Taz's Recipe

Diane Tullson

Description

Fourteen-year-old Taz knows one thing for sure: she's a perfect disaster in the kitchen. Every time she tries to cook, chaos ensues. After fires, toxins and more than one minor injury, Taz will be happy if she makes it through her food-science class in one piece. But when the class enters a competitive race for a coveted program and Taz is put in a group that expects to win, the pressure is on. As the competition heats up, Taz is desperate to hold her own and not let her team down.

Sujets

• Eveil
• Estonian Air
• Electronic Sports League
• EAL
• Cooking
• Food
• English as a foreign or second language
• Teaching English as a foreign language
• ELL
• Juvenilee Fiction
• Concepts

Informations

• Publié par: Orca Book Publishers
• Date de parution: 13 septembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781459811881
• Langue: English

Extrait

Taz s Recipe
Diane Tullson
O rca c urre n ts
ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS
Copyright 2016 Diane Tullson
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Tullson, Diane, 1958-, author Taz s recipe / Diane Tullson. (Orca currents)
Issued in print and electronic formats. ISBN 978-1-4598-1035-8 (paperback).- ISBN 978-1-4598-1187-4 (pdf).- ISBN 978-1-4598-1188-1 (epub)
I. Title. II. Series: Orca currents PS 8589. U 6055 T 39 2016 j C 813'.6 C 2016-900471-6 C 2016-900472-4
First published in the United States, 2016 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016931881
Summary: In this high-interest novel for middle readers, Taz is dealing with her parents divorce and trying to win a cooking competition.

