“Then I’ll be sure to try it,” Joe promised.
Andrea frowned slightly, and Hannah knew exactly what she was thinking. “I have something to tell you two,” Hannah said, taking a deep breath. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone, but . . . considering the circumstances, I don’t want either of you to be blindsided by the news that you’re going to get.”
“Murder?” Joe asked, giving her an assessing look.
“Yes.”
“Sonny?” Joe glanced at Andrea and then back at Hannah.
“Yes.”
“When?” This time it was Mark who asked the question.
“Yesterday morning. Mike isn’t going to tell anyone until this afternoon.”
“And that’s why you came over to talk to me last night,” Joe said to Andrea.
“That’s right. I’m sorry, Joe. I didn’t think you did it or anything. I was just trying to collect information.”
Joe turned to smile at Mark. “That’s what these two sisters do. Hannah solves crimes, and Andrea helps her. And sometimes Michelle, their younger sister, gets into the act, too.”
“Then you’re detectives?” Mark asked.
“No.” Hannah shook her head. “We’re not officially anything. It’s just that we love Lake Eden and the people here. It’s our hometown, and if something like this happens, we want to help figure out who did it.”
“You don’t think I killed Sonny, do you?” Mark looked slightly worried at the prospect.
“No, we don’t,” Hannah answered quickly. “And neither did Andrea when she told me about talking to Joe at the bar. It was just that we had to check it out to make sure, that’s all.”
“So neither one of us is a suspect?” Joe followed up.
“Not anymore,” Andrea answered him, and then she turned to Hannah. “Isn’t that right, Hannah?”
“That’s right,” Hannah assured them.
“But why did you suspect us in the first place?” Joe asked.
“I knew you were a sharpshooter in the military,” Andrea said. “Bill told me that he tried to recruit you for the sheriff’s department.”
“You mean Sonny was . . . shot?”
“I shouldn’t have said anything,” Andrea admitted, glancing at Hannah.
“Yes, Sonny was shot.” Hannah rescued her sister, who looked guilty for even mentioning it. “Please don’t repeat what we told you. I don’t know if Mike is going to tell everyone exactly how Sonny was murdered.”
“We won’t say a word,” Joe promised them. “Isn’t that right, Mark?”
“That’s right. But we’re in the clear, right?”
Hannah nodded. “I have a list of suspects, and you are definitely going to get crossed off the list the minute I get back to my room at the Inn.”
“Well . . .” Joe gave her a little smile. “That’s a relief! Now that you told us, Mark and I might be able to enjoy the Wild Rice Soup at the lunch buffet after all!”
WILD RICE SOUP
This soup can be made in a 4-or 5-quart slow cooker.
WARNING: This recipe contains many dry ingredients in boxes or packaged in envelopes. Some of these ingredients may have tiny packets of silica gel inside to keep these dry ingredients from becoming moist and sticking together. The best way to find these small packets is to measure out the dry ingredients and place them in a small bowl to check for the small packets BEFORE you put them in your crockpot.
Ingredients:
2 cans (14.5 ounces net weight) beef broth (I used 2 cans of Swanson)
1 cup of instant mashed potato flakes
1 envelope of dry Lipton Onion Soup
1 pint (2 cups) Half & Half (that’s light cream)
8 ounces dry wild rice (I used 2 packets of Uncle Ben’s Long Grain & Wild Rice—the name was changed to Ben’s Ready Rice Long Grain & Wild on the newer packaging, and there was no mention of anybody’s “Uncle”)
1 10-ounce can Campbell’s condensed cheddar cheese soup
? pound ham cut into cubes OR 1 package Hormel
Real Crumbled Bacon (4.3 ounces net weight)
Hannah’s 1st Note: This recipe is from Edna Fergusson, Lake Eden’s School District head cook. Edna is the queen of shortcuts and this recipe proves it!
Hannah’s 2nd Note: Everything can simply be thrown in the crock of the slow cooker, stirred, and set to cook on the LOW setting.
Prepare your pans.
If you’re using a slow cooker, spray the inside of the crock with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. If you’re making this soup on the stovetop, find a pot large enough to hold 4 quarts of soup.
Directions:
Open the cans of beef broth and pour them into the crock.
Open the package of instant mashed potato flakes and place them in the crock on top of the beef broth.
Open the package of dry Lipton Onion Soup Mix and sprinkle the top of the dried mashed potato flakes in the crock.
Pour in the pint of Half & Half.
Open the packages of the Long Grain and Wild Rice mixture and place them in the crock.
Open the can of cheese soup and place the contents inside the crock.
Put in the ham or the real crumbled bacon now.
Stir everything together to combine, and put the lid on the crock.
Turn the slow cooker on LOW heat (make sure that the slow cooker is plugged in).
Your soup is ready to serve in three to four hours.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings of hot, creamy, and satisfying Wild Rice Soup.
Hannah’s Final Note: Actually, wild rice is an aquatic grain and not really a rice at all, but it is a staple in Minnesota and a real favorite because of its smoky, nutlike flavor.
ONION SOUP
A Crockpot Recipe for a 4-to 5-quart crockpot.
You will only use your oven to toast the French bread that tops the bowls of soup.
Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons salted butter
4 cups chopped sweet white onions
1 clove garlic, minced, or 1 teaspoon jarred minced garlic
3 14.5-ounce cans beef broth
4 cubes beef bouillon
1 cup water
1 and ? teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
teaspoon ground black pepper (freshly ground is best)
2 ounces cognac or brandy (optional)
1 French bread baguette (enough for 8 to 10 1-inch thick slices)
1 cup finely grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese
Hannah’s 1st Note: I love onion soup, but one of the things I’ve always hated about it is that sometimes the onion pieces were so long that they would drip on my clothes if I wasn’t extremely careful. I always wished that restaurants would provide bibs like they sometimes do for lobster, but then Michelle and I came up with another solution. This is the main reason we decided to use chopped onions in this recipe, rather than using a mandolin. The second reason we chose to use chopped onions was purely for convenience. Florence sells bags of chopped onions down at her Red Owl grocery, and this recipe is simple to put together if the onions are already chopped.
Directions:
Get out a large skillet.
Put the salted butter inside and turn the stovetop burner on MEDIUM-LOW. Swish the butter around until it covers the bottom of the pan.
Add the onions and garlic and sauté for 20 minutes on MEDIUM-LOW until tender.
Spray the interior of the crockpot with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.