5. Grandma’s Recipe

Chapter 5 Grandma's Recipe The kids stood back and admired their scarecrow. "It would sure scare me if I was eating your garden!" Nate said. "Me too," Lucy said. "The one we made in California looked a lot friendlier than this one does." "I hope it keeps the mystery creature out of the garden," Bradley said. "When do we get the ice cream?" Nate asked.

"Later," Bradley said. "But I'm really thirsty. Let's go get a drink." The kids trooped into the kitchen. The room smelled like spaghetti sauce. A pot was simmering on the stove. Pal was still asleep. Brian took a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge. Bradley found some cookies. They sat around the kitchen table for their snack. Pal woke up and waited for cookie crumbs to fall. "Maybe we could make Dad some cookies for Father's Day," Brian suggested as he munched. "He likes cookies." Bradley shook his head. "He likes his mom's strawberry jam better," he said. Bradley saw the recipe box on the counter. On top of the box was the recipe for Grandma Pinto's spaghetti sauce. He opened the box and flipped through the cards. "Here it is!" he said. He showed the card to the other kids as he read the directions out loud:

Strawberry Jam 1. Wash /2 pound of berries. 2. Mash berries. 3. add one cup white sugar and one tablespoon lemon juice. 4. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. 5. Increase heat and boil for ten minutes. 6. Let cool before eating store in refrigerator. "Uh-oh," Brian said. "We've got a problem." "What problem?" Nate asked. "We can't use the stove," Brian said. "Why not?" Lucy asked. "We're not allowed to cook without a grown-up," Bradley said. "So what're we going to do?" asked Nate. "The recipe says to cook for ten minutes." Bradley read the recipe again. "I say we leave that part out," he said. "We do everything else, but no cooking."

"That should be okay," Lucy said. "It's not like strawberries have to be cooked, right?" Bradley slipped the card back into the box. "We probably won't be able to make it anyway," he said glumly. "Even if we do catch the mystery creature, we'll never get enough strawberries!" "We could always give Dad an empty jar," Brian said. "We could put a note inside that says, WE REALLY WANTED TO MAKE YOU SOME JAM, BUT SOMETHING ATE ALL THE BERRIES." Bradley tossed a cookie crumb at his brother. "Brilliant, Brian," he said. "Then when it's our birthday, Dad will give us an empty box with a note inside." They all laughed. Just then Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rose burst into the kitchen. They were dusty and sweaty from head to toe. "I hope you left us some lemonade and cookies," Josh said. "There's plenty left," Bradley said. The younger kids gave up their seats and walked outside.

"Look how the breeze makes the scarecrow seem like it's alive," Lucy said. They walked over to the garden. Bradley went inside the fence. He bent down near the strawberry patch. Then he screamed. "AHHHHH!"