Queen Neena and the Royal Recipe
by

Thomas

A story about Cooking
for your 3rd Grader.

Queen Neena tiptoed through the royal library, scanning the tallest shelves. She gasped when she spotted a tattered, gold-trimmed cookbook. Inside, she saw recipes written in faded ink, each name sounding more mysterious than the last.

“This is it!” Queen Neena exclaimed. “I’ve always wanted to cook a feast for my friends. Tonight, I’ll make something delicious and surprising!” She rushed to the grand kitchen, feeling eager and brave.

The cookbook’s fragile pages glowed under the kitchen lamps, showing strange symbols and drawings of bowls, sauces, and spices. A few pages were smudged, as though long-lost cooks had splashed them with soup.

Queen Neena grabbed her apron and set out the ingredients. But something was wrong: half the jars in the pantry were empty, and the other half held odd-smelling powders. She frowned, determined to continue anyway.

“What should I do?” Queen Neena wondered aloud. She remembered a tip her grandmother once shared: “Always stay calm and improvise if you run out of things.” With a smile, she started mixing what she did have—fresh herbs, sweet berries, and a pinch of new spices.

Suddenly, the pudding mixture grew too thick. “Oh no!” cried Queen Neena, stirring faster. Then it flopped into a gooey mess that dripped over the bowl’s edge. She giggled nervously, refusing to give up.

An enormous copper pot began to shake on the old stove. Steam puffed out, making the air smell like spicy garlic. The lid rattled wildly, as though the soup inside tried to escape.

Queen Neena raced to lower the heat, her heart pounding. She calmed the sizzling soup by ladling some out carefully. Her friends offered to help, and she laughed, relieved. “Let’s fix our recipes together!” she said brightly.