Mail Order Meals - Kirsten Osbourne Page 0,26

any supplies?”

Mrs. March nodded. “We got new supplies for me to burn on Saturday. Thomas said it was surely a waste of time and effort, but I’m glad he bought them. Because now I can learn to cook with them.”

Trudie nodded, walking into the March house, a bit surprised by how dirty it was. She decided to just be bold and say what needed to be said. “Now, I’m here to help you, and I’m going to say whatever needs to be said to do that. All right?”

“Sure.”

“We need to clean before we can cook. The floor and counters are filthy, and so is the table. Has anyone ever showed you how to clean?” Trudie rolled up her sleeves in preparation for a big day of work. She loved to work!

Mrs. March shook her head, looking embarrassed. “Never. I know it’s supposed to come naturally to people...”

“No, it’s not. You should be taught to do it, and I was. So now we’re going to get started, and we’re going to clean as much as we can as quickly as we can. When the kitchen is clean, then we will start making bread.”

Mrs. March nodded. “I have a broom and some old cloths.”

“Perfect. Have you ever used a broom?”

When her friend shook her head, Trudie explained what she was going to do before doing it, and then after demonstrating, she put the broom in her friend’s hands. “Now you do it.”

It took them working together a little more than an hour to get the kitchen clean enough that Trudie felt like they could mix up the bread dough. Instead of doing it herself with Mrs. March watching, Trudie sat at the table and told her friend how much of everything to add to the dough, while she wrote down everything that needed to be done. “It’s best to follow step by step until you get used to making it. Of course, getting used to it won’t take long. You’ll be making it every day or every other day.”

When Mrs. March had added everything, Trudie told her how to mix it, and then she showed her how to knead it on the table. They floured it and covered it with a cloth, and then they both washed their hands. “Don’t worry about the mess,” Trudie said. “We wear aprons when we cook for a reason.”

“All right. What next?”

“If you’ve been here three weeks and no laundry has been done, that needs to be next. I’ll tell you right now that laundry is my least favorite weekly chore. I absolutely hate it, but I certainly know how to do it, and I’ll teach you. Working with a friend makes tasks so much easier.”

Mrs. March smiled. “I should do yours for a month after you teach me then. Just to thank you for all the help you’re giving me.”

“No, you shouldn’t. You’re giving me friendship and someone to be with while my husband is working.”

By lunchtime, when Mr. March came back, there was bread in the oven, and soup on the stove. “I know soup isn’t the most refreshing thing in the summer,” Trudie told him, “but it was the easiest thing to teach her to make right off.”

“I will never complain as long as the food I’m being served is cooked well.” He took a bite and smiled. “This is really good, Marion.”

“Thank you,” Mrs. March said as she took a bite of her own soup, a look of surprise on her face. “This really is good!”

Trudie laughed. “Of course, it is. Don’t act so surprised. And it was easy enough that you could make it again without help, right?”

Mrs. March nodded. “I’m sure you’re a sorceress to be able to make me able to cook so quickly.”

Trudie laughed. “Not a sorceress, but I do love to cook. Hopefully that love is showing through.” She felt a little out of place eating with her friend and her husband, but it was the best way to teach her. Halfway through the meal, she got up to check the bread, and then apologized. “I really do need your wife for a moment,” she told Mr. March.

Mrs. March joined her at the oven, and Trudie pointed out the color of the bread. “That’s how we know when it’s done. When it’s that color of golden brown.” Then she reached into the oven, using her apron to shield her hand from the heat, and pulled the loaves out of the oven. “We want to topple the loaves