“Do you think it’s a case of Too many cooks spoil the broth?” Hannah asked him, repeating one of her great-grandmother Elsa’s favorite sayings.
“It could be,” Michelle said quickly. “You know how men are with tools and Mike just picked up the wrench that came in the tool pouch.”
“The box says, SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED,” Lonnie pointed out, “and Norman just dumped out some vacuum parts on the rug.”
“Then I’m right,” Hannah admitted. “Ross just picked up a wheel and now Norman is paging through the instruction book. I’d better keep an eye on them to make sure we don’t have a replay of Dad, Uncle Ed, and the ten-speed bicycle.”
“What did they do?” Lonnie asked Michelle.
“I don’t know. I was probably too young to remember. Ask Hannah.”
Hannah chuckled a bit at the memory. “Andrea wanted a ten-speed bike for her birthday and Mother and Dad decided to get it for her. Dad owned the hardware store at the time, so he ordered the bike through one of his vendors. Unfortunately, he didn’t order it assembled.”
“Uh-oh!” Lonnie shook his head. “I did that once and tried to put it together myself.”
“What happened?” Michelle asked him.
“I ended up paying the guy at the bike shop fifty bucks to take it apart and put it together the right way for me. And I could have ordered it assembled for only twenty-five dollars more.”
Michelle laughed. “So you paid an extra twenty-five because you tried to save money?”
“That’s right.” Lonnie turned to Hannah. “Did the same thing happen with your dad and your uncle, Hannah?”
“In a way, but it was much worse. Michelle and Andrea were upstairs sleeping and Mother and I went into the den to watch television while the men worked on the bike.”
“And they couldn’t assemble it?” Michelle guessed.
“Oh, they could. And they did. It took them hours and several pots of coffee, but when they called Mother and me in to see it, it looked beautiful. It was pink and it had something in the paint that made it glitter. It was exactly what Andrea had wished for.”
Michelle looked puzzled. “Then it worked out all right?”
“Not exactly. It was perfect until Andrea tried to ride it. That was when she discovered that she couldn’t change gears while the bike was moving.”
“But . . . that’s when you want to change gears,” Lonnie pointed out.
“I know. Dad returned the bike to the vendor and asked for a replacement.”
“Assembled?” Michelle asked, beginning to grin.
“Oh, yes. This time it was assembled. And it wasn’t until years later that Mother showed me the parts that she took out of the garbage the next morning, the parts that Dad and Uncle Ed had decided weren’t necessary to install.”
“But didn’t Mother ever say anything to Dad about it?” Michelle asked.
“No, never. She only showed the parts to me after Dad died. She said she didn’t want to embarrass him.”
“She must have loved him a lot,” Lonnie said.
Michelle nodded. “You’re right. It had to be love. We all know Mother, and it must have just about killed her to keep quiet about it for all those years.”
After Lonnie and Michelle had gone into the kitchen, Hannah turned to watch the three men again. The wheels were on the RoboVac, but they were still working on something else that connected to the bottom of the machine.
As she watched them work, Hannah began to smile. It was good to see Norman, Mike, and Ross get along so well together. Everything was working out perfectly between her three favorite men.
SLOW COOKER CHICKEN STROGANOFF AND NOODLES
(This recipe is for a 5-quart slow cooker.)
1 medium onion, diced (I used a Maui sweet onion)
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken half-breasts (9 or 10 pieces)
1 can (8 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, drained ? teaspoon garlic salt ? teaspoon onion salt ? teaspoon regular salt ? teaspoon ground black pepper (it’s always better if you grind it yourself)
1 can (10 and ? ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup (undiluted—I used Campbell’s)
1 can (10 and ? ounces) condensed cream of celery soup (undiluted—I used Campbell’s)
1 packet (1 ounce) dry Ranch Dressing mix (I used Hidden Valley Original Dressing Mix)
8-ounce package cream cheese, cut into cubes (not whipped cream cheese—I used Philadelphia brick cream cheese in the silver package)
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream (to add right before serving)
Hot cooked and buttered noodles of your choice (cook right before serving)
Spray the inside of the slow cooker with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. (This will prevent sticking and make it easier to wash the crockpot later.)
Place the diced onion in the bottom of the crockpot.
Arrange the chicken on top of the diced onion.
Plug in the crock pot, turn it on LOW heat and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours.
When the chicken is fork tender, turn off the crockpot, put on potholders, and lift the crock out of the crockpot. Set it on a cold burner on the stovetop.
Take the top off the crockpot and let the chicken cool for a few minutes.
Remove the chicken breasts, one by one, and place them on a platter.
Set a large strainer in a bowl and, again using potholders, pour the liquid and onions into the strainer.
Reserve the liquid for later use and return the onions caught by the strainer to the crock.
Cut the chicken on the platter into bite-size pieces.
Open the can of mushroom stems and pieces, drain off the liquid and add it to the onions in the crockpot.
Return the pieces of chicken to the crockpot.
Sprinkle the chicken with the garlic salt, onion salt, regular salt, and black pepper. (You’ll taste this later to see if you have to further adjust the seasonings.)
Open the can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. Use a rubber spatula to remove the soup from the can and add it to the crockpot.
Open the can of condensed cream of celery soup. Again, use the spatula to add it to the crockpot.
Sprinkle the packet of dry Ranch Dressing mix over the top.
Add the cubes of cream cheese.