Kitchen Claus

It's less than one month until Christmas, and the North Pole is busy! Mrs. Claus is busy, too. She's in her kitchen, baking up treats for all the elves. There's so much to do, that Jiller Elf has volunteered to help her. As Mrs. Claus stands at a giant mixing bowl, Jiller reads off the ingredients.

"Let's see," said Jiller, "You'll need fifty pounds of chocolate chips, thirty pounds of chopped walnuts, 48 eggs, one hundred pounds of flour...and sixteen cups of...mustard?"

Mrs. Claus laughed. "What? I don't use mustard in this recipe! Waldo Elf must have written that on there. He thinks everything tastes better with mustard on it!"

Jiller giggled as she looked at the recipes. "He's changed a lot of your recipes! You've got 'Oatmeal Raisin and Mustard Cookies,' 'Apple Mustard Pie,' 'Strawberry and Mustard Pudding'--

"Oh, I make that one," said Mrs. Claus. "It's his favorite. He's such a sweet little elf, and he's so grateful when I make it for him."

"Have you ever thought about changing what you make for the elves?" Jiller asked. "I mean, besides adding mustard? Have you ever thought about feeding the elves other foods besides cookies, cakes, and candy?"

Mrs. Claus looked thoughtful. "Well, I tried ice cream once, but since it's already so cold up here..."

"No, I mean things like salads, and vegetables," said Jiller. "Maybe a nice casserole. It's not healthy to eat all this sugar all the time! If they ate a more balanced meal they would have more energy and would be happier!"

"Really?" said Mrs. Claus. "I may have to think about this!"

Do you think that elves could be happier eating carrots instead of cake? And would you put mustard on your apple pie? Keep reading The North Pole Times to find out!