Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust by Mindy Quigley EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Author: Mindy Quigley
- Language: English
- Genre: Cozy Culinary Mystery
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
“Son, come and taste this,” I called, holding up a fork and summoning
Sonya Perlman-Dokter, my best friend, sous chef, and the namesake “Son”
of my pizza restaurant, Delilah & Son. She stood at the counter near me,
prepping for the dinner service.
Sonya pivoted toward me with her eight-inch gyuto chef’s knife leveled
at my chest. As always, she wore a full face of flawless retro-style makeup,
with matte red lips, heavy powder, and a fluttering expanse of false
eyelashes. A blunt-cut midnight black bob framed her gray eyes, which held
a glint almost as steely as the razor-sharp edge of her knife.
“If that’s another bratwurst sample, I can’t be held responsible for my
actions,” she said, putting a menacing arch in her perfectly plucked
eyebrow.
Sonya threated to kill me at least once a week, which showed great
restraint considering how often my uncompromising culinary standards put
the bonds of our friendship to the test. “Just one more?” I waggled the fork
in front of her nose. “This bite could be worth ten thousand dollars.”
With our first summer season drawing to a close, I’d hatched a plan to
see the business through the leaner winter months, and finding the perfect
bratwurst was a crucial first step. Our Geneva Bay, Wisconsin, location is a
paradise in the high season, the Midwest’s answer to the Hamptons.
A
massive, glittering blue lake is ringed by mega-mansions built for megawealthy families whose names are synonymous with turn-of-the-century
industrial success—Wrigley, Sears, Schwinn, Vick. In the winter, though,
the wealthy Chicagoans and other assorted tourists flee back to the city or to
vacation spots in warmer climes. The seasonal pattern meant that businesses
like mine had to count on stockpiling at least three-quarters of our annual
revenue during the fleeting summer months.
Luckily, I’d hit on the ideal opportunity for a last-minute revenue boost
—Geneva Bay’s Taste of Wisconsin Cook-Off, the marquee event of the
town’s yearly Labor Day weekend festivities. All of Geneva Bay’s top
restauranteurs would be vying to take home the grand prize for the dish that
best showed off our region’s local flavors. The winning restaurant would
receive a three-page write-up in On the Water, the Chamber of Commerce’s
popular magazine, top billing on the Visitors Bureau website, and a tenthousand-dollar cash prize.
“I don’t care if it’s ten thousand dollars or ten million.” Sonya gestured
toward her knife and toward me. “The killing of Delilah O’Leary would be
self-defense and not a jury in the land would convict me.”
I gently disarmed her, placing the knife on the worktop. “This one’s
different. I asked them to grind in more back fat and use less cardamom.”
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