Pearl's Perfect Patisserie
It is well know that Grandmother Pearl Babblebrook is the worst cook in Sylvania. This is common knowledge to everyone but Pearl herself who firmly believes herself to be the best cook in Sylvania. With this belief in mind she self published a cook book which she kindly presented to many of her family and friends. No one ever dared to attempt any of the recipes, fearful of what the results might be. However this didn’t mean that they didn’t find a variety of other uses for “Pearl‘s Perfect Patisserie”.....
It was early morning and Pearl Babblebrook was busily browsing the shelves of the Village Store. She always enjoyed seeing what new items they had and could spend hours conjuring up how to use them in recipes!
“Excuse me, Grandmother Pearl,” hooted Arabella Treefellow , “Would you be so kind as to pass me some raspberry jam?”
“Of course I can. Let me guess, will you be using that in my very special Victoria Sponge recipe?” replied Pearl with a smile. “I do hope that my recipe book has been useful for you, Arabella.”
“Oh yes, well, that is- Aristotle uses it much more regularly at the school, he says he couldn’t teach the children without it!” Arabella said with a hidden smile. Luckily Pearl was not a mind reader and was happy to hear that all the children in Sylvania knew about her book.
It was early morning and Pearl Babblebrook was busily browsing the shelves of the Village Store. She always enjoyed seeing what new items they had and could spend hours conjuring up how to use them in recipes!
“Excuse me, Grandmother Pearl,” hooted Arabella Treefellow , “Would you be so kind as to pass me some raspberry jam?”
“Of course I can. Let me guess, will you be using that in my very special Victoria Sponge recipe?” replied Pearl with a smile. “I do hope that my recipe book has been useful for you, Arabella.”
“Oh yes, well, that is- Aristotle uses it much more regularly at the school, he says he couldn’t teach the children without it!” Arabella said with a hidden smile. Luckily Pearl was not a mind reader and was happy to hear that all the children in Sylvania knew about her book.
Pearl’s next stop was the bakery, she liked to look at what they had to offer and always came away feeling confident that as good as the Oakwoods were, she could still out bake them. She found Mortimer Bramble outside looking longingly at a cream cake.
“Oh, Mortimer, if you’re feeling peckish why don’t you go home and bake something from my recipe book, then you wouldn’t have just one treat, but a whole batch,” suggested Pearl. Mortimer thought quickly and said, “That’s a great idea, Grandmother Pearl but I know Eleanor was going to be busy using your book today. I’ll have to bake another time,”
“Oh, Mortimer, if you’re feeling peckish why don’t you go home and bake something from my recipe book, then you wouldn’t have just one treat, but a whole batch,” suggested Pearl. Mortimer thought quickly and said, “That’s a great idea, Grandmother Pearl but I know Eleanor was going to be busy using your book today. I’ll have to bake another time,”
After a happy time visiting the shops, Pearl returned home ready to do some baking. She loved making sure the house was full of goodies when all the Babblebrooks came home. Pearl looked in the kitchen for her recipe book and was surprised to find it was gone. In a slight panic she rushed to find Crystal.
“Oh dear, oh dear. I don’t know what to do,” she gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Crystal asked calmly; she was used to Pearl getting in a bit of a flap.
“My recipe book has gone, I think we’ve been robbed!”
“Oh don’t worry Grandmother Pearl. Bubba said it was going to be really useful when he met up with his friends at their clubhouse today.”
Pearl adored her grandson and was happy to think that he wanted to share her book with his friends!
“Oh dear, oh dear. I don’t know what to do,” she gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Crystal asked calmly; she was used to Pearl getting in a bit of a flap.
“My recipe book has gone, I think we’ve been robbed!”
“Oh don’t worry Grandmother Pearl. Bubba said it was going to be really useful when he met up with his friends at their clubhouse today.”
Pearl adored her grandson and was happy to think that he wanted to share her book with his friends!
Whilst Pearl had been joyfully discovering that so many friends were using her recipe book that day, events were about to unfold that would see her book finally being used as it was intended.
Velvette Slydale had been about to start baking, using a recipe given to her by Crystal Babblebrook, when she had an emergency call from the nursery. Skitter was feeling poorly and she needed to pick him up.
“Oh dear,” she sighed, “How will I ever get these cakes made for the Senior Whist Club this afternoon?” Buster had been lurking in the hopes that he would be able to lick the bowls as his mother baked. Now a bright idea struck him. “I could do the baking,” he offered helpfully. Velvette looked at him in surprise and with some suspicion. It wasn’t like Buster to be so keen to help. “Why?” she enquired. Buster pasted a hurt look on his face and replied, “I just want to help you out.” Velvette didn’t have time to worry further about Buster’s intentions so she thanked him and quickly rushed out the door reminding him to follow the recipe carefully.
Velvette Slydale had been about to start baking, using a recipe given to her by Crystal Babblebrook, when she had an emergency call from the nursery. Skitter was feeling poorly and she needed to pick him up.
“Oh dear,” she sighed, “How will I ever get these cakes made for the Senior Whist Club this afternoon?” Buster had been lurking in the hopes that he would be able to lick the bowls as his mother baked. Now a bright idea struck him. “I could do the baking,” he offered helpfully. Velvette looked at him in surprise and with some suspicion. It wasn’t like Buster to be so keen to help. “Why?” she enquired. Buster pasted a hurt look on his face and replied, “I just want to help you out.” Velvette didn’t have time to worry further about Buster’s intentions so she thanked him and quickly rushed out the door reminding him to follow the recipe carefully.
