Foodie Files Cozy Mysteries Box Set by Christine Zane Thomas

Author:Christine Zane Thomas [Thomas, Christine Zane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-28T22:00:00+00:00

13

I returned home with every intention of writing the piece about George. After all, I’d fed my curiosity. The problem though—I hadn’t fed my stomach.

Since I’d promised a few cold weather classics to my devoted Foodie File fans, I thought it best to use this time for work instead of making a sad sandwich.

Today’s dish was the all-time winner of winter cuisine: chili with cornbread. Before I could really get started, I needed the ingredients mise en place. I began prepping the vegetables, setting the cans of beans, tomatoes, and Rotel out on display. I had to photograph every step of the process. Well, every step except the ten minutes I spent hand cranking each can open. Electric can openers are just an eye-sore in the back of photos. I’d gotten rid of mine a year before after many a photobomb.

The cornbread was simple. Sometimes, I’d make it from scratch, but today I wanted things done fast. So, it was a box of Jiffy to the rescue. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t lowering my standards that badly. Jiffy is a convenient way to get the dry ingredients necessary. I added some sour cream and cream corn to the mix, which makes the normally dry cornbread a velvety and sweet delicacy.

The cornbread finished a few minutes early. The chili still simmered on the stove. I ate a few slices, waiting for the real deal.

While I rested idly with my back on the counter, my eyes found the crime board. I studied it like a high schooler might study for an exam. Then I added the information about Mara and moved Blake to the top suspect—just as I’d learned the police had done.

I heard footsteps on the porch and the screen door creak open.

Knock. Knock.

“Just use your key!” I called to the one-and-only person I knew would show up unannounced this early in the afternoon. I had just enough time to hide the board as my mother fiddled with her keys.

She shuffled inside, slid off her shoes, and scowled at me. “One day I hope it’s a man out there—one without a key.”

“You’re hoping I get burglarized?”

“No. I’m hoping you get a date!”

“Then you’re in luck,” I told her. “I have a date, tomorrow night, as a matter of fact.”

“Really?” she said, gushing. “Who’s this fellow, and why haven’t I met him?”

“His name is Luke. He’s a pharmaceutical sales rep. And you haven’t met him because this will only be our second date.”

“I like the name Luke,” Mom said. “It’s biblical. You should invite him over to Sunday supper.”

“Second date,” I said again, rolling my eyes. “I’m not inviting him to meet the whole family until I’m good and ready.” A few years sounded about the right amount of time.

“Jack’s been coming with Melanie since around their second or third date. We haven’t scared him away yet.”

“With comments like the one you made last week, you’re bound to,” I told her.

“Hogswallop. He knows it’s come time to put a ring on that finger.

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