On The Back Burner Part 3

"This one will just take some extra planning," Molly said. "Like, we can have some meals frozen ahead of time so we don't fall behind. If we make lasagna, and something else that freezes well, this job will feel more like a regular job when we have to prepare the rest of the meals."

"How much money will we need to buy all these ingredients?" Shawn asked. "We'd better not let the refrigerator get too full between now and then, or we won't have room for it all."

"Right," said Molly. "We'll need to go on a big shopping trip, but not too soon because we don't want the fresh foods to go bad."

"We have to think about what we're going to make, too," Natasha said.

"That's why we're having this meeting," Molly reminded them. They sat together and planned their menu, trying to estimate the expenses. It took more than an hour before they could finally agree on what to serve. The girls were finallya"after lots and lots of discussiona"able to come up with a menu. Molly wrote it in her notebook.

Molly looked down at the menu they'd decided to make and smiled. "I think the Kramers will be really happy with this menu," she said.

Amanda looked over Molly's shoulder and also read it. "Where are we going to get the money to buy the ingredients for all this? Peichi, how's the treasury doing?"

Peichi was the treasurer of Dish. She looked at the list of meals while Molly started another list of ingredients the girls would need to buy. "I don't know, guys," Peichi said slowly. "I'm not sure we have enough in the treasury to pay for this. Does anybody have some money they can chip in?"

"I dont," said Amanda sadly. "I'm totally broke."

"Me, too," said Shawn, scrunching up her nose.

"Uh-oh," said Natasha, looking concerned.

Molly looked up from her list. "Don't worry, guys," she said. "I'll figure something out."

I hope, she thought.

Chapter 5.

"I love Chinatown!" Amanda said when all the girls went shopping with Peichi's dad and grandmother on Sunday. "It's so exciting."

"Haven't you ever been here before?" Mr. Cheng asked. He was loaded with packages that Ah-mah had filled with all kinds of interesting ingredients like chili bean paste, dried tiger lily buds, and hua chiao, a kind of mild peppercorn. Although it didn't look as though Mr. Cheng would be able to carry one more bag, Ah-mah didn't seem ready to stop shopping. The group was waiting for Shawn and Natasha to come out of a gift shop.

"I've been here for dinner with our parents, but I didn't come that time that Molly and Peichi went by themselves!" Amanda replied with a grin. Molly and Peichi smiled sheepishly at each other, remembering the time they'd gone to Chinatown by themselves last summera"and had gotten grounded.

"Look what I bought!" Shawn said as she came out of the store carrying a plain brown bag. She pulled out a sleeveless red silk s.h.i.+rt with a mandarin collar that sat low on the neck with a slit in the center. The s.h.i.+rt had a colorful dragon embroidered across the front.

"Beautiful," Ah-mah said. "The dragon is very powerful, very lucky. And the color red is lucky. At Chinese New Year celebrations, people wear red, write poems on red paper, and give children lucky money in red envelopes."

"That's so cool!" Shawn exclaimed. "Red is a lucky color for people who are Aries, like me."

Ah-mah pointed toward the store that she and Peichi's grandfather, Ah-yeh, owned. "I just need to go in there and get a few more things."

"Don't you have enough? What more could you possibly need?" Mr. Cheng protested, s.h.i.+fting the bags in his arms.

"I need ingredients for nian gao. We can't have a New Year's celebration without cakes," Ah-mah insisted.

"Okay. You're right. Let's go," Mr. Cheng agreed wearily. The girls followed them into the store with its many jars and cans of food, packed tightly in narrow aisles. Ah-yeh waved at the girls as he helped a customer.

"What's nian gao?" Molly asked Peichi, stumbling over the p.r.o.nunciation.

"It's New Year's cake. It's very traditional," Peichi explained.

"Peichi, please get some brown candy, glutinous rice flour, red dates, and sesame seeds, the white ones," Ah-mah requested.

Peichi led her friends down the aisle until she found a stack of plastic bags containing slabs of flat brown sheets stacked on top of one another. "This is really just a kind of sugar that's sold in slabs," she told her friends.

"Could you use regular sugar?" Natasha asked.

"I don't know," Peichi admitted. "But I've never seen anyone try. They always use this stuff." After a hunt around the store for the flour, red dates, and sesame seeds, they brought it all to Ah-mah, who stood by the counter. "Very good. Thank you, Peichi," she said. Finally, they were finished with the shopping.

"Who's hungry?" Mr. Cheng asked as they left the store. "We're on Mott Street, just a half block away from Wo Hop Restaurant."

"Oh, I don't want to walk down all those stairs," Ah-mah said.

"What are you complaining about? I'm the one with all the bags!" he teased.

"Oh, you," Ah-mah said fondly. "Let's go."

Just as Ah-mah had said, Wo Hop's had a long staircase leading to the restaurant, which was below street level. "I know it looks plain," Mr. Cheng said, "but I love their food. I think it's the best Chinese food outside of Chinaa"except for what Ah-mah cooks, of course!" Mr. Cheng spoke to the waiters in Chinese and they pushed two tables together so everyone could sit at one table.

