Hungry Heart: Konigsburg, Texas, Book 8 Read Online Free PDF Page B

his chair, his smile broadening again. “So how did you talk him into it? So far I can see what you’d get out of this, but I’m not so sure about him.”
    “I’ll be doing sides for his food truck. Don’t worry,” she added hurriedly, “I’ll do the work at home. It won’t come out of the Rose’s kitchen.”
    He shook his head. “I never thought it would. Come on, Darce, I know you better than that. When do you start?”
    She blew out a breath. “We start as soon as I can come up with a potato salad he likes.”
    Joe frowned. “What’s wrong with the potato salad you’re already making? Tastes great to me.”
    “He wants something more basic. I don’t suppose you’ve got a good basic recipe lying around anywhere?”
    He shook his head again. “Potato salad wasn’t exactly big around my house in Baton Rouge. Besides, you’re the garde manger chef, not me. I always like to leave salads to somebody who knows what they’re doing.”
    And that, Darcy considered, was the problem right there. She and Joe both thought in terms of garde manger, the chef who was in charge of cold platters and salads. The chef who kept her food in a refrigerated space. A garde manger like her might produce one hell of a salade niçoise , but she’d be operating blind if she were asked to produce a potato salad for a church supper.
    Joe shrugged. “Maybe you could talk to a short order cook. Somebody who fixes stuff like potato salad for the regulars.”
    “No. What I need is a church supper master chef. Somebody who knows how to do down home and do it right.”
    He gave her a slow grin. “Got any idea where to find one?”
    She nodded. “As it happens, I think I do.”
    That evening, her mother answered the phone on the third ring. “Darcy, honey, I was halfway out the door heading for book club. What’s up?”
    Now that the time had come to actually ask her mother for a recipe, Darcy felt her confidence take a quick hike. “You’re heading for a meeting? I can call back later.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” her mother said crisply. “What is it you need?”
    Darcy closed her eyes. Now for the hard part. “A recipe. For potato salad.”
    There was a long pause on the other end. “You’re asking me for a recipe?” her mother said finally. She sounded almost as dubious as Darcy had. “Why can’t you just take something off the Internet?”
    “Because I need something that’s user tested. Something I know will be good.”
    There was another brief pause, probably so her mother could decide whether that was a compliment or not. Apparently, she went with yes. “Why do you need this?”
    Darcy took a deep breath. “I need to show somebody that I can make regular food. And if I try to do something from my recipes, it’s not going to be regular food.”
    “Regular food.” Her mother paused again. “I’m not going to fight with you over that idea, although we could go for a good ten rounds on what constitutes regular food and why it isn’t exactly poison.”
    Darcy pinched the bridge of her nose. “C’mon, Mom…”
    “All right, all right, let me think about it. I’ll even talk to the girls at book club and see if they have suggestions. But you’ll have to pay for this.”
    Darcy frowned. “Pay? How much.”
    “Those cookies you made at Christmas. I want the recipe.”
    She felt a strange tightness around her diaphragm. “You want a recipe of mine?”
    “Of course,” her mother said briskly. “Those peppermint meringues were terrific.”
    Darcy tried to remember if her mother had ever complimented her cooking before. She was fairly certain she hadn’t. “Sure. Fine. Anything.”
    “All right then, I’ll see what I can do. Anything I should avoid?”
    “Capers.” Darcy sighed. “And feta cheese. And olives.”
    “Well, I don’t think we’ll have any problems avoiding those.” Her mother sounded like she was grinning.
    “Glad to hear it.” Darcy found she was gritting her teeth again. At