Banana Muffins & Mayhem - Culinary Competition Mystery #5

Chapter 1

(Amy)

"I'm sure none of your entries can beat my lemon poppy seed muffin recipe." The platinum blonde woman smirked. "But thank you anyway for the chance to judge your little competition."

A collective gasp whooshed through the tent full of people. The insult wasn't being taken well by the Muffin Tin Madness competitors. Amy set her camera down on her lap. Phoebe Plymouth, the woman who made the rude comment, was a celebrity who could use a lesson in politeness. The snooty, perfectionist judge persona might work on reality TV shows, but it didn't fly so well in small-town Michigan. The audience grumbling increased in intensity to a dull roar. Kendra, the owner of The Cookbook Nook, snatched the microphone out of the celebrity's grasp and said, "Come back in two hours when we'll announce the winners. Until then, please enjoy the demonstrations and sidewalk sales. There are all kinds of fun and interesting things to do while you wait."

Amy snapped one more picture of the judges standing side-by-side on the low stage then stowed her camera in her tote bag. The din of disapproval over the sweeping insult filled the tent again. Every conversation she could pick out among the choir of upset voices was reacting to the unkind comment. At least her cookbook-loving friend had class. Poor Kendra looked as though she was standing next to the Wicked Witch of the West when the snarky home improvement TV show hostess delivered her assessment of the cooking skills of Kellerton's residents. Amy had been planning on doing a blog post centered on the star's visit to her town as a celebrity guest at the first Cabin Fever Cure event. But after witnessing the woman's sour attitude throughout the day, there was no way she wanted to feature such an unpleasant person on her blog. Amy's Kitchen was her online happy place.

As Amy made her way out of the main tent set up in the middle of Main Street, she checked the time on her phone. The Inkwell's owner, Aubergine, was scheduled to begin her afternoon demonstration in five minutes. Learning to draw a bouquet of wildflowers from the calligraphic artist would be the perfect way to spend some time while the cooking contest was being judged. Every recipe for the competition had to be made in a muffin tin, but that didn't limit the entries to just sweets. There were five categories, from desserts to dinner. Amy had made adorable little shepherd's pies, a creamy, frozen fruit salad, and malted chocolate and banana muffins—which tasted like the pastry version of her favorite milkshake. When she had dropped her entries off, she could see that many other people had gotten their creative mojo working too. There were plenty of muffin-shaped offerings that were far from standard, cakey muffins. Phoebe the Grump probably wouldn't like anything, given her announcement, but Kendra and the third judge, the manager of Louie's Hamburgers, would be fair.

A chilly breeze blew Amy's long, honey-blonde hair into her eyes as she wove between the people and tents. She hated doing Medusa impressions, but at least the sun was shining to offset the cool wind. The change in seasons always brought schizophrenic weather to Michigan, so the possibility of toasty-warm sunshine coupled with shiver-inducing wind gusts had been taken into consideration by the Cabin Fever Cure organizers. Big white tents were set up all along a two-block section of the downtown area to house activities such as cooking and scrapbooking demonstrations, plus interviews and autograph sessions with celebrities. The sides of the tents could be rolled up or fastened down to accommodate the fickle weather's whims. At the moment, most of the side panels were lowered to keep the people congregating inside warm. The basic idea of the event was to get residents out of their houses after the long winter by offering short seminars, plus the chance to rub shoulders with a few famous Michiganders who were guests of honor. Catching a cold or getting frostbite wasn't the intent.

Amy ducked inside the tent where the mini art class was being held. Many of the seats were already taken by people eager to learn how to draw a cheerful flower arrangement. She took a seat at the edge of the fourth row of tables and waved at the purple-haired teacher.