2 A Christmas Wedding To Die For (12 page)
"You didn't cause this Julia. Neither did Rohan. Punishing yourselves won't help anyone." He bowed his head, his eyes closing, while a small shudder went through him. "I'd give anything to undo the past, to change the last year. But Roger made his own choices, his own decisions."
"Giving up your own happiness won't change what Roger did. He's going to have to pay the price for that."
"But," she'd cried.
He shook his head. "Marry Rohan. Make a life for yourselves. We'll help Roger as best we can. But this is his burden to bear, not yours."
She'd still visited Roger in jail. Her heart had broken as she sat, separated from him by safety glass. He looked a thousand years older, weary and worn. She'd tried to mask her feelings by smiling brightly at him while a guard watched over them.
"Hi Roger. How are you feeling?"
He'd given her a crooked smile. "Never better," he'd said. "Can't you tell?" There'd been a bitter edge to his voice.
"I, Dad says he's got you the best legal counsel there is." She blinked back tears wanting to apologize to him, but for what?
"Yes, yes. I'll have all my rights and then be thrown in jail to rot," he said.
"How could you? You tried to kill-"
"I never meant to harm you..." He paused, shaking his head. "I thought the drink would make you sick, would stop the wedding. And then- " he smiled a mad smile.
"Next you'll be telling me cyanide is a health drink," she said bitterly.
"I didn't know," he cried.
"You may not have meant to kill me but you certainly meant to hurt me," she snapped. "And then you killed, you killed a man you didn't even know," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "How could you?"
"It was an accident. None of this was meant to happen!"
But the past could not be undone. She'd finally realized her father was right. This was Roger's burden. There was nothing she could do to change it. It was time to look toward the future.
She'd asked Maxine to take over the catering.
"There's no one else I'd really trust right now," she'd said, her eye pleading.
Maxine had agreed working with other caterer's she'd worked with in the past to come up with a simple but elegant wedding. They'd kept Butchart's garden as the venue. Maxine had wondered about it but Julianna had decided to stay with Butchart's.
"I've dreamed of having my wedding at Butchart's Gardens since I was a small child. He's not taking that away from me."
Now as they stood together in front of the beautiful cake Maxine had made she felt her eyes tear up. They'd decided to go with heavenly chocolate cake in place of the devil's food they'd originally chosen. And Julianna had decided bling was not so important to her anymore.
Rohan stood beside Julianna, his hand on hers as they sliced their wedding cake together. They fed each other a piece of the cake toasting to a life together while Maxine and Heath cut pieces of wedding cake to serve the guests and whisked the very top layer away to be saved as a bridal keepsake.
"I promise to love and protect Julianna with my life," Rohan said looking serious as he stood beside her.
"And I promise to do everything I can to make our lives long and healthy," Julia said.
Then the dancing broke out with a special bridesmaid number they'd been rehearsing for months. Not long after the bride and groom slipped away to emerge dressed in street clothes. They threw the bouquet to the assembled guests and Angelina almost caught it, but as it fell through her hands Rohan's sister scooped it up.
"You can hold it for me," she said gently to Angelina and Angelina smiled.
"That's OK. I'm too young to get married anyway," Angelina said. Then she started throwing rice at the car as Rohan and Julianna drove away.
Tempering
If you want your chocolates to look really professional you need to temper them. That's what gives fancy chocolates the gloss and 'snap. To do that you'll need to heat it to approximately 85 degrees either in a double boiler on top of the stove or in the microwave. Or a chocolate melting pot if you have one. Mine will get to 85 degrees F if I have it on high.
There are also automatically controlled tempering machines but they're super expensive and you don't have as much control over the finished product.
Flavoring Chocolates
You can add peppermint or orange oils to straight chocolate and pour them in molds for flavored chocolates. But don't use any flavorings that don't have an oil base or it will destroy the chocolate. (Water and Chocolate don't mix!)
For a filling either for truffles or for a cake add heavy cream (whipping) to chocolate and mix it together. For chocolates it should be a pudding thickness and texture. For a cake filling or glaze you'd want to thin it out more.
You can cover nuts to make your own nut clusters or if you're feeling ambitious use the recipe below to make caramels. I like them covered in dark chocolate but that's a matter of personal choice. Adding a sprinkle of sea salt to the top of the finished chocolate can also add a nice touch as can adding vanilla to the caramel mixture.
4 dozen or more depending on how thick and size of pan etc. I use a six by eight and a smaller one. Candy thermometer needed or ability to tell when caramel has reached soft-ball stage.
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup corn syrup
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 pint heavy whipped cream
- 1 cup butter
Use Pam or grease to coat pans
In a medium sized pan add everything together and heat stirring often until candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees F (120 C) or forms soft balls when a small amount is dropped from a spoon into cold water. Remove from heat and put in pans. Note the difference of a few minutes can be the difference of lovely soft, chewy toffee and hard toffee.
Score with a knife when they've cooled slightly but not completely. It will make cutting them easier when they're done.
