The Cranberry Connection “What is this book?” Anna mumbled to herself as she helped her mom look through old boxes. They had belonged to her grandparents who died when Anna was a baby.

“I think I found Grandma’s diary,” she told her mother.

Her mother quickly came closer and said, “What a find! I can’t wait to read it. I miss her.” Then seeing Anna’s frown, Mom added, “But you found Grandma’s diary, so you can read it first.”

Nodding happily, Anna read the date on the first entry, August 13, 1953. “How old was Grandma in 1953?” she asked.

Her mom thought for a minute. “She must have been about nine, the same age as you are right now.”

Anna had seen photos of her grandparents, but they looked so old that it was hard to imagine that her grandma was ever nine.

Anna read the first entry:
The county fair is only two weeks away and today I’m going to practice making Mother’s cranberry bread. Last time, the dough was so thick that I couldn’t even knead it! I get mad at myself when my baking turns out wrong, but Mother keeps telling me to have more patience. I’ll use less flour today and hope for the best.

A young girl kneels next to her trunk and a few boxes to write in her diary.

Then Anna realized that her mother made cranberry bread, too, and the recipe for that bread must have been passed down through the generations. Anna suddenly wanted to learn how to make it, and quickly asked, “Mom, could you help me make cranberry bread today?”

She could tell by the long pause that her mom was a little surprised by her request. “I guess we could make some,” she replied, “but you’ll have to do the kneading because my shoulder is sore from all this work.”

“I’ll do it all,” Anna told her. “Just make sure I’m doing it exactly the way you do it.”

Her mom pointed out, “Anna, you don’t have a lot of . . .”

“Patience!” Anna interrupted. “I’m just like Grandma! But I want to learn how to make that bread just like you do it—and like your mother did it, and her mother did it, and . . .”

Laughing, her mom held up her hand. “I get it, but I’m wondering why you’re suddenly so interested in that bread. Maybe I’d better read the diary before we start!”

Anna smiled and handed the dusty diary to her mom. “I don’t want to break the cranberry connection,” she said. “I have to be ready to teach my own kids how to make that bread!”

Read the sentences from the passage.

"I don't want to break the cranberry connection," she said. "I have to be ready to teach my own kids how to make that bread!"

How do the sentences support the theme of the passage?

A.
by showing how much Anna enjoys baking

B.
by showing how much Anna likes cranberry bread

C.
by showing how Anna needs to learn patience just like her grandmother

D.
by showing how Anna understands that baking cranberry bread is a tradition