As soon as she was gone, Buster got down to business. “Hee hee hee,” he chortled as he dusted off Pearl’s Perfect Patisserie book. “I’ll make something from here and it’ll be disgusting; all Grandmother Pearl’s recipes are! I can’t wait to see all their faces when they take a bite.” Buster continued to laugh as he tackled the recipe and soon the kitchen was a mess. He found himself for the first time wishing he paid more attention at school. “Hmm what is the difference between tbsp and tsp? Oh well it’ll be horrible either way let’s just go for this spoon.” His second problem was with the measuring scales. “What do all these lines mean, do I multiply or divide? Oh dear, maybe I should listen next time Mr Treefellow teaches us how to read a scale! Never heard of that ingredient, oh well, I’ll put this in instead.”
Finally, he had followed (rather haphazardly) all the instructions in the recipe and was feeling pleased but slightly puzzled with the result. “These really do look good enough to eat and they smell tasty too, oh well they must be horrible as all Grandmother Pearl’s recipes are and that’s what I want.”
Finally, he had followed (rather haphazardly) all the instructions in the recipe and was feeling pleased but slightly puzzled with the result. “These really do look good enough to eat and they smell tasty too, oh well they must be horrible as all Grandmother Pearl’s recipes are and that’s what I want.”
Buster hurried off and set the plate in the empty village hall and then quickly slipped outside and found a good spot to see the result of his prank.
It wasn’t long before the members of the Senior Whist Club arrived and were settling down for a fun afternoon. Cards were dealt and a game of knock out whist started, some players taking it more seriously than others! Grandmother Fern was not the smartest when choosing which cards to discard and so was soon out. She started handing out tea and snacks to her fellow players and everyone agreed the doughnuts looked amazing. Buster eagerly anticipated the first bite, he wondered who would be the first victim of Pearl’s recipe. Grandmother Flora took a bite and then quickly took another. Buster stared in amazement; this was not what he expected. He scanned the others in the group and saw them all happily munching away.
“These are absolutely yummy,” remarked Grandfather Gus. The others nodded in agreement and were soon reaching for a second. Before long the entire dish of doughnuts was gone.
It wasn’t long before the members of the Senior Whist Club arrived and were settling down for a fun afternoon. Cards were dealt and a game of knock out whist started, some players taking it more seriously than others! Grandmother Fern was not the smartest when choosing which cards to discard and so was soon out. She started handing out tea and snacks to her fellow players and everyone agreed the doughnuts looked amazing. Buster eagerly anticipated the first bite, he wondered who would be the first victim of Pearl’s recipe. Grandmother Flora took a bite and then quickly took another. Buster stared in amazement; this was not what he expected. He scanned the others in the group and saw them all happily munching away.
“These are absolutely yummy,” remarked Grandfather Gus. The others nodded in agreement and were soon reaching for a second. Before long the entire dish of doughnuts was gone.
Buster was astonished, he couldn’t understand what was happening. No-one had ever made anything successful from Pearl’s recipe book! He rushed inside eager to discover what was going on.
“Oh Buster, please thank your mother for today’s wonderful refreshments,” said Grandfather Smokey looking up from his cards.
“Are you saying you liked the doughnuts?” exclaimed Buster gaping like a goldfish.
“Yes they were excellent. What recipe did your mother use?” enquired Grandmother Flora.
“Well actually, I did the baking and I used Grandmother Pearl’s recipe book,” confessed Buster.
At that, all the card players stopped and gazed at Buster; seven of them in astonishment and one in delight!
“Sorry, did you just say that you used Pearl’s recipe?” asked Grandfather Cliff in a dazed fashion as he thought about the many examples of his wife’s baking that he had tactfully disposed of over the years.
“Yes!” gasped Buster.
The room was silent as everyone digested this astonishing fact. Buster began to realise that somehow by getting confused between measurements and ingredients he had managed to actually make something amazing.
“Oh Buster, please thank your mother for today’s wonderful refreshments,” said Grandfather Smokey looking up from his cards.
“Are you saying you liked the doughnuts?” exclaimed Buster gaping like a goldfish.
“Yes they were excellent. What recipe did your mother use?” enquired Grandmother Flora.
“Well actually, I did the baking and I used Grandmother Pearl’s recipe book,” confessed Buster.
At that, all the card players stopped and gazed at Buster; seven of them in astonishment and one in delight!
“Sorry, did you just say that you used Pearl’s recipe?” asked Grandfather Cliff in a dazed fashion as he thought about the many examples of his wife’s baking that he had tactfully disposed of over the years.
“Yes!” gasped Buster.
The room was silent as everyone digested this astonishing fact. Buster began to realise that somehow by getting confused between measurements and ingredients he had managed to actually make something amazing.
Pearl was the only one who was unsurprised and smiled brightly. “Well I must say Buster, you’ve done a brilliant job following my recipe but I’ve always said that you can’t go wrong with Pearl’s Perfect Patisserie. When using my book, even the worst cook in Sylvania can shine!”