On the Back Burner Page 6

  “Now, is there anything else you need? Any special cooking accessories for this budding young chef?” Carmen asked, winking at Shawn.

  Shawn turned to her dad. “Well, we could use a couple things...” she said slowly. “I love that mandoline we used in class.”

  “Mando what?” Mr. Jordan asked, making a funny face. Shawn and Carmen laughed.

  “A mandoline is a special device that helps you to carefully julienne, slice, and dice vegetables so they’re all the same size,” Carmen replied. “And if I remember correctly, Shawn also loved using the microplane zester!”

  “Here we go,” Mr. Jordan joked, rolling his eyes. An hour later, Carmen rang up their purchases and packed the new cookware and accessories into two shopping bags.

  “Thanks for all your help, Carmen,” Mr. Jordan said, smiling warmly. “And thanks for teaching Shawn to cook. You must be a great teacher, because everything she makes is delicious!”

  “Oh, my pleasure, Will,” Carmen replied. “If you two need any more cooking supplies, you know where to find me!”

  He really seems happy with the new cookware, Shawn thought as they left. We got so much great stuff! “Dad, can I invite my friends to come over and check out the cookware this weekend?” she asked. He didn’t answer her. He had a faraway look in his eyes as though he were deep in thought. “Earth to Dad,” Shawn said.

  He looked at her, startled. “Sorry, Shawn, I was thinking about something.” She asked him again about inviting her friends over. “Oh, sure you can. When?”

  “This Saturday?”

  “No problem,” he said. “Carmen is nice, isn’t she?”

  “Really nice,” Shawn agreed.

  “Does she live in Park Terrace?”

  “I think so,” Shawn said. “Why?”

  “I was just curious, that’s all,” he said.

  Natasha put down the book she was reading as part of the research for her article on Chinatown. It was hard to concentrate because she just couldn’t stop thinking about Peichi. She must feel so rotten, Natasha thought, stuck home alone, feeling bad about her grades, with no friends around to cheer her up. Suddenly Natasha had a great idea. Getting off her bed, she hurried down to the living room. Natasha picked up the phone receiver and punched in Peichi’s number. Mrs. Cheng picked up and Natasha asked for Peichi.

  “I’m sorry, Natasha, but Peichi can’t come to the phone. She’s still grounded.”

  “I don’t really want to chat, Mrs. Cheng,” Natasha said. “I called to discuss an extra-credit project with her.”

  “Oh, well, that’s different.” Mrs. Cheng said, her voice brightening. “Let me get her for you.”

  In a minute, Peichi came on the line. “Natasha! Hi! What did you say to my mom? She hasn’t let me talk to anyone!”

  “I only told her the truth. I had an idea about the extra credit project Mr. D. said you could do. Why don’t you do a video report on the history of Chinese New Year? You can talk about which traditions have changed through the years and which ones people still observe.”

  “That’s brilliant,” Peichi told her. “This way I can take the subject I want to think about and make it work for the project I have to think about. Thanks, Natasha! Hey, do you want to be in the video? Maybe I’ll make you a TV star!”

  “Thanks, but no thanks, Peichi,” Natasha said with a laugh. “See you tomorrow at school.”

  Peichi hung up and went to find her mother. Mrs. Cheng was sitting on the couch, reading. She sat down beside her mother and told her Natasha’s idea.

  Mrs. Cheng thought for a moment. “It’s perfect for you,” she said, putting her book aside. “But you must make sure that it won’t interfere with your regular schoolwork.

  “I won’t let that happen, Mom,” Peichi said earnestly. “I don’t want to get behind again.”

  “Good. Now, you’ll have to write a really good proposal so that Mr. Degregorio approves it. I think the first step would be for you and I to sit and brainstorm what will be on this video and how long it will be.”

  “You mean you’ll do it with me?” Peichi cried happily.

  “I can’t film the project for you, but I’ll help you plan it,” Mrs. Cheng said.

  Peichi hugged her mother hard. “Thanks, Mom!”

  Chapter 8

  On Saturday, the girls arrived at Shawn’s house, ready to try out her new cookware set. They walked up her front steps, each carrying a bag containing ingredients for the lamb stew with couscous that was on their menu for the big Kramer cooking job. If was something none of them had ever made before, so they thought it would be smart to practice ahead of time.

