"Bye, Mom." Nina hugged her mother.
They had walked together to Kids Central Summer Camp today.
"Bye, sweetie. I'll be back with Aunt Sujong at three o'clock to pick you up," Nina's mom said.
"Yay!" Nina's Aunt Sujong was arriving from Korea today.
She was going to stay at Nina's house for one week.
"I hope we make a craft today.
Then I can give it to Aunt Sujong," Nina thought.
In the gym Mr. Dunn was holding a box of strawberries.
Izzie was trying to guess how many strawberries were in it.
"Twenty-two," Izzie said. "I bet there are twenty-two."
"What do you think, Nina?" Mr. Dunn asked.
Nina looked in the box.
"Are we making food today?" she asked, disappointed.
"We're not making a craft?"
"We're making smoothies!" Jason guessed.
"Nope. But you'll like this too," Mr. Dunn said.
"We're making strawberry jam," Mr. Dunn said.
"Have any of you made jam before?"
"I haven't," Bobby said. "But my mom has."
"Soon you'll know how to help her.
It's easy," said Mr. Dunn.
"First we need to wash these strawberries.
Ethan, will you wash them please?
You could count the berries too," Mr. Dunn said.
"Thirty-two!" Ethan announced as the kids put on their aprons.
Bobby grinned. "You weren't even close, Izzie!"
"Chop, chop, chop."
Nina cut off green top after green top.
"Boring, boring, boring," she said grumpily.
When they were done, Mr. Dunn put the strawberries into five bowls.
He held up some potato mashers.
"Everyone, grab one of these."
"All right!" Ethan cheered. "We're mashing stuff!"
"Ha-ha. This is fun!" Izzie pressed her masher into the berries.
"And messy." Nina pointed to Izzie's arms.
They were covered in strawberry juice.
"Terrific. Those berries look ready to cook," said Mr. Dunn.
"Cook? You cook the berries to make jam?" Nina asked.
"Yes, and the heat helps to melt the sugar," Mr. Dunn explained.
"Now empty your bowls into this pot."
"Then add one and half cups of sugar," Bobby read.
"And two tablespoons of lemon juice," Izzie said.
"Heat on low until the sugar melts," Jason read.
"How will we know when it melts?"
"The sugar is white now, right?
When it melts, we won't be able to see it anymore.
It turns into clear liquid—syrup!" Mr. Dunn explained.
Nina peeked into the pot.
"I can see it melting!"
"Now turn up that stove and let it boil!" Mr. Dunn said.
"Don't forget to stir."
Jason handed Nina a wooden spoon.
"It's a pretty color," Nina said, stirring.
"I think we can pour the jam into the jars now," Mr. Dunn said soon.
"Then we'll let the jars cool and put them in the refrigerator."
A few hours later, Mr. Dunn took the jam jars out of the refrigerator.
"We have some ribbons and cards.
You can decorate your jar and give it to someone sweet," he said.
"Give it to someone?" Nina thought.
Suddenly she smiled.
At the end of the day, Nina ran to greet her mom and aunt.
"Aunt Sujong!" she cried.
"This jam is for you."
"Thanks, Nina," Aunt Sujong said, hugging her.
Then she read Nina's card.
It said: "Something sweet for someone sweet."
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