The Recipe with One Line Missing

Chapter 1Bubby's Card

The recipe card had a strawberry drawn in one corner and a little round stain in another. In between, Bubby had written the fruit for her special cold salad.

Esty laid the card beside the empty bowl. Bubby was coming to help prepare lunch for the cousins.

Esty wanted to have something ready before she arrived.

She read the card twice.

It said what fruit Bubby used. It did not say how many people the salad would serve.

Chapter 2The Wrong Bowl

Esty counted the lunch places. Eight cousins, Mommy, Bubby, and herself.

She brought a big bowl from the cupboard, with Mommy's help.

The recipe seemed much too small for it.

Perhaps she could double everything. Perhaps Bubby had meant a bowl for two. Or perhaps the fruit looked small before it was cut.

Picking a number without knowing might leave too little or far too much salad.

Mommy glanced at the card.

"Bubby will be here soon. We can wash the fruit now and ask about the amount before cutting it."

Chapter 3Useful Waiting

Esty washed the apples while Mommy checked the other fruit and put it where Bubby could reach it.

She set out serving spoons and counted small bowls.

There were only ten.

"One more place," she told Mommy.

Mommy found another bowl. Esty put it with the others.

The fruit was still whole. Lunch was already a little more ready.

When Bubby arrived, Esty held up the card instead of hiding the empty mixing bowl.

"How many people is this for?"

Chapter 4The Blue Rim

Bubby put on her apron and read her old handwriting.

"That is a good question. I wrote it when I always used the same bowl."

"Which bowl?"

"The small one with the blue rim."

Mommy brought it from the shelf. Bubby smiled.

"Six little portions. For our lunch, I will work out the amount with you."

The old card had not been written for someone who could not see Bubby's usual bowl. Esty had not missed a hidden instruction. An instruction really was missing.

Chapter 5Not Quite Double

Bubby checked the fruit Mommy had bought and the number of places.

"We have enough," she said. "Let me decide what goes in this larger bowl."

Bubby handled the knife. Esty put the prepared pieces into the bowl and mixed them gently with a spoon.

A piece of apple tried to escape over the rim.

"That one wants its own seat," Esty said.

She caught it with the spoon. Bubby laughed and kept cutting.

When they finished, the large bowl held enough without reaching the very top.

Chapter 6A New Line

Bubby added a line to the card: Makes six small portions in the blue-rimmed bowl.

Esty put it in its cover. For another lunch, Bubby would help choose amounts when they knew who was coming.

Bubby passed the fruit to all eleven little bowls. Nobody had to wait for a place.