Orca Book Publishers is dedicated to preserving the environment and has printed this book on Forest Stewardship Council certified paper .
Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts,and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
Cover photography by Getty Images Author photo by Imaging by Marlis
ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS www.orcabook.com
19 18 17 16 4 3 2 1
For my father, who knew his way around a box of mac and cheese.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Recipes
Linda’s Lasagna
Clarice’s Red Cabbage
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Baking pans clatter in the Food Science 9 classroom as people finish today s assignment. We ve made chocolate chip cookies. Mielle s cookies are already cooled and in a box, ready to take home. All her dishes are washed and put away. I survey the mess at my workstation. My cookies are still on the pan, and I haven t even started to clean up. With a perfectly polished finger Mielle points at an untouched cup of chocolate chips in front of me. She says, Taz, the recipe works better if you use all of the ingredients.
No! I forgot the chocolate chips.
Mielle shrugs. They re called chocolate chip cookies for a reason.
Why does Mielle always choose to work next to me? Because I make her look even more perfect?
Ms. Koe flits from station to station, checking people s work. Her voice lifts in pitch and volume as the clock inches toward the bell. Quickly, please, clean your stations. She pauses at a group of guys. Counters too, Cal. Food safety begins with clean work habits. She breaks off a crumb from one of their cookies and tastes it, mentally measuring all the ingredients. She checks the clock. Five minutes, students. Marks deducted if you don t finish in time.
I grab a handful of chocolate chips. Maybe I can scatter some on top of the cookies so it looks like I didn t forget them. I strew the cookies with the chocolate chips. But the cookies have cooled, and the chocolate chips roll off. I try to press some chips onto a cookie, but the cookie breaks apart.
Maybe if I melt the chocolate chips slightly, they ll stick. I head to the microwave with the cup of chocolate chips. How long does it take to soften chocolate?
Ms. Koe s voice is at screech level now. No one leaves until this classroom is clean.
Several people groan. I slam the door on the microwave, crank the timer and run back to my station. I shovel dirty dishes into the sink. Soap bubbles slosh onto the floor. Mielle takes a step away, protecting her sweater from the spray with a notebook. I don t have time to care if my shirt gets splashed. I plunge my hands into the dishwater and start washing.
Cal, I m not going to tell you again! Ms. Koe s eyes are buggy. Cal uses his spatula like a catapult to launch blobs of cookie batter at his friends. If there s even one speck of mess at your station She pauses and sniffs the air. Did someone leave an oven on? Check your ovens, everyone.
I toss my dishes, still wet, back into the cupboard.
Meille sniffs. What is that smell?
I can smell it too. It s burning plastic. And chocolate.
I feel my stomach drop. My chocolate! I run to the microwave.
The inside of the microwave swirls with black smoke. Ms. Koe spots it too. She stammers, No! Don t open-
I yank open the microwave door.
-the door!
Smoke billows into the classroom. Flames lick out of the microwave. The ceiling smoke detectors start to squeal.
Ms. Koe vaults for the classroom fire extinguisher.
Then the sprinklers go off.
It s like a shower, except it s cold. And with the entire class. And the teacher. She gasps. Stay calm! Don t run!
People do not stay calm. Everyone makes for the door. Three girls all named Sara block the doorway as they struggle to get through it. In their identical jeans and their identical shoes and their identical braces, they look like a three-headed human. The school fire alarm is blaring, and I can hear the pounding of people s feet in the halls.
Mielle clutches her arms across her chest. Nice work, she says to me, rolling her eyes. Her sweater clings to her like a wet plastic bag. Not like it s cashmere. She picks her way to the door, water squishing from her shoes.
In the time it takes to get outside I tell myself that no one knows who set the microwave on fire. It s possible that the microwave malfunctioned. Maybe it was an electrical fire, out of anyone s control. When I reach the front of the school, only the Food Science 9 students stand dripping, their clothes stuck to them, their makeup running and their hair in lank strands. Everyone else is dry. Only the sprinklers in our classroom went off.
Everyone else finds this funny.
The Food Science 9 class does not find this funny.
Mielle hovers at Ms. Koe s side. She tugs on the teacher s arm. What s going to happen to our classroom? Our class won t be canceled, will it? I need this course. I need to get into the chef program next year. How will I get credit for this class?
Ms. Koe stands with her arms at her side. Her hair is plastered to her head. It s like she doesn t hear Mielle.
Cal looks over at me. Hey, Torch, got a towel? He still has the spatula in his hand, and if he had cookie dough, I m pretty sure he d lob it at me.
Who am I kidding? Everyone knows I set the microwave on fire.
Chapter Two
I am not going to school, not today, not ever. So when Dad knocks on my bedroom door I say, I m sick.
With what? His voice sounds less than sympathetic.
Girl stuff.
Since when does girl stuff make you stay in bed?
Since when does my girl stuff concern you?
In the long silence I hear him think that my girl stuff has been his concern since my mother left. She said she was leaving to help with my aunt s new baby. Mom isn t in any hurry to come home-the baby is in preschool now.
Dad sighs. Taz, can I open the door?
I pull the bedcovers up tight around my neck. He comes in and sits on the edge of my bed. He s dressed for work. He says, You re not sick.
So now I m a liar as well as an arsonist?
He grins. It was one classroom. And it was a small fire. Mostly you started a flood.
Not funny, Dad. And it never will be funny. Tears sting my eyes. The whole school knows it was me.
You set a microwave on fire. Surely you re not the first student at a polytechnic high school to start a fire. I m sure the welding shop has had a fire or two. At least the entire sprinkler system didn t go off. You only took out one classroom.
I ll be sure to tell people that. They ll feel so much better.
Everyone got let out early. You re probably a hero.
I m probably suspended. I would love to be suspended. Maybe I can go to school in another town. Another country, even.
You re not suspended. I talked to the school last night.
They called you? I groan.
Ms. Koe did. She said to tell you she hopes you re okay.
I look at him. Ms. Koe told you that? I ll see her at school. Why did she have to talk to you?
She won t be at school. She s taking some time off.
Oh, it just gets better. Not only did I start a fire, but I pushed a teacher to the brink.
He smooths the hair on my forehead. You screwed up, Taz. No one died.
I feel new tears. I only left the microwave for a few seconds.
A few minutes, apparently-long enough to incinerate everything in it.
Thanks for pointing that out. As if it wasn t clear that I m an idiot.
Mistakes aren t about being an idiot, or we d all be idiots. Own your mistake. It will get more difficult the longer you wait. It s like your mom used to say-success is facing our repeated failures with enthusiasm.
Repeated failures? Way to make me feel better, Dad. And Mom used to say? Why do you talk that way about Mom, like she s lost at sea or something?
He s quiet for a second. Then he says, Your mom has been gone for over three years. I think it s fair to say she s not coming back.
Talk about repeated failures.
He looks at me for a long moment. I m happier now, Taz. Your mom is probably happier too