Heidi was a country wife and she loved every aspect of it. The peacefulness of living on the hills, the simplicity of biscuit rolling and the outdoorsy feeling every time you woke up. That day she got up once again and went downstairs to the kitchen to make some breakfast. She would hand roll made from scratch biscuit dough and put them in the oven. While the delicious biscuits were baking, she heated some tarts and started setting the table. Heidi hummed as she worked and she wanted to prepare a special surprise for Harlin before he went to work. The table was set and Harlin would be coming down any minute now.
“Good morning, Heidi!” Harlin greeted.
Heidi smiled cheerfully, “Ready for another day of work?”
Harlin nods and says he’s bringing Honey and Ginni out today. Heidi joins him and they have a nice cheerful breakfast. Heidi always enjoyed being together with her husband for a lovely meal. Before Harlin leaves for work with Honey and Ginni asleep in the back of the Seven Seater, Heidi hands him a beautiful cherry tart cake. “For work,” explains Heidi, “It’s delicious. Have a good day!”
Heidi kisses Harlin on the cheek and he’s off. Heidi yells, “Wait! I made some coffee with Coffee Special beans. Your favorite.”
Harlin chuckles, “Wow, I’ll definitely be enjoying that. Thanks, Heidi!”
As Harlinj is driving to the Toy Shop he starts thinking of his wife. He wants to do something special for her. Something memorable and sweet. Heidi worked hard everyday caring for children and babies. He decides he would ask Heidi’s sister, Teri Choch, for her opinion later at lunch.
After some hours of work (and eating tart cake) Harlin hops into his car and returns home. Right outside the door he could smell the delicious aromas of baked carrot and squash, his favorite dish. “Hello, hello,” greets Harlin.
Heidi hugs her husband, “Welcome home! How was the first hours of work?”
“Good. Everything went well,” replied Harlin with his mind wandering off to his surprise to Heidi. When Heidi left to help Skip with some math, Harlin asked Teri what Heidi secretly likes over some delicious lunch. “Hmmm,” Teri says, “She likes the country and family. Why?”
Harlin grins, “I want to give her a splendid surprise!”
“I got it! A perfect dinner and a dance in the meadows,” whispers Teri.
“I better fancy myself up then. Thanks Teri,” Harlin says in a low voice.
“Mason can help. Now you just worry about clothes and I will take care of the dinner,” assures Teri.
Teri rounds up the children and explains the plan. “Now I’ll distract Heidi and everyone else must help set the table and take care of the babies. Harlin is going back to work, but when he gets back everything must be perfect,” instructs Teri.
The children nod and start assigning jobs. “Karen and I can handle the babies,” claims Bell, “Freya is great at organizing, so she’ll clean the place up. Bellia can add her special creative and relaxing flare.”
“We’ll set the table!” chimed the Tuxedo cat twins in unison.
“What about me and Skip?” asked David.
Bell grins, “You two need to make perfect props for the restaurant we’re creating.”
“Alright,” says Skip, with his usual confidence.
The children watch as Teri walks to the kitchen and ask if Heidi would want to go out on a walk. “Sure!” smiles Heidi, “I’d love quality time with my favorite sister.”
Teri laughs, “Your only sister. Come on, let’s go.”
As soon as Teri and Heidi are out of sight everyone starts on their tasks. Freya first organizes the fireplace and cleans up the ash. The weather has been getting colder, so the fireplace has been used more.
Karen and Bell round up all the adorable babies and start reading them different stories. “Then the butterfly appears at the most lovely field. There’s lots of orange and yellow flowers blooming everywhere,” Karen reads.
Bell continues, “The butterfly invites all butterflies to come and play. The orange and yellow was like mustard, so all the butterflies called the field, Field Mustard.”
“The end,” chimed the girls in unison, “Now time to go to sleep.”
“One more,” pleads Hopper.
“One more, one more, one more,” the babies chant.
Karen giggles, “Alright. One more and straight to bed.”
After that one more story the babies start whining that they’re hungry. Bell feeds them tarts and finally they go to bed. All in that time Freya cleared the entire living and dining room and Lily and Rose started setting the table with plates and cute, white cups.
Lily claimed, “The centerpiece should be this lamp. The flower prints look nice.”
“I like this flower pot with yellow flowers and green leaves,” argued Rose.
“The room looks dim without the lamp though!” complains Lily, trying her best to prove her point.