  They were all there, except Peichi. When they walked into Shawn’s kitchen, she had the new cookware displayed on the kitchen table. “These are the pans we used in cooking class,” she told them. “And we got all these cool little things, too! And new placemats!”

  “It’s beautiful, all of if!” Molly said.

  “Look at the Dutch oven. It’s so big!”

  “Is your dad here?” Natasha asked.

  Shawn nodded. “But he’s holed up in his office. He’s working on a new book.” She opened a small box that held her mother’s recipes and took out the one for lamb stew. “It says here that the first thing we have to do is marinate the pieces of lamb in orange juice and garlic for at least an hour.” They placed the orange juice, minced garlic, and chunks of lamb into a large bowl.

  “Now what do we do for an hour?” Amanda asked.

  “We can use the time to chop onions, lemon slices, and more garlic,” Shawn suggested. “And we can listen to my new CD while we work.” The girls began setting out their ingredients and chopping vegetables on cutting boards. Shawn put on her CD player, blasting the music. Soon the girls were dancing around the room.

  “An hour is up!” Molly announced when the time had passed. “Dancing is one way to make the time pass quickly,” she added with a laugh.

  Shawn turned down the music. “The lamb is ready.” She checked her recipe card. “Now we brown the meat a little at a time in some olive oil. Then we take the meat out of the pan and add the onion, pine nuts, and spices—saffron, coriander, thyme, and cumin.”

  They cooked the meat, put it aside, and then added the spices. “Oh, that smells good!” Amanda said, closing her eyes and inhaling the savory smells. After the spices and oil had cooked for five minutes, they stirred in a tablespoon of flour and cooked it for one minute. Then they added raisins and chicken broth, and a pinch of salt and pepper. They put the lamb back in and added chopped tomatoes.

  “Now we have to cover it and let it simmer for one hour and fifteen minutes,” Shawn told them, checking the recipe card. While it cooked, the girls started cleaning the kitchen.

  Mr. Jordan came out of his office. “Girls, that smells terrific!” he said.

  “Don’t worry, Dad, I’ll bring you a plate,” Shawn said. “Go back to work!”

  “What do we do with these lemons?” Natasha asked.

  “We spritz the lemon over the stew just before we eat it,” Shawn told her.

  “I can’t wait,” Molly said. “It smells soooooo good.”

  The doorbell rang and the girls looked toward it. “Could it be Peichi?” Molly said hopefully. “Maybe her parents have loosened up.”

  “Um... I don’t think so,” Shawn said, looking slightly embarrassed. “I invited Angie over, but she didn’t want to cook, so I said she could just come over to eat. I’d better go let her in.”

  Natasha, Molly, and Amanda looked at one another, shocked. “Is Shawn for real?” Molly asked.

  “This is too much,” snapped Amanda. Her face had turned bright red. I can’t believe we worked in the kitchen all this time and now Angie is going to just swoop in here on her broomstick and eat our food! That is so rude. It’s disgusting. I want to tell her exactly what I think of her!”

  “I don’t know if you should do that, Amanda,” warned Natasha.

  “Why not?” Amanda demande
d. “Doesn’t she make you mad?”

  “Yeah,” Natasha admitted, “but she also makes me nervous. I’ve heard that she can be really, really mean. A girl from her old school is in my math class and she’s, like, scared of Angie. I’m not kidding! You probably should be careful—you don’t want to get on her bad side.”

  They stopped talking when Shawn walked into the room with Angie. An uncomfortable silence followed as the three girls stood, staring at Angie, who was dressed in an expensive-looking furry purple angora sweater over a long, black velvet skirt and heeled leather boots. Her blond hair was held back loosely with a jeweled scrunchie.

  “Amanda, what on earth is all over your clothes?” Angie broke the silence. “Did you actually spill that much food on yourself? My two-year-old cousin is neater than that!

  Amanda looked down at her shirt and saw that it was splotched with large yellow grease stains. “I—I must have splashed the chicken broth,” she stammered.

  “We all get messy while we’re cooking,” Molly said quickly. “You spill a lot—even when you wear an apron.”

