Frogs' Legs for Dinner? by George Edward Stanley

Flying Pies
    â€œSit down, everyone!” said Mrs. Cooke. “Dinner’s ready!”
    Katie Lynn and her best friend, Tina, joined Mr. Cooke and Grandma at the kitchen table.
    Mrs. Cooke gave them all a big smile. “It’s time to take my surprise out of the oven,” she said.
    Katie Lynn gulped. She had eaten some of her mother’s surprises before. She couldnever figure out what they were.
    â€œWhat is it, Mrs. Cooke?” asked Tina.
    â€œQuiche Lorraine!” said Mrs. Cooke.
    â€œKeesh lo rain?”
said Katie Lynn. “What’s that?”
    â€œIt’s a pie filled with eggs, bacon, cream, and cheese all mixed together,” replied Mrs. Cooke.
    Tina leaned over to Katie Lynn. “I thought pies were supposed to have apples or blueberries in them,” she whispered.
    â€œThey are,” said Katie Lynn. “With ice cream on top!”
    But Mrs. Cooke wasn’t listening. “I’ve been watching the French Chef on television,” she said. “He says that anyone can be a great French cook.”
    Katie Lynn wondered if the French Chef had ever tried her mother’s cooking.
    Mrs. Cooke put on a pair of huge oven mitts and took two round pie tins out of the oven. Something yellow was bubbling over their sides.
    â€œDon’t they look wonderful?” Mrs. Cooke said proudly.
    â€œOh, yes!” said Mr. Cooke and Grandma.
    Katie Lynn didn’t think they looked wonderful. She thought they looked awful.
    â€œI need to go home,” Tina whispered.
    â€œNo way!” Katie Lynn whispered back.
    Mrs. Cooke began walking slowly toward the table. She was trying to balance a pie tin in each hand.
    All of a sudden, one of the tins started to wobble. Mrs. Cooke tried to balance it. She moved to the right, then to the left, then back to the right.
    â€œWhy is she dancing?” Tina whispered.
    Katie Lynn shrugged. “Maybe you’re supposed to dance when you cook French food,” she whispered back.
    The pie tins continued to wobble, and Mrs. Cooke continued to dance from side to side. One tin started to fall. Mrs. Cooke flung up her arms, sending both tins soaring into the air.
    Mrs. Cooke screamed.
    Mr. Cooke dived under the table.

    â€œI’m out of here!” cried Tina. She jumped up and ran out of the kitchen.
    Katie Lynn was too stunned to move. She thought the pie tins looked like flying saucers.
    One landed on the floor with a big
splat.
Then the other landed in the middle of the table with a huge
sploosh.
    Mrs. Cooke looked as if she was going to cry.
    But Grandma quickly grabbed a fork. She scraped up some of the quiche from the middle of the table and ate it. “Delicious!” she said.
    Mr. Cooke climbed out from under the table. He ate some of the quiche, too. “It has an interesting flavor,” he added. Katie Lynn knew he always said that about her mother’s cooking.
    Now everyone was looking at her. It was her turn to say something, so she picked up her fork and tasted the quiche.
    â€œUh … that was really good, Mom,” she said. Then she gulped down her water.
    â€œWhy, thank you, Katie Lynn,” said Mrs. Cooke. She gave her a wink. “I guess you and Grandma aren’t the only good cooks in this family.”
    Grandma and Katie Lynn looked at each other. They didn’t say anything.
    Mr. Cooke just took another bite of quiche.
    After dinner, Mrs. Cooke stood up and sighed contentedly. “I am so thrilled that everyone loved my quiche. I can hardly wait to see what the French Chef cooks tomorrow.”

The Goofy French Chef
    The next day after school, Katie Lynn and Tina and Grandma were in the kitchen baking their famous Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies for the Katie Lynn Cookie Company. Mr. Chesterfield would need his cookie delivery soon for his restaurant. They were almost done, but Tina’s little brother, Gerald, kept trying to steal the cookies.
    Right now,