Spaghetti Time

"Okay, that sauce should be ready now, said Tempressa. Ginger go over to the stove and give it a good stir then taste it but be sure to blow on it first." Ginger took the lid off the pot and gave the sauce a stir then tasted it. "Wow this tastes great," she said then took another taste and another. "Okay, don't eat it all, said Ktara. We need some left for the pasta." "Oh okay," said Ginger. "Now turn down the burner that the sauce is on to the lowest setting then put that big pot with the water in it on the big burner then turn it on full," said Tempressa. "Okay, then what?" asked Ginger. "Put a couple teaspoons of salt in the water and a two full tablespoon of butter then put the lid on it. We have to wait for the water to boil," said Tempressa. "Okay, why add butter?" asked Ginger. It stops the water from foaming up and spilling out of the top of the pot when you put the pasta in. Normally I use vegetable oil but you don't have any," said Tempressa. In five minutes the water started to boil and Ktara told Ginger to put the entire package of spaghetti pasta in the pot then stir it until it is all underwater. "Okay but there doesn't look like there is enough in this package for all of us," said Ginger. "Ktara smiled. "It gets bigger as it boils and softens up." "Oh magic spaghetti pasta, I got it," said Ginger. Ktara looked at Tempressa. "Why not, magic spaghetti pasta sounds good to me," said Ktara. "Yep and it is going to be very good tasting magic spaghetti pasta too once the sauce is added," said Tempressa. "Now just stir it a bit until the pasta is nice and soft. It will take about ten to fifteen minutes for it to be done," said Ktara. "This is the way to cook, said Tempressa. Us sitting on the couch and Ginger doing the work." "Yep, but I am always the one doing all the cooking at home with elves watching me except when it is Ivy, she loves to help and asks lots of questions, said Ktara. She is great to have in the kitchen with me." "Well maybe I should invite her to my place then," said Tempressa. "Yep she would like that then you could get your sister to eat with you two, said Ktara.

Alieta, Amelie and Keiko had finished touring the forest and talked to a bunch of pixies through out the forest. They saw some people having a picnic and other's just walking around. "Okay we better get back now, said Alieta. Supper should be ready soon." "Okay," said Keiko and they headed back to the tree house. "I can smell it from here now," said Keiko. "Yes, and it should taste great with both Ktara and Tempressa, helping Ginger," said Alieta. "When they got to the tree house they all landed on the bridge then Keiko let them in. "Okay we are back, said Keiko. It smells great in here." "Ya we could smell it in the forest once we got half way here, said Amelie. Lots of pixies are going to be getting hungry soon." "Well lots of candy cane for them in the forest. So is it almost ready?" asked Keiko. "Yep, the pasta is nice and soft now," said Ginger. "Good let me check it," said Ktara. She took out a noodle with a fork then blew on it first then ate it. "Yep, all done, said Ktara. Now we need a colander to strain the pasta." "Um what is that," asked Ginger. It is a bowl with lots of holes in it to let the water drain out when you dump the pasta into it," said Ktara. "I don't think we got one of them," said Ginger. "Here let me read you Ktara and I will make one," said Keiko. Keiko read Ktara and had a confused look on her face. "Okay, got it. Who would of thought a bowl with holes in it would be useful," said Keiko. She then made a colander. "Good now Ginger put the colander in the sink then dump all the pasta in it then shake it a bit. Make sure most of the water has drained out, said Ktara. Good now give the empty pot to Tempressa." Ginger gave Tempressa the pot and she put some sauce in the bottom. "Just a couple of scoops will be good enough for now," said Tempressa. Okay Ginger dump all that pasta back in this pot then I will add a bit of sauce on top. Then you mix it around until all the pasta has sauce on it". Ginger did as Tempressa said and soon it was ready to be served. Tempressa put remaining sauce in the pot on the table. "So now we need plates and forks," said Ktara. "Oh, I can do that," said Amelie and she made six placements on the picnic table. Ktara served out the pasta on all of the plates and told them to all have a seat. Everyone sat down and Tempressa past the sauce around. Ginger saw what everyone was doing with the sauce so when it came around to her she put a couple of big scoops on top of the pasta. "Okay everyone, lets dig in," said Ktara and they all began to eat. "Well very good job you three. Tastes great," said Alieta. "Yep, Ginger now knows the basics of making a sauce and how to make magic spaghetti pasta grow," said Ktara. What, this is magic spaghetti pasta?" asked Keiko. "Well that is what Ginger called it," said Tempressa.

