Whatever

by Ann Walsh

  • Pour most of the bottle of hoisin sauce (choose a small bottle) over the chicken.

  • Bake for another half hour.

  • Put the extra sauce in a small bowl on the table, in case people want more.

  Gingerbread

  1½ cup flour

  1½ teaspoon baking powder

  1 teaspoon ground ginger (add an extra teaspoon for Mrs. J.s recipe)

  (If you like cinnamon or cloves, you can also add ¼ teaspoon of these to the dry ingredients; it will have a different taste.)

  2 tablespoons fat (Cooking oil or melted butter or margarine, not the diet kind, and you can melt it in the microwave if you watch carefully and just give it 2–3 seconds at a time. Otherwise it boils over and makes a gross mess.)

  1 egg

  ½ cup molasses warmed

  ½ cup brown sugar

  ½ cup milk

  Mix according to “Muffin Method”

  RULES FOR MUFFIN METHOD

  (from Foods, Nutrition and Home Management)

  • See to oven.

  • Prepare pans (oil or butter them).

  • Measure flour into bowl, add baking soda, sugar and salt, mix with a fork until well mixed. (The rules actually say, sift together dry ingredients, but I don’t sift them, just mix well.)

  • Beat egg.

  • Make a depression in flour mixture, then pour in egg, milk and melted fat.

  • Stir as little as possible when mixing, then put into well-greased pans.

  • Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. (If you stick a toothpick into the middle of the cake or muffin and it comes out clean, not sticky with dough, it’s done.)

  DIRECTIONS FOR WHIPPED CREAM

  • Put a small carton of whipping cream in the mixer bowl.

  • Add two teaspoons of sugar. (You can add a drop or two of vanilla extract if you want, but not too much.)

  • Beat on low or medium speed (otherwise it spatters all over) until cream stays in points (like tiny mountains) when you pull the beaters out.

  • Put in bowl and serve with chunks of gingerbread. (Spoon as much cream as you want to on top.)

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Ann Walsh is the author of many books for younger readers including Your Time, My Time and Shabash! as well as The Barkerville Mystery Series, set during BC’s gold rush (Moses, Me and Murder, The Doctor’s Apprentice and By the Skin of His Teeth). She also writes short stories, poetry and creative nonfiction pieces for adults, has compiled and edited three anthologies, and is a facilitator with The Williams Lake Community Council for Restorative Justice. For a complete list of her books, please visit her website at http://annwalsh.ca.