Ice Carnival by Spaeth Janet

Author:Spaeth, Janet
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2012-06-18T04:00:00+00:00

Six

The next two weeks were filled with a flurry of activity. Christal’s usual trips to the library were curtailed as she worked on becoming knowledgeable about homemaking. She stood in the kitchen every morning and evening, trying to learn the fine art of cookery. Her motivation was real and her mother was patient, but there seemed to be so much to remember.

Baking soda and baking powder were actually two different products, and cream of tartar had nothing to do with cream. Egg whites were actually clear until they were cooked, and separating an egg required steady hands.

A pinch was bigger than a smidgen, and a sprinkle could mean one shake or two, depending on whether she was adding cinnamon, which required two shakes, or salt, which took only one.

Two cups made a pint—or was that a quart? Were there sixteen tablespoons to a cup measure? And which was the bigger one, the teaspoon or the tablespoon? The numbers spun in her head until she’d gotten the idea to write everything down in a little book she kept in her apron pocket—her own personal guide to the art of cookery.

At last the evening came when she leaned over the stove and pulled out a pork roast that was fragrant with herbs and oil. It was beautiful and smelled wonderful. The proof, of course, was with the tasting, and she held her breath as, at the dinner table, her father stood to slice into it with great ceremony.

He served each of them a piece, and as one, they all tried it.

The meat was done perfectly, tender and aromatic, and she smiled with relief as her family congratulated her. She felt ridiculously happy. She’d done it!

She’d never mentioned the incident with the chicken, although she suspected that her mother and aunt knew something was amiss from the burn marks on the bird, but neither had said a word. She’d managed to get the kitchen back to its usual pristine state by the time her father had gotten home, and had, in fact, made a quite passable lunch of cold beef with carrots and bread and butter for him.

They had just finished their meal of the pork she’d roasted and she was putting the dishes away when a knock sounded at the door.

“I’ll get it,” her father said.

The voices of their next-door neighbors carried into the kitchen.

“Isaac is here!” Christal said, untying her apron and flinging it onto the small table. She stopped and grinned sheepishly at her mother and aunt. “I know, I know. I’ll hang it up.”

She retrieved the apron and put it on the hook properly. She left the kitchen, then slowed, smoothing down the front of her dress and checking the hall mirror to make sure the burned lock of hair wasn’t sticking straight out. From her position in the hallway, she could hear her mother and Aunt Ruth.

“She’s learning quickly,” Mother said, and Christal smiled at the pride in her mother’s voice. She pulled herself up straighter and walked toward the parlor.

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