“Flowers are beautiful for a romantic dinner!” justifies Rose.
Freya noticed the fight and tries her best to solve it. She yells, “The main dish will be in the middle!”
The twins think for a few seconds and nods at Freya’s idea. “Wait,” adds Rose, “What’s dinner?”
Freya and Lily gape, no one remembered about the main thing: dinner! “What will we do?” asks Lily frantically.
Freya sighs, thinking about her mother’s plan and how she forgot about dinner. The three girls gather everyone up and explain about the missing dinner. “WHAT?!” screamed Skip, “No dinner! Who forgot about dinner?”
“My mom. She's quite forgetful,” replies Freya.
Karen and David quietly leave the meeting and approach the phone.
Their call is directed to their house in Sylvania, “Hello, this is Delia Dotty Chiffon Dog speaking.”
Delia's maiden name was Dotty, just like how Heidi's and Teri's was Choch. Natalie's maiden name was Charcoal. In Sylvania and Cloverleaf Corners, the women don’t change their last name after marriage. “Hi mom,” squeaks Karen, “What was that squash bake recipe again?”
“The one with the crushed biscuits and carrot sauce,” adds David.
Delia was surprised at her children’s questions. She says in a surprised tone, “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, yes. We’re fine. Just need a dinner recipe,” promises Karen.
Delia states, “Well, I’ll go fetch my recipe notebook. I’ll call you back. Stay safe, my children.”
“Talk to you later, mom,” answers David, then he hangs up.
By then, the rest of the children had noticed the call. Freya asks, “What were you two doing?”
David and Karen exchange smiles, “We just solved the problem. Our mom was an excellent country cook. We’ll borrow her recipes. She’s going to call us back when she has the recipe.”
Bell cheers, “That’ll work! I’m going to prepare some pots and ingredients.”
Bell leaves into the kitchen and starts getting out a pot of water, a pot of flour and so on. Everyone else waits for the phone call. Just as expected the phone rings soon. David picks up, “Hello. Did you get it?”
“Yes I did,” replies Delia happily, “Now write this down. You’ll need to make biscuits. I already taught Karen that. When they’re done baking, crumble them. Do it while they are still hot. For the carrot sauce, chop and smash the carrot. Save some of it for little carrot pieces to go in. Add some salt and pepper and continue smashing. About ⅛ of a pot of water will do. Let it boil for 45 minutes. Always stir every 8 minutes though. At the end, throw the crumbled biscuit in and start making the squash bake. ”
“Okay. Wait here mom, I need to give this to Karen. Alright please continue,” answers David.
“For the squash bake, you’ll need squash, salt and pepper, flour and a knife. Cut open the squashes top side and pour the carrot sauce in. Mix and mix and add some flour and water. Keep mixing, until everything is combies inside the squash and then sent to the oven. After baking for another 45 minutes, bring it out and enjoy.”
David grins, “Wow, that sounds hard. I’ve got to appreciate country cooking more. Thanks mom!”
Delia answers warmly to her son, “No problem. Bye, David and say thanks to the Hopscotches for me.”
David hangs up and hands the note to Karen. His sister had always had more kitchen experience than him, so it was best she cooked it. Teri and Heidi were now at the front porch having some tea. Everyone else returned to their jobs and Harlin was home. “Dad!” yelled Bellia, “Welcome home!”
Heidi came up and smiled at Harlin. Teri quickly ushered Heidi away from the house. Skip made a phone call to Mason Tuxedo and Natalie Charcoal to come over. Once they came, Mason went with the boys and Natalie helped distract Heidi. Lovely aromas filled the kitchen and Karen had finished cooking. “Yum,” said David, licking his lips.
“I wish I could have some,” smiles Rose as she rubbed her paws together.
“Let’s go check on dad,” Bell said.
Upstairs Harlin was dressed in Mason’s clothes. “This is so not me!” groaned Harlin, “I never wore gray before. This emerald colored tie is tight too.”
“You look terrific!” argued Mason.
Harlin and everybody else goes downstairs. Teri and Natalie quickly go upstairs and dress Heidi up. When she comes down, Heidi is wearing Teri's fancy party dress. "Don't ask why," begins Natalie, "Just come down."
Heidi started getting suspicions. This nice dress she's borrowing, the wafty aromas from the kitchen, something is up. Heidi is greeted with Harlin's friendly smile...
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