I watched wistfully as the last brownie was tucked \u27carefully into the overladen basket. I gave a longing look as I saw the basket disappear through the gate under Mother\u27s arm. There I was, stomach feeling as if my throat had been cut.
Under the impulse of the moment, I decided to see just what could be done to alleviate the situation

Green, Jack

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Air Drop In Burmar·ITHEODORE R. CoxUp and down over the mountain trailscame the soldiers, shuffling along as thoughthey were ready to drop. Yes, they werealmost at the collapsing point, and theirtired and dirty appearance showed thattheir march with full field pack and battleequipment had been anything but plea-sant. On and on, day after day, this mustgo, for ahead of them lay the enemy. Theonly way to get them out was to go overthe mountains, and to do this made one'sbody cry out with agony.Having pulled into a bivouac area andsetting out the proper security, the packswere dropped; everyone started watchingthe sky. The shout went up that the air-planes were sighted, and in a few minutesthe giant Army transports were circlingover this group of weary men. At oncethese men were transformed into anenthusiastic group of workers, for theseplanes carried the much needed food andeqUipment and also the mail from home.After flying low over the field severaltimes, the "biscuit bombers" were readyror action. Coming in like a bomber, largebundles would be kicked out of the door..II',I'of the transports. Upon hitting the air,large parachutes would appear and driftthe bundles slowly to the ground. Sway-ing slowly back and forth, these largeparachutes of red, green, gold, blue, andwhite made one think of gumdrops whichwere impossible to get in this forsakencountry. Plane after plane came overdischarging its cargo. As the last planewas disappearing over the horizon, the. men rushing on to the fields to carry inthe "drop."At last the task was over and the foodand mail had been distributed, and themen were settling down to read their mail,for this was the most important item inthe "drop." Food could be eaten afterdark, but mail could not be read then, forno lights were allowed.As the evening wore on, the shadowsbegan to deepen; and one could see somemen fixing themselves a sleeping place,while others went slipping off through thedarkness to guard. Yes, it would riot belong until morning would arrive, and thetrudging over the mountain trails wouldcontinue once again.Experiment K-353I jauntily sauntered into the kitchen'One Saturday afternoon to investigate thesQurce of the occasional noises beingemitted.Upon entering the room my nostrilswere met with the delightfully pungent, ,JACK GREENaroma of freshly-baked pastries. Mothersmiled knowingly as she saw that hungrylook in my eyes and shook her head. No,I couldn't have any cookies or doughnuts.They were to be given to Mr. Fischer, whohad been ill for some time._,23-I watched wistfully as the last browniewas tucked 'carefully into the overladenbasket. I gave a longing look as I saw thebasket disappear through the gate underMother's arm. There I was, stomach feel-ing as if my throat had been cut.Under the impulse of the moment, Idecided to see just what could be done toalleviate the situation.Opening the cook book, I discoveredthat it was filled with appetite sharpeningillustrations of cakes, cookies, and pies.On page one it s~id very plainly that ifinstructions were followed carefully thatsuccess was assured. Well, this was cer-tainly going to be different from what Ihad previously expected. There I hadpictured a definite need for what wasvaguely termed in my mind 'culinary arts'when all I had to do was follow simpledirections.After musing thoughtfully through thebook, I selected Russian tea cakes as thebasis for' my initial attempt at baking.Thoroughness being one of my specialtraits, I donned a white apron, Mother'sdust-cap; and I washed my hands. I wentto the cabinet and sorted the ingredientsthere into two groups, those essential forthe completion of my experiment, andthose non-essential."Mix eggs, sugar and cream withenough flour to roll," quoth the book. ThisI did in short order. The next sentencebegan with "Toss on board" ... Splat. SoI scraped the goo together and went onwith the next part of the operation. Irolled' it out to precisely one quarter inchof thickness, applied the required amountof butter, rolled the stuff up and startedto place the mixture into the refrigeratorto harden. Just then I remembered thatyeast was essential to baking, so I putthree little cakes of it into my futUreRussian tea cakes. I placed the batter intothe refrigerator and withdrew it after thehardening had taken place. Next, I un-rolled it, cut it into long narrow strips,layed them on a well greased pan in theoven, and sat back to let nature take itscourse...This course, according to my calcula_tions, should have been that I would with_draw in fifteen minutes six beautifullbrowned, dainty Russian tea cakes M Y. ore-incorrect. ceived.calculations were never con_At the end of eight minutes instead ofthe delightfully pungent aroma I hadeagerly anticipated, I caught a sce t so. n moreresembling beer. White stuff bega .n OOZlngthrough the cracks around the oven doorat the end of twelve minutes I, . Was spuzzled over the odor and the' 0. OOZlUg th tmy ears failed to perceive Moth aer openinthe door. My eyes however g, , revealed thcomplete state of shock distorting her eas she uttered a soft moan and h facerus edto turn off the oven. oVerMother and I didn't spe k .a for foUl'days. My first impression of hakin'lasting one. g is a-24-

Experiment K-353

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Experiment K-353

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