Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #4)(83)

Aunt Kitty's Cottage Cheese Pancakes (Poor Man's Blintzes)

2 cups cottage cheese 4 eggs

!/2 teaspoon salt ]/2 cup flour

Mix cottage cheese, eggs, salt, and flour together in a small bowl. Let the mixture "rest" in the refrigerator for an hour (overnight is fine, too).

Heat a nonstick griddle to 350 degrees R, or use a frying pan that's been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. (The frying pan is ready when a drop of water sizzles and "dances " across the surface.)

Spoon pancake batter in pan or on griddle and fry until the bubbles on the surface of the pancake remain open. (You can check to see if the bottom side is done by lifting the edge with a spatula.) When the bottom side is a nice golden color, flip the pancake over and cook until the bottom color matches the top.





277

Place the finished pancakes on a plate, sprinkle artificial sweetener over the tops and add sliced fruit of your choice.





278

Poor Man *s Blintzes

Mix up the pancakes as directed and fry them. When they're done, spread each pancake with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Top with spoonfuls of jam, add a generous dollop of sour cream, and enjoy.

Yield: 8 medium-sized pancakes.





279





Chapter IWenty-Six

Hannah cleared her throat and began to read the letter aloud. "I wish I was back in Lake Eden with you right now. They say I'm not going to make it and the guy next to me is going to find someone to take this letter out and mail it to you*"

"He's dying?" Lisa whispered as Hannah looked up.

"That's right. What makes you think this letter is from a man?"

"It sounds like he's in a hospital and they don't usually put a man and a woman together in one room."

"Good point," Hannah said and turned back to the letter again. "Thank you for being nice to me when I was a kid. You were the only one who played games with me. Remember the one where you hid those notes and sent me all over the house to find them? You always started with the cookie jar and that sent me to the grandfather clock, or the Bible. You taught me to read with those clues. I never would have learned in school. And you always made sure I found the prize at the end."

"I know that game," Lisa said. "Go on, Hannah."

"I just wanted to tell you that I love you. If you get this letter, I didn 't make it. Keep putting up that peach jam of

LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER

281

yours. It was always my favorite. And please say a prayer for me when you do it."

"That's so sad," Lisa commented, blinking away the tears that had gathered in her eyes. "Who sent it?"

"Someone named 'Speedy.' That's got to be a nickname. I don't know who Speedy is and anyone who might have known is dead."

"Where did the letter come from?"

Hannah shrugged. "I don't know. I can make out part of the date, it's nineteen eighty-something, but the rest of the cancellation is blurred."

"Well, at least Speedy had happy memories of his time in Lake Eden. He talked a lot about the Treasure Hunt game."

"That's what it's called?"

"That's what we called it. Mom used to play it with me every year on my birthday. She hid clues all over the house and she told me where to find the first one. When I found it, I read it and it told me where to find the second clue. There were always at least ten clues written out and when I came to the end, it told me where I'd find my birthday present."

Hannah felt jealous for one brief second. Delores had never played the Treasure Hunt game with her. But that was in the past. "Thanks for telling me about it, Lisa. It sounds like fun."

"It was. Do you want me to set out the rest of the day-old cookies? People might be hungry when they come in."

"Good idea." Hannah stuffed the letter back in her purse and shivered slightly. She'd just read the last words of a dying man, written to a woman who'd been dead and buried for months. To make things even more depressing, she'd found the letter in a murder victim's apartment. There was only one thing to do to turn her mood around. Normally, she would have eaten some chocolate. That was the best antidote for depression. But since chocolate wasn't one of the food groups allowed on her diet, Hannah did the next best thing. "Hold on and I'll help you," she said, levering herself up from the table and heading off to the kitchen to work.

282 Joanne Fluke

* * * 'i

By the time her extended family had arrived, Hannah was *

hi much better spirits. They sat eating cookies, drinking cof- * fee, and chatting until almost everyone who'd said they were | coming had arrived. |

"The only two missing are Mike and Bill,'* Hannah com- *< mented, turning to Andrea. "Where are they?"

"Oh, they're not coming. They're helping with The Cookie ^ Jar float. Mike's towing it with his Jeep and Bill's taking care of the mechanics." ,*

"The mechanics?" $

Andrea looked contrite. "I shouldn't have said anything. I I don't want you to know anything about the float ahead of time."

"I don't. And you didn't actually say anything."