She Would be Proud
Karalee Dhal at only twenty years old walks into her bakery, that's right, her bakery, and already, her co-owner, Dusty has a frown across his strong, usually happy, rich, bonze face. Karalee sighs as she hangs her jacket on the same hook she takes her apron from. Walking behind the counter, she immediately prepares the display counter, turning on the lights inside, making the view of the small pastries a bit more visible.
"You ain't gonna believe what I found on the door this mornin'," Dusty scoffs, handing Karalee a pink slip of paper, "They're sayin' this is the final warning."
"They can say whatever they want," Karalee says, flipping her dark brown bangs out from before her hazel eyes, looking at the paper, "Ah-huh... yeah, they've been saying 'this is the last warning' for two months now."
"This time they mean it, Kara..." Dusty sighs, "Got a phone call, too."
"Oh..." Karalee says a bit nervous, "Well, did they say why exactly?"
"We ain't making enough sales... that's my guess. They did say a lot of things about revenue and stock stuff... I dunno. All I know is... we're goin' down the drain."
"Dusty, we'll be fine," Karalee reassures with a bit of irritation in her voice, "We just gotta up our sales pitch and stuff. Maybe we can hire someone to stand out there with a sign and..."
"That costs money we ain't got, Kara," Dusty's naturally low, brassy tone gradually gets higher, "I'm scared - I'll lose my job, won't be able to pay my bills..."
"Dusty!" Karalee snaps, "Look... I'm just brainstorming. Why don't we offer a deal? Buy one dozen of these doughnuts and get three doughnuts free?"
"That could work, I s'pose," Dusty smiles, "I know I'd take 'em - your doughnuts are delicious!"
"I didn't name this place 'Grandma's Recipe' for no reason," Karalee chuckles, "Alright, let's get to work on making some signs."
In the back room, the most that Dusty and Karalee can do for signs is colored markers on white printer paper. Karalee writes the buy-one-dozen-get-three-free deal on a piece of paper in green marker in large lettering. She then adheres scotch tape to the top of the sign and sets it aside.
"How's this?" Dusty says, holding up a sign in blue marker that says "Buy One get One Free - Homemade Dutch Apple Pie at Half Price".
"Half price plus a free pie?" Karalee asks, "I suppose it'd be okay... seems like a lot to give up - don't think we'd make too much money off it."
"For now, no... but the way people are with sales, if they see a good deal, there's no way they'd pass it up," Dusty says, sticking some tape to his sign, "I know if I saw something really good for really cheap, I'd probably buy more than I should."
"Alright, it's worth a shot - this is kind of a desperate time," Karalee sighs, "Let's put them up and see if we'll have any takers."
In the shopfront, Karalee sticks her sign to the front counter's display case. Now any dozen of doughnuts comes with three free doughnuts. Hopefully someone would find the deal enticing and consider buying some.
Dusty's sign is stuck to the window on the door, so people can see it right as they approach the shop. It appears to have worked, because a man in a suit walks in, sounding off the ding of the small bell above the door. Alerted of a new customer, Karalee quickly takes a position behind the front counter and smiles.
"Morning!" the customer says.
"Good morning, Sir! How can I help you?" Karalee smiles.
"Yeah, uh... do you have any hard candies at all? My son's in the car and I told him I'd get him some. You know kids - he's such a good kid, though. Definitely deserves it," the customer says, reaching into his pocket for his wallet.
"Oh," Karalee says, a bit disappointed, "I'm sorry, we only sell baked goods - we have a special deal going on for doughnuts and pies if you're interested."
"Ah, well, no thanks - thanks for your time, though!" the customer says, turning and walking out the door.
Dusty brushes some flour off his apron and sighs, "Damn it... can't they even read anymore? Grandma's Recipe: Local Bakery. Ba-ker-y!"
"Getting mad won't help... just be cool," Karalee says, smiling, "It'll be alright."
After a long day of barely any customers - again - Karalee's bakery, Grandma's Recipe, didn't rake in enough funds to make this month's payments on the property. As she locks her door and plops on her living room sofa, she releases a big, long sigh of regret and sorrow. Her grandmother had worked so hard to build that bakery from the ground up. Her grandparents' tragic, accidental deaths made running the business hard at first, but now, all Karalee wants is to make her Grandmother's spirit proud. With her encouraging grandfather gone, Karalee falls apart in her living room, sobbing uncontrollably.
