Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Magic Coating Popsicles #Recipe Peg Cochran/Margaret Loudon

While randomly scrolling the Internet's various cooking sites, I came upon this idea and had to try it. Wrapping a Popsicle in a Fruit Roll-Up and putting it in the freezer creates a sort of "magic coating" like you get on a soft serve ice cream cone dipped in chocolate--crisp and crackly when you bite into it. This would be fun to do with kids on a warm, summer day. I used a strawberry roll-up and a piña colada Popsicle but the choice is yours. Note: the fruit roll-ups are very sticky and a little challenging to unroll but if you have a child in residence who has experience with them, I'm sure they could do it for you.

Ingredients:

1 fruit roll-up, any flavor or brand

1 Popsicle, any flavor or brand

One unrolled fruit roll-up

Place Popsicle on roll-up

Wrap roll-up around Popsicle

Place Popsicle in freezer and set a timer for 10 minutes

Bite into the Popsicle and listen to the coating crackle!

When a wealthy local benefactor is slain on the farm, Monica has to figure out who wanted to cash in on the killing . . .

As Sassamanash Farms hunkers down for the long winter, Monica agrees to let the local animal shelter host their Christmas-themed fundraiser there. The draw of the event—a chance to have your pet’s picture taken with Santa—brings in animal lovers from far and wide. But when the crackling fire dies down and the festive holiday props are all carted away, Monica discovers a very un-jolly sight next to the barn—the dead body of one of the shelter’s biggest donors. With the farm’s good name in jeopardy, Monica goes to work to root out the killer.

By all accounts the victim was a charming and generous supporter of the shelter, but Monica discovers that he was loathed by those who knew him for being tight-fisted and unscrupulous. Suspecting money might be the motive, she turns her sights on his stylish wife and her lavish lifestyle, along with the manager of the struggling shelter, who stood to collect a hefty bequest from his will. But as Monica closes in on one final clue, the culprit closes in on her. Caught unawares, she’ll have to survive the brutal winter weather, as well as a cold-blooded killer . . .