Merry Christmas from The Pancake Cat

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Happy Thanksgiving

Chapter 20 Thanksgiving

Before Andrea opened her eyes, she could tell it was Thanksgiving. Anyone with a working nose would have known. It was not the smell of pancakes that greeted her on this holiday from school, but the smell of roasting turkey.

Yesterday she and Philip had spent over four hours helping Mom in the kitchen. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say Andrea was helping and Philip was learning how to help; although he had saved Andrea several trips to the refrigerator. It used to be Andrea who went for the milk and the eggs. Yesterday Andrea had helped Mom measure, add, and stir, and Philip ran the errands. Together they had completed a huge cranberry salad, two pumpkin pies, and a pan of dinner rolls. Mom still sang the A-B-C song while they kneaded dough for eight minutes. Mom had been singing that song as the kneading song ever since Andrea was 18 months old. Andrea smiled. It must be effective. Both she and Philip could sing their A-B-Cs before attending preschool. Maybe she should ask Mom if there was a long division math song.

Andrea shoved her feet into slippers and headed toward the bathroom and her toothbrush. Entering the dining room a few minutes later, she asked, “Has Gracie arrived yet?”

“Haven’t seen him,” replied Mom. “It’s Thursday, were you expecting him today?”

“Of course,” said Andrea, “a cat that comes when you open a tuna can would certainly smell turkey roasting even if he was a mile away!”

Daddy laughed, “You may have a bit of competition for Gracie’s olfactory senses today.”

“What?” asked Philip. “What is Gracie doing at the old factory?”

“I am talking about Gracie’s nose,” said Daddy. “The ability to smell things is called your olfactory sense.”

“I thought cents were pennies,” said Philip, bewildered.

“Here we go again,” whispered Andrea.

“It’s okay,” Mom whispered back, “Just wait until he grows up and reads Shakespeare’s puns.”

“Shakespeare?” questioned Andrea; but Daddy was already launching into a description of the senses.

“You see, Philip, we see with our eyes and we call that vision, hearing is called our auditory sense, smelling is the olfactory sense and tasting is the gustatory sense.”

“Oh, wow, I get it,” said Andrea. “Me gustan los pumpkin pies! Me gusta turkey! Gustatory has the same root as ‘to like’ in Spanish. Auditory means to hear and we go to an auditorium to listen. But . . . smelling like an ‘old factory,’ does not sound very exciting.”

“I certainly hope it smells better than an old factory around here!” exclaimed Mom. She opened the oven door to baste the turkey, and warm, juicy smells wafted across the room.

“Thanksgiving is historically a holiday for the senses,” intoned Dad.

“Those pilgrims were very thankful when they saw food, smelled food,and tasted food, they probably couldn’t wait to get their hands on it. The governor proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving.”

“A whole day?” asked Andrea with eyebrows raised. “You mean they couldn’t eat until they said table grace for a whole day?”

Dad laughed at her dismay, “The prayer was probably a little longer than, ‘bless the meat, let’s eat,’” he said, “but they ate all day with a very thankful attitude. They had not yet forgotten how hard winter could be without food.”

“Didn’t they have any cents?” asked Philip.

“They had lots of sense, Philip. It takes a good deal of knowledge and determination to charter a boat and travel across the ocean to begin a newcolony.”

“Well, if you have lots of pennies you can buy food at the store. How come they didn’t have food?”

“They arrived in the fall,” began Mama, “just before winter. There were no stores in America, only trees and land, and wild animals. I am sure the men tried to hunt and the women cooked the wild game. Still, it was a hard winter and they used up every bit of grain and food. There were over 100 people aboard the Mayflower when it arrived at Plymouth Rock. Half of them died the first winter. When summer came, those who were alive learned how to grow and harvest corn and squash the way the Native Americans did. Pumpkin is a kind of squash, you know.”

“But I don’t like squash,” objected Andrea. “You mean we made two squash pies yesterday?”

“We could have made similar pies out of sweet potatoes,” responded Mom. “Yet, I’m sure the first Thanksgiving pies were made from pumpkin because a pumpkin has something a sweet potato doesn’t have.”

“What’s that?”

“Its own container.”

Three pairs of eyebrows shot up inquisitively and Daddy mumbled something about not knowing there was so much to learn about pies.

“Don’t think for a moment,” said Mom, “that the first pumpkin pies were baked in oven-safe, glass pans; or even what was known as a pie tin. The first pumpkin pies had no crust, they were simply pumpkin custard.”

“Oooeaw! Pumpkin mustard!” Philip made a sour face.

“Custard, custard, custard,” said Andrea, “eggs and cream and sugar-pudding, like Mom told us about yesterday.”

“A pilgrim cook,” continued Mama, “would probably send one of the children to fetch a small pumpkin, carve off the top, and scoop out the seeds; much as you children did at Halloween. Instead of carving a face on the pumpkin, the cook would pour a custard mixture into the pumpkin bowl, replace the lid and bake the whole thing in hot coals for a few hours.”