For what seems like hours, Karalee feels numb. The entire situation is surreal. This can't truly be happening - so close to Christmas, too. The time when people want baked goods - especially pies - the very most, there doesn't seem to be a lot of business. Suddenly, the surreal feeling fades off and Karalee is stricken with an odd, yet wonderful idea.
"Yeah, uh... do you have any hard candies at all? My son's in the car and I told him I'd get him some," is what he said. Hard candies... what if I put hard candies into the pies? Maybe that'll attract more customers. Grandma's butterscotch recipe might be around here somewhere - she made amazing butterscotch candy!
Scraping herself up, Karalee carries herself to the kitchen and begins digging through many drawers - after only a few minutes of searching, she finds a recipe card box. Classic in shape, and predictable in design. Karalee takes a moment to admire the box and the memories that come with it.
The roosters, fencing, and sunflowers on the box remind her of the good old days when she would try and help her Grandmother cook in the kitchen. Her grandfather would always pretend to like what she cooked, but always ate Grandma's cooking later when Karalee had gone to sleep. Karalee smiles as she opens the box and sees the index cards - all sorted by colored tabs - neatly stacked front to back. In the green section were the baked goods, but right behind that in the blue section is what she's looking for.
Flipping through the cards, Karalee finds a few no-bake fudge recipes, homemade lollipop recipes, rice-cereal bar recipes, and finally, more hard candy recipes. Peppermint Dots seem practical, so she removed it from the box and placed it on the counter; she comes across many delicious, minty-themed candies, but finally, she sees the butterscotch recipe. Finally! This is sure to bring the bakery out of debt... it just has to.
Karalee Dahl spent the whole night creating a second-rate version of her Grandmother's butterscotch hard candies. One after another, each butterscotch candy piece is discarded - simply thrown away since it tastes only close to how Grandma made her butterscotch. Finally, after hours and hours of attempting the perfect butterscotch, following the recipe more specifically than any recipe before, Karalee finally makes the perfect batch.
Just as she is able to rest her feet for a while, Karalee remembers that she has more pies to make - having the ingredients in her home from work, she figures she'd best get that out of the way before work, which is literally in only two hours. The pies should still be hot by the time they get to the bakery.
In her grogginess and through her lack of sleep, she masterfully creates four Dutch apple pies to take into work. On the counter, large chunks of delicious, yet failed butterscotch candies appear broken and chipped, as if broken into rock-candy like bits. Karalee notices that some of the butterscotch had made its way into the apple pie mixture bowl. Thinking nothing of it, Karalee plops the mess into the sink, prepares her outfit for work and hauls her creations into her car. As she drives, the apple pies smell sweeter than usual. Huh... maybe it's just because they're sitting next to the butterscotch. They do smell pretty good together. Man, I'm exhausted... gonna get some coffee...
_ _
Dusty pours hot water into the reservoir behind the coffee pot in the back room, filling the coffee machine to the max amount of water. Soon, the smell of brewing coffee and fresh baked goods fill the entire bakery. Just in time for the coffee, Karalee stumbles into the bakery, tired and yawning, making her way to the front counter and unloading her arms.
"Mornin' Kara... Jeeze, you look beat," Dusty snickers.
"I am... was up all night making candy and almost forgot about these pies..." Karalee stops to yawn, "but...agh... here they are."
"Candy? What're you making candy for?"
"That guy from yesterday - remember? He wanted some hard candy for his kid," Karalee says, rubbing her right eye, "so I figured... if they come here looking for candy... and we have amazing homemade candy, we're bound to gain more customers!"
"That does sound pretty good... can I try one?" Dusty asks, "Just one - if not, it's fine."
"No, no - try one! It'll be nice to have a second opinion. You do that, and I'm gonna get some coffee before I die of... egh, standing here." Karalee walks away, leaving Dusty to the butterscotch hard candies.
Dusty picks up a candy in his hands - a small, oval-shaped circle with a small dip in the center. It looks like the kind you'd buy in any grocery store. Popping the piece in his mouth, his tongue tingles with excitement. The rich, pure butterscotch flavor was to die for. In his mouth, a beautiful blend of brown sugar and an almost toffee flavor dance harmoniously over his tongue. Dusty closes his eyes and savors the strong, sweet, caramelized-sugar flavor and lets a smile creep across his ebony face.
