Margaret was a terrible cook. Her scrambled eggs looked like angry clouds, and her mashed potatoes were lumpy like a bumpy road. But most of all, Margaret was famous (or maybe infamous) for her terrible pies.

One sunny Saturday, Margaret decided to impress her friend Beatrice with a delicious blueberry pie. She followed a recipe in a big, colourful cookbook. “First, gather your ingredients,” the book boomed in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Margaret’s grumpy neighbour, Mr. Grumpington.

Margaret rummaged through her cupboards, pulling out dented cans and dusty boxes. Finally, she found everything: flour that looked like snow, bright blue blueberries that stained her fingers purple, and a stick of butter that resembled a pale yellow brick.

Following the recipe closely (well, kind of closely), Margaret mixed the flour with some white powder that definitely wasn’t sugar (it was baking soda, but don’t tell Beatrice!). She wrestled the dough into a lumpy ball, then rolled it out with a rolling pin that looked like it could double as a cricket bat.

Next came the blueberries. Margaret poured them generously into the misshapen pie crust. “More! More!” they seemed to shout, bouncing like tiny blue marbles. Margaret obliged, until the crust overflowed like a volcano about to erupt.

The recipe said to bake the pie for 40 minutes. Margaret, ever the optimist, decided on 20 minutes. “Less time, more flavour,” she declared, completely ignoring the smoke starting to curl from the oven.

Twenty minutes later, Margaret proudly pulled out the pie. It was… interesting. The crust was black as burnt toast, and the blueberries had oozed out, turning the oven tray into a sticky purple mess.

“Oh dear,” Margaret muttered, poking the top tentatively.

Suddenly, with a loud “POP!” the pie filling erupted! A geyser of purple goo shot out of the pie, splattering Margaret from head to toe. Blueberries rained down like a hailstorm, landing in her hair and even in her open mouth.

Margaret sputtered and wiped her face. Despite the mess, she couldn’t help but giggle. It wasn’t exactly the delicious pie she envisioned, but it was definitely an unforgettable one.

Just then, the doorbell rang. It was Beatrice, looking fresh and cheerful.

“Margaret! Did you bake a pie?” she asked, sniffing the air.

Margaret, covered in purple goo and smelling vaguely of burnt blueberries, sheepishly opened the door.

“Uh, yes,” Margaret admitted, “but it seems the pie had a bit of an escape.”

Beatrice burst into laughter. “Oh Margaret,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes, “you’re such a terrible cook, but the funniest friend a girl could ask for!”

Margaret grinned. Maybe she couldn’t cook, but at least she could make people laugh – even (or maybe especially) with her disastrous baking attempts. In the end, Beatrice and Margaret decided to forget about the pie and order pizza instead. After all, laughter and friendship were the best ingredients for a perfect afternoon.

– – – –

Vocabulary Notes

Story Words:

terrible: very bad (opposite of good)

impress: to make someone admire you

recipe: a set of instructions for cooking something

rummaged: searched through something messily

dented: having a small hole or mark in it (often from being hit)

dusty: covered in a fine layer of dirt

flour: a white powder used for making bread, cakes, etc.

blueberry: a small, blue fruit

stained: marked with a coloured substance

wrestled: struggled with something difficult

lumpy: having lumps in it (not smooth)

rolling pin: a long, round tool for flattening dough

cricket bat: a flat wooden bat used in the sport of cricket

generously: in a large amount

erupt: to suddenly burst out with force

bake: to cook something in an oven

optimist: someone who believes good things will happen

smoke: the dark gas that comes from something burning

curl: to bend in a circle or spiral

interesting: unusual or different in a way that is interesting

crust: the hard outer layer of a pie or pizza

erupt: to suddenly burst out with force

geyser: a hot spring that throws a jet of water and steam into the air

goo: a thick, sticky liquid

splattering: to throw a liquid onto something in small drops

hailstorm: a heavy fall of small balls of ice

sputtered: to speak quickly and with difficulty

tentatively: in a careful and uncertain way

sheepishly: in an embarrassed way

fresh: clean and healthy looking

cheerful: happy and positive

vaguely: not clearly or exactly

disastrous: very bad or unsuccessful

grinned: smiled widely

ingredients: the things that are needed to make a dish

Bonus:

famous (or infamous): well-known (famous can be good or bad, infamous is usually bad)

suspiciously: in a way that makes you think something is wrong or strange

double as: to be used for two different purposes

erupt like a volcano: a volcano is a mountain that erupts, sending out lava, ash, and gas.

poke: to push your finger into something softly

giggle: to laugh in a quiet, high-pitched way

Story written by Google Bard AI

Image created by dezgo.com AI

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