Page 74 of Kiss the Girl
“A little. I like how they connected each of these to the theme. But there’s still a lot of experimenting to do to make sure we can consistently make a good turnover or whatever we decide on. And there’s no promise it’ll sell as much as we need it to.”
“That’s where my sister can help. Mind if I run it past the boys?”
I held out my hand to indicate the floor was all hers.
“Boys,” she called. They were still bickering. She rolled her eyes and gave a short, piercing whistle. They shut up and looked her way. “Do I have your attention?”
“Yes, Miss Grace,” J.J. said.
“My sister is a celebrity chef. She even has a show on cable. How would you feel about me getting her on Facetime, and she can give you some professional advice about each of these three options so you can make an informed choice?”
“That’s dope,” DeShawn said. “My mom watches her show.”
“Let me see if she’s around.”
“Hey,” Tabitha said, her face appearing in the screen. She had dark hair like Grace’s, but hers had curl like their mom’s.
“Hey. You got a minute?” Grace asked.
“A couple, yeah. What’s up?”
“I’m with some friends right now, and we’re trying to solve a problem I think you can help with. Meet this year’s Lincoln Bulldogs football team.” Grace flipped the camera and panned over the bleachers, where the boys hooted and waved. “Here’s the problem.” She summed it up in a nutshell while her sister listened and nodded. “So in short, we can figure out how to tie all these in withThe Cat in the Hat, but we want to know which one would make the best dessert and if you have any good recipes.”
“Hand pies,” her sister said without hesitation. “They’re a huge food trend right now.”
The player who’d suggested it whooped and shouted, “In your face!”
“But with a twist,” her sister said.
“This is Tabitha’s specialty,” Grace explained. “Messing with stuff to bring her own style to it.”
“It goes best with your theme because it has the most ‘child-like’ feel to it,” Tabitha continued. “Kids love to make them, and everyone else loves to eat them. Plus, you can mull the cider you got in a crockpot with some spices and serve that on the side for extra money.”
“I’m liking that,” I said.
“Then you top it off by tying it to football. Hand pies kind of look like empanadas.”
“Empa-whats?” That was J.J.
“Think of a potsticker dumpling like Mrs. Li makes at the Dragon House, but bigger, and baked, not steamed.”
“That’s my auntie,” the kicker said.
“Those dumplings are super grub,” another player said, and they all agreed.
“Tell your auntie that I haven’t found more delicious potstickers, even in New York,” Tabitha said.
The kicker beamed. “I will!”
“Anyway, so imagine those, edges all crimped, baked golden brown. Make it a cream cheese apple filling and you’ll slay them.”
“Oooh, dang,” said one of the biggest guys on the team. Definitely had to be an offensive lineman. “I’ll buy ten by myself.”
“But here’s the final touch,” Tabitha said. “It would be easy to make the design of football laces on the side because that half-circle shape is football-ish.”
“That’s dope,” DeShawn said over the excited hoots and whistles of the other boys.
“Sounds like we have a winner,” I said. “Boys, say thank you to Chef Tabitha.”