After everyone was finished Ktara showed Ginger how to put the left overs in a bowl then put the rest of the sauce on top then put it in the ice box on the top shelf. Keiko made all the dirty dishes disappeared then asked, "So anyone want a bit of ice cream for desert?" "Sure why not, said Alieta, but not too much please." "Me too please, said Ginger, chocolate is my favorite." Everyone else said the same. Keiko made her wand appear and made everyone a small chocolate sundae with whip cream on top. Ktara giggled. "What are you giggling about?" asked Alieta. "I just remembered what Ivy told me when she wanted to learn how to cook and I asked her if she knew how to cook anything, said Ktara. She said all she knew how to cook was ice cream." Everyone laughed. "Ya Ivy can be very funny sometimes," said Alieta. After they all were finished Keiko cleaned up again. "So Ginger, in a little over a week the harvest festival will begin, said Alieta. I would like you to sing some for everyone during it." "A festival sounds like fun," said Ginger. "Yes it is but last year it went for three weeks from nine in the morning to nine at night, said Alieta. Now I talked with Ginger at the palace and we figured that was way too long." "Ya three weeks of a festival got tiring, said Ktara. It was fun but just too long. Besides by the last week, not that many people showed up." "Exactly, said Alieta. So this year we are just going to have it for one week and from eleven in the morning to eight at night. That is better because the kids are back in school so the parents can get the kids off to school then come for a few hours then go home to get the children and bring them back." "Yes that sounds much better," said Ktara. "Plus eight o'clock is a bit better to end things. Lots of people in the human village have kids that need to get to bed for school in the morning," said Alieta.

"So what time is there the most people at the palace?" asked Ginger. "Well usually just after lunch, said Alieta. Around twelve thirty or one o'clock." "Okay, I am thinking that the girls in my dance class will be very good by then so maybe we could all perform for everyone, said Ginger. I can work with them to make some nice dance shows, maybe three or four songs then at the end of the night I can sing a song or two. A stage would be best to have though." "That would be perfect, said Alieta. Live entertainment instead of just minstrels playing the same old songs. You must of seen some festivals before." "Yes I used to look for them and listen. Never got to perform though, said Ginger. Plus none of them had really good dancers but things like puppet shows and magic tricks were pretty popular. One time a very pretty girl got up on stage when no one was performing and sang a beautiful song. Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen to her. It inspired me to become a performer. I talk to her later". "So where is she now?" asked Alieta. "Well I think she said she was from Cumberland. Back then I didn't know where that was, said Ginger. I think her name was Miyo too, very cute petite human girl not much bigger than me but she could really sing. It would be nice to sing a song with her." "Well if she still lives in Cumberland then go and see if you can find out where she lives or works," said Alieta. "Ya I was thinking about that when I was teaching the dance class. Never been to Cumberland though," said Ginger. "Not a lot of people there, said Ktara. Most live in the two towns. You three can probably find out if she still lives there by just asking a few people." Okay good plan for tomorrow," said Amelie. "Well we all should be heading home, said Alieta. It is going to be getting dark soon." "Yep I agree, said Ktara. Now we should come back in a couple of days and show you how to make a full coarse meal. Once you learn that all that is left is the deserts. That is easy, you just follow the recipes in that book." "Okay then, said Alieta, Thanks for supper." "Yes and thanks for showing me how to shop," said Ginger. "Okay we are off too. At least going down the ladder will be a lot easier than going up, said Tempressa. Thanks and see you three later." Then everyone left.