Stitching with Elli

It was still early morning…all the dolls were sleeping.

But Bridget is awake now….

Bridget was the newest doll in the group. She had just arrived a few days earlier. Why do you suppose she is getting up so early?

Bridget definitely seems to have a plan and a purpose. She is getting up and putting her slippers on, not just laying in bed waiting for the other dolls to wake up.

The next step is to make her bed.  Emily had told her the quilt was made by her great-grandmother for her Grandmother. Bridget wanted to be extra careful and make the bed nicely to take care of such a special quilt. (Design on her pjs is from Embroidery library)

Then she gets her clothes out for the day, and brushes her hair. She used the new brush Emily got her. She loved this hair brush because it didn’t pull her hair. (It is a hair extension brush from Sally hansen’s, great for doll hair!)

What does she have planned??

Breakfast! Bridget wanted to make breakfast for all her new friends. It has been a while since she made it. But there was a recipe for apple pancakes, that her grandmother taught her, she wanted to try making.

The first step was to chop up all the apples…

Then add the flour …

Then Bridget went to get the cinnamon…everything tastes better with cinnamon and sugar…

Oops! Oh no! It was supposed to be cinnamon…I think Bridget got the wrong bottle!  Umm everything taste better with chili powder?  The bottles do look similar…I think these pancakes may taste interesting 😀

Bridget didn’t notice the mistake. She was still very cheerful and happy as she continued baking. The next step was to sift it all together…this was her favourite part!

She was so excited to be able to do something for her new friends.

She was thinking about all her new friends and trying to make sure she knew all the names as she stirred..there was Nellie, Susan,  Bonnie and  Josefina, she was the one that could make jam …. Oh yes! Jam would go good on the pancakes….. Should you put apple jam on apple pancakes, or Strawberry jam on apple pancakes?….. she was interrupted in her thoughts when she noticed the batter was all mixed.

Time to add the apples!

For the first time Bridget was a little concerned…the apple chunks seemed rather big. Maybe she was supposed to have cut them smaller? It was so hard to cut them up with that big knife! oh well maybe it would be okay anyway.

She was very busy for a while getting out that heavy griddle! She managed after a fair amount of struggling to get it up on the counter. She poured the pancakes onto the griddle.

She was rather anxious because they seemed very thick and lumpy. Oh dear! hope they taste good!

She heard someone stirring…she better hurry up and finish the pancakes…. Eek! they look a little burned!!

In spite of the way they looked, she was still optimistic they should be all right. Just put enough syrup on them and they will be fine.

Ellen was the one she had heard getting up. Ellen was very pleasantly surprised that Bridget had gotten up early to make them breakfast. She thanked Bridget enthusiastically, and then started telling her about the importance of breakfast as the first meal of the day…..

And then she took a bite….

She coughed…and then stared at the pancakes hard.

“What is it? are they okay?” asked Bridget anxiously.

Ellen tried to think of a tactful thing to say. “They are very unique! the apples taste good!” she tried to be enthusiastic. “Where did you say you got the recipe?”

“From my grandmother.” said Bridget as she anxiously got a fork and prepared to try it herself.

Ellen paused and was about to say she didn’t think dolls had grandmothers…but then Bridget took a bite of the pancake…and was greatly distressed….

“They taste terrible! they are hard and not cooked right…and they are spicy!! Why are they spicy? I must have forgotten something. I so wanted to make a nice breakfast and I messed it all up!!!”

Ellen decided this was certainly not the time to bring up the fact that dolls don’t have grandmas….. She tried to sooth Bridget and assure her it was all right. “Everyone messes up cooking sometimes!….  why even Emily made vinegar soup once!! ….you did a lot of hard work to cook these all by yourself….they aren’t that bad!!”

“Don’t worry Bridget! I’ll help you fix it!!” she assured her.

“But how?? they tasted terrible!!” sniffed Bridget.

“We will make something else!” Ellen stated stoutly and firmly. She pulled out the oatmeal and showed Bridget how easy it was to make….

She also pulled out some sausages she knew were in the freezer and they cooked those up too….

Ellen worked fast and with two of them  working together, by the time the other dolls got up they had pulled together a lovely breakfast. They had toast with jam (that Ellen had helped make), raspberries, Oatmeal, sausages, orange juice, milk and the pancakes. Ellen said they should put the pancakes out anyway because they weren’t that bad, and someone might like them.

It turns out that Nellie and Felicity liked the pancakes….they said they tasted exotic. 😀

Bridget still felt bad for messing up the breakfast, but all the dolls were very sweet to make her feel better about it. They said it was very thoughtful of her to get up early and do all that work to make a breakfast for them.

Have you ever had any cooking disasters like Bridget? It might make her feel better if she was assured other people mess up cooking or have bad recipes too.

P.s Bridget’s “grandmother’s recipe” is remarkably similar to an Apple pancake recipe I saw on Pinterest 😉 and I do NOT recommend it. It didn’t turn out well at all. The pancakes tasted like rubbery rocks. If the apples has been sliced thinner it may have turned out better. However there wasn’t a rising agent in the recipe, so I really don’t think they would have turned out well even if the apples were smaller.