[The Crystal Gardens] Brewing Up A Storm (closed)

[Adelyn Weiss]

OOCSelf-modding of Basic Baking approved by GM Whisper

13th Candlemark of Dianara
12th of Melora, in the Season of Winter
Era I of the Celestine Mandate
Era XV Post Fractum

The Crystal Gardens

Construction was well under-way at the resort and spa and in fact the last of the glass panes had gone up end of last cycle. Adelyn and Viskyia had both been present to witness the exciting event. Crystal Gardens felt that much more complete. She worried, though, just how well the glass would hold up against storm in winter, much like the one about to strike any moment now, despite it being so early in the brightening. Demios weather ran toward the unpredicatable and Adelyn had seen a storm just last cycle during a slumber party that had changed her life.

It was noon, just a bit before reaching mid-brightening and the girl forgot to eat Rosyun before coming in to work at the Crystal Gardens. Technically, the resort was still closed, but that did not mean there was no work to be done. As manager Viskyia put her in charge of hiring the cooking staff, including the pastry chef. Chef Geoffrey Given proved worthy of being hired last cycle by bringing Adelyn the most delicious of desserts after he heard of the open position. She didn't remember the name, but she made it her mission to find out just what it was and how to make it. Given agreed to teaching her the basics of baking while together they discussed the desserts menu.

Her stomach grumbled fiercely, making her blush a little. Now, she decided, would be a great time to speak to the Given, who she knew was himself getting settled in the kitchen by arranging the pots, pans, and dishes. As Adelyn had the idea to include a gift shop in the resort she put herself wholly in charge of the decor for it. The woman needed to spread herself throughout the place as much as possible so her friend Viskyia wouldn't feel the stress. Walking across the restaurant and garden from the gift shop she finally reached the kitchen, a large expansive room closed off from the public. It was somewhat behind the receptionist area.

"I want all the baking ingredients in this cabinet here. The flour, sugar, yeast, that stuff... I'll look through all the cooking utensils now. Come on, let's keep working! Keep up the vigor," rang the loud cheerful male voice of the chef. Surprisingly Geoffrey was quite young to be so talented a chef, but he took after his parents. The man had playful golden blonde hair and a good physique, nothing at all the way she imagined chefs to look.

She felt bad interrupting him, but things had to get done straightaway and the longer they waited the more stressful the situation could get. "Chef Given? May I have some of your time right now? I know you're busy and all, but I figure we can get started on the menu this brightening. It may take a two or three cycles to be perfectly honest. The sooner the better. My plan included setting the desserts and appetizers first. That should be easy enough..." How wrong Adelyn was! Desserts were delicate matters, and were far from easy. Cooking excellent meals took time, precision, and passion! No matter because the work brightenings were long and the cook enjoyed pastries the best.

[Adelyn Weiss]

Reference Links Baking Cookie Recipe Cookie Baking Tips Yellow Butter Cake Recipe

Ingredients

He laughed his airy laugh and shook his head widely, taking Adelyn into his arms. The woman blinked rapidly a few times, certainly shocked by his overly friendly demeanor. Hesitantly she tapped his back with her hands in a mock embrace, and laughed with him. "So, what do you say?" she asked again, waiting to hear a response. The two parted and Adelyn quickly tied her hair up in a bun so it would be out of the way and out of her face. She wore a cream colored sleeveless tank, her matching tunic thrown to a side somewhere near the front desk.

"By the gods, of course Miss Weiss! It would bring me such immense pleasure to begin creating the menu. The kitchen itself is near done and everything arranged just where any cook would like it! My stay here is temporary, as you know, until a qualified chef steps in. But it's an honor helping around here and getting a change of scenery from the bakery. And I am primarily a baker, but I can cook as well should my skills need be imparted on a more permanent cook," his eyes twinkled magically. Adelyn felt her heart skip a tiny beat. Chef Given really was pretty good-looking now that she looked at him more closely. Adelyn shook her head, though, trying to focus on the important task at hand.

"Since you seem very eager to get this started I have a small surprise for you! Not only will we be discussing some desserts, but we'll be making a few of them together, too! You may learn a thing or two, Miss. And then you can surprise all your friends here at the Crystal Gardens when you suddenly bake them delicious goods!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

Adelyn could definitely get used to having Chef Given around for a long time, but she knew he was only here temporarily. She nodded quickly and excitedly, "Please call me Adelyn, Chef Given! Such formalities in the kitchen just will not do. I appreciate your staying here with us while we get settled and find a more permanent chef. You're quite the happy man, Chef! I like you already. And I'd be more than grateful if you could teach me something around this place. Baking isn't so common a skill... and I love surprising others. Having the ability to bake a trayful of love for my friends would make me very happy. Let's get started then! This way I can taste test some desserts, too, before making them final for the menu."

He nodded, "Alright, Adelyn. Well... I just put away many of the ingredients, but here come with me. We'll retrieve them all. And I'll explain," he began to walk toward some cabinets, and the fridge grabbing a multitude of bags of ingredients some of which she did not even recognize. "Baking is an art form, Adelyn. It will require many precise measurements, but I take it by your steady hand this will not be a problem. This bag here contains baking powder, made of cream of tartar and baking soda."

She shook her head slowly, "Baking powder? Wow, left to my own devices I probably would not even have guessed the need or use of baking powder. It's been duly noted..."

"Yes, yes. Baking powder is a leavening agent, and what that means is it soften the finished baked good. Now this is only for baked desserts, mind you. For bread you'll want to use yeast. Yeast is a live bacteria that lightens it. These two ingredients react with the moisture, heat, and acidity within the dough. The actual chemical reactions behind it really are not of too much importance, and if you ask me, makes baking lose its magic." Chef Given definitely knew what he was talking about and without saying it the woman was very very glad he left out all the reactions because she wouldn't have understood a word of it.

Chef Given deposited all the ingredients on one of the countertops and picked up the butter next. "Butter. I'm sure you've used this somewhere along in your cooking, so I trust you don't need much assistance in me explaining that it's a dairy product churned from milk. Oh... look at me, I just explained it anyway." Adelyn laughed at this, still paying attention. So far so good, but they had not really begun any of the baking yet. "Butter simply helps capture the flavors and also provides moisture and leavening. Now that you know what that is, it works out explaining the use of butter."

His hand reached for the salt and sugar, in two separate smaller bags. Earlier he had transferred small amounts of sugar and salt from their enormous bags into these small two for easier access to the ingredients. "Sugar sweetens. It's what gives desserts that delicious sweet flavor everyone loves so much. It's also fattening... but that's remedied by some simple exercise. And you're very thin, Adelyn, so no hard done if we give you plenty