Cinnamon Roll Murder (Hannah Swensen, #15)(71)

“Where are they going?” Michelle asked.

“They’re going to check out the house to see if anything’s changed. And now that I put that silly table in the closet, they’re going to find out everything’s exactly the same. Cuddles is leading the way because she still considers it to be her house.”

From your lips to God’s ears, Hannah thought, remembering the phrase her neighbor used to use when she wanted things to be as she said they were.

There was a loud thump from the den and then a startled meow. A scant second later, there was the sound of running footfalls on the stairway Norman had built for Moishe before he’d adopted Cuddles.

“The chase is on,” Norman said. There was another loud thump and then the sound of footfalls running down the circular staircase.

“And the chase has picked up speed,” Hannah commented. “Any second now they’ll probably ... feet up everybody! Here they come!”

Hannah and Michelle hopped up to sit on the kitchen counter. Norman lifted his feet to the seat of a neighboring chair. They were just in time as the two cats rounded the corner into the kitchen and skidded across the tiles.

“Careful, guys!” Norman warned, but of course they didn’t listen. Norman didn’t speak cat and the cats didn’t speak caution. They slid past the refrigerator, rounded the center island on three paws, and ran smack dab into the cupboard under the sink.

“Rrrrow!” Moishe yowled, sounding dazed.

“Merrrowww,” Cuddles moaned, adding her voice to the complaint.

“Are they hurt?” Michelle asked, preparing to jump down from the counter.

“I really don’t think so,” Norman said with a chuckle, as the two cats shook their heads, regained their feet, and started to chase each other all over again. “Do they do this at your house?” he asked Hannah.

“Oh, yes. Every night.”

“But your place is so much smaller! How do they manage it?”

“They fly,” Hannah said, and left it at that.





PEACHES AND CREAM COOKIES

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.





15 canned peach slices to garnish your cookies

1 and ? cups white (granulated) sugar

? cup (1 stick, 4 ounces, ? pound) salted butter, softened

4 ounces cream cheese, softened (the brick kind, not the whipped kind—I used Philadelphia Cream Cheese in the silver box)

3 large eggs

? teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

? teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated is best, of course)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 and ? cups peach pie filling (I used Comstock— my can was 15.5 ounces net weight, and it was exactly 1 and ? cups)

2 Tablespoons (that’s cup) peach jam

3 and ? cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

1 cup finely chopped pecans





Drain the can of peach slices in a strainer over the sink, or over a bowl. You do not need to reserve the juice. Let the peaches drain while you mix up your cookie dough.



Hannah’s 1st Note: Unless you have a very strong stirring arm, use an electric mixer to make this cookie dough.



Place the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.



Place the butter and the cream cheese, which must be softened to room temperature, on top of the sugar.



Turn the mixer to LOW and mix for one minute. Gradually increase the speed of the mixer, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently and beating for one minute at each level, until you arrive at the highest speed.



Beat at the highest speed for at least 2 minutes or until the resulting mixture is very light and fluffy.



Turn the mixer down to LOW, and add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.



Continue to mix on LOW speed while you add the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda. Mix until they are thoroughly incorporated.



Measure out a cup and a half of peach pie filling. If there are any large pieces of peach, chop them up with a knife into small pieces about the size of mini chocolate chips. The goal is to get some into each cookie.



With the mixer on LOW speed, add the peach pie filling to your bowl and mix it in.



Measure out the peach jam. If there are any large pieces of peach, chop them up with a knife just like you did with the peaches in the pie filling.



With the mixer on LOW speed, add the peach jam to your bowl and mix it in thoroughly.



Mix in the flour, one cup at a time, mixing on LOW after each addition. (You don’t have to be exact—just add the flour in 4 increments)





Shut off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then give the mixture a final stir by hand. The resulting cookie dough should be fluffy, but not at all stiff like sugar cookie or chocolate chip cookie dough. Let the bowl sit on the counter while you ...



Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. It’s the easiest way to bake these cookies. If you don’t have parchment paper and you really don’t want to go out to get any, grease your cookie sheets heavily, or spray them thoroughly with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.



If you haven’t already done so, put the pecans in the bowl of a food processor with the steel blade in place, and process them with an on-and-off motion into fine pieces.