Lisa looked puzzled. 'But I thought that sleigh was for the Prince and Princess of Winter.'
'Not anymore. They're riding in one of the regular sleighs now. Connie Mac can get anything out of anybody.'
'Not you.'
'I'm a hard case.' Hannah began to grin. 'Actually, that's another reason I bailed out of the tour'. I didn't want to find out what Connie Mac wanted from me.'
The phone rang and Lisa got up to answer it. She listened for a moment and then she handed it to Hannah. 'It's Janie Burkholtz. She's calling from Connie Mac's cell phone.'
'Great,' Hannah said with a smile. She hadn't spoken to Janie for years. 'Hi, Janie. I'm sorry we missed you when Andrea and I came out to the inn. What's up?'
'Your mother said I should call you, Hannah.' Janie sounded on the edge of panic. 'We've got a real disaster on our hands. Mrs. MacIntyre's supply van went into the ditch on the way here and the Winter Carnival cake was ruined.'
'That's terrible. Was anyone hurt?'
'No. The driver's fine and there were no passengers. All the other supplies came through just fine, but Mrs. MacIntyre is determined to bake a replacement cake and we have to find some commercial ovens to use.'
'How about the school?' Hannah suggested.
'I already spoke to Mr. Purvis and they're replacing the kitchen floor this weekend. And I tried the inn, but Sally's serving hot appetizers tonight and she's using all of her ovens.'
'The kitchen at the community center?'
'That won't work either. Edna's baking rolls and she'll be there until midnight or later.'
'Really?' Hannah's surprise was reflected in her voice. 'I thought Edna was buying breadsticks and setting them out in baskets.'
'She was, but Mrs. MacIntyre thought crescent rolls would be a nice touch with the salad course.'
'I see,' Hannah said and sent sympathetic thoughts Edna's way. Baking crescent rolls for two hundred guests was a lot of work.
'Your mother suggested that I call you before you left for the night She thought maybe we could use your ovens.'
Hannah hesitated, She didn't like the idea of Connie Mac baking in her kitchen, but Janie was on the spot and the Winter Carnival cake was important, 'Sure, Janie. We were just getting ready to lock up. Come on over when you're through with the pictures. We'll wait.'
'We're all through. We finished a couple of minutes ago,' Janie said, still sounding stressed. 'Thank you, Hannah. You don't know how much this means to me.'
'No problem.'
'Can you hold on for just a second? Mrs. Macintyre wants something.'
'Sure. Take your time.' Hannah covered the mouthpiece and turned to Lisa, who was staring at her curiously. 'Connie Mac wants to use our ovens. Her supply van went into the ditch and the Winter Carnival cake is mush. I told Janie they could bake here.'
'Then I'd better make sure everything's clean.' Lisa jumped up and grabbed a bottle of cleaning solution and a sponge. She wiped down the door of the cooler and then she started to giggle. 'What?'
'Now you know what Connie Mac wants from you. And you gave it to her, just like everybody else in town.'
'Hannah?' Janie came back on the line. 'Mrs. Macintyre is very grateful and she wants to do something for you in return.'
'That's not necessary, Janie.'
'But she insists. Norman is going to bring over his equipment and take Mrs. Macintyre's picture in your kitchen. She thought you'd want to hang it over your counter in the coffee shop.'
'That's. . . uh. . . very nice of her.' Hannah hung up the phone and snorted. Hell would freeze over before she'd hang Connie Mac's picture over the counter in her shop!
Blue Blueberry Muffins
Preheat oven to 375'F, rack in the middle position
' cup melted butter (1 ' sticks) 1 cup sugar 2 beaten eggs (just whip them up with a fork) 2 teaspoons baking powder ' teaspoon salt 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (no need to thaw if they're frozen) ' cup blueberry pie filling 2 cups plus one tablespoon flour (no need to sift) ' cup milk
Crumb Topping: ' cup sugar 1/3 cup flour ' cup softened butter (' stick)
Grease the bottoms only of a 12-cup muffin pan (or line the cups with cupcake papers). Melt the butter. Mix in the sugar. Then add the beaten eggs, baking powder, and salt, and mix thoroughly.
Put one tablespoon of the flour in a plastic bag with your cup of fresh or frozen blueberries. Shake it gently to coat the blueberries, and leave them in the bag for now.
Add half the remaining two cups flour to your bowl and mix it in with half the milk. Then add the rest of the flour and milk and mix thoroughly.
Here comes the fun part: Add ' cup blueberry pie filling to your bowl and mix it in. (Your dough will turn a shade of blue, but don't let that stop you ' once the muffins are baked, they'll look just fine.) When your dough is thoroughly mixed, fold in the flour-coated fresh or frozen blueberries.
Fill the muffin tins three-quarters full and set them aside. If you have dough left over, grease the bottom of a small tea-bread loaf pan and fill it with your remaining dough.
The crumb topping: Mix the sugar and the flour in a small bowl. Add the softened butter and cut it in until it's crumbly. (You can also do this in a food processor with hard butter using the steel blade.)
Sprinkle the crumb topping over your muffins and bake them in a 375'F oven for 25 to 30 minutes. (The tea- bread should bake about 10 minutes longer than the muffins.)
While your muffins are baking, divide the rest of your blueberry pie filling into ' cup portions and pop it in the freezer. I use paper cups to hold it and freeze them inside a freezer bag. All you have to do is thaw a cup the next time you want to make a batch of Blue Blueberry Muffins.
When your muffins are baked, set the muffin pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes. (The muffins need to cool in the pan for easy removal.) Then just tip them out of the cups and enjoy.
These are wonderful when they're slightly warm, but the blueberry flavor will intensify if you store them in a covered container overnight.
Grandma Ingrid's muffin pans were large enough to hold all the dough from this recipe. My muffin tins are smaller; and I always make a loaf of Blue Blueberry tea bread with the leftover dough. If I make it for Mother; I leave off the crumb topping. She loves to eat it sliced, toasted, and buttered for breakfast.
-5-
Once Connie Mac, Janie, and Norman arrived at The Cookie Jar, there was a flurry of activity. While Lisa showed Janie how to operate the kitchen appliances and Norman took Connie Mac's picture, Hannah loaded Lisa's car with the cookies they'd baked so that she could drop them off at Jordan High on her way home.
'Okay. Janie's all set.' Lisa came out the back door just as Hannah had finished stacking the last box of cookies in her trunk. 'These cookies go to Mrs. Baxter's room?'
'Right. The girls will help you unload them. They're all working late, making sandwiches for tomorrow. They're going to have ham and cheese, and egg salad.'
'At least they won't have to worry about the mayo going bad in weather like this,' Lisa said with a shiver, opening her car door and sliding into the driver's seat. 'See you tomorrow morning, Hannah.'
'I don't think so.'
'Oh? Are you taking the morning off!'
'No, you are,' Hannah told her. 'You did the lion's share of the work today, and I'll pick up the slack tomorrow morning. The earliest I want to see you here is a quarter to twelve.'
A delighted grin spread over Lisa's face. 'Dad's been wanting to go out to see the venues and I just didn't have time c take him. But are you sure you can spare me, Hannah?'
'Sure, I'm sure. We shouldn't have much business. Almost everybody in town will be out at the venues. I'll have plenty of time to bake, and when you come in I'll run the cookies out to the warm-up tents.'
