Fudge Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #5)(58)

"I've got time," Hannah said, already planning out which ingredients to use to make some special cookies for her sister.



Andrea's Pecan Divines



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position



2 cups melted butter (4 sticks, one pound)

3 cups white sugar

1 l/2 cups brown sugar

4 teaspoons vanilla

4 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

4 beaten eggs

5 cups flour (no need to sift)

3 cups chocolate chips

4 cups chopped pecans



Melt the butter. (Nuke it for 3 minutes on high in a microwave-safe container, or melt it in a pan on the stove.) Mix in the white sugar and the brown sugar. Add the vanilla and the baking soda and mix. Add the eggs and stir it all up. Add half the flour, the chocolate chips, and the chopped pecans. Stir well to incorporate. Add the rest of the flour and mix thoroughly.



Drop by teaspoons onto greased cookie sheets, 12 cookies to a standard-size sheet. If the dough is too sticky to handle, chill it slightly and try again. Bake at 350 degrees R for 10 to 12 minutes or until nicely browned.



Let cool two minutes, then remove cookies from the baking sheet and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.



Yield: Approximately 10 dozen.



Andrea says these are the best cookies she's ever tasted and I saved her life by baking them.





Chapter Twenty-One





Hannah felt good as she sat on the high stool behind the cash register at The Cookie Jar and surveyed her world. Every table was filled and all of her customers had been coffeed, teaed, and cookied. Now they were busy talking to each other as they munched and sipped, enjoying themselves. The glass serving jars had been replenished, the counter couldn't have been wiped down any better, and all the sugar, creamer, and artificial sweetener containers had been filled to the brim. She'd already delivered the recipes to Andrea, along with one of Rose's best chef salads, and there was nothing else she needed to do until Lisa came back from lunch.

"Hi, Hannah!" Jon Walker stepped into the coffee shop and took a seat at the counter. "Here's your prescription. Doc says you should take two right away and one more tonight before bed. From then on it'll be one pill, three times a day."

"Thanks, Jon." Hannah took the white bag, stashed it behind the counter, and grabbed three of Jon's favorite Oatmeal Raisin Crisps. She placed them on a napkin and served them with a mug of hot, black coffee. "It's on the house. And thanks for the personal service."

"No problem. The antibiotic Doc prescribed is expensive, but it should do the trick. I gave you a discount because I know your health insurance doesn't cover drugs."

"How expensive was it?" Hannah asked, holding her breath. "She wasn't exactly broke this month, but there wasn't all that much left over in the budget, either. Moishe's shots and vet visit hadn't come cheap and his vitamins had been much more expensive than the human equivalent.

"I put the invoice in the bag."

Hannah took it out and gulped as she read the total. The little bottle of pills that Jon just delivered cost over eighty dollars! "

"Sticker shock," Jon commented, looking sympathetic. "Ted Koester had that same look on his face."

"Ted is taking these, too?"

"That's right. And when he picked up the prescription he told everybody in the drugstore about it so I'm not breaking any confidences. He gashed his arm on a piece of metal at work last week. It probably would have been okay if he'd washed it out right after it happened, but he didn't and it got infected."

"Poor Ted. Hold on a second, Jon. I'll get my purse and write you a check."

A minute or two later, their business finished, Hannah perched on her stool while Jon sipped his coffee. "Are you decorating the drugstore for Halloween again?" she asked.

"I've got the girls working on it right now. If I don't pop up behind the counter as the mad chemist stirring something that looks like slime in a beaker, the kids will be really disappointed."

"They really get a kick out of seeing the business owners in costume. Lisa's carving pumpkins to put in our window."

"What are you wearing for a costume?"

"Lisa's going to be a black cat. She showed me the costume last week."

"She's bound to look cute in something like that, but I asked about you."

Hannah shook her head. "I'll stick to the kitchen. That way I won't have to come up with a costume. And if I have to come up front for any reason, I'll put on the same old sheet I used last year and be the Ghost of Cookies Past."

"You're going to the community center for the party, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't miss it. I'm going to take Tracey since Andrea has to stay home with her feet up."

"The baby?"

"Doc Knight's orders."

"Are you bringing cookies for the party?"

"Of course. Twenty dozen, just like always. The only problem is, I haven't decided which cookies to bring. I'd like to do something special for Halloween."

"How about corn cookies? My mother made those for Halloween when we lived on the reservation."