Pistols & Pies (Sweet Bites Book 2) (Sweet Bites Mysteries) by Heather Justesen Read Free Book Online

meeting.
    Bother.
     

    ½ cup (one stick) butter or margarine
    1 cup white granulated sugar
    2 eggs
    ½ cup milk
    1 tsp vanilla
    ½ cup molasses
    1 2/3 cup flour
    ½ tsp salt
    2 1/2 tsp baking powder
    1 tsp ground ginger
    ½ tsp ground cloves
    ½ tsp ground cinnamon
    Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour 18 muffin cups, or use paper liners.
    In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar and eggs. Add the milk, vanilla and molasses and mix well.
    In another bowl mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and spices. Then add slowly to wet ingredients, mixing well as you go.
    Fill the muffin cups about halfway and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they just start to turn brown.
     

Filling
    8 oz cream cheese, softened
    1/4 cup sugar
    2 tsp lemon juice
    1/2 cup whipping cream
     
    Topping
    2/3 cup sugar
    3 Tbsp Cornstarch
    1/4 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp cinnamon
    3 cups blueberries
    1/4 cup water
     
    Tart crust.
    2 cups flour
    1 tsp salt
    3/4 cups shortening
    1 large egg beaten
    2 Tbsp white vinegar
     
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees and use non-stick spray on two 12-cup muffin tins. Mix the flour and salt. Crust: Using a pastry blender, cut the shortening into the flour until it is uniform. Mix the egg and vinegar in a cup and blend into the flour mixture.  Pie crust tip: once you add the liquids, you want to handle the crust as little as possible, but before adding the liquids, you can mix it as much as you like.
    Roll out pie crust to slightly more than 1/8" thick and use a round cookie cutter about 3 1/2 " wide (or a wide-mouthed jar ring) to cut out circles. Slide the crust into the muffin tins--it's best to bend up the edges and slide it down, then smooth the crust against the sides of the tin. Prick the crusts with a fork. You could also use a cupcake liner for easier removal. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
    Filling: Mix the softened cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice on medium until well blended. Then add the 1/2 cup of cream and whip until fluffy, stopping to scrap the sides of the bowl several times. Spoon about a tablespoon of filling in each cooled mini-tart crust. Chill.
    Topping: Place all dry ingredients into a medium sauce pan on low heat and mix, add the water and mix well, then add the blueberries. Heat until the mix starts to simmer well. Take off the heat and allow to cool completely. Spoon over the tart filling. Makes 18-20 mini tarts.
     
     
     

When Lenny showed himself at the back door that afternoon, his chef’s jacket on, shaved, wearing stud earrings and looking a hundred percent better, I had nearly burned through my annoyance at him. “Come in. Did you get something to eat before you came down?” I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already four thirty.
    “I had some cereal. You said you have coffee here, right?” His eyes were still a little bleary, though he looked a lot better otherwise.
    I gestured to the cappuccino machine. “Help yourself. When you’re feeling completely awake we’ll go over the procedures here.”
    He smiled and walked through the kitchen, tapping a hand on each of the cupboard doors and telling me what was in them before opening them to reveal the items he’d mentioned.  The show-off. When he got to the order pad that sat near the register, he explained protocol and goggled at the price of the last sale. “Wow, you’re really underpricing your food. No wonder you can’t afford to pay me more.”
    With a tug at the order pad, I flipped it closed again and stashed it beside the register. “No, I’m not underpricing them. We’re fifty percent higher than the grocery store bakery—or more depending on the item. People don’t pay five bucks for a cupcake here—no matter how decadent it is. I’d have gone under by now if I charged Chicago prices.”
    I clapped a hand on his shoulder and turned him toward the cappuccino machine again. “Since you just demonstrated the fact