The menu they were given was in Chinese, so the girls needed Ah-mah's help to order. Peichi impressed everyone by ordering a couple of dishes in Chinese.

"Wow!" Molly said. "I've never heard you speak Chinese before. Cool!"

"Thanks," Peichi replied. "It's hard, but Ah-mah helps me a lot!"

Molly noticed a poster on the wall showing a wheel divided into twelve pie pieces. At the end of each of the twelve sections was a picture of an animal. "What's that mean?" she asked.

"Oh! It's the Chinese zodiac I was telling you about," Peichi exclaimed. "It goes around in a circle. Each year is represented by a different animal until it comes back again.

"Does that mean that every twelve years, the same animal comes around?" Natasha asked.

"That's right," Peichi replied.

"Then people who are twelve years apart should have a lot in common," Natasha concluded.

"That's what they say," Peichi told her.

"There is a story about that zodiac," Ah-mah recalled. Because it was easier for her, she started speaking in Chinese as Mr. Cheng translated. "The legend goes back to ancient times. It is said that the great prophet, Buddha, invited all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Only twelve came, so Buddha named a year after each one of them. He announced to everyone that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality."

Two waiters arrived, bearing heavy trays of food. "It smells so good!" Molly exclaimed.

"Everyone shares," Peichi explained to her friends. "Just take some rice and then help yourself to whatever looks good to you!" There were so many choicesa"some of the girls' favorite Chinese dishes, like cashew chicken, moo shu pork, and lo mein, as well as dishes they'd never tried before, like shark fin soup, spicy hot bean curd, and sea conch with black bean sauce.

"Mmmm, moo shu pork is the best!" Shawn said as she took a warm, thin pankcake, smeared Hoisin sauce on it, and filled it with the shredded pork, bok choy, and mushroom mixture.

"Try the shark fin soup," Ah-mah encouraged the girls. "It has other things besides shark, like pork and chicken. I think you will like it very much!"

"Hey, I'll go for it," said Molly, laughing. "I've never had shark before!"

The meal was delicious, and everyone was stuffed when they finally left the restaurant and headed for the subway. Ah-mah and Ah-yeh lived in Chinatown, above their store, but today Ah-mah was coming to Brooklyn to give the girls a cooking lesson.

Mr. Cheng had left his car back in Brooklyn because he said it was impossible to park in Chinatown. Fortunately the subway car they got on wasn't crowded, because their packages took up three seats! Shortly after they started the ride home, the subway came up from its underground path and traveled above ground.

"I'm so glad you invited us to come along, Peichi," Natasha said. "I really had a great time. Thanks, Ah-mah. Thanks, Mr. Cheng."

Ah-mah smiled and nodded.

"You're welcome, Mr. Cheng replied.

Natasha suddenly sat up in her seat. "I just had a great idea! I'm going to write an article on Chinatown for the school paper. With Chinese New Year right around the corner, the timing is perfect!"

"e can help with some of those packages, Mr. Cheng," Molly offered as they got out at their stop. Before he could say anything, each girl had picked up a bag or two.

They all climbed the stairs back up to the sidewalk. "It's snowing!" Peichi exclaimed. She was the first to notice the light powder that had gently started falling while they were on the subway. They walked to the Chengs house, which wasn't too far away, catching flakes on their tongues and gloves.

"Careful on the steps," Mr. Cheng warned as they climbed the steps of the tall front stoop. "They might have gotten slippery. I'll have to shovel and salt them right away."

"We'll go slowly," Molly promised.

Peichi reached the front door first and unlocked it. "This afternoon we will be making fortune cookies," Ah-mah told them as they went in. "Would you girls like to help me by writing some fortunes?"

"Definitely!" Shawn agreed. "That'll be so fun."

"Sonia already told us our fortunes," Natasha reminded them.

"I didn't like the fortune she gave me all that much," Amanda said. "Maybe I'll change it." Amanda had had fun that day and was happy that Shawn was with them. The idea of losing her as a friend made her too sad.

"Besides, we need to write a ton of fortunes for everyone who will come to the party, not just for us," Peichi told her friends.

As the girls hung up their jackets, Peichi went into the den and returned with paper, five fine-tipped permanent markers, and scissors. "Let's go up to my room," she suggested. The girls turned on the radio and settled themselves on Peichi's big velvet cus.h.i.+ons and at her desk, and began to write.

You and your best friend will be friends forever, Amanda wrote. She looked at her words. Maybe she really could change her fate by writing herself a new one.

You will write something that wins many awards, Natasha wrote. She hoped that by writing this, she wouldn't have to be a TV star. She'd be able to do what she wanteda"write great articles for magazines and newspapers.

Molly thought for several moments before she wrote. You will never break the heart of anyone you love, not even by accident, not even your sister. Her fortune was so long that she had to write it on the back of the little slip of paper, but writing those words felt gooda"as if she was replacing Sonia's prediction by making an opposite prediction of her own.

Peichi also thought about Sonia's prediction as she lay on the floor, wondering what to write. Would changes really be coming to her house? The only thing that had changed since Sonia made her prediction was that Peichi had been spending less time on her homework. Peichi tried to ignore the sinking feeling she had whenever she thought about her social studies and English tests. Her parents didn't know about them yet, but what would happen when they found out? Would anything change once they knew? You will do excellent work in school, she wrote. Maybe writing it would make it come true.

