Blackberry Pie Murder Read Online Free PDF Page A

here.”
    “What made you decide to bake with it instead of pouring it in our coffee?” Lisa asked her.
    “It was Michelle’s idea. She remembered the Double Whammy Lemon Cake you made for my last party and she decided to try it in lime cookie bars.”
    Hannah smiled at her mother to show she was about to tease her. “They sound wonderful. Are we going to talk about them, or do we actually get to taste them?”
    “You get to taste them.” Delores laughed as she reached for the foil-covered plate at the end of the workstation.
    “Wait just a second. I’m going to get Michelle. She wanted to be here when you tasted them.”
    The moment the swinging restaurant-style door between the kitchen and the coffee shop had shut, Hannah reached for the foil-covered plate and pulled off the foil. “They’re pretty.”
    “You’re not going to taste one until Michelle gets here, are you?” Lisa sounded worried.
    “Nope. It was sweet of them to bake for us and I can wait if you can.”
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    Joanne Fluke
    “I don’t know if I can, or not. They smell really good.”
    “Yes, they do! Maybe we could just take a little bit off the bottom and . . . ” Hannah halted in mid-reach as the door swung open and Michelle and Delores came in.
    “You didn’t taste them yet, did you?” Delores asked.
    Hannah shook her head. “No, but it was close. It’s a good thing you came in when you did.”
    A moment later, all four of them were munching on Michelle’s creation. Hannah popped the rest of her bar cookie in her mouth and gave a happy sigh. “Incredibly delicious,”
    she pronounced.
    “Just wonderful!” Lisa added. “Do you think we could make them without the vodka so we could sell them in the coffee shop?”
    Michelle looked thoughtful for a moment. “I don’t see why not. There’s one-third cup of vodka in the whole pan of bars. And we used one-third cup of lime juice. I don’t see why you couldn’t use one-third cup of whole milk for the vodka and leave the lime juice as it is.”
    “How about increasing the lime juice to two-thirds of a cup?” Delores asked her. “I really like lime.”
    “So do I, but that might make it too limey . . . if limey is a word, that is.”
    “It is,” Hannah told her. “It’s a term that was used for English sailors back in the early days. They were at sea for months, sometimes years, and they used to carry barrels of limes on a ship for sailors to eat to keep from getting scurvy.
    I like limes as much as you do, Mother, but I agree with Michelle. It could be a little too limey.”
    “That’s why I’m just the measurer and not the baker,” Delores said. “These are just perfect, Michelle. It’s really a de-lightful recipe and I know Doc would absolutely love to taste them.”
    Hannah caught her mother’s not so subtle hint. “I get it, Mother. Let’s all have one more and save a couple for Lisa to BLACKBERRY PIE MURDER
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    take home to Herb. And then, if you like, you can take the rest out to the hospital for Doc.”
    “Not just Doc,” Delores explained. “I was thinking about that lunch with the board members. Doc needs their approval on a couple of things, and I don’t think a little vodka ever hurts when you’re dealing with board members.”
    ! % { # 9 *
    TIO TITO’S SUBLIME LIME BAR COOKIES
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
    ½ cup finely-chopped coconut (measure after
    chopping—pack it down when you measure it)
    1 cup cold salted butter (2 sticks, 8 ounces,
    ½ pound)
    ½ cup powdered (confectioners) sugar (no need to
    sift unless it’s got big lumps)
    2 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down when you
    measure it)
    4 beaten eggs (just whip them up with a fork)
    2 cups white (granulated) sugar ¹/³ cup lime juice (freshly squeezed is best)
    ¹/³ cup vodka (I used Tito’s Handmade Vodka)
    ½ teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    ½ cup all-purpose flour (pack it down when you
    measure it)
    Powdered (confectioners) sugar to