Frogs' Legs for Dinner? (5 page)

Then they all followed Mr. Chesterfield to a big blue tent. On the way, they passed the apes.

“It won't be long now,” Katie Lynn shouted to them. “You'll soon have a new home!”

Jonathan Wilbarger ran up to them. He had a frog in his hands. “I found Burt. He
was in our backyard the whole time.” He looked at Mrs. Cooke. “I'm sorry I said you fried his legs.”

“That's okay, Jonathan,” said Mrs. Cooke. “I'm just glad you found him.”

Katie Lynn and Tina put the animal cookies on big silver trays. Then Mr. Chesterfield auctioned them off. Jonathan
Wilbarger bought a whole batch of frog cookies. He even gave one to Gerald for a pet. Within minutes, the cookies were all gone.

“What a success!” Mr. Chesterfield exclaimed. “We made a lot of money for the new Ape House.”

Katie Lynn thought it was a success, too. “Three cheers for Mom and her French cooking!”

“Thanks, but I've decided to give that up,” said Mrs. Cooke. “I've learned all the French Chef has to teach.”

Katie Lynn looked at Grandma and Mr. Cooke. She was sure they were thinking the same thing.
What a relief!

“Really?” said Tina.

“Yes,” said Mrs. Cooke. “Tonight I'm watching a show about Italian cooking. Tomorrow we're going to have octopus for dinner.” She kissed the tips of her fingers.
“Delizioso!”

Katie Lynn almost choked on the cookie she was eating. Then she laughed. “Okay, Mom,” she said. “And we'll make octopus cookies for dessert!”

T
O MAKE
K
ATIE
L
YNN
'
S
OCTOPUS COOKIES
:

Roll out sugar cookie dough on a floured board or counter.

Cut out circles with the mouth of a drinking glass to make the body of the octopuses.

Put some flour on your hands to keep dough from sticking. Roll some of the leftover dough between your hands to make the tentacles.

Attach four or five tentacles to the bottom of each circle.

Use chocolate chips for the eyes and mouth.

G
RANDMA
'
S
B
ASIC
S
UGAR
C
OOKIE
R
ECIPE

¾
CUP SHORTENING

1
CUP SUGAR

2
EGGS

1
TEASPOON VANILLA

2½
CUPS ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
(
NOT SELF-RISING
)

1
TEASPOON BAKING POWDER

1
TEASPOON SALT

Ask an adult to preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

By hand, mix together the shortening, the sugar, the eggs, and the vanilla.

Then gradually add the flour, the baking powder, and the salt and keep mixing until it's all blended.

Cover the dough with a dish towel and put it in the refrigerator to chill for one hour.

Roll it out on a floured board or counter. Use the mouth of a glass to cut out regular sugar cookies. Or use your hands to make them into animal shapes.

Put the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet. Ask an adult to put the baking sheet into the oven.

Bake the cookies for 7 to 10 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

Ask an adult to take the baking sheet out of the oven.

Let cookies cool before icing.

M
RS
. C
OOKE
'
S
C
OOKIE
“S
AUCE
” R
ECIPE

3
CUPS SIFTED POWDERED SUGAR

6
TABLESPOONS SOFTENED BUTTER

4
TABLESPOONS MILK

¼
TEASPOON PEPPERMINT EXTRACT

4
DROPS
(
MORE OR LESS
)
OF FOOD COLORING

Mix by hand until thoroughly blended.

G. E. S
TANLEY
is the author of more than fifty books for young people, many of them award winners. He and his wife, Gwen, live in Lawton, Oklahoma. They have two sons, Charles and James, a daughter-in-law, Tambye, and a family dog, a Labrador retriever named Daisy.

“I've always loved to bake cookies. But I remember one summer when I was a kid, I had to share our kitchen with my mother and my grandmother, just as Katie Lynn does in
Frogs' Legs for Dinner?
” says G. E. Stanley. “My grandmother, who even then was getting more and more confused about things, liked to fry her chicken in a very thick batter. Unfortunately, one evening, she mistook my cookie dough for her chicken batter, so we ended up having cookie-dough fried chicken!”

L
INDA
D
OCKEY
G
RAVES
was born in Eureka, California, and grew up in the Berkshires, in Massachusetts. She now lives with her family and pets in Chesapeake, Virginia. This is the San Jose State University graduate's twenty-second children's book. When not illustrating children's books, Linda loves baking, eating, and sharing hot, soft chocolate chip cookies with her family and friends.