amount there today. I hope everyone comes through in the clutch. We didn't have a tenth of this when I left for my appointment."
" No worries. People started bringing in baked goods about twenty minutes before I left. Most were moms, and I think they were making the library run on their way to pick up kids at school. Valerie had everything stacked and stowed in the room where the authors are going to speak tomorrow. There are these nice little two-tiered rolling shelves one of the local handymen made for the library several years ago. All the baked goods get loaded onto the carts—then two fit under each table. So we'll always have four in reserve nearby. We'll have to get in early to put everything in our new V-shaped area and hide as much as we can under the table cloths."
" You said we'd use the van, too. Right?"
Kate nodded, then pushed the queso and chips away. "I can't eat any more. And yes, we'll have the first parking spot that isn't marked as handicapped. We'll be able to stash anything else in the van until we have room to put more items up for sale. We have to have the big room empty of our stock before the first author gets there to set up her presentation."
" Can anyone get into the room with the baked goods overnight? Forgive me for sounding paranoid, but I'm starting to get a sixth sense now about us having to cover each other's backs." Meg stacked the bowls and rose from her chair, preparing to take them to the sink.
" You don't have to do that."
Meg laughed. "Katie, your kitchen is spotless. Of course I'll bus the table. It's no big deal."
" Okay, thanks." She shifted paper to get things back in order. "And I absolutely agree we need to keep an eye on everything. Valerie promised she was the only one with a key, other than the head librarian. She planned to stay until everything was delivered tonight—then she'd lock up and give the key to Tiffany in the morning. Tiff can then help us with the final set-up. Valerie said we'd probably have more baked goods arrive tomorrow, too. We'll just place them as we can and run anything we can't fit out to the van for temporary storage."
A rinse and a wipe of each bowl, and Meg had the dishes ready and loaded in the dishwasher. As she walked back to the table, she said, "The only thing about chips and queso is now I want ice cream."
" I've been thinking about making a smoothie. Want a chocolate shake?" Kate rose and walked to the refrigerator, pulling yogurt, milk, and frozen strawberries out as she talked. "Yep, here in the back is enough fudge ripple to make a shake."
" Too much trouble." Meg shook her head. "You'd have to wash out the blender in between. Just make me a smoothie like yours."
" No, I'll use Mason jars, then I only have to rinse off the blades."
" Huh?"
Kate held up a finger. "Watch." She pulled two Mason jars from a top shelf, and added smoothie ingredients in one, and shake mixings in the other. A second later, she'd removed the bottom collar from her blender and screwed it onto the top of one of the jars, so the blades were inside. Then she flipped the jar over, and seated the collar back into its normal place on the blender. "I haven't found a blender yet whose blades collar didn't match up to the opening in a Mason jar." She hit the switch and soon had a rich and wonderful shake for Meg. She pointed to a round cylinder on the counter. "There are straws in there if you want to drink out of the jar. Or pour it into a glass. Your choice."
" Ohmigod, Katie, I think this is the best idea you've ever shown me." Meg shook her head as she pushed a straw into the shake and took a sip. "Wonderful, and perfectly easy."
A rinse of the blades and Kate was ready to give her smoothie a noisy zap. She grinned as the blender noise filled the room.
" I've always done this rather than mess up the big blender when I'm doing one or more small mixtures," she explained after powering down the machine. "Not that it would have been a big deal to clean
" No worries. People started bringing in baked goods about twenty minutes before I left. Most were moms, and I think they were making the library run on their way to pick up kids at school. Valerie had everything stacked and stowed in the room where the authors are going to speak tomorrow. There are these nice little two-tiered rolling shelves one of the local handymen made for the library several years ago. All the baked goods get loaded onto the carts—then two fit under each table. So we'll always have four in reserve nearby. We'll have to get in early to put everything in our new V-shaped area and hide as much as we can under the table cloths."
" You said we'd use the van, too. Right?"
Kate nodded, then pushed the queso and chips away. "I can't eat any more. And yes, we'll have the first parking spot that isn't marked as handicapped. We'll be able to stash anything else in the van until we have room to put more items up for sale. We have to have the big room empty of our stock before the first author gets there to set up her presentation."
" Can anyone get into the room with the baked goods overnight? Forgive me for sounding paranoid, but I'm starting to get a sixth sense now about us having to cover each other's backs." Meg stacked the bowls and rose from her chair, preparing to take them to the sink.
" You don't have to do that."
Meg laughed. "Katie, your kitchen is spotless. Of course I'll bus the table. It's no big deal."
" Okay, thanks." She shifted paper to get things back in order. "And I absolutely agree we need to keep an eye on everything. Valerie promised she was the only one with a key, other than the head librarian. She planned to stay until everything was delivered tonight—then she'd lock up and give the key to Tiffany in the morning. Tiff can then help us with the final set-up. Valerie said we'd probably have more baked goods arrive tomorrow, too. We'll just place them as we can and run anything we can't fit out to the van for temporary storage."
A rinse and a wipe of each bowl, and Meg had the dishes ready and loaded in the dishwasher. As she walked back to the table, she said, "The only thing about chips and queso is now I want ice cream."
" I've been thinking about making a smoothie. Want a chocolate shake?" Kate rose and walked to the refrigerator, pulling yogurt, milk, and frozen strawberries out as she talked. "Yep, here in the back is enough fudge ripple to make a shake."
" Too much trouble." Meg shook her head. "You'd have to wash out the blender in between. Just make me a smoothie like yours."
" No, I'll use Mason jars, then I only have to rinse off the blades."
" Huh?"
Kate held up a finger. "Watch." She pulled two Mason jars from a top shelf, and added smoothie ingredients in one, and shake mixings in the other. A second later, she'd removed the bottom collar from her blender and screwed it onto the top of one of the jars, so the blades were inside. Then she flipped the jar over, and seated the collar back into its normal place on the blender. "I haven't found a blender yet whose blades collar didn't match up to the opening in a Mason jar." She hit the switch and soon had a rich and wonderful shake for Meg. She pointed to a round cylinder on the counter. "There are straws in there if you want to drink out of the jar. Or pour it into a glass. Your choice."
" Ohmigod, Katie, I think this is the best idea you've ever shown me." Meg shook her head as she pushed a straw into the shake and took a sip. "Wonderful, and perfectly easy."
A rinse of the blades and Kate was ready to give her smoothie a noisy zap. She grinned as the blender noise filled the room.
" I've always done this rather than mess up the big blender when I'm doing one or more small mixtures," she explained after powering down the machine. "Not that it would have been a big deal to clean
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