Holiday Time

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  1 FIRST SNOWFALL

  2 THREE SPECIAL HOLIDAYS

  3 WHICH RECIPE?

  4 A NEW STUDENT

  5 THE COOKIE FAILURE

  6 THE EXPLODING KUGEL

  7 KAREN’S SLEEPOVER

  8 OKRA IS MAJORLY YUCKY

  9 PAMELA: YES OR NO?

  10 NO PICKLED HERRING

  11 WHAT TO DO?

  12 POOR FREDERICK

  13 HOLIDAY PRESENTATIONS

  14 BINGO

  15 A HOLIDAY SUCCESS

  ACKNOWLEDGMENT

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  COPYRIGHT

  FIRST SNOWFALL

  “Ugh,” said Sara Ford’s mother. She was scraping snow off of the windshield of the car.

  “Isn’t it pretty?” Sara asked. Their front yard was covered with a velvety layer of clean snow. The bushes looked like giant cotton balls. The lawn looked like a soft flannel blanket. Sara loved snow.

  “Ugh,” said Mrs. Ford again. “Yes, it is pretty. As long as it is not on my car.”

  Soon the windshield was clean. Sara climbed into the front seat.

  “It is almost December,” said Sara. “You know what that means.”

  Mrs. Ford smiled and started the car. “Um, six more months till summer vacation?” she guessed.

  “No!” said Sara. “It means my two favorite holidays are coming up.”

  “Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day?”

  “Mommy!” Sara knew her mother was just kidding. “I mean Christmas and Kwanzaa.”

  “Ohhhh,” said Mrs. Ford. “Yes, those are nice holidays. Do you remember the year your father knocked over the Christmas tree?”

  Sara laughed. “Yes.”

  Sara and her mother talked about Christmas and Kwanzaa all the way to Stoneybrook Academy.

  “And here we are at school,” said Mrs. Ford. “Do you have your lunch?”

  “Yes.” Sara kissed her mother good-bye and ran through the gate to the playground. This was her first year at Stoneybrook Academy. So far Sara liked her new school. The other kids were pretty nice, and Audrey Green was Sara’s good friend. Best of all was her second-grade teacher, Ms. Colman, who was really, really, really nice.

  “Hey, Sara!” called Audrey. “Do you want to help me make snowcats?”

  Sara smiled. Audrey was under the big oak tree. She was scooping up snow and patting it into small cat figures around the base of the tree.

  “Okay,” said Sara. “Maybe I will make a snowdog, like Frederick.” Frederick was Sara’s family’s dachshund. They had bought him several months earlier. Sara began to pat snow into a long hot-dog shape.

  By the time the bell rang, Sara had finished her dachshund. Audrey had made several more snowcats.

  “We can make even more at lunchtime,” said Audrey as they hurried to Ms. Colman’s class.

  “Okay,” said Sara.

  Inside the classroom, Sara hung her coat in her cubby and sat down at her desk. The other kids came in, laughing and stamping snow off of their boots. There were six boys and ten girls. The boys were Ian Johnson, Bobby Gianelli (Bobby was the meanest boy in class), Hank Reubens, Chris Lamar, Ricky Torres, and Omar Harris.

  The girls were Jannie Gilbert and Leslie Morris, who were best friends, Audrey (of course), Natalie Springer (who everyone thought was the class baby), Tammy and Terri Barkan, who were twins, and Karen Brewer, Hannie Papadakis, and Nancy Dawes, who were best friends. Sara was the tenth girl.

  Karen was going to have a sleepover the weekend after next. Every girl in the class was invited. Sara had received her invitation the day before. She could hardly wait.

  Soon Ms. Colman arrived. Small snow-flakes stuck to her dark, curly hair. She smiled at everyone. Sara smiled back. When Ms. Colman smiled, she looked as if she really meant it.

  “Our first snowfall!” said Ms. Colman. Sara could tell that Ms. Colman liked snow as much as Sara did. “As soon as I take attendance, we will talk about the first snow-fall and what it means. Then I will make an announcement.”

  “Oh, boy,” said Karen. Sara could see her wiggle in her seat. (Karen sat in the front row, because she wore glasses. Ricky and Natalie also wore glasses and sat in the front row.)

