Magic Nut Bars Take Ages Jolly Phonics · Step 3, Unit 3: soft g as in giant

Gran has a plan. She hooks the pipe to the tank. 'Ted,' she calls, 'we will make the best magic nut bars ever!' Ted jumps up high. 'Yes! Let's go get some!' Gran aims the pipe at her nut trees and grins. 'Get? No, no, no. We start from the tree.'

'First, we grow them well!' Gran says. Ted leaps in the yard and yells at the trees. 'Grow up tall! Grow up huge! Grow giant nuts as big as me!' Gran grins as he hops from plant to plant. 'That's it, Ted. Keep at it!' Ted does not see what is to come.

Gran has made a lift. Ropes and a little seat, all set on the huge tree. She sits up there, proud as can be. 'Turn it, Ted!' she calls down. Ted grips it and cranks with all his might. It groans. Ted groans. Gran goes up, up, up in the tree. 'Is this the hard part?' Ted puffs. Gran just grins.

High in the tree, Gran sends the nuts down a long plank. They roll and drop down in a heap. One, then more, then more. Five fat nuts in all! 'That's the lot!' Gran calls, grinning in the leaves. Ted looks at the giant heap. 'Now can we make the bars?' 'Sweet Ted,' says Gran. 'This is just the start.'

The husk is thick and hard. It will not come off. Gran grabs her blade and chops at it. Ted grips a large bit and tugs. He tugs and tugs. It still will not come off. 'This nut is not keen to be a bar,' Ted says. 'Too bad for the nut,' says Gran.

Ted has an urge to slip off. Just a little rest in the shade. 'Not so fast, Ted!' Gran calls. Ted stops still. Gran stands with a hand on her hip. 'We are not at the end.' Ted lets out a big, big groan. But Gran has the plan. Gran always has the plan. That is the thing about Gran.

Gran lifts the blade up high. 'Here we go!' she calls. Ted holds out the bowl. She swings it down. Crack! The nut splits wide, and water surges out. He leans, he reaches, he gets each last drop. 'Got it!' Ted shouts. 'Not a drop, not a drip, not a spill!' Gran just nods, cool as ever.

Now they scrape the nut from the shell. Gran hands Ted a red crank tool. Ted cranks it hard. Not a bit comes off. He cranks harder. His arms burn. This is harder than the gym! 'Is this the hard part?' Ted groans. 'Still asking that!' Gran says with a grin. She taps his back. 'The hard part is at an end now.' Ted does not think so. Not one bit.

Gran tips the nut in a big bowl on the stove. She stirs and stirs and will not stop. Then a big change! The sweetest smell is all round Ted. He takes a big, deep sniff. 'Gran. Gran. Is that what I think it is?' 'That,' says Gran, 'is what all that hard cranking smells like.'

Gran tips the nut in the tin and smooths it flat with a spoon. 'Now for the bake,' she says. 'The last stage.' Ted sits with his chin on his hands and has a look at each bit. He will not miss this. Not after all that cranking and cracking and tugging and puffing. 'Gran,' Ted says. 'Are we at the end yet?' Gran winks. 'Soon.'

The bake is at an end! Out come the chunks, hot and crisp, like little gems. 'Fill those jars up, Ted,' says Gran. Ted packs them in tight and presses the lids on firm. One jar. Then more. Three jars in all! 'Gran,' Ted says. 'Are we at the end now?' Gran grins. 'We are at the end.'

Ted grabs a bit off the plate and holds it up high. 'Got it!' he yells, and bites down. It is crunchy. It is sweet. It is the best treat Ted has had in ages. Gran takes a bit too. They munch and grin, saying not one thing. All that cranking and cracking and 'we are not at the end.' It is all there in that taste. So good.