Pineapple on Canvas: The Odd Adventures of a Toy in the City

The one where Papple Makes the Special Brownies

Coming from a long line of bakers and chefs, Papple had been programmed with some pretty impressive skills in the food department. More importantly, Papple had the recipe from his grandfather, Pappy von Pineapple, who was a famous baker in Pineappleland. And he, humble and normally clumsy little Pineapple, could make a killer version of the infamous "win-you-over" brownies that no one could resist. One bite of the gooey chocolate deliciousness and all troubles melted away!

Sweating profusely, getting his sticky, pineapple sweat all over Maple's fur, Papple managed to stammer-yell, "I BAKE YOU SOMETHING!" as he pointed at the oven.

The noise from Papple, which was accidentally directed straight into Maple's ear almost made the large bear lose his balance and topple over. Unbeknownst to Pineapple, it also managed to get Kitty's attention. Never having eaten anything homemade in her life, she was curious as to what that might taste like--of the many qualities her Ella had, cooking and baking were not amongst them.

All the kids, but Kitty, were now crowded around Papple in awe and anticipation.

"You can cook?" asked Sweet Lou. "Like food stuff?"

Papple blushed and nodded vigorously.

"Will you have the ingredients you need?" S.K. added. "Ella usually only has sparkling and bottled water in the fridge."

"Yeah," agreed Sir'Duke. "And milk too, but it's usually overdue."

"But we can always order stuff too now," Sweet Lou chimed in, anxious not to let this once in a lifetime opportunity bypass them in case Papple didn't have what he needed. "Maple uses Ella's email to send down an order to the concierge and it usually comes in less than thirty minutes."

Calmer now, Papple smiled and said, "I check first." Standing on Maple's shoulders, Papple rifled through the cabinets and fridge and was delighted to discover that Ella did in fact have the few items he needed--flour, sugar, some questionably fresh eggs, chocolates (La Maison du Chocolat none the less--courtesy of Maher) and non overdue whole milk. What he didn't tell the rest of the toys was that he already had the secret ingredient that made the brownies so special.

Maple, the natural leader of the group, huddled everyone around Papple while he looked for instructions on how to operate the oven.

Kitty pretended she was ambivalent about the activities but eventually succumbed to her curiosity, after the necessary amount of pleadings from Maple, and joined at the fringe of the group surrounding Papple.

Kitty stood as far back as she could, until Papple, dressed in a little white baker's hat that he had fashioned out of toilet paper to keep his leaves clean and out of the way, walked over, grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the mixing bowl.

After several minutes, all the kids were having fun cracking eggs, mixing and kneading dough. Zoe, a large light pink platypus, smaller only than Maple, whose fur had now faded to almost white from age, went around cleaning as the others baked. Zoe was the toy that had been with Ella longest, and also acted as mother hen of the group.

For the last step, Papple pulled out the secret ingredient from the little pouch around his neck that he and Marlon had grown together. Marlon was really into cooking and had a fully stocked kitchen that he was always delighted to allow Papple to avail himself of. As a result of their intense passion for the "perfect" seasoning, they had also started growing various exotic herbs that were close to impossible to find at the stores.

The pouch was full of a powdered green seasoning made from a special herb native to Maui. Papple sprinkled a generous portion into the bowl and stirred it into the mixture.

Thirty-five minutes later, the brownies were all ready. Papple cut them into little star and heart shapes and gave each toy a generous portion.

"Wow," Kitty said, after taking a bite of her treat. "This is the best brownie in the world! I could eat a million of these." All the other kids agreed.

Fifteen minutes later, the toys got a hit of what made the brownies so special. It was the magic Hawaiian ingredient that's slow-build flavor got more and more delicious with each bit and was so delicious it could change anyone's mood from mad to happy.

"Everything is so chill now," Sir'Duke said, as he rambled off about the recent NBA draft. In the corner, S.K., Papple and Sweet Lou were beside themselves giggling over re-runs of The Golden Girls. Maple napped on the mini toy-hammock over Ella's bed and Zoe and Kitty flipped through fashion magazines.

At the end of the night, when it was time for everyone to get tucked in, Kitty generously cleared a space near her sleeping area to let Papple lie down. Papple was finally starting to fit in.

Right before she switched off the lights, Ella snapped a picture of the kids together and sent it to Maher, to help alleviate his fears of Papple fitting in. The picture has Papple in the middle with Sir'Duke's arms around his shoulders, a sheepish grin of confusion and pride exploding across the yellow guy's face. Beside him, holding a stubby hand, is Kitty, clearly won over by the sweet little pineapple that could.