Section 14.1 Small Number and the Three Berries
Written by: Veselin Jungic, Bethani L'Heureux, and Betty Willson Illustrated by: Bethani L'HeureuxSmall Number is a young boy who gets into a lot of mischief. One cool winter day, Small Number visited his Grandma.
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Small Number watches Grandma as she mixes the flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Then Grandma adds oil into the mixture and whisks the ingredients together with a fork, gradually adding water and stirring.
“Grandma, how come you didn't measure how much flour, salt, and baking powder you put into the bowl? When I help my mom with cooking, she asks me to measure everything two times so that she is sure that we follow the recipe.” – says Small Number.
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Grandma smiles: “I have my ways. I know how many handfuls of flour and how many pinches of salt I need if I am making bannock for two, five, ten, or fifty people.”
“I learned how to make bannock from my mom's mom,” continues Grandma. “She taught me that for five pieces of bannock, I would need four handfuls of flour.”
“My bannock is not half as good as hers were.”
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“Do you remember the island that we could see from the porch of my sister's house when we stayed with her last summer?”
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“When I was your age, my grandma and grandpa would take me in their canoe to the island to help them collect all kind of berries: thimbleberries, huckleberries, wild strawberries, blackcaps, and blueberries.”
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He went to Grandma and gave her a hug, “Thank you, Grandma.”
“We need to wait a bit until the bannock cools down.”
“So, while we are waiting let's think about a question that my grandma asked me long time ago.”
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Question: How many handfuls of flour did Grandma need to make six pieces of bannock? Also, how could two father bears and two son bears share three berries equally?
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