Hark! The Herald Angel Screamed: An Augusta Goodnight Mystery (with Heavenly Recipes) Read online

  Dash pepper sauce

  Put the mushrooms and onion in a jar or tightly covered container. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over them. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

  —In memory of Meredith Camann—

  Augusta’s Spicy Meat Pies

  Pastry:

  2 cups all-purpose more plus more to cover surface

  1 teaspoon baking powder

  1 teaspoon salt

  ⅔ cup shortening

  4 tablespoons ice water, more if needed

  Sift dry ingredients together, blend in shortening with a fork or pastry blender, and add ice water a little at a time. Knead on a floured surface to form a ball.

  Filling:

  2 teaspoons vegetable oil

  1 small onion, finely chopped

  1 large clove garlic, minced

  ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

  ½ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)

  ¼ pound ground lean beef

  ¼ teaspoon salt

  3 tablespoons golden raisins, chopped

  3 tablespoons pimiento-stuffed olives, chopped

  1 cup canned diced tomatoes with juice

  1 egg

  Heat the oil in a skillet and add the onion and seasonings. Add the beef. Cook until the beef begins to brown and stir in the raisins, olives, and tomatoes. Cook about 10 minutes until almost all the liquid evaporates. Remove from the heat.

  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

  Roll out the pastry—thin for piecrusts. Cut as many rounds as possible using a glass or 3-inch cutter. Put about 1 or 2 teaspoons of the filling in each round, fold over, and crimp the edges. Brush the tops with 2 tablespoons water beaten with the egg. Bake about 12 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet until golden brown. Serve warm. (These are kind of troublesome but very good.)

  (Easily doubled.)

  Martin Shackelford’s Good-and-Easy Biscuits

  1¾ cups self-rising flour plus more to cover surface

  1 cup whipping cream

  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

  Mix the dough and roll out on a floured surface. Cut with a biscuit cutter and bake in the preheated oven about 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot.

  Anna’s Cream Cheese and Apple Salad

  One 3-ounce package lemon gelatin (Anna usually adds about ½

  3-ounce package more)

  One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

  One 20-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained (reserve juice)

  ⅓ cup sugar

  2 cups tart apples, peeled and chopped

  1 cup pecans, chopped

  One 8-ounce container frozen whipped topping, thawed

  Lettuce (optional)

  Cream the dry gelatin and cream cheese together. Combine the reserved pineapple juice and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add to the gelatin mix and stir until dissolved. Add the apples and pecans. Cool, then fold in the whipped topping and spoon into a 9 × 13-inch ungreased pan. Chill for 6 hours or overnight. Cut into squares and serve on lettuce, if desired.

  Cousin Jo Nell’s “Joyed It” Jam Cake

  1 cup butter

  1½ cups sugar

  3 eggs

  1 teaspoon baking soda

  1 cup buttermilk

  3 cups flour

  1 teaspoon each allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg

  1 cup seedless blackberry jam

  1 pinch powdered ginger

  Glaze (optional)

  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour a tube pan; put wax paper cut to fit in the bottom of the pan.

  Cream the butter; add the sugar and eggs. Add the baking soda to the buttermilk and add to the egg mixture. Sift the flour and sift again with the spices. Add the flour mixture gradually to the butter mixture. Add the jam last. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. This is good with a glaze made of the juice and grated rind of one orange, mixed with sifted confectioner’s sugar. You don’t want to get it too runny so measure a little at a time. It’s also good just plain.

  Mattie Durham’s Charleston Squares

  1 stick (½ cup) butter or margarine

  1 cup sugar

  2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

  2 cups all-purpose flour

  1 teaspoon baking powder

  ½ teaspoon salt

  1 teaspoon pure almond extract

  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

  1 egg white

  ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

  ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

  ½ cup chopped nuts (pecans or almonds are good)

  1 4-oz. bottle maraschino cherries, chopped and drained

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

  Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, mixing well. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the creamed mixture. Add the almond and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla extracts. Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Beat the egg white and add the brown sugar and the remaining ½ teaspoon vanilla. Spread over the batter and sprinkle with the nuts and cherries. Bake for about 30 minutes. Cool and cut into squares. These are delicious and great for parties.

  Aunt Eula’s Lemonade Cake

  One (3-ounce) package lemon Jell-O

  ¾ cup boiling water

  1½ cups granulated sugar

  ¾ cup oil

  4 eggs

  2½ cups plain flour

  2½ teaspoons baking powder

  1 teaspoon salt

  2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

  1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

  1 tablespoon lemon extract

  1 6-ounce can frozen lemonade

  ¾ cup powdered sugar, sifted

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a greased and floured 10-inch tube or Bundt pan.

  Dissolve the Jell-O in the boiling water and set aside to cool. Mix the sugar and oil and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, mix the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the egg mixture alternately with the gelatin mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat thoroughly after each addition. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon rind, and lemon extract. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour. While the cake is baking, thaw the lemonade and stir in the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Punch holes in top of cake while it’s still warm in the pan and pour the lemonade mixture over it a little at a time. Let cool in the pan before removing. If you like lemon, you’ll love this.

  Cissy’s Turtle Bars

  Crust:

  2 cups flour

  1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

  ½ cup butter, softened

  1 cup whole pecan halves

  Caramel layer:

  ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

  ⅔ cup butter

  12 ounces milk chocolate chips

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

  Combine the flour, brown sugar, and butter for the crust; mix well and pat firmly into an ungreased 9 × 13-inch pan. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the unbaked crust. Prepare the caramel layer by combining the brown sugar and butter in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to boil. Boil ½ to 1 minute, stirring the whole time. Pour over the pecans and crust. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until the crust is light golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips. Allow to melt and then swirl. Cool and cut into bars.

  Makes 3 to 4 dozen.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Other Books By This Author

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14


  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Some of Stone’s Throw Favorites