Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #24)(17)

Put the lid on your Crock-Pot, plug it in, and turn it on LOW heat. Your Chicken in Cabernet Sauce will be ready in 7 hours, but it will hold for several more hours if your guests are late.



Check the progress of your meal 20 minutes before you’re ready to serve. If the sauce that had formed is too thin, add the second packet of gravy mix, stir it in, and put on the lid again. Then turn the Crock-Pot on HIGH and let it cook for an additional 20 minutes.



Hannah’s 3rd Note: If you invite Mike for dinner, be sure to put Slap Ya Mama hot sauce on the table for him.



Yield: A delectable dinner for 5 to 6 guests. It can serve 8 if you also offer a green salad and hot, crusty bread.





Chapter Five


When Hannah woke up the next morning, she felt oddly content. It was nice to have Michelle and the guys in the condo. She’d been anticipating being by herself for three or four days and although the prospect certainly didn’t frighten her, it was nice to have company when you knew you were snowed in and couldn’t get out because of the weather.

She flicked on the light, glanced at the alarm clock, and realized that it was almost seven in the morning. She’d slept for a lot longer than she usually did, especially on Sunday nights. It was great knowing that she didn’t have to go to work in the morning, and the prospect of relaxing all day on a Monday with people she liked was wonderfully appealing.

Her neck was unusually stiff and Hannah rubbed it. Then she glanced at the other side of her bed and realized that Moishe had given Cuddles his pillow and he’d stolen hers in the middle of the night. She thought fleetingly of telling him he was bad for taking her pillow, but the two cats looked so angelic sprawled out on their matching pillows, she just didn’t have the heart to complain.

Hannah was just pulling on her slippers when she realized that there was a delicious scent in the air. It took her a moment to identify it, but when she did, she began to smile. Peaches. And the scent of peaches was probably what had awakened her in the first place.

“Michelle must be baking something with peaches,” she said to the sleeping cats. “I’m going to take a quick shower, get dressed, and go see what Michelle has in the oven.”

Moishe opened one eye when he heard her voice. He gave a soft, rather kittenish mew and began to stretch. Again, Hannah was amazed at how long her pet was when he stretched. He was lying on her pillow lengthwise and even though it was a king-size pillow, his head extended over one side and his back legs extended over the other side. He stretched for several seconds and then he sat up and reached out with one paw to rouse Cuddles.

Cuddles opened her eyes, stretched in a smaller version of Moishe’s stretch, and sat up. Then both cats swiveled their heads to watch Hannah as she headed for the master bathroom to take her morning shower.

When Hannah came back into her bedroom, ten minutes later, the cats had deserted her and there was a new scent in the air, the scent of coffee brewing. This caused her to make short work of dressing and within five additional minutes, she was heading toward the kitchen for her morning wake-up cup of the beverage that her father had always called Swedish Plasma.

She could hear the shower running as she passed the guest bathroom and Hannah knew that at least one of the men was awake. A few steps later, quietly tiptoeing past the two occupied sleeping bags in the living room, she entered the kitchen.

Just as she’d expected, Moishe and Cuddles were parked in front of their food bowls. Their heads were down, almost buried in whatever Michelle had fed them with their Kitty Kibble, and they didn’t even look up to see who had come in.

Hannah began to smile. As usual, Michelle had accomplished all of the chores that Hannah would have had to do if Hannah were alone. Her youngest sister simply pitched in and didn’t even expect any thanks for doing it.

Michelle was on the other side of the kitchen, removing something from the oven. It smelled so delicious that it made Hannah’s mouth begin to water. She stood there watching as her youngest sister carried a baking sheet with the aromatic treat to a wire rack she’d placed on the counter, and then Michelle went back to the oven for a second baking sheet.

“Good morning, Michelle,” Hannah said once Michelle’s precious cargo had been stowed on the wire racks. “Whatever that is, it smells absolutely wonderful!”

“Good morning, Hannah. I baked Peach Scones. It’s a new recipe and it seemed like the perfect time to try it.”

“If the scent is any indication, it’s a great recipe.”

“I hope so.” Michelle turned and hurried to the coffeepot. “Sit down, Hannah, and I’ll bring you a cup of coffee. And before you think to ask me, the scones have to cool for five to ten minutes.”

“I vote for five,” Hannah told her, pulling out a chair at her kitchen table and sitting down in her favorite spot. “I don’t think I can wait any longer than that.”

“Neither could Heiti. Aunt Nancy said that she made them for breakfast one morning and he almost burned his mouth by tasting them too soon.”

“Too bad we don’t have a little table outside. They’d cool faster out there.”

“And if they didn’t blow away in the wind gusts we’re having this morning, they’d be covered with snow in no time flat.”

“It’s bad outside?”