Diane Davidson - Prime Cut

Makes 8 to 12 servings

Melba Sauce

½ cup currant jelly

2 (6-ounce) packages fresh

raspberries, sieved (approximately

1 cup after sieving) 2 teaspoons cornstarch 7 tablespoons sugar

Heat the jelly and sieved raspberries in the top of a double boiler (placed directly on the burner) over medium heat until bubbly, about 4 or 5 minutes.

Remove from the direct heat and place on top of the bottom of the double boiler that is filled with boiling water. Mix the cornstarch with the sugar and stir into the jelly mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and clear. Remove from the heat, cool, and chill at least an hour before serving.

White Chocolate Cream

6 ounces best-quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped

1¾cups whipping cream

Over low heat, melt the chocolate with ¾ cup of the cream, stirring constantly. When the mixture is melted and smooth, remove from the heat. Pour into a bowl and, stirring occasionally, allow the mixture to come to room temperature. Whip the remaining cup of cream and, whisking constantly to ensure smoothness, stir into the chocolate mixture. Chill before serving.

Keepsake Cookies

Cookies

⅔ cup blanched, slivered almonds

2 cups (4 sticks; 1 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons very finely minced orange zest

¼ cup Grand Marnier liqueur

3⅓ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

Granulated sugar, for preparing the cookies

Filling

½ cup (1 stick;¼ pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

3 tablespoons whipping cream

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier liqueur

Grind almonds in a blender until they resemble large bread crumbs; set aside. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter until it is very smooth and creamy. Slowly add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in the zest and liqueur. In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, and ground almonds. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until very well combined. Chill the mixture for at least 3 hours, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter two cookie sheets. Measure out the cookie dough into ½ tablespoon increments. Roll each spoonful of dough into a ball and place them, two inches apart, on the cookie sheets. Butter the bottom of a glass, then dip the glass bottom in sugar. Flatten each cookie with the buttered and sugared glass bottom to a diameter of 2¼ inches. (Do not make the cookies too thin.) Dip the glass into the sugar before flattening each cookie. Bake approximately 7 to 10 minutes, or until the cookies are just cooked through but not at all browned . After removing the cookies from the oven, allow them to cool 1 minute on the cookie sheets. Then transfer them to racks to cool completely.

For the filling, in the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar, cream, and liqueur, and beat until very smooth and creamy. Spread about a teaspoon of filling on the flat underside of half the cookies; make a sandwich with the flat underside of the other half of the cookies. Store tightly covered.

Makes 64 sandwich cookies

“Marla, you never mentioned this,” I accused. “Calling like a mother hen when he was going through rush!”

“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to tell , Julian,” Marla said.

“Well, just don’t give me this stuff about how you never call,” Julian zinged back. “Plus, Arch and I have decided it’s an effect Goldy has had on you. Arch told me, ‘You’ll never be able to do anything again, without Marla checking to see if you’re still alive, or telling you that whatever you’re doing is dangerous or will make you sick.’”

“Uh, excuse me,” I interjected, smiling. “If people want to eat, they need to be nice to the caterer.”

Julian patted my shoulder. “Let me finish about Leah, okay? I think at first she was relieved I wasn’t her biological nephew. She figured I wanted money, or land, or her cabin, just like Bobby and Ian. I told her I just wanted her to know that she has another relation besides Weezie and Bobby. So then she got like, all teary, and said she was just so vulnerable since Ian had died. And did I want to move in with her in the big family house in Aspen Meadow until she sold it, that she would enjoy having family around her, besides Bobby. And I could help her with her move to Phoenix, she said. There was lots and lots for me to do, to help her.”

A familiar fear gripped me. Don’t leave us , I thought, not again . Not daring to look at Julian’s happy face, I picked up the serving spoons and moved them around. You can’t hold on to people , I warned myself. You can’t keep them, any more than Charlie Smythe could protect his wretched treasure .

A whoop arose from the elephant rock.

“They found it!” Hanna cried. She had brought bird-watching binoculars, which she now swung into place. “Goodness, it’s just an old coffee can!”

We all watched Cameron Burr carefully uncap the discovery and pour it out on a piece of canvas.

Boyd cried, “Hey! How much is there?”

Sylvia Bevans, who had changed from the linen Unen suit to baggy khaki pants, sensible boots, and a wide-brimmed sun hat, bent down to ask Cameron a question. Then she turned toward us. Her face was stern. And then, for the first time in my life, I saw Sylvia smile.

“Jewelry!” she cried. “Old bills! Gold coins!”

I exhaled and smoothed the tablecloth. Well, finally , I thought. It’s over .

“So don’t you want to know what I told Leah?” Julian asked when we got home. His face was bright with mischief.

I pressed my lips together and unpacked the first box of dirty dishes and set them in the dishwasher in my brand-new beautiful kitchen. You can’t hold on to him any more than Leah could hold on to her grandfather’s land. Or Bobby could be a young and slim model forever. Or you could keep André forever. You can’t hold on to people. You can’t hold on to anything .

Tom’s large hand clasped mine. He murmured, “Stop worrying so much.”

Julian put his hand on my shoulder. “I told Leah,” he said, “that I really appreciated her offer to move in with her. But that I already had my family here.”

My eyes filled and I cursed them. The doorbell rang. “Oh, answer it, answer it!” I cried. “I can’t deal with any more in one day.”

Julian disappeared. I heard him open the front door and then argue with someone whose voice I did not recognize. Tom gave me a hug and I snuffled contentedly into the familiar warmth of his shoulder. We really are a family, I thought. An absolutely terrific family.

Julian reappeared in the doorway. His face was ashen.

“It’s the county health inspector. Should I let him in?”

About the Author

DIANE MOTT DAVIDSON lives in Evergreen, Colorado, with her her husband and three sons. She is the author of eleven bestselling culinary mysteries, including Dying for Chocolate, The Main Corpse, The Grilling Season , and Chopping Spree .

This edition contains the complete text of the original hardcover edition.

NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED

Prime Cut

A Bantam Book

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Bantam hardcover edition / 1998

Bantam mass market edition / March 2000

All rights reserved.

Copyright © 1998 by Diane Mott Davidson

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.