Shawn liked the fortune Sonia had given hera"that she'd always be the apple of her fathers eye. Her dad had started dating again just a couple months ago. At first, Shawn was really upset. But after they'd had a long talk, Shawn knew that she was the most important person in her dad's life. Who else could possibly be the center of his affection, the apple of his eye? No one she could think of. "I can't think of anything to write," she complained.

"Write things you want to happen," Molly suggested.

"Okay," Shawn agreed. What did she want? Then she remembered how much she wished Amanda and Angie would give each other a chance. If the two of them weren't so stubborn, they might start to like each other and get along. Your two friends will no longer hale each other, she wrote.

For the next half-hour, the girls continued making up fortunes, writing some for the party guests when they finished writing their own fortunes. When they were done, they cut each prediction into a strip and mixed them up in a wooden box. "Let's bring these down to Ah-mah now," Peichi suggested.

When they got to the kitchen, Ah-mah and Mrs. Cheng were drinking fragrant green tea from tiny porcelain cups.

"Would you girls like some tea?" Mrs. Cheng asked.

"Ah-mah could show us how to read the tea leaves to tell our fortunes," Peichi said with a smile.

"No, thanks! I think I've had enough fortune-telling for a while!" Amanda said quickly. Everyone laughed.

"Can we make fortune cookies now?" Peichi asked impatiently. "We finished writing our fortunes."

"I'll leave the instruction to Peichi's grandmother," said Mrs. Cheng. She turned to the girls. "You know, fortune cookies aren't actually Chinesea"they were invented in Los Angeles! But they are so much fun to make. I think Peichi could make them in her sleep!" She gave Peichi a quick kiss. "Dad and I will be at the Minks' house if you need anything. We'll be back for dinner," she said, and she left the kitchen.

Under Ah-mah's watchful eye, Peichi got out a large gla.s.s bowl. While everyone watched, Peichi whisked together two egg whites and some vanilla until the mixture was foamy. Ah-mah preheated the oven to 400 degrees as Molly sifted flour, sugar, and a pinch of salt into the egg mixture, and blended everything together to form a pale, runny batter. Shawn greased a cookie sheet. Then Peichi showed the girls how to pour tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet.

"I'm only making five cookies in this first batcha"one for each of us," Peichi said. "You have to fold them up when they are still hot, and it can be pretty tricky if you're not used to it." The cookies baked in only five minutes, but Peichi was righta"it was tricky to fold them into neat little shapes, with the fortunes hidden inside, while they were still hot from the oven. The kitchen was quiet, except for little yelps if the girls touched the cookies too quickly and burned their fingers. But after a few batches, they had the hang of it. It was really fun to hide the fortunes inside and not know who would receive them! Finally, the girls had a tall pile of golden fortune cookies. They smelled great, too!

"Now we are making jai," Ah-mah told them as she took out a bag of ingredients that she had purchased that morning in Chinatown. "It is a vegetable dish. Each vegetable has a meaning. Lotus seed is good luck. The ginkgo nut symbolizes silver pieces. Black moss seaweed is for wealth. This dried bean curd also encourages wealth. Bamboo shoots make a wish that everything will be well." She picked up a bag of noodles she'd bought. "See these noodles? We don't cut them, ever! Long noodles symbolize long life, so we never want to cut them short."

"This is all so interesting." Natasha said. She'd been writing Ah-mah's words down in her bright blue notebook. Natasha carried that notebook everywhere in case she got an idea for an article for the school paper. "It's going to make a great article. Ah-mah, how did the Chinese New Year celebrations get started?"

"Chinese New Year is so old that no one knows for sure," Ah-mah told her. "There is a legend about a monster named Nian. An immortal G.o.d appeared in the shape of an old man, and he rode Nian away so he could no longer frighten the people of earth. Before he left, though, he told people to put up red paper decorations on their doors and windows to frighten Nian in case he ever sneaked back someday. Nian was scared of the color red. So we always remember how Nian was scared away. We also light firecrackers to frighten off Nian."

"Okay, who wants to toast these sesame seeds in a skillet?" Peichi asked. "We need to get started on the jai."

"Um, Manda and I should probably go," Molly said slowly, looking at her watch. "It's almost five o'clock, and I still have homework to do."

Shawn got up from her chair. "That's right. I do, too."

"And we have a math test tomorrow, Peichi," Natasha said. "Ugh." She carefully tucked her notebook into her backpack.

"Oh," Peichi said. "Right." She didn't say much as she walked her friends to the door.

"Do you have homework, too?" her grandmother asked when Peichi returned to the kitchen.

"I'll do it later," Peichi said. "Tell me more stories about Chinese New Year."

Chapter 6.

Peichi never got around to studying for her math test that night. On Monday, though, she thought she had done pretty well on the test. By Tuesday she received her graded paper and discovered she was wrong. The number 60 was scrawled on the top, along with a note from her teacher that read What happened here? Please see me after cla.s.s.