“While that was baking,” said Dad, “the pilgrim father would take the boys and go hunting wild turkey. What do you say, Philip, shall we go find a wild turkey?”

He rolled Philip onto the floor and they began an impromptu wrestling match. “Gobble, gobble, gobble,” said Dad as he tickled Philip under the chin. Andrea turned to Mom.

“Pilgrims must have had lots of work to do,” she said. “We’ve been cooking for two days and we didn’t even have to harvest the wheat, grow the pumpkins, and hunt the turkey.”

“Nor did we have to scald the bird in boiling water and pluck its feathers,” said Mom. “Daily life is much easier now. We haven’t missed a meal in winter; and we still enjoy the prosperity and freedom of worship the Mayflower passengers were seeking when they sailed forAmerica. That’s a lot to be thankful for.”

The Pancake Cat is Available as eBook

Yes, you can now read The Pancake Cat electronically.  Available from your favorite eBook source, or directly from Xlibris.

Another Pancake Cat, A Grown-up Philip

“The Pancake Cat visited me yesterday,” he said on the phone.  I guessed what he was talking about; yet, I raised my eyebrows and inquired, “Really?”

“Yep, looked just like the Pancake Cat.  Came right down my stairwell and waltzed right into my apartment when I opened the door.  Then he walked through, checking everything out and left through the patio door.”  I was talking with a grown-up Philip, who makes an appearance in all the chapters of The Pancake Cat.  Have you read about Philip’s childhood – both the true and the fictional-by reading The Pancake Cat?

Cats are fun to observe.  This is a story about one cat out of the many I have known. Copies are available for order from your favorite bookstore, or online.

Merry Christmas from the author

Flower Jam Cookies have been a Christmas tradition in my family for decades. This holiday season, I am living in Seattle while my belongings are stored in Colorado. Nevertheless, I endeavored to bake cookies. I shopped for groceries and assembled the ingredients, then realized I had no recipe (my piano keyboard took precedence over the cookbooks when I packed my Subaru).  Not wanting to experience failure, I called my mother and said, “I know the ingredients, I just don’t know the amounts.  Three cups of flour, but how much sugar and shortening?” Mom was happy to assist since the recipe came from her in the first place. Afterwards I had a laugh on myself.  I actually have the recipe with me -no less than six copies at present.  The recipe for Flower Jam Cookies is found in the recipe section of The Pancake Cat.  Have you finished your holiday baking?  Need a good recipe?

Cozy Reading for Autumn

Autumn is here.  Leaves are beginning to change color and fall.  It’s that kind of weather again.  Time for baking cookies, for lighting the fireplace.  Time to curl up with a mug of apple cider or hot chocolate and a good book.  Do you read good books to your favorite children?  Do you know children who like to read chapter books for themselves?  Now is the time to order The Pancake Cat for your cozy times. The Pancake Cat is available online, or by special order from your favorite local bookstore.  In honor of the changing of the season, read my favorite chapter for free.  You can also read chapter one at Xlibris

Summer Reading, Available Locally

The Pancake Cat is a great title to add to your summer reading list.  This 100 page, children’s chapter book, is suitable for accomplished readers age eight and up.  Younger children will enjoy listening as the book is read. Published in November of 2009, The Pancake Cat has been readily available from Amazon, Xlibris, or by special order from any local bookstore.  I am now delighted to find that Hastings, in my own hometown, has stocked several copies, making it possible for young readers to begin-today!

A Book to Read Together

Recently, I spoke with a retired school teacher who has read The Pancake Cat and plans to read it to her granddaughter over Spring Break. Her granddaughter is nearly eight and a solid independent reader who thinks nothing of polishing off a Harry Potter book by herself. This is exactly the audience The Pancake Cat is written for:  young, precocious readers who need big words with rich, age appropriate content. Why then, would an adult read The Pancake Cat to a child perfectly capable of reading the book for herself?

As my friend explained, The Pancake Cat is the type of book you read together.  It’s the type of book that a teacher reads aloud to an entire class, while the students follow along in their own copy; the type of book you can enjoy one chapter at a time, and then stop for discussion. It is packed full of knowledge, and American culture, and the stuff daily life and learning, and family relationships, are made of.  Order a copy for yourself today – and an extra copy so someone special can read along with you.  The Pancake Cat is a great book to read and share together.  http://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/search.aspx?q=The+Pancake+Cat

The Pancake Cat

The Pancake Cat is the story of a wild cat that would not be owned, but finally chooses a family.  Meet the family and learn something of contemporary American history and multi-culture in the pages.  Nine year old Andrea is thoughtful and vivacious.  She has always wanted a cat and aspires to own and run an orphanage when she grows up.  Her little brother Philip is cute as a gifted four year old can be.  Mom and Dad provide time honored nuture and upbringing; and give their best effort to squeeze fun and teaching moments out of daily life.    The Pancake Cat is suitable for accomplished readers ages 8 to 10 (and it won’t bore the grownups either).

The Pancake Cat is available from Xlibris https://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/search.aspx?q=The+Pancake+Cat&x=24&y=3 

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