 5 x 9 loaf pans; cover with a clean towel and let rise until almost doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a deep golden brown. Turn loaves out onto a wire rack to cool. Brush tops with melted butter.

Directions for hand mixing: Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water; set aside. Combine remaining 2 3/4 cups water, oats, molasses, and nonfat dry milk; add half the white flour and half the whole wheat flour, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Add softened yeast, remaining flour, shortening, and salt. Mix well; knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in covered bowl in warm place until doubled in size. Knead 1 minute to force out air bubbles. Shape into two loaves. Place in 2 well-greased 5 x 9 loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from pans to cool. Brush tops of loaves with melted butter.

Honey Butter

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Beat butter until it is broken up. Add the honey and the vanilla. Beat for 10 minutes, scraping mixture to the bottom twice during the mixing. (It is very important that this mix for the entire 10 minutes or it will separate.) Store, refrigerated, in a plastic container.

Raspberry Honey Butter

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup red raspberry preserves
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Beat butter until soft; add honey and preserves while mixer is running. Add vanilla and beat for 10 minutes. Store, refrigerated, in plastic container.

Cinnamon Rolls

2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon salt
7 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 recipe Buttercream Frosting (see below)

Place water, oil, eggs, vanilla, and milk powder in the large bowl of an electric stand mixer and stir vigorously until milk is dissolved. Sprinkle yeast over liquid mixture then add the 1 cup sugar, salt, and flour.

Put dough hook on mixer and mix for 10 to 15 minutes at low speed. The dough will be very sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1-1/2 hours. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll out into rectangle shape. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll up rectangle lengthwise and cut into one-inch slices. Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Place rolls on cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise until doubled in size, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Bake t 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes. After baking, let cool slightly before frosting. Frost with Buttercream Frosting. Makes about 18 rolls.

Buttercream Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
6 to 8 tablespoons cream or evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend powdered sugar, butter, and 3 tablespoons of the cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until combined well. Slowly add the rest of the cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until creamy and smooth, but not at all runny. Add vanilla and mix again.

Lion House Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Topping:

2 cups sour cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Prepare crust: Thoroughly mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press firmly onto bottom and sides of a 10-inch pie pan or a springform pan; set aside while preparing filling.

Filling: In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth; add sugar a little at a time. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in vanilla and combine thoroughly. Pour into crust; fill to within half an inch of top to allow room for topping. Bake 55 to 60 minutes, until set or when the pan is gently moved, the center does not move.

When cheesecake is almost finished baking, beat sour cream with a wire whisk; add sugar and vanilla and mix well. Pour over cake and bake an additional 10 minutes. Cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Top with desired fruit topping or serve plain. Makes about 8 servings.

Caramel Apple Pie

3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus additional for dusting top crust
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus additional for dusting top crust
1 large pinch nutmeg, plus additional for dusting top crust
8 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons cream
Pie crust (enough for double-crust pie)
1 recipe Caramel Sauce (see below)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, flour, kosher salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Toss in apples, and stir in vanilla. Set aside. Stir the apple mixture every 15 to 20 minutes while making the crust.

Once pastry dough is prepared, roll out pastry for bottom crust 3 inches larger than the pie tin. Ease pastry into pan and cut away so only half an inch is overlapping the edge of the pie tin.

Pour apple filling into the pie pan. Dot the butter over the apples. Brush cream around edges of pie crust.

Roll out pastry for top crust, fold in half, and cut three 1/2-inch slits through both layers of crust. Unfold crust and place over the apples. Trim away extra crust, leaving 1 inch overlapping. Crimp edges. Brush cream over top and sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg.

Cover the edges of the pie with foil. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove the tin foil from edges after 30 minutes. Cover the whole pie with tin foil for the last 20 minutes. Cool on a rack for 1 hour. While pie is cooking make the caramel sauce. Drizzle warm sauce over pie before serving.

Caramel Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, melt butter on high heat. Add brown sugar, heavy cream, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium, until sauce thickens slightly, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes. Drizzle over the warm pie.

*Excerpted from Lion House Bakery, Deseret Book. Click here to purchase the book!