CHAPTER ONE
The girls let out a collective scream, “AAAAHHHHH!!!!!” Colleen yelled, “I don’t know why you make me do this!” Jen agreed, “Katy, this is not acceptable, I want you to turn the movie off, now!” Katy grabbed a hand on each side of her and laughed as she screamed, “My Aunt Jane told me we had to watch the classic original “The House on Haunted Hill” together, and she kept saying something about having to hold hands through it!” Then they understood why you had to hold hands. They closed their eyes until they could only see through little slits while watching the end of the scary movie.
It was sleepover night at Colleen’s apartment which was above their family grocery store, Martha Street Market. When the movie was finally done and their hearts were pounding, they all agreed it had been a good scary movie! Katy pulled out her phone and texted her Aunt Jane, ur right, scary! A moment later her phone chimed and she saw her aunt's answer, lol told u!
Katy said it was time to bake. They got up and walked down the stairs into the small kitchen. Jen pulled their favorite cookbooks from the shelves in the Hoosier cabinet. The cabinet belonged originally to Colleen’s great, great grandmother. She told Colleen that back in the 1920’s kitchens didn’t have enough cupboard space built in them. The Hoosier Manufacturing Company in Indiana came up with a cabinet that was compact to fit in the small kitchens. The work area where she rolled out raviolis and pie crusts could pull out if she needed extra room. When grandma moved to an apartment she gave Colleen’s mother the cabinet. It was the best piece of furniture they owned because in the small kitchen behind the store they needed all the extra cupboard space they could get.
All three girls knew the drill. Each opened a book to desserts and cookies. They tried to find something they never made before. Katy said, “Ooh, how about chocolate mint cupcakes with mint green frosting?” Colleen said, “No, we don't have any mint flavoring, even in the store. How about making chocolate brownies?” Then she hit her head with her hand and said, “I’ve got it, we can make Aunt Sarah’s peanut butter chocolate cupcakes.”
Colleen missed her Aunt Sarah. She hadn’t seen her since moving to Saginaw, Michigan from Tulsa, Oklahoma the previous year. I can call her for the recipe, I don’t have it. Colleen pulled her cell phone out of her jean pocket and clicked till she found Aunt Sarah’s number.
The phone rang and rang and just when she thought Aunt Sarah wouldn’t answer she heard, “Hello, hello, I’m here, don’t hang up!” Colleen smiled, and said, “Hi Aunt Sarah, Jen, Katy and I want to make your chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, but we need your recipe.” Aunt Sarah laughed into the phone and said, “Well then, girly girl, you should wait until Saturday when I can make them with you. I'm coming for a visit!”
Jen and Katy were startled when Colleen screamed. They watched in amusement as she started to dance around the tiny kitchen. Colleen’s mom came downstairs from the living area to see what was causing all the commotion. Her daughter smiled and handed her the phone. She went over to her friends and told Jen and Katy, “We can make the chocolate brownies, Aunt Sarah is coming to visit next week and she wants to make the cupcakes with us.”
Colleen said, “I love my Aunt Sarah, she is so cool.” She continued, “I bet she will even take us to Goodwill to shop!” Jen and Katy looked at Colleen like she was from another planet. Jen said, “Colleen, seriously, Goodwill?” Colleen answered, “Just you wait till she gets here. You will both be amazed at what she finds for just a couple dollars. We'll all have new outfits to start high school next month.” Jen and Katy were skeptical. Colleen knew how to stretch a dollar because her family needed to be very careful with their money. She also knew that shopping with Aunt Sarah would make them the best dressed girls in tenth grade!
As they made the brownies Colleen told her friends all about spending hours with Aunt Sarah before they moved to Michigan. How she taught Colleen to bake scrumptious desserts, shopped til they dropped, took awesome pictures, wrote fun short stories and well, did just about everything that was important in life!
When Colleen’s mom hung up the phone she had a huge smile on her face and said, “Girls, how would you like to make some extra money this week so you will be able to afford all the shopping that Sarah has in mind for the three of you?” They said they would like to make some money. They knew that meant hard work because Mrs. O’Callahan expected to get her money’s worth when she hired them. Then she told them what needed to be done. They all looked at each other with wide eyes knowing that tomorrow they would be in the store all day long.
The oven timer went off and the girls took the brownies out, made the frosting by melting butter and chocolate chips, stirring in powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and pouring it over them. They cut generous pieces and topped them with ice cream. The dark chocolate was thick and chewy and the frosting was smooth and creamy, so rich that the vanilla ice cream actually tempered the sweetness blending the flavors perfectly. The girls loved spending time together - these evenings of fun were the best of times. Baking together and then talking about summer plans over the scrumptious dessert was a great way to end the evening!
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