  Sara felt excited. Ms. Colman’s announcements were almost always something good.

  THREE SPECIAL HOLIDAYS

  “Soon it will be December,” said Ms. Colman, once she had taken attendance. “In December three important holidays take place. Does everyone know what they are?”

  “Christmas!” Karen shouted.

  “Indoor voice, Karen,” said Ms. Colman. “And please raise your hand next time.”

  “Sorry,” said Karen.

  Sara raised her hand. “Kwanzaa,” she said.

  “That is right,” said Ms. Colman. “And one more.”

  “Hanukkah,” said Nancy.

  “Very good,” said Ms. Colman. “Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas are three important holidays. Today we are starting a new unit about those holidays. We will learn about their history, their traditions, and their songs. We will even learn about the special decorations and foods that people use in their celebrations.”

  “Cool,” whispered Ian. He sat next to Sara.

  “Then,” continued Ms. Colman, “before our winter vacation, we will have a class party. We will celebrate the holidays together.”

  “Yea!” everyone shouted.

  Sara turned to look at Audrey. Audrey smiled and gave Sara a thumbs-up. The unit on holidays sounded like a lot of fun.

  “Now, I have divided the class into three groups,” said Ms. Colman. “Each group will research one holiday. In three weeks we will have class presentations. Over several days, each group will give reports about its holiday’s traditions, customs, songs, and food.”

  Ms. Colman read her lists. In the Christmas group were Karen, Leslie, Natalie, Omar, and Hank. In the Hanukkah group were Audrey, Hannie, Bobby, Ricky, and Terri. In the Kwanzaa group were Sara, Tammy, Chris, Ian, Nancy, and Jannie.

  Sara was happy to be in the Kwanzaa group. She already knew a lot about Kwanzaa, because her family celebrated it every year. It would be fun to teach her classmates about it.

  “Excuse me, Ms. Colman?” said Nancy. “Shouldn’t I be in the Hanukkah group? I am Jewish and we celebrate Hanukkah.”

  Ms. Colman smiled. “Our new unit will teach all of us about all of the holidays,” she said. “It does not matter if you are Christian or Jewish or white or black. We are going to learn about different holidays together. We will see that these holidays have some things in common, as well as some things that are different. Okay?”

  “Okay,” said Nancy.

  “Good. Now let’s split up into our groups,” said Ms. Colman. “You may start talking about your holidays.”

  At lunchtime Sara and Audrey found two seats together in the lunchroom. Sara pulled out her lunch. She had brought a thermos of tomato soup, a cheese sandwich, carrot sticks in a baggie, and two cookies. She ate the cookies first.

  “What are you going to do for the Hanukkah project?” asked Sara.

  Audrey took a sip of milk. “Food,” she said. “Hanukkah has all sorts of special foods. My job is to make something and bring it to school. Then we will all share it at our holiday party.”

  “Great!” said Sara. “My job is food too — Kwanzaa food. I am going to make something delicious.”

  Audrey smiled. “What will it be?”

  “I do not know yet,” said Sara. “I will have to ask my mommy.”

  “Me too,” said Audrey.

  WHICH RECIPE?

  That weekend Sara told her parents about Ms. Colman’s unit on holidays.

  “I have to make a special Kwanzaa dish a
nd bring it to school,” said Sara.

  “I guess Ms. Colman does not know you cannot cook to save your life,” said Marcus. Marcus was Sara’s nine-year-old brother.

  “That is enough, Marcus,” said Mrs. Ford. She turned to Sara. “I think it is a lovely idea. What are you planning to make?”

  “I do not know,” said Sara. “Will you help me decide?”

  “Sure,” said Mrs. Ford. “We can look through our Kwanzaa cookbooks after dinner.”

  “How about a nice sweet-potato casse-role?” said Mr. Ford. “Those are always good.”

  “Um, maybe,” said Sara. “I will have to see.”

  After dinner Sara and her mother sat at the kitchen table. They looked through several cookbooks. Frederick came in and sat under their feet.

  “How about this?” said Mrs. Ford. “It is a good vegetable dish.”

  Sara looked at the recipe. It had many ingredients. She would have to cut and chop and mix a lot of things. She would have to use a food processor, which she could not do by herself. She would have to fry things on top of the stove, which she could not do by herself.