"Mmm, my God..." Dusty smiles, "Kara, these are amazing! Your Gram would be proud of you. One more and I'm done, I swear!" Dusty says, popping another into his mouth, "If these don't drag customers in by their toes, I dunno what will!"
The day drags on as usual, however one chime of the bell above the door sounds - when it does, Karalee's view of the entire day becomes repainted and renewed. A blonde woman, rather plump, but not overweight, walks into the bakery with a smile on her face. Her lips are bright red and her eyes are a striking shade of green. Walking to the counter, the woman places her hands on her hips, covered by a strong blue denim jean, and looks over the pastries. Finally, she looks to the sign.
"Is this here deal still goin' on?" the woman asks in a southern accent, "the dozen n' three thing?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" Karalee smiles, "Are you interested in partaking in that deal today?"
"Hmm, I dunno - how much is a dozen?"
"Twenty two, ninety, Ma'am."
The woman raises her eyebrows in a bit of surprise, "My, that seems a might expensive..."
"Well," Karalee smiles, blushing a bit, "Our pastries and candies are made with utmost care and precision. Plus, as the name of the bakery suggests, these are indeed my very own grandmother's recipes. Lots of sentiment in every bite, Ma'am."
"Well, isn't that just plum sweet! I can see how they'd be worth the price... though perhaps I'll just have one of those pies today - they smell awful sweet," the woman says, bending slightly and pointing through the window at one of Karalee's pies she brought this morning, "That one looks mighty nice!"
"Freshly baked this morning! I'll have it boxed up for you - would you like a sample before purchasing?"
"People still do that? Goodness - sure, why not?"
Karalee ducks behind the counter and grabs a small sliver of a slice she'd made out of one of the four pies she'd baked. Using a pie spatula, she places the sliver onto a small paper plate along with a plastic fork. Handing it across the counter, Karalee smiles and awaits a verdict.
The woman takes a rather large bite and analyzes the flavors in her mouth. It catches Karalee off guard when she notices the woman's eyes brightening, yet her face seemed confused.
"There's something hard in here..." she says.
"Oh my... r-really?" Karalee quietly shudders.
"Oh...Oh my, that's good!" the woman spoke quickly, almost from excitement, "This is the most creative thing I've ever tasted - it's so sweet, and soft..." she takes another bite, "Oh, and the candy inside is just delightful!"
Candy? When did I put candy in my... oh no... that's why I saw butterscotch in the mixing bowl! I must have baked some of the candy into the pie mixture! Crap!
"Darlin' this is just too amazing! I'll take two of these delicious pies!" the woman squealed with happiness, "My husband is going to absolutely love this!"
"Oh... th-thank you! Yes! Of course! I'll just grab some carry boxes... and... I'll be right back!" Karalee says, containing herself as she walks into the back room, seeing Dusty baking more apple pies according to Grandma's recipe. Karalee rushes to him quickly and grabs some oven mitts, taking the half-baked pies out of the ovens and setting them aside on the carrier trolleys to the right.
"What're you doing?! They aren't even done!" Dusty panics, "What's going on?!"
"New order - new pies - new change of plans...pies. New change of pies!" Karalee panics, grabbing a handful of butterscotch hard candies, tossing them into the bowl of Dutch apple mixture and stirring rapidly, "Use this instead. That woman out there?" Karalee pants from excitement, "she ate... she ate my recipe!"
"You mean your Gram's recipe..." Dusty corrects.
"No... no, see... these, separate? Separate, they're my Grandmother's recipes... I accidentally mixed the butterscotch into the apple pie mix... and baked it." Karalee explains, plopping mixture into two pie crusts, covering them with the top crusts and popping them into the baking oven. "She... loved it!"
"She loved it? And you're making two?" Dusty asks.
"She loved it! She's ordering two! Here..." Karalee smiles, "take some of these pies home, and uh... the rest I can donate to the homeless shelter down the street. We have a whole new product! 'Butterscotch Apple Pie' is going to be a huge, huge hit! Make more of these, please - I have a feeling we'll need a _lot_today."