  Amanda looked at Molly gratefully and then caught Shawn’s eye. Amanda’s expression said, See how rotten she is? Can’t you get rid of her? Shawn just looked away, as though she didn’t want to be put in the middle of this fight. She went to the kitchen and, using her new potholders, picked up the pot of stew. “We can eat,” she said. “I set the table in the dining room.”

  “Fabulous!” Angie said, heading right for the dining room.

  “Fabulous,” Amanda mimicked Angie and imitated her wiggly, nose-up walk. The sound of Molly and Natasha giggling made Angie turn around and look at them. Amanda froze, but it was too late—Angie saw Amanda mocking her. She shot Amanda the nastiest look she’d ever seen.

  “Watch it,” Angie hissed to Amanda in a voice so low and harsh that Molly and Natasha could barely hear her.

  Whoa, Amanda thought, startled. Maybe Natasha is right. Maybe I should be careful around Angie.

  In the dining room Angie made sure to sit next to Shawn. “Wasn’t cheering practice too hysterical yesterday?” Angie said, angling her chair toward Shawn.

  “It was,” Shawn agreed. She cleared her throat and tried to change the subject. “What did you all think of the school assembly yesterday?”

  “I liked the part about the rain forest,” Amanda said. “The tribal dances were cool.”

  “Oh, that assembly was idiotic! Soooo boring.” Angie dismissed the subject. Turning back to Shawn, she began talking about the cheerleading team once again.

  “This lamb stew is great,” Molly interjected in another attempt to talk about something they could all discuss. But Angie just ignored her. The rest of the dinner involved Molly, Amanda, and Natasha talking together, while Angie spoke only to Shawn on the other side of the table. Amanda could hardly concentrate on what her friends were saying. And she didn’t taste the food.

  “Shawn, that new movie with Shane West is at the Flatbush Theater. He is so cute! Want to go see it?” Angie asked in a loud voice.

  Shawn squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. “Would you guys like to go?” she asked, looking down at her plate.

  “No!” Amanda said. “Definitely not.”

  “Yeah, we should probably go home,” Molly agreed quickly.

  “I’ll go with you, too,” Natasha agreed, getting up.

  “Don’t you girls think you should thank Shawn?” Angie said. “After all, Shawn cooked this delicious meal for you. And she did an awesome job...Something wrong, Amanda?” Angie asked snidely.

  “I am out of here! Let’s go!” Amanda said to Molly and Natasha. She led the way toward the front door. Molly and Natasha rushed after her.

  “Wait a minute,” called Shawn. She got up to follow them to the door, but Angie grabbed her elbow.

  “They’re gone!” the girls heard Angie say as they pulled on their jackets by the front door. “That Amanda is such a baby! What a drama queen.”

  Amanda stopped in her tracks and tried to listen for Shawn’s reply. More than anything in the world, Amanda wanted to hear Shawn stick up for her. But all Shawn said was “What time is the movie?” in a low voice.

  Amanda slammed the front door as hard as she could, not caring if Mr. Jordan or the neighbors were disturbed. “Shawn has lost her mind!” she shouted as the girls headed down the street. “That’s the only explanation I can think of. How can she even stand to be in the same room with Angie?” Amanda felt hot even though it was really cold outside.

  “I don’t know,” Molly admitted. She decided to change the subject. “I wonder if there’s anything good on TV tonight. Hey, do you want to rent a movie?”

  “Maybe,” Amanda said shortly. That’s all she said until they dropped off Natasha, then went home. Amanda stomped into the den, slamming the door behind her.

  Yipes, Molly thought to herself. I’ll give her a few minutes to cool down. With a sigh, Molly trudged up the stairs to the twins room.

  Amanda logged on to the Internet and began typing rapidly.

  To: qtpie490

  From: mooretimes2

  Re: ANGIE THE WICKED WITCH!!!!!

