rouble in the Castle Kitchen

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

The Baron lived by himself in Lilliland Castle. He was engaged to marry the beautiful Lady Angela of Alpine Castle. Both castles were just a few miles away from each other on the shores of Castle Lake. The Baron liked to entertain guests about once a week at a dinner served in the castle dining room. Lady Angela liked to have lunch with the Baron about three days a week after they horseback riding together. The Baron's schedule was pretty routine and regular.

Although the Baron was a bachelor and lived alone, the castle staff was rather large to look after the running of the castle. There were three chief cooks but also additional kitchen workers and attendants.

The Baron noticed loud voices coming from the kitchen more and more. He inquired as to why there was so much noise and arguing coming from that area. The Baron's valet said that it was because the three chief cooks could not get along with each other. One of the cooks was from France and loved to cook in the French style. The other cooks were from Switzerland and Germany and also loved to cook in their native styles.

Since the Baron ate nearly the same thing every day, he could not understand the reason for the arguing. For breakfast he had fruit juice, a roll, butter and peanut butter and jam with his morning coffee. And that was usually it. For lunch it was soup and a sandwich. For dinner he usually had a small piece of meat or fish, a green vegetable, and potatoes or rice. What is the problem? During state banquets was really the only time that the kitchen needed to be in full service.

The Baron was in a state of turmoil and said to Lady Angela that he wished they would all be quiet and he would make his own peanut butter and jam sandwiches.

When word of the Baron's annoyance reached the cooks and the kitchen staff, they all quieted down a bit because they were concerned that the noise would cause the Baron to look for a new kitchen staff that could perform their jobs in a quiet manner.

The castle kitchen noise stopped almost immediately. Everybody began to talk to each other in a whisper and they even kept the pots and pans from clattering.

The Baron was a very good leader and he liked things to be done in a quiet, efficient and dignified manner. That is why everyone wanted to work at the castle in Lilliland.