Ghostly Graveyard (Zoe Donovan Cozy Mystery Book 17) (18 page)

This tastes like the filling of a pumpkin pie without your having to do all that cooking or pastry rolling. Yum!

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin

½ cup brown sugar

1 tbs. pumpkin pie spice

In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, pumpkin, and sugar until smooth. (It might actually have a few little lumps in it; that’s fine.) Add the spices and beat until smooth.

Refrigerate to chill.

Makes approx. 3 cups.

Serve with apple slices, graham crackers, graham sticks, gingersnaps, or any little “dipper” you can think of. My personal favorite dippers with this recipe are gingersnap cookies and slices of Granny Smith apples.  And sometimes I just grab a spoon and eat it right out of the bowl!

This was one of my favorite things my Grandma Marsh would fix when we all got together.

½ cup corn oil

½ cup butter

1 lb. marshmallows

16 cups popped popcorn (take out unpopped kernels)

½ lb. peanuts

1 lb. M&M’s (you can pick different colors and kinds for the holidays)

Put oil, butter, and marshmallows in pan and heat. Blend well. Pour over popcorn and nuts; mix halfway. Add M&M’s and mix well. Press into buttered angel food pan (I have also used a Bundt cake pan lined with wax paper). Refrigerate until hard.

For Halloween I make this into a graveyard. For summer picnics, I use vanilla Oreos and put them in a sand pail and use the sand scoop as the serving spoon.

½ stick butter

8 oz. cream cheese

1 cup sugar

2 small pkgs. instant vanilla pudding

3 cups milk

12 oz. Cool Whip

1 bag Oreo cookies

Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar together until smooth.

Separately mix pudding, milk, and Cool Whip.

Fold in the cream cheese mixture.

Run the Oreos through the chopper of a food processor or blender for the dirt (use the entire cookie).

In a 9 x 13 dish, layer pudding mix, then dirt and pudding and dirt with dirt on top, and then garnish with gummy worms and marshmallow ghosts, etc. I also use cookies as tombstones!

2 cups olive oil

1 lb. butter

2 flowers fresh garlic, all cloves pressed

4 cans anchovies

Sliced French bread

Fondue forks

Sauce:

Place all ingredients in electric fry pan on low until anchovies mix into sauce.

Prepare the following to fondue:

Every kind of fresh vegetables in bite-size pieces, e.g., mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini, Brussels sprouts (cut in half), green beans, etc.

Prepare fresh sirloin steak, chicken, shrimp, etc., into bite-size pieces.

Each person takes fresh vegetables and meat on plate and sautés all in the sauce; watch for degree desired.

Pour over French bread.

Serve with wine. You will want to go back for more.

Macaroni and cheese is one of my family’s favorite comfort foods with creamy, stringy, cheesy goodness. I wanted to provide something special, better than packaged mac and cheese. It’s extremely easy to individualize the special ingredients and servings in small ramekins as a special treat. Mac and cheese is always better when crisp bacon goodness is involved, especially in this easy, no-fuss 30-minute dish from start to finish!

Ingredients:

8 oz. elbow macaroni or cavatappi pasta

8 slices bacon, diced

2½ cups heavy cream (or whipping cream if heavy cream isn’t available)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbs. fresh thyme leaves, chopped

⅓ cup shallots, minced

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1¼ cups shredded Gruyère cheese or smoked Gruyère

¼ cup grated Parmesan

½ cup shredded Cheddar cheese (reserve for topping)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 small can chunky lobster or salmon, drained, warmed in microwave (optional)

In large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well and set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6–8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate. Reserve 4 tsp. of crisp bacon for garnish.

In a medium saucepan, combine heavy cream, garlic, thyme, shallots, and mustard over medium heat. Bring to a slight boil and reduce by half, about 4–5 minutes. Stir in cheeses, a handful at a time, until smooth, about 1–2 minutes; season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in pasta and bacon until well combined.

Divide the pasta mix into 4 ramekins.

Add special optional ingredients if desired and stir gently to mix

Top each with shredded Cheddar cheese and reserved crisp bacon. Broil 2–3 minutes if desired.

Serve immediately.

Note: By dividing the servings into individual ramekins, you can add lobster or salmon to the individual servings prior to broiling for those who appreciate lobster or seafood mac and cheese.

Come for the murder, stay for the romance.

Buy them on Amazon today
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Zoe Donovan Cozy Mystery:

Halloween Hijinks

The Trouble With Turkeys

Christmas Crazy

Cupid’s Curse

Big Bunny Bump-off

Beach Blanket Barbie

Maui Madness

Derby Divas

Haunted Hamlet

Turkeys, Tuxes, and Tabbies

Christmas Cozy

Alaskan Alliance

Matrimony Meltdown

Soul Surrender

Heavenly Honeymoon

Hopscotch Homicide

Ghostly Graveyard

Santa Sleuth –
December 2015

Paradise Lake Cozy Mystery:

Pumpkins in Paradise

Snowmen in Paradise

Bikinis in Paradise

Christmas in Paradise

Puppies in Paradise

Halloween in Paradise

Whales and Tails Cozy Mystery:

Romeow and Juliet

The Mad Catter

Grimm’s Furry Tail

Much Ado About Felines

Legend of Tabby Hollow

Cat of Christmas Past –
November 2015

Seacliff High Mystery:

The Secret

The Curse

The Relic

The Conspiracy

The Grudge –
December 2015

Road to Christmas Romance:

Road to Christmas Past

Kathi Daley
lives with her husband, kids, grandkids, and Bernese mountain dogs in beautiful Lake Tahoe. When she isn’t writing, she likes to read (preferably at the beach or by the fire), cook (preferably something with chocolate or cheese), and garden (planting and planning, not weeding). She also enjoys spending time on the water when she’s not hiking, biking, or snowshoeing the miles of desolate trails surrounding her home.

Kathi uses the mountain setting in which she lives, along with the animals (wild and domestic) that share her home, as inspiration for her cozy mysteries.

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