A Kitchen Comedy

by Rishona

Andi Carter skipped happily across the lawn. Chad had sent her out to do her barn chores and feed Taffy. She had gone out, not the happiest, but she did her chores.

Nothing could ruin Andi’ day! She and Melinda had—for the most part—a fun day planned. Andi was going to make a birthday cake for her mother, with Melinda's help, of course. 

Melinda had finally gotten out of bed and was just finishing her breakfast, when Andi came in "Melinda," she said. “When are we going to make the cake? We have to make it before the family picnic!” You see, right after the family picnic, that afternoon, they were coming home for Mother’s birthday cake and celebration, with Virginia’s family, the Fosters. (Something which Andi was not looking forward to!)

Andi, though, was going to prove to Virginia that not only was she a brilliant horseback rider but also a fabulous cook.

“Don’t be in such hurry,” Melinda said. “We have time.”

“But when?” Andi asked.

Melinda, who was apparently in a bad mood, said, "Once I finish my breakfast and you stop bothering me."

Andi waited patiently. Finally Melinda finished, and she made Andi wash her hands. They got out the cookbook, and after some time trying to decide what to make, they both decided that an Angel Food cake was the best.

All of a sudden, Melinda said she needed to go to her room; she needed to put up her hair.

Alone with the cake batter, Andi was just about to add the salt.

Bang! The door slammed open and a burst of air blew through, turning a page in the cook book (which Andi didn't see).

Andi looked up; there was Justin. "Hey, Andi, what's up?"

“I'm making a cake.”

Justin had a surprised look on his face. “Are you sure you should do that by your self?” he asked.

Andi huffed. “Justin, I can bake! Besides, Melinda is helping. She’s just in her room right now."

“All right,” Justin said. “Well, I need to go find a book in our library.”

“See ya,” Andi said. Then she said to herself, “Now, how much salt was that again?” She looked back at the recipe and didn’t notice anything different. Her eyes came to the “salt.” “Okay, let’s see. It says... 3 tablespoons."

Andi added the 3 tablespoons of salt without even thinking about how much it was. Then she added the flour. Just when Andi needed a little help mixing it up, Melinda came in.

“Sorry, I had trouble finding something to pin up my hair with, and then I spilled a glass of water I brought into my room. And while I was trying to clean it up, I slipped and got soaked, so I had to change, and I had trouble lacing my corset.”

Andi rolled up her eyes. “Well, you’re here just in time. I need help mixing this.”

After mixing the batter, Melinda started pouring it into a cake pan.

She needs help, Andi thought. She’s going to drop the bowl. So she grabbed the bowl to steady it. But the bowl slipped, and the batter spilled all over the floor.

“Andi!” Melinda screamed, “What'd you do that for?”

“I was just trying to help,” Andi replied.

“Well, next time just trust me. Now we don't have enough batter for cake.”

“Maybe we can take what we put in the pan already and use that to make cupcakes,” Andi suggested.

“All right,” agreed Melinda. So they made cupcakes.

***

The family arrived home just as the Fosters were pulling in. Mrs. Carter greeted them warmly. 

Andi said a weak hello to Virginia.

Then Mitch said, "We should have the cake now.”

“You mean the cupcakes,” Melinda corrected.

“Oh, right,” Mitch said.

They all sat down around the table, and Chad carried in the cupcakes.

Delicious looking, but do they taste just as good?

Virginia turned to Andi. “I just love cupcakes!”

“I even made them,” Andi said in return.

“Oh!” Virginia said, looking surprised.

They all decided to let Mrs. Carter bite into one first. When she bit into it, Andi asked eagerly, “What do you think?”

“It tastes . . . interesting,” she replied.

Andi frowned. “Mother?”

“Why don't you all try one,” Mrs. Carter said, clearly trying to take the pressure off herself, “and see what you think.”

When Andi bit into a cupcake, she spit it out! “Yuck! What happened to them? I followed the recipe perfectly.”

Melinda nudged Grace, and they both snickered.

“How much salt did you put in them?” asked Melinda.

“I think it was 3 tablespoons.”

“3 tablespoons!” exclaimed Mrs. Carter. “The only recipe that calls for so much salt is homemade popcorn with the special seasoning! That happens to be very good.”

Andi, who was almost in tears by now, said, “I don't know what happened. I’m sure I had it on the right page.”

All of the sudden Virginia, who had been ever so quiet, spoke up, “Don't feel too bad, Andi. Maybe baking isn't your thing. You’re an awesome horseback rider!”

Andi couldn't believe it. Virginia was being nice! She stuttered a “thanks.”

“Well,” said Mother, “how about we have make some ice cream. Mr. Foster picked up the ingredients in town as a little gift that was supposed to go along with the cake.”
     So, it didn’t out so badly, after all. And Andi almost seemed to find a friend in Virginia!