  What’s the matter with you, Shawn? I’ve known you a long time and I never knew you had a terrible mean side. You must have one or else there is NO WAY you would be friends with such a nasty jerk like Angie. My idea of friendship is that friends are loyal to one another. You always just stand there and let Angie insult me without saying a word. She insults all of us. You don’t deserve to be our friend if you let Angie get away with being so rude to us. You have changed so much and you are turning out to be as big a creep as Angie, and it makes me really sad.But whatever, it’s your life, and if you want to treat your REAL friends this way, you don’t deserve to have us as friends.

  Amanda

  Chapter 9

  Instead of cooking at Shawn’s house on Saturday, Peichi was in Chinatown, standing on the corner of Mott and Canal streets with her mom, dad, Ah-mah, and Ah-yeh. With her parents video camera raised to her eye, she filmed the Lion Dance parade that was part of the opening celebrations for Chinese New Year. Mr. D. had approved her project and now she was working on it every chance she had.

  Even though Peichi had seen the parade many times before, she was still amazed at the colors and sounds around her. A chill went down her spine as she watched men in a long, elaborate gold-and-red lion costume, each holding up a different section of it, dance down the street as they pretended to be the mythical lion. Peichi knew that before it was finished, the parade would wind its way all through the narrow streets of Chinatown and end at Chatham Square in the heart of the neighborhood. The streets were packed with thousands of people. She felt so tiny surrounded by the huge crowd and was glad to have her family nearby. Besides spectators, the sidewalks were crowded with news vans, reporters, and camera crews. In a clearing in the street, Peichi watched the golden lion gracefully dance over upside-down rice bowls. Mr. Cheng held the camera high above his head to capture the entire scene for her video. The shopkeepers presented the lion dancers with elaborate puzzles. If the dancers could solve the puzzle, they were rewarded with money as the shopkeepers bought good luck for their stores for the coming year.

  When the parade finally passed out of sight and the crowd began to thin, Peichi turned her lens to Ah-mah and Ah-yeh. Her grandparents spoke in Chinese, and her parents took turns translating their words into English. “Is this what Chinese New Year was like when you lived in China?” she asked, still filming.

  Ah-yeh laughed lightly and spoke. “Ah, that was many years ago.” Mr. Cheng translated.

  “Many, many years,” Mrs. Cheng added for Ah-mah. “Here in America the holiday isn’t really celebrated for the full fifteen days, the way it was done in China. Here in Chinatown there is more celebration than in the rest of America, but even here it is shorter.”

  “Can you tell us some of the things people do to celebrate Chinese New Year?” Peichi asked. She knew the answer
to this, but she thought it would be more interesting in her movie if her grandparents told it in their own words.

  This time Ah-yeh spoke, and Mr. Cheng quickly translated: “During the Chinese New Year celebrations, there are parades like the one you just saw. When I was a boy, people lit bamboo stalks because they believed the flames would frighten evil spirits. The fireworks that we light during the celebrations are also to frighten away evil with fire.”

  “One of my favorite parts of Chinese New Year is the lantern festival,” Ah-mah said through Mrs. Cheng. This happens on the last day of the celebration. People hang beautiful lanterns everywhere and they carry them on poles in an evening parade under the light of the full moon. I loved to see that as a child and I love it still. And during the lantern festival there is always a dragon dance. The dragon is a big, colorful puppet that is sometimes one hundred feet long. Young men carry it along on poles as they dance through the streets. The dragon dancers light fireworks, too, to scare away evil spirits from the shop owners, who reward them with ly-cee—just like the lion dancers.”

  Peichi switched off the camera. “Thanks. That was great!”

  “You’re welcome,” her mother said. “Now, are you ready to eat some real Chinese food? Ah-mah’s cooking tonight.”

  “Definitely. Could I film you cooking it?” Peichi asked her grandmother.

  Ah-mah shrugged. “Why not?” she asked with a smile. “I always wanted to be a movie star!”

  When the girls returned to school on Monday, Amanda was hoping to talk with Shawn at lunch. Amanda had been a little surprised that Shawn hadn’t called her on Sunday to apologize, but Amanda figured that Shawn just didn’t know what to say. But, to Amanda’s surprise, Shawn didn’t sit with the Chef Girls at lunch. She didn’t say anything to Amanda, and she didn’t even look at her. By the end of the day it was clear to everybody that Shawn wasn’t speaking to Amanda. She treated Amanda like she was invisible.