Sunny Side Murder by Emma Ainsley

Author:Emma Ainsley [Ainsley, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Summer Prescott Books
Published: 2023-07-11T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Rough morning?” Uncle Toad asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

“Yeah. No. Maybe,” Carolina said. She set her things down on her desk and paused to take a deep breath.

“I’ve got someone in charge of the kitchen at the moment. You help me get the tomatoes and stuff from the cooler, and I’ll get the canned goods together. After that, you can tell me all about whatever it is that’s bothering you.”

“Okay, how much are we making?” Carolina asked.

“A full recipe,” Uncle Toad said with a grin. He turned to the shelves in the storage room and began collecting canned diced tomatoes. Carolina opened the cooler door and propped it open with a large jug of olive oil. She picked up the crate of fresh tomatoes her uncle had purchased from the farmer’s market and set it in the kitchen, then returned for the green onions, poblano peppers, jalapeños, fresh limes, and garlic cloves.

“Go on and get the tomatoes and poblanos going,” her uncle instructed her. He set three large skillets on the commercial range while Carolina washed the tomatoes. Carolina shook her head when she gazed at the large pans, the same she had seen since her childhood. She could have traced the dents and discoloration patterns in her head from memory.

Water droplets sizzled in each skillet when Carolina added the freshly washed peppers, onions, and tomatoes. She added the jalapeños and garlic and stirred each skillet occasionally. As the vegetables began to soften, the skins blistered. While she worked, her uncle opened the canned tomatoes and juiced the limes.

After she turned off the fire beneath each skillet, Carolina carefully set the peppers aside to cool. When they were cool enough, Uncle Toad chopped them while she took care of the tomatoes. Uncle Toad began to add the vegetables, a small batch at a time, to the large commercial blender on the prep table. He added salt, lime juice, and cilantro to the salsa as he pulsed it through.

Carolina removed a dozen glass quart jars from the dishwasher at the back of the kitchen. She grabbed a stack of screw-on lids and headed back to the main part of the kitchen. Memories of canning jars of the same recipe with her mother as a young girl filled her mind. She stood close to her uncle as they spooned the salsa into the jars.

“I guess that’s enough for tomorrow at least.” Uncle Toad chuckled. He helped Carolina load the dishes into the dishwasher and set the large skillets in the sink. Carolina was glad that the mid-day dishwasher would take care of scrubbing the skillets. That was one job she really hated.

“I hope it’ll be enough,” Carolina said. She sighed and leaned against the metal prep table. “We’ve been super busy at the fair. Speaking of busy, we’re going to get a rush pretty soon.”

“Now that we’ve made the salsa, perhaps you can tell me about this ghost you saw at the fair,” Uncle Toad said quietly, ignoring her comment.

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