Cooking Show

Pumble was busy humming away in the kitchen, stirring yellow liquid into a bowl very intensely.

"What are you doing?" Hairy asked, standing on his toes in an attempt to peek over the edge.

"Get down!" Pumble hissed. "We're shooting right now!"

"Shooting what?" Hairy asked, looking around. There wasn't a camera in sight. "What are you making?"

Pumble huffed and set the bowl down hard on the counter. "I'm making banana nut bread for my new cooking TV show!" he growled. "Do you mind? We're filming right now!"

"There's no one here," Hairy whispered, motioning to the empty counter.

"It's an invisible camera," Pumble snapped.

"Right," Hairy rolled his eyes. He settled onto a kitchen chair, watching as Pumble beamed for the cameras.

"After adding the wet and dry ingredients together, pour in a half-cup of pecans," Pumble instructed the wall. "Then stir until mixed thoroughly, but not too much. You want the batter to be bumpy."

Cookies walked in and eyed Pumble. "What is he doing?" he asked, raising his eyebrow tiredly. "He just ate thirty minutes ago! He can't be hungry again!"

"This is a closed set!" Pumble hissed through gritted teeth. "Hairy, please remove him from the premises!"

"It's the kitchen," Cookies said dryly. "What the devil are you doing?"

"He's making banana nut bread for his cooking show," Hairy answered, gesturing to the yellow bowl on the counter.

"There's no cameras here," Cookies observed.

"It's invisible!" Pumble cried. He turned back to his audience and beamed. "Now pour into a bread pan, gently scraping the sides of the bowl to get all the batter in. There you go! Now bake for 60 minutes at 350 degrees." Pumble expertly poured the batter into the pan and dropped the dirty spatula into the bowl. Humming to himself, he opened the oven and placed the pan in.

The seals hopped in and cocked their heads. They looked up at Hairy and barked their question.

"He's filming a cooking show about banana nut bread," Hairy answered in a patient voice.The seals looked at the wall, looked at Hairy and looked at the wall again. They cocked their heads.

"There's no camera," Cookies informed them.

"It's invisible!" Pumble snapped. He turned back to the wall and beamed at his imaginary audience. "While the banana nut bread is baking, we'll start mixing the ingrediants for pumpkin bread. This is a very simple dish that makes three small loaves of bread. You'll need..."While he rattled off ingredients, Cookies turned to Hairy.

"Are you just going to sit here and watch him babble to the wall and make bread all day?"

Hairy shrugged. "I don't see any reason not to. It's cold outside and it's nice to take a break from the Land of the Flowered Bed."

The seals chattered in agreement and asked for some tuna and juice. While Hairy got them their lunch, Cookies huffed and hopped up. He scurried over to the pantry.

"I suppose I should make some tea," he told Hairy in his typical snotty tone. "While we wait for the bread, of course."

"Of course," Hairy said, hiding his smile.

As they climbed up to the kitchen table, Pumble beamed and spread his hands over his ingredients. "First, let's add the flour and sugar," he told the wall, pulling out his measuring cups. Behind him, the other animals were having a quiet lunch as they snacked on tuna, crackers and tea. Pumble glanced behind him and smiled.

"You see that," he whispered to the invisible camera. "I've got a studio audience already! Now, let's make something to feed them!"

** Pumpkin bread recipe and photos coming soon, courtesy of Pumble.