  “It looks yummy,” said Sara. “But I do not want a lot of help. I want to be able to do most of it myself. It is my project.”

  “Oh, I see,” said her mother. “Let’s keep looking, then.”

  Sara looked at many recipes. Many seemed too difficult. Some sounded as if they would not taste very good.

  Then Sara saw a cookie recipe. It did not seem too difficult. It was for sugar cookies with sesame seeds. Sesame seeds are important in traditional African cooking. And the cookies would be nice to have at Ms. Colman’s holiday party.

  “This is it!” Sara said. “This is the one. I can do all of it myself, except turn on the oven and take the cookies out afterward. Will you help me with just those things?”

  “I would be happy to,” said Mrs. Ford. “We will write down the ingredients you need. Then you can make a practice batch of cookies.”

  “Great!” said Sara. “These cookies will be perfect!”

  A NEW STUDENT

  “Guess what,” said Audrey on Monday.

  “What?” said Sara.

  “Karen and Nancy are having a big fight,” said Audrey. “Nancy says that Karen did not invite her to the sleepover. Karen says she did. She thinks Nancy’s invitation got lost in the mail. So now they are not speaking. And I heard Karen un-invite Nancy to the sleepover.”

  “Wow,” said Sara. “That is serious. It is too bad they are fighting. They are best friends. With Hannie, they are the Three Musketeers.” That was what Karen, Nancy, and Hannie called themselves.

  “Yes, and now Nancy is the only girl in our class who will not be at the sleepover,” said Audrey. “I feel bad for her.”

  “Me too,” said Sara. “Friends should not have fights.”

  “Nope,” agreed Audrey. “Anyway, what have you decided on for your holiday food?”

  “Sesame-seed cookies,” said Sara. “I only need a tiny bit of help to make them. What are you going to make?”

  “Noodle kugel,” said Audrey. “It is very good. I love noodle kugel. It is like a cross between pudding and a pie. But you make it with noodles. And it is very easy. You just throw it together.”

  Sara smiled at Audrey. She wondered how Audrey’s noodle kugel would turn out. Sometimes Audrey was accident-prone. Sara hoped nothing would go wrong with Audrey’s recipe.

  A few days later Ms. Colman made another one of her announcements. After Ricky had taken attendance, Ms. Colman said, “Today a new student is going to join our class. I hope you will make her feel —”

  The classroom door opened then, and a tall, pretty girl came in by herself. She looked around at all the students. Sara’s eyes widened. On Sara’s first day at Stoneybrook Academy, her mother had brought her to the classroom. Sara had felt so shy that she had not been able to look at anyone. This new girl did not look shy at all.

  “Boys and girls,” said Ms. Colman, “this is Pamela Harding. Karen, would you please show Pamela where our cubbies are?”

  Karen led Pamela to the wall of cubbies. Pamela hung her coat in an empty cubby. Beneath her coat she was wearing a very cool outfit — the kind of outfit Sara would love to wear but was afraid to try. Pamela had on pink overalls, a striped pink-and-white shirt, pink high-top sneakers, and a hat. Sara wondered what she would look like in that outfit. She sighed. She would probably not look as cool as Pamela did. Pamela looked like a third-grader, at least. Maybe even a fourth-grader. Sara was short and looked younger than her age.

  Ms. Colman asked Pamela to introduce herself, and Pamela told the class about her family. Her mother was a writer, her father was a dentist, and she had a sixteen-year-old sister. Her sister let Pamela use her perfume. Sara sighed again. Dumb old Marcus, she thought. He was just a brother. He was only nine years old. He would not be caught dead wearing perfume. He was not good for very much, Sara decided. She would trade him in a second for a sixteen-year-old sister who would let Sara try her perfume.

  “And Pamela will be in the Christmas group,” Ms. Colman said. “Leslie, will you explain our holiday unit to Pamela later? Right now it is time for spelling.”

  Pamela sat at Ms. Colman’s desk until the school custodian brought her a desk and chair of her own. Pamela did not seem to mind that everyone was looking at her.

  I wish I were like Pamela, thought Sara. Cool as a cucumber.

