Mail Order Meals - Kirsten Osbourne Page 0,28

with Trudie going to Marion’s every day to teach her more things. Finally, the two of them went for a long walk one afternoon, and Trudie found a cherry tree on her friend’s property. She clapped her hands excitedly. “We’ll make a cherry pie for dessert tonight. Well, two of them. Doug is starting to feel neglected with as much time as I’m spending with you.”

“How are we going to pick them?” Marion asked. She carried a basket over her arm, and when she’d questioned why she needed to, Trudie just smiled.

“Give me the basket, and I’ll show you.”

While Marion watched, Trudie quickly climbed the tree and started picking the cherries. “How did you do that?” Marion asked.

Trudie shrugged. “I’ve been climbing trees my whole life.” She plucked as many cherries as she could just as quickly as she could. When the basket was full, she carefully dropped it into her friend’s hands, and then she shimmied down the tree. “We probably won’t have time to make the pies for supper tonight, but we can make them tomorrow.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. I was hoping I could make one for church. Thomas has never let me take any food to the potluck, because he said nothing I made was worth eating.”

Trudie shook her head. “I should have thought of it earlier in the week. I’m sorry. It’s already Saturday. You could make the fried chicken I showed you for the potluck. Yours turned out very well.”

Marion pursed her lips and then nodded. “I’ll do that. Thank you for the suggestion. It’s so hard for me to remember I actually know how to make a few things now. What will you take to the potluck?”

Trudie hadn’t thought about that yet, but she needed to. “I have to take something good. All those women gather around Doug, trying to get him to say their food is the best. Did you know he would pay whoever brought the best tasting meal to the potluck? So, all the women are thinking of him when they cook.” She shook her head.

Marion laughed. “I wondered why the woman gathered around him that way.”

Trudie sighed. “I guess I will make a cornbread casserole. Doug will love it, and so will everyone else.”

“What do you put in it?” Marion asked.

“I have no idea. I’ll make it up as I go tonight. I’m thinking some sausage, corn, cornbread, and I have a little cheese I could use. It’ll be good, whatever I decide to put in it.” Trudie loved experimenting as she cooked.

Marion shook her head. “I wish I could just throw ingredients together and come up with something delicious.”

“You’ll get there. We’ll work on that next week.”

Marion laughed. “Sounds good to me. Is Doug working again tomorrow?”

“I think so. Why don’t you two come over for supper? We’ll make something a little more complicated together. I love chicken pot pie, and that would be fun to make with you. Or maybe I should take that to the potluck.”

“No, invent something for the potluck, because I want to learn to make chicken pot pie.”

“Sounds good to me.”

When they arrived back at Marion’s house, they sat down and worked on pitting the cherries. “You know what? I think I’ll take a cherry pie to the pot luck,” Trudie said while they worked on the fruit. She wanted it to be something Doug would love.

“I think that will go over well,” Marion said.

As soon as they were done with the cherries, Trudie got to her feet. “I need to head home to fix supper. You remember how to make the gravy for your pot roast, right?”

Marion nodded. “I have your instructions written down. I’ll let you know tomorrow how it turned out.”

“Sounds good.” Trudie went outside, mounted her horse, and headed back to her house. It had been a wonderful week, filled with camaraderie, even though Doug was still acting strangely. She was just glad he wasn’t the only person she had to talk to.

As soon as she got home, she washed three potatoes, poking them and putting them into the oven. And then she put three steaks on to fry. She’d eat only one of each, but she knew her husband’s appetite.

While supper was cooking, she rolled out the dough for her pie crust, getting the pie she would take to the pot luck ready, and of course, a second one for Doug to eat most of. She already knew that Doug loved her pies, and that pleased her. She just