After you've cut them into scares of whatever size and thickness you want you can cover them in chocolate. Or leave plain. They'll be a hit either way.
If you want a nice caramel sauce you might want to take some of the caramel mixture out before it hits soft ball stage. It makes a yummy one to use on ice-cream, apple pie or all kinds of goodies.
If you enjoyed this book and would like to write a review please go to
amazon.com
For more information about the author go to
www.patamsden.com
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Book One in the cozy mystery series: Death By Chocolate
Available through Amazon – Ebook format only at this time
5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Page Turner August 12, 2013
By ladyhawk
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Chocolate Worth Dying For (Death By Chocolate)" is a great book that grabbed my attention from the very beginning and kept my interest to the end. It's a worthwhile read I recommend! Chocolate Martini anyone?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars So Much to Like about This One August 19, 2013
By N Brandon
Format:Kindle Edition
The title and cover alone were enough to make me want to dig right in, but the story is a good read too. It's a satisfying mystery, but not too heavy with gruesome details. I could relate to the characters in this one. And who doesn't enjoy reading about chocolate?
That didn`t mean she didn`t notice city counselor, Keith, with his seeing eye dog, Murray, or Nikki Benshaw, columnist for the local gossip paper. Jewellery designer Sanje Gupte was posing for a picture, when photographer Will Reimer, got the shot of a life-time.
At that precise moment, developer, Ron Vandemeer, crashed through the upper balcony of an Olde Towne storefront onto the cobble stoned street in front of her, clutching his throat with one hand while foaming at the mouth. The other hand had a half-eaten chocolate. One of hers!
She let go of Tanya who reeled out of the way saying, "he doesn't look so good," while Maxine loosened his shirt in a desperate attempt to make him feel better. But even as 911 was called and Dr. Matthews knelt down beside her, to help in any way he could, it was all too obvious Ron Vandemeer was on his last legs. Within minutes he was dead.
Watching as officers clad in white suits complete with white head gear that completely covered their head to avoid any possible contamination and clear plastic masks, inspired fear in the party guests who'd been told to remain in the small waiting area just before Olde Towne. They murmured amongst themselves.
Maxine stood to one side her arms crossed as her fingers dug into them shivering in horror at what had just happened. She watched as Ron's body was put into a body bag and zipped up, the ambulance drivers wheeling it out on the stretcher.
Tracey Vandemeer's high pitched wail filled the building and tore at her soul. A family friend led her to a side-room with the help of a police officer as the wails turned into sobbing. How could an evening that had started with such promise have gone so terribly wrong?
Party guests pointed in Maxine's direction. People she'd grown up with, known her entire life, even if only by sight, now pointed at her and whispered. She heard the words poison and murder. It wasn't possible. She knew that.
She felt as if she was shrinking down, her heart collapsing in on itself as she watched all the food she'd made bagged up and taken away. As police officers dressed in Haz Mat suits carried out all her cooking supplies
Heath joined her. "He probably died of a heart attack. Or maybe a brain aneurysm" he said, giving her a weak smile. Six feet two, with spiked brown hair and a tattoo on his arm, he was fresh out of cooking school, full of enthusiasm and a zest for life.
She gave him a stricken look. "That's still horrible."
He sighed, looking her straight in the eyes. "You didn't cause this. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it."
"I know," she whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek. "But I can't help feeling awful about...about," she gestured towards Olde Towne, to all the party guests, "this!"
Before she had a chance to say anything more her sometimes boyfriend , detective Patrick Shannon from Victoria PD arrived with his partner.
"I know you're not responsible for this," he said, looking at her with those blue, blue eyes that had once so charmed her. "But we have to cover all our bases, dot all our T's. We're questioning everyone."
"I understand," she said bravely. She just wished it didn't feel as the eyes of everyone in the room followed her as he led her into a small room to interview her.
"We'll be testing the chocolates and wine," he said. "No choice really. And we've advised everyone that if they have any concerns about their health they need to get it checked out."
She gave a small cry.
"It's just precautionary," he said, clearly uncomfortable. "I mean I know you would never," His words were cut off as she gave a strangled cry.
"You know I wouldn't," Just the thought she might have contributed in any way to the death of another made her sick to her stomach. She looked at him in horror.
He sighed "Is there anything you did differently tonight? Did you have anything out on the counter while you were making the chocolates, something that might have..."
"You know I wouldn't be that careless," she said angrily. My kitchen and equipment are spotless. And we all follow Food Safe precautions!"
"We have to examine all the possibilities," he said evenly.
"I know," she said brokenly.
Lost In Vegas is romantic suspense with a twist of humor.
Available through Amazon – Ebook format only at this time
5 Star - Mimi Barbour. It's a winner! What a wonderful story with believable characters and lots of conflict. Treat yourself!
4 Star - Jo-Ann Carson A Sweet Funny Romance Set in Vegas. Amsden delivers an entertaining read in her latest book, Lost In Vegas. The warm and funny banter between the hero and heroine heats up the page.