In a small forest lived the garden gnomes, Arnold and Sarah. It was their wedding day and their friends and relatives were all invited to celebrate the new marriage. Gnomes are simple creatures and consequently take great joy in the simple things in life. Friends brought simple little gifts. Baskets made from branches of small trees. Some brought beverages made from birch bark. Other people brought a selection of wild nuts and berries. For the special occasion, Sarah decided to make for her very first time, a special vanilla flavored apple pie from a recipe handed down from generation to generation in her family.



Everyone in the village attended the wedding and celebration. Arnold and Sarah's parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and friends were all joyful of the event and ready for a great evening of food and dance. Gnomes live over 400 years, so it is not uncommon to have living great-grandparents and beyond. Arnold proudly showed everyone the kitchen cabinets he made for Sarah as his wedding gift to her. All the gnomes were in awe of his workmanship and they happily sat down for a delicious dinner with trout, wild leeks and corn.

After dinner was over the gnomes cried out in unison, ?Where is dessert?? Sarah jumped up to serve her special apple pie. She looked at all the faces around the table. Everyone's eyes were centered on her pie and each had their fork ready to devour her special treat. Proudly and excited with anticipation, Sarah sliced open the pie. However, much to her horror as she lifted out the first piece, she and everyone else noticed that the pie's filling was a little soupy. The pie plate quickly filled with the liquid. She was so upset that she cried out, ?It's not solid!? and continued to repeat this phrase throughout the night. Of course, the other gnomes didn't care. They ate up the pie so fast, not a crumb was left. And of course, they couldn't resist poking fun at Sarah and repeated, ?It's not solid? all night long. Sarah was not amused and continued to get upset that her pie had never reached the level of perfection she had hoped for.

In the days following her wedding, her friends continued to yell out to her, ?It's not solid!? Sarah was usually a happy gnome and not many things bothered her. The ?It's not solid? incident continued to upset her more and more. Sarah just couldn't get over the fact that something she had made was imperfect. This is a trait unlike the usual behavior of gnomes who are generally easy going creatures.

She went to her mother to ask her for help. Her mother directed her to go to grandma, who directed her to go to her great-grandma. Great-grandma asked her about the ingredients she used and how she made the pie. Afterwards, she asked her if she had used TLC (tender loving care). She explained that when you create something, it sometimes requires this secret ingredient to make everything just right.

Sarah was so excited that she ran home and baked her special apple pie with the secret TLC ingredient. After dinner she served it to her husband and was thrilled to find out that her new effort had resulted in a delicious ?solid? pie. Arnold and Sarah danced around their kitchen celebrating Sarah's success. From that day on, Sarah never forgot to use tender loving care in her pies, her cooking, or in loving her husband.