Karalee comes back out to the front of the bakery with one box - she opens the display counter and carefully places the hot Butterscotch candy filled pie into the box. Closing it, she hands the box over the counter to the blonde woman.
"I'm sorry, "Ma'am - it'll be about a five-minute wait - we seemed to be low on these pies, but you'll have a fresh Butterscotch apple pie in no time," Karalee explains.
"That's fine, Honey - a pie like this takes time, right? I gotta make a call anyway," she replies, stepping outside, leaving her first pie on the counter.
Karalee smiles and sighs in relief as she hears the woman's conversation through the glass of the door. From what she can hear, the review of the pie and the overall bakery are very good! She looks in the back a bit to see if Dusty's pies are coming along as planned, and they seem to be.
The woman's conversation gets a tad louder as she grows more enthusiastic, "I'm telling you, Hank, these pies are delicious! Yes... yeah, I know, candy inside a pie is a little weird, but you gotta come down and try a sample! Ah huh... yeah, sure! Bring your mother if you like, she should try this!"
In only minutes, Dusty emerges from the back room, carrying two freshly baked Butterscotch apple pies and setting them down on the counter for Karalee to place into the display section. She places one in the display spot and the other in a box for the woman outside, who is now coming back inside, this time with two people with her - a man and an older woman. Immediately, the man and elderly woman rush to the counter and look at the baked goods on display.
"Your second pie is ready, Ma'am - can I help whoever is next?" Karalee smiles.
"Oh, we're with her," the elderly woman says, pointing to the blonde, southern woman, "we were told about the great pie here and since my son here used to be a food critic back in Tennessee... we thought we'd give it a shot. Luckily we only live a block away!"
"Well, thank goodness for that, Ma'am!" Karalee chimed in glee, "What can I get for you?"
"I'd actually like a sample of that pie!" the elderly woman says.
"Same here - my wife says it's the best pie she's ever tasted!" the man says, leaning in for a closer look at the other pastries, "And you know... those doughnuts look pretty good."
Before long, Karalee had made a total of five sales with those three customers alone. With an overwhelming excitement, she skips to the back room and slings her arms around Dusty and giggles. The flour on his apron sticks to hers as he catches her, laughing.
"What's up with you?!" Dusty laughs.
"We're doing it! We're gonna make it!" Karalee laughs, hugging Dusty tightly as they laugh in celebration.
After only a few weeks of selling her delicious butterscotch apple pies, her funds for the previous rent and the current rent skyrocketed. Karalee was able to pay off everything she needed to, and it was all thanks to her new, delicious, hard candy and pie combination. Who knew that one day, hard candy could end up in a pie? Karalee's invention, combining both her Grandmother's candy recipe and Dutch apple pie recipe created something so sweet, so savory, and so tasty, that one slice of pie would be all anyone would need.
Trying a piece for herself, Karalee could see why it tasted so good. The warmth of the pie melted in her mouth as large bits of butterscotch candies slowly emerge from the river of creamy Dutch apple filling. So this is what it's like to really feel proud of something. Man... if only Grandma and Grandpa were here to taste this beauty of a pie! I just know they'd be proud. Especially Grandma. I know she'd be proud.
Closing up shop for the night, Karalee can rest easy knowing that her shop is saved. Her grandmother will sleep peacefully in her grave knowing, just knowing that her granddaughter is a large success, carrying on the family business. Not only did she save enough money for rent, but she's also saved up enough for her wedding to Dusty.
Four years running, Grandma's Recipe had earned many high reviews. Butterscotch apple pie had been featured in many high-end restaurants and other bakeries, but the most exciting news of all was not with the pies.
The best news of all, was that only five years after that... Dusty Junior made his first piece of candy out of chocolate and butterscotch mix. Like his mother's, his accidents in the kitchen turned into big hits - mostly with the children in his class.
The family made a pretty good living off Grandma's Recipe, turning it into an eat-in bakery as well as starting a delivery service for cakes as well as the ever famous butterscotch candies. Butterscotch apple pie was certainly not out of the question - together or separate, the butterscotch was a huge success. Karalee, Dusty, and their son lived, well, happily ever after of course - bringing smiles to the world, one piece of pie - and candy - at a time.