Start From Scratch! UFLI Foundations Lesson 115
Practice Words
Gran had a plan. 'Today,' she said, aiming the hose at her coconut trees, 'we are going to make the best coconut bars there are.' Jay jumped up and waved an arm. 'Yes! Let's go get a few!' Gran smiled a slow, sly smile. 'Get a few? No, no, no. We start from scratch.'
'First, we grow them right!' Gran said. Jay leaped through the garden, cheering the trees on. 'Grow up tall! Grow up huge! Grow coconuts the size of my head!' Gran continued to watch, holding her water bottle and grinning. 'That is the spirit,' she laughed. 'Keep at it!' Jay had no idea what was coming.
Gran had built a lift. Ropes and pulleys and a small wooden platform, all hooked to the biggest tree in the yard. She sat on the platform like a queen on a throne. 'Turn the wheel!' she called down. That was Jay's cue. He grabbed the wheel and cranked with all his might. The ropes groaned. Jay groaned. Gran rose up, up, up into the branches. 'Is this the hard part?' Jay puffed. Gran just laughed.
From high in the tree, Gran sent coconuts flying down a wooden slide. They tumbled and bounced and thunked into the basket below. One. Two. Three. Four. Five! 'That is the lot!' Gran called. 'A few good coconuts are all we need.' Jay looked at the pile of fat coconuts. 'Now can we make the bars?' 'Oh, sweet child,' said Gran. 'We have not even started.'
The coconut husk was thick and hard and did not want to come off. Gran grabbed her blade and hewed at the husk, chunk by chunk. Jay reached for a piece and pulled. And pulled. And pulled. Nothing. Jay set his teeth. 'This coconut,' he said, 'does not want to be a bar.' 'Too bad for the coconut,' said Gran.
Jay tried to sneak away. Just for one tiny break. Just to sit in the shade for one little minute. 'And where do you think you are going?' Gran said. Jay froze. Gran stood with one hand on her hip. 'We. Are. Not. Done.' Jay let out the biggest sigh of his life. Gran was always right. That was the most annoying thing about Gran.
Gran lifted the blade high above her head. 'Ready?' she said. Jay held out the bowl. She swung it down hard. Crack! The coconut split in two and water burst out all over. Jay dove, Jay stretched, Jay rescued every last drop in the bowl. 'Got it!' Jay shouted. 'Not a drop, not a drip, not a leak!' Gran nodded like this was just what she expected. Of course it was.
Back inside, it was time to scrape the meat from the shell. Gran handed Jay a red hand-crank tool. Jay cranked hard. Nothing. Jay renewed his grip and cranked harder. His arms shook. His teeth hurt. 'Is this the hard part?' Jay groaned. 'You keep asking that,' Gran said with a smile. 'The worst part is behind you now.' Jay did not trust her. Not even a little bit.
Gran put the coconut into a big bowl on the stove and stirred. She stirred and stirred and would not stop. Then the sweetest, richest smell filled the kitchen and continued all through the house. It curled around Jay's nose and wrapped around his brain. Jay closed his eyes. 'Gran. Gran. Is that what I think it is?' 'That,' said Gran, 'is what all that hard work smells like.'
Gran tipped the coconut into the baking tin and smoothed it flat. 'Let the bake begin,' she announced. Jay sat with his chin on his hands and watched every piece go in. He was not going to miss a thing. Not after all that cranking and cracking and pulling and puffing. 'Gran,' Jay whispered. 'Are we nearly done?' Gran winked. 'Just a few more steps.'
Out of the tin came chunks of coconut bar, all crunchy and hot and perfect. Jay loved the golden hue of each piece. 'Now,' said Gran, sliding the tray across the table, 'fill those jars right to the brim.' Jay packed them in tight, piece by piece. One jar. Two jars. Three jars. 'Gran,' Jay said slowly. 'Are we done now?' Gran leaned close and grinned. 'We are done.'
Jay grabbed a piece off the plate and held it up high. 'Got it!' he shouted, and bit down hard. It was crunchy. It was sweet. It was the best thing Jay had ever tasted in his entire life. Gran took a piece too. Then a few more. They stood there, munching and grinning, saying nothing at all. All that cranking and cracking and 'we are not done.' Every single bit of hard work was right there in that taste. Totally worth it.
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