Haunting Danielle 27 The Ghost and the Mountain Man Bobbi Holmes (best pdf ebook reader for android .TXT) 📖

Kelly is trying to hook Brian up with her friend, does finding pleasure in knowing she has an ugly engagement ring make me a bad person?” Heather smirked.

“Only if we tell Kelly what we think.”

“Just imagine, that ring could have been yours,” Heather teased.

“That was never happening.”

Heather grinned at Danielle and then asked, “So, about Mountain Man, I guess you didn’t find out anything at the museum?”

Danielle told Heather about Ginny and the new exhibit and that they had talked to Eva while there.

“I’ll have to go down and check it out,” Heather said.

“Walt and I are going over to Ginny’s tomorrow. She has more photos at her house, and she told Walt and me we could go through them. It was kind of cool to see that photo of Walt’s father.”

“You want me to teach you about sourdough bread?” Lily repeated Heather’s request. The two sat in Lily’s living room, Lily on the sofa while Heather sat on the floor with Connor, pushing around toy trucks.

“Danielle said you used to make it,” Heather said.

“Yeah, that was before Mom killed Matilda,” Lily grumbled.

“Your mother did what?”

Lily let out a sigh and leaned back on the sofa. “Poor Matilda was always so faithful, reliable. I could count on her. When Dani inherited Marlow House, and I came up to Oregon with her for the summer, I really couldn’t bring Matilda with me, so I stuck her in the freezer.”

“Ahh… I assume you’re talking about your sourdough starter. I read people often name theirs.”

Lily nodded. “When Mom thought I’d died, and she cleaned out my place, she went through the freezer and had no idea what that stuff was in the jar, so she tossed it.”

“Can’t you make new starter?” Heather asked.

“I could. And I considered it. But Ian is not a big fan of sourdough bread,” Lily explained.

“He doesn’t like sourdough?”

Lily shrugged. “He says the crust is too hard. I could make it for myself and then cut it in half and freeze for later, like I used to, so it doesn’t go to waste. But I figure Old Salts makes pretty good sourdough, so I just buy it.”

“That’s what Danielle says.”

“But if you want to try, I’m more than happy to help you. But first, you need to make your starter. That takes about a week. In the meantime, I’ll find my bread recipe for you. Do you have a digital kitchen scale?”

“Yes.”

“How about an instant-read thermometer?”

“Yes.”

“A Danish whisk?” Lily asked.

Heather frowned. “A what?”

“Don’t worry, I have an extra one I’ll give you. How about a cast-iron Dutch oven?”

Heather nodded. “Yes.”

“Great. So you need to get a glass jar. You can use a canning jar. I kind of like the little jars with the clamp glass lids. But it doesn’t matter. Do you have any all-purpose flour and wheat flour at home?”

“I have both, and I also have a glass jar.”

“Terrific. You’ll want to write this down,” Lily said.

Heather grabbed her cellphone from her purse she had set on the floor by the sofa and prepared to enter Lily’s instructions in her cellphone’s Notes app.

“Ready?” Lily asked.

“Yes.”

“There are lots of different starter recipes out there. This is just the one that worked for me,” Lily said.

“Gotcha. So what do I do?” Heather asked.

“In your clean jar, mix together a hundred grams of whole wheat flour and a hundred grams of lukewarm filtered water. Stir well.”

Heather frowned. “Filtered water?”

“I read chlorine the city puts in the water can interfere with the process. If you don’t have filtered water, just leave the water on the counter for a couple of hours first, and the chlorine should evaporate.”

“Then what?” Heather asked.

“Mix it well, then loosely cover and set it on the kitchen counter somewhere warm. If you cover it tightly, the jar can explode when the mixture expands.”

“I don’t want that. Then what?”

“Do nothing the next day. But on the third day, remove half of your starter, and then add a hundred grams of all-purpose flour to the jar and a hundred grams of warm water. What you’re doing is feeding the starter. Mix well. And then cover again, loosely, like you did before, and put it in a warm place. Then do the same thing every day for the next week. Your starter will start getting all bubbly when it comes to life. When you get to that point, I’ll help you with your first loaf of bread.”

“What do I do with the stuff I take out of the jar?” Heather asked.

“That’s called sourdough discard. This week, just toss it. Later, I’ll give you some recipes you can use it in. But for now, just get rid of it.”

“Why do we do that?” Heather asked.

“You need to make room in the jar,” Lily explained.

“I was wondering who was here,” Ian said when he stepped into the living room. Both women looked up at him.

“Lily said you were in your office working. What are you doing working on a Sunday?” Heather asked.

Ian sat down in his recliner and said, “I was just getting a letter off to my editor. Any news on the mystery ghost? Have you seen him again?”

“No, but Danielle and Walt went over to the museum this afternoon to read some recently donated past issues of the Frederickport Press,” Heather explained. “Hoping to find something that might help them figure out who our mountain man ghost is, and why he thinks Walt’s dad killed him.”

“Yes, I talked to Walt about it. I understand they met Ginny and Cory,” Ian said. “My sister has become friends with Ginny. She interviewed her on her podcast. She’s the one who donated the newspapers. Kelly was there when Walt and Danielle stopped by. Apparently, Joe and Brian stopped by when they were there. It seems my sister is playing matchmaker.”

“I can’t believe she’s trying to set up Brian,” Lily said with a snort. “Who’s Cory?”

“He lives next door to Ginny. I met him when I helped Kelly set up for the podcast