Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke Read Free Book Online

was gone, Hannah and Edna prepared the pans. They’d just finished heating the butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup they’d found in the community center kitchen when Florence came back carrying two sacks of groceries.
    “Here, Hannah. I brought you canned peaches, pears, and apricots,” she said, setting the cans out on the counter.
    “Thanks, Florence. What kind of bread did you get?”
    “One loaf of raisin bread, one of egg, and another called country potato. They’re all sliced. And here’s your chopped pecans, whipping cream, eggs, and butter. What can I do to help you?”
    “Open the cans of fruit and dump them in strainers,” Hannah instructed. “And then you can soften half of the butter in the microwave.”
    “I’ll do that,” Edna said, grabbing the butter and starting to unwrap it.
    While the two women set about their assigned tasks, Hannah poured the heated syrup, brown sugar and butter mixture in the bottoms of the pans. She sprinkled the chopped nuts over the top and was just opening the first loaf of bread when Edna came back with the softened butter.
    “What do you want me to do with this?” Edna asked, holding the bowl aloft.
    “Make fruit sandwiches. We’ll do one pan at a time so we won’t get mixed up. Butter six pieces of bread and put slices of drained fruit on top. Then cover the fruit with another six slices of buttered bread.”
    “I’ll slice the fruit and put it on,” Florence volunteered. “It’s just like making sandwiches for the grandkids. I always lay out the bread in pairs and do it like an assembly line.”
    “That’ll work just fine. When you’re through with a sandwich, cut it in half and put it in the pan on top of my syrup mixture. We can’t have any more than one layer in each pan. You can crowd them together, but don’t overlap them or the recipe won’t work.”
    “Okay. What next?”
    “We beat the eggs with sugar and cinnamon, and then we mix in the cream. Is there any vanilla in the pantry? I forgot to add it to the list.”
    “I brought some, just in case,” Florence told her, dropping several thin slices of pear on a buttered piece of raisin bread. “It’s still in the bag.”
    Hannah found a large bowl and started to crack eggs. When the eggs were beaten with the sugar and cinnamon, she handed the bowl to Edna, who mixed in the cream and added a generous slug of vanilla.
    “How are you coming?” Hannah asked, glancing over at Florence.
    “All done.” Florence added the last sandwich to the pan, and then she headed for the sink to wash her hands.
    “You can pour the egg mixture over the sandwiches now,” Hannah told Edna. “Then we’ll cover the pans with plastic wrap and leave them out on the counter for twenty minutes while the oven preheats.”
    “And then we take off the plastic wrap and bake them?” Florence asked.
    “Not quite. We melt the rest of the butter first, and pour it over the sandwiches. Then we bake them.”
    “That’s a lot of butter!” Edna commented.
    “True, but that’s what makes them so good. They have to sit for a couple of minutes when they come out of the oven to set up. Then we’ll sprinkle them with powdered sugar and they can be served. Tell whoever does it that a half-sandwich is one serving.”
    The three women had just settled down to a cup of Edna’s excellent coffee at the large round booth that had been especially designed for the kitchen workers, when the kitchen door opened and Winnie Henderson marched in.
    “Here!” she said, setting a box on the round table in the center of the booth with such force that the spoon in Edna’s cup rattled. “A promise is a promise so I brought ’em. Six-dozen homemade doughnuts, half powdered sugar, and half cinnamon and sugar. But if I’d known what I know now, I never would have promised!”
    “Wait!” Edna reached out to grab Winnie’s hand as the raw-boned farmwoman turned to go. “Are you mad at me, Winnie?”
    Winnie shook her head so hard,