Right Off The Table – August 7th, 1949

Some of the Teenie Weenies thought it was on account of the hot weather, others believed it was due to the change of the moon but they all agreed that fishing was terribly bad. The little folks hadn't caught a minnow for more than three weeks. The Dunce and Gogo had fished and fished without even a bite and the village was downright hungry for fish, but one morning luck changed. Gogo and the Dunce caught a fine minnow and soon afterwards a big crawfish.

There was a lot of excitement and shouting when the men brought the catch to the village. The meat was taken from the claws of the crawfish and the minnow was placed on the kitchen table.

"Will we bake it?" asked the. Cook, who usually left the cooking of fish to Gogo.

"Lawsy, yes!" exclaimed Gogo. "Baking is the only way to cook that beautiful fish. We'll stuff it with bread crumbs, well seasoned with onion and parsley and moistened with plenty of hickory nut oil."

"Will you make a sauce?" asked the Cook.

"Indeed we will!" grinned Gogo. "We'll beat up a sauce, using the meat from that crawfish's claws that will make the fish proud to be et."

Gogo went down into the cellar for a piece of onion while the Cook brought out his cleaver and his biggest knife. The Cook had just gone to the kitchen sink to wash his hands when he heard a noise. He turned and saw a big yellow eye peering through the doorway and then suddenly a great paw shot into the kitchen towards the fish. The Cook yelled and tried to grab the fish but the great claws fastened into it and whisked it through the doorway.

Gogo and the Cook ran outside and saw Tompkins, Grandma Pettigob's cat, walk off with the fish in his mouth. The two Teenie Weenies ran after the cat and pleaded for their fish, but Tompkins paid no attention to them and wiggled out of sight through the thick brush that grows around the Teenie Weenie' village.

The little folks were all mighty gloomy over the loss of the fish, and that night they ate creamed crawfish on corn bread and the talk around the Teenie Weenie table was mostly anti-cat.

Feast In A Bird's Nest – August 14th, 1949

It was a quiet afternoon in the Teenie Weenie village. Beams of sunshine streamed through the rose bushes overhead and fell in golden green splashes on the moss covered ground. Only the hum of bees broke the quiet, and even the Dunce, who is hardly ever quiet, lay in silence on a shady spot of moss.

"What's the matter with you?" asked the Sailor who had been wondering at the Dunce's silence.

"I-I-I was just thinkin' about that big ripe strawberry over in grandma Pettigob's garden."

"Jinks!" exclaimed the Sailor, "I've been thinkin' about that berry, too."

"Now don't you fellows get to talkin' about that strawberry or the first we know you'll be gettin' us into a peck of trouble," said Gogo. "The General is powerful set against us takin' things that don't belong to us."

"It would be all right to take that strawberry," said the Dunce, "Didn't grandma Pettigob's cat take our fish?"

The Sailor nodded his head in agreement and the Dunce went on. "We can take that strawberry in payment for the fish."

The Sailor agreed with the Dunce but it took a great deal of talk to win Gogo's consent to take part in the scheme. His mouth fairly watered over the thought of a nice big slice of strawberry and finally he agreed to take part in the raid on Grandma's strawberry patch.

Taking the Cook's biggest knife out of the kitchen the three Teenie Weenies went to the garden and cut the berry off the plant. The Sailor boosted the berry onto his shoulder and the three Teenie Weenies set off to find a quiet place to eat it. Finally, they decided on climbing up into a deserted bird's nest that hung in a bush nearby. They pulled the strawberry up to the nest with a string and Gogo cut big slices out of the berry as fast as they were eaten.

The little chaps ate until their tiny tummies were as plump as pea pods and of course they couldn't eat a bite of supper that night which caused the General to question them. They admitted taking the strawberry and for punishment the General ordered the Cook not to give the three guilty Teenie Weenies any desert for a week.

Just In Time – September 4th, 1949

The Teenie Weenie Cook carefully greased a metal bottle cap with a bit of hickory nut oil and then spread in the dough he had rolled out. "The men will be hungry when they come in to night," he said, "It's hard work curing frog hams and they always eat like weasels when they work hard."

"Yes, they'll be hungry and nothing would please them better than a meat pie," said the Lady of Fashion who was cutting frog meat into small pieces at the kitchen table.

When the meat was ready the Cook spread it on the dough he had laid in the pan, sprinkled a little seasoning on and then covered it with a top crust. He put the pan into the stove oven and set about cleaning up the table while the pie baked. Odor of the baking pie drifted out through the kitchen window and spread through the tangle of bushes that surrounded the Teenie Weenie village. Presently it drifted towards Ginky who had been taking a nap under an old log. The mouse lifted his head and took a deep sniff. "Smells like meat pie," he muttered and he set off cautiously towards the Teenie Weenie kitchen.

Moving quietly around the corner of the kitchen he peered through the open window just as the Cook removed the pie from the oven and set it on the kitchen sink. "When it cools a bit I'll grab it," the mouse said to himself. The Cook and the Lady of Fashion were still working about the kitchen, but keeping out of sight the mouse patiently waited. Soon the Cook went out the back door with a cherry seed full of garbage. He had just lifted the cover off the garbage thimble when Ginky leaped into view. He was screeching at the top of his voice and he was trying to free his tail which was held in the beak of Tom the Teaser, the big blue jay, who is a friend of the Teenie Weenies. After several mad leaps Ginky finally pulled his tail free and he disappeared with such speed he nearly knocked down the Turk who came hobbling along at that moment on his crutches.

Teasing Tom had seen the mouse reaching through the kitchen window and at the moment Ginky reached for the pie Tom grabbed the mouse's tail just in time to save the Teenie Weenies' dinner.

Worse than an Elephant – October 2nd, 1949

Wild grape jelly is a favorite spread among the Teenie Weenies especially when it is highly spiced and served with roast frog ham. The Lady of Fashion and Tess, another Teenie Weenie woman, usually make the jelly for no one can make such delicious spiced, wild grape jelly as these two little women. The jelly is usually put in cherry seed containers and sealed with a coating of wax over the top. The women are very particular in making the jelly and they like to have the kitchen all to themselves while the work is going on.

The grapes had been gathered for several days and then one morning when all the Teenie Weenie men had gone off in the Teenie Weenie cart to cut fire wood the women decided to make jelly. They brought out the Cook's biggest kettle and set to work cooking down the grapes. As fast as the grapes were cooked the proper length of time the syrup was poured into the cherry seed containers and set on the kitchen table to cool a bit before the wax was put over the jelly.

"I don't believe we ever made a better batch of jelly," said the Lady of Fashion while the two little women waited for the second kettle to cook.

Tess looked over the even rows of cherry seeds sitting on the table and nodded her bead in agreement. "Yes," she said, "it's spiced just right and it is –" She never finished the sentence for the Lady of Fashion screamed and pointed towards the door. Tess turned and saw a huge grasshopper leap into the kitchen. She tried to shoo it out but the stupid bug hopped onto the hot stove. In leaping off the stove it upset the kettle of jelly and then it began wildly dashing around the tiny kitchen knocking most of the jelly seeds off the table. Tess grabbed a broom and finally ran the big bug out of the place but not before a great deal of damage had been done.

Except for a few cherry seeds which somehow escaped damage the first batch of jelly was completely ruined. Jelly was smeared over most of the kitchen and it took the two women a long time to clean it up.

"Goodness me!" exclaimed Tess when the mess had been cleaned up. "You'd have thought an elephant had been wallowing around in this kitchen."