Page 55 of Cowboy’s Christmas Baker

12

MALLORY

That afternoon, Mal stood in the kitchen with Katie by her side, considering a couple of different gingerbread recipes.

Because they had missed their Thursday baking session last night, Mal had invited her to come today, since Annie was working.

“Do you remember if your mom’s gingerbread was soft and thick or thin and crispy?” Mal asked Katie.

“Thin,” Katie said after thinking about it a moment.

“And did you decorate them with frosting?” Mal asked.

“No,” Katie said. “They were red and sparkly.”

“Red sugar, I’ll bet,” Mal said, pulling out a drawer and bringing out a stainless container. She sprinkled a little into her palm. “Like this?”

“Yes,” Katie said, nodding, a little smile lighting her face.

“Okay,” Mal said. “Last question. Were they spicy?”

“I don’t know,” Katie said, frowning.

“That’s okay,” Mal told her. “We’ll start off less spicy and then we can taste the dough and add spices if we want.”

“Okay,” Katie said.

“Let’s do it,” Mal said. “Want to put on the radio?”

“Okay,” Katie agreed with a smile, hurrying over to get a little Christmas music going in the kitchen.

Soon, they were measuring out dry ingredients while Burl Ives sang “Holly Jolly Christmas.”

They had decided to make another nice big recipe so that they could share again. For Mal, it was normal to make large quantities, but she could tell Katie was getting a little bored and retreating into herself again.

“Should we stop for a snack break?” Mal offered.

“Okay,” Katie said, looking up with renewed interest in her eyes.

“Excellent,” Mal said heading over to the opposite counter. “These are so good dipped in chocolate.”

She brought back a plate with two soft pretzels and then headed over to heat up a small dish of chocolate.

“You dip pretzels in chocolate?” Katie asked.

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” Mal said with a smile.

“Are these the pretzels you and my dad got?” Katie asked.

“No,” Mal said. “Those were really good, but I do my own Philly style, just like my mom used to do. They’re smaller and a little saltier. I made them after your dad dropped me off. The Amish pretzels got me in the mood for my mom’s version.”

She brought over the dish of warm chocolate, and thought about what else she could do to make the snack more fun for Katie. On a whim, she grabbed a jar of the broken candy canes she had crushed up earlier for the coffees.

“Do you like peppermint?” she asked.

Katie nodded.

“Okay, perfect,” Mal said. “I’m going to try something different.”