TUESDAY, JAN. 23, 2007   Page 1

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By Haley Staub, Grade 5, Spring Grove Intermediate School, Spring Grove Area School District

Student shares
her techniques

A Dallastown Area School District student in Alicia Overmiller's fifth-grade class at Leaders Heights Elementary School wrote this "marvelous mixture" story after reading about mixtures and solutions in science class.
--By Erica Johns

My Marvelous Mixture: Rrring, rrring!

"Hello? Hi mom. It's OK if you come home late. What? Now I have to make the fruit salad by myself? Oh, fine ... bye. Ugggh!"

I have an assignment to make fruit salad mixture for the class tomorrow. Since mom is coming home late from work I have to make it by myself. Let's see. Where is that recipe book? It was in the very top cupboard. I jumped onto the counter and pulled it out clumsily.

Boom! "Owww!" It landed on my toe! It was going to be a long night.

First, I looked in the recipe book. Hmmmm, it says that the usual fruit salad that people make has red or green apples in it.

It took me 10 minutes to finally find the apples. I looked in the dishwasher and in the silverware drawer for them until I had enough sense to look in the refrigerator where I found four green and six red apples. I never really had very much experience in the kitchen, just to tell you!

I cut the apples into pieces. I hope the knife I used wasn't dirty!

Next, the book said "bananas." I grabbed two bananas off the counter. One of them was black with a few fruit flies on it. "Who cares?" I thought and I used it anyway! Carefully, I slid the peels off them and cut them.

Now for the grapes. I pulled them out of the icy fridge and plucked them off their stems. I got a little carried away and started to juggle them. My family isn't very coordinated. So, yes, they tumbled to the dusty floor just like little raindrops. "No," I screamed. "I'm just like my dad's side of the family! Clumsy, clumsy, clumsy." I picked them up (forgetting to rinse them off) and put them in the fruit salad bowl.

Finally, I took four oranges and cut them up. "Ahhh ... ahhh ... ahhh chooo!" I hope I didn't sneeze on the oranges.

One part of my assignment is to write the steps of making the fruit salad. Well, first take about five apples (if you're making it for a group of people) and wash and cut them into slices. Put them in a bowl (the apples can be red or green).

Next, get about five bananas and peel them. Don't drop them on the floor and slip on them like I did! Cut the bananas into slices then throw them into the bowl.

After this, get two bunches of grapes (green or purple). Make sure to wash them off! Pluck these grapes off their stems and put them into the bowl.

Then, get ready for the oranges. Start peeling off their bumpy orange skin. After that, cut the oranges into pieces.

Finally, the fun part! Mix, mix, mix, mix, mix. This is so if one person takes a scoop of the salad they don't get all one kind of fruit!

Ahhh! I'm finally done. I really have to brag about my marvelous mixture. First of all, the fruits are very, very refreshing even when I touch them. They are smooth and I can feel the round grapes. The salad is very moist and wet from being cut open. The apple and grape pieces are a lot firmer than most of the fruits. The oranges and bananas are gooey and squishy.

I think that my fruit salad is really colorful! It has an orchard aroma. Mmmmmm! It smells so fresh and sweet!

Last, how it tastes: It is so delicious I can't describe it! When I take a bit of an orange there is a mouth-watering sensation where suddenly my mouth bursts with tasty, fruity juices. Ohhh! This is making me hungry.

Now, I'm not the best cook, but I hope you enjoy my marvelous mixture. Fruit salad is a nutritious and delicious treat for anyone. I even learned a few things while making it -- like don't be clumsy with heavy recipe books, apples usually aren't found in drawers or dishwashers, and never juggle grapes. Mom will be so proud of me!

Oops! I think I forgot to wash my hands before I made the salad!

The Junior Dispatch is inviting teachers of York County public and private school students to submit name suggestions for its mascot -- a dog designed by York Dispatch graphic artist Todd Stouch in 1988.

Submissions for the contest, which is open to kindergartners through ninth-graders, are due by Jan. 31. The student who comes up with the winning name, to be determined by a York Dispatch panel, will be awarded a pizza party for his or her class.

Teachers should e-mail their students' name suggestions to juniordispatch@yorkdispatch.com.

For more information, call Barbara Mundis at (717) 505-5423.