STUFFED MUSHROOMS
1 lb. fresh jumbo mushrooms
1 chopped onion
1/4 cup Olive
oil
6 Crumbled saltine crackers
1/2 cup Bread
crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan
cheese
1 tbsp Chopped walnuts
1/2 cup Red
wine
Pinch Basil
Pinch Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Wash mushrooms. Remove stems, set caps aside. Chop stems
and combine with chopped onion. Sauté in olive oil until tender. Remove from
heat.
Add saltine crackers, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese,
pinch of basil and thyme. Add chopped walnuts and mix well. Salt and pepper to
taste.
Pour wine in shallow baking pan. Carefully stuff mushroom
caps with crumb mixture. Arrange in pan with wine, cap side down, stuffed side
up.
Bake in moderate oven until tender (depends how many in
pan). Do not overcook. Serves 4-6.
When served, crumbly mixture should be kind of crunchy or
dry to hold everything together so you can pick them up to eat, if you choose.
If overcooked, or if too much wine is used, mushrooms and everything may be
soggy.
The
Howling Cliffs - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat;
Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
Ka'imi's
ears rose rigid. She gave a short whine. The howling of dogs came
from a distance. It seemed to fill the
valley. It was the howls of two dogs. No wonder the locals wanted
to ban noisy dogs from the trail. Ka'imi pulled hard on the leash.
Sara picked up the pace. Ka'imi seemed onto something. A winding
ascent later, they crested the plateau. The round hewn rocky trail on the
plateau was well-worn, wide and rimmed a canyon. Trail did not get too close to
the edge, which was marked by low brushes and other grown. Sporadically
the trail simply dropped off sharply into the valley. Foot-tall signs
warned hikers to stay away from these areas. The foliage, clouds and
mountain views would be a photographer's heaven, easily distracting the unwary
close to the precipice. Ka'imi was very agitated. She paced, pulling
on the leash, turned and paced and turned back and paced. She sat facing
the canyon. Her head went back and her neck stretched. She
howled mournfully and kept howling. She was evidently sensing what other
dogs did.
Sara
Mason has just bought a home in Hawaii where she plans to make an R and R camp
for members of her team who search for MIA vets whose bodies have never
been recovered and returned to the states. Her soul mate Huxley Keane is
in search for his brother's remains along with her best friend Esmerelda Talbot
who is searching for her daughter's remains. Both were taken prisoner, along with others, by the Viet Cong and their bodies had never been recovered. The work was stressful and
a resting place in Hawaii would be perfect for all involved in the search.
Sara also
works missing cold cases. After meeting her new next door neighbor
Birdie, Sara learns that the neighbor on the other side of her had a sister who
turned up missing ten years earlier. The child was in the watch of her
brother Maleko when she simply disappeared. The girl had Down syndrome
and it apparently hurt the boy more than anyone realized. Sara also
learned, through Birdie, that there was a section of the mountain that they
called The Howling Cliffs. When hikers traveled with their dogs along
this area the dogs stop and howl into the wind. Sara found this to be
true after taking Birdie's dog Ka'imi along with her on a hike to the
area. The howling along with the anger shown by Maleko when she tried to
communicate with him, have both peaked her curiosity enough to solve the two
mysteries. But along with answers come attempts on her life.
Someone doesn't want her to find the answers to either mystery.
Author
Mary Deal has a way of writing mysteries that will keep you turning just one
more page to see what happens next. I found myself in this position way
up into the night as I had to read just a little more. After finishing the book, I also found
that I had learned a lot about the Hawaiian Islands as well as the Viet Nam
War. This was an enjoyable book filled with action, mystery and
history. I loved it.