  THE COOKIE FAILURE

  That night Sara decided to make a practice batch of cookies. Then she would know exactly how to make the cookies for the holiday party. There would be no surprises.

  The recipe listed all the ingredients she would need: flour, sugar, vanilla extract, butter, eggs, baking powder, sesame seeds, salt.

  “Salt?” asked Sara. “In cookies?”

  “Yes,” said Mrs. Ford. “Should I stay and help you? Do you understand everything you need to do?”

  “No, and yes,” said Sara. “I will call you when it is time to put the cookies in the oven.”

  “Okay,” said Mrs. Ford. She turned on the oven to let it preheat. Then she left Sara in the kitchen.

  Marcus came in from the family room. “I hope your teacher knows you are going to poison everyone,” he said. He took an apple from the fruit basket and bit into it. “I am glad I do not have to eat your cookies.”

  “Oh, be quiet,” said Sara. “You will see. My cookies will be so delicious that you will beg me to have one. And I will say no.”

  Marcus laughed. “I do not think so.”

  “Mommy!” Sara called. “Marcus is bothering me. I am trying to do my school project. He is in the way.”

  “Okay, okay,” said Marcus. “Go on and make your poison cookies. I am leaving.”

  The recipe said to cream the butter and the sugar together. Sara put them in a bowl and stirred and stirred until her arms felt like limp noodles. Then she added the flour and stirred some more. Then she added the rest of the ingredients. The batter smelled so good that Sara ate a tiny bit of it. Finally she spooned the batter onto a cookie sheet. She made neat rows of dough lumps. She sprinkled the dough lumps with sesame seeds.

  “Mommy!” she called. “I am ready for you to put the cookies in the oven!”

  Mrs. Ford came into the kitchen. “They look very good, Sara,” she said. “They look just as they should. Now we will bake them for nine minutes.” She put the cookies in the oven and set the timer.

  Sara sat down to wait. It was the longest nine minutes of her life.

  Ding! went the timer.

  “Mommy!” Sara called, but Mrs. Ford was already walking into the kitchen.

  “Mmm, smells good in here,” she said. She picked up a pot holder. “Let’s see your beautiful cookies.”

  Sara waited impatiently while her mother took the cookie sheet out of the oven.

  “Hmm,” said Mrs. Ford.

  Sara leaned over eagerly to see her neat rows of cookies. Then she frowned. “What happened?” s
he said. “That is not my batch of cookies.”

  On the cookie sheet, instead of several rows of cookies was just one big, flat cookie. It filled the sheet. The edges were burned dark brown. The middle looked wet and unbaked.

  “Did you put in all the ingredients?” asked Mrs. Ford.

  “Yes,” said Sara.

  “It looks like you used baking soda instead of baking powder,” said Mrs. Ford.

  “Is there a difference?” asked Sara.

  “Oh, yes,” said Mrs. Ford. “When they say powder they really mean it.”

  “Oh.” Sara was very disappointed. She had thought making cookies would be a snap. But her first batch was a failure. There was no way she could bring this monster cookie to class. What would Pamela Harding think?

  “Why don’t you make another batch?” suggested Mrs. Ford. “Just pay close attention to the recipe. I am sure your second batch will be fine.”

  “Okay,” said Sara. She rolled up her sleeves and got ready to beat more sugar and butter together.

  THE EXPLODING KUGEL

  “Exploded?” asked Sara at school the next day. “How could a kugel explode?”

  “I do not know,” said Audrey sadly. Audrey was giving Sara a progress report on her Hanukkah recipe. It had not gone well. “I followed the recipe exactly. Then I decided to use the microwave instead of the regular oven, because I am allowed to turn on the microwave. But the kugel just exploded! It made a big mess, and I had to clean it up. By myself.”

  “I know what you mean,” said Sara. “My cookies did not turn out well either. The first batch turned into one horrible monster cookie. The second batch did not flatten out. They baked into hard little lumps. And my third batch looked very pretty but tasted awful. I do not know why. I made them the same way every time.”

  “Did you ask your mommy to help you?” asked Audrey.

  “No. But after the third batch she said maybe I did need help. She said she did not want me to waste any more food, even though I was not doing it on purpose.” Sara stamped the snow beneath her feet. “I think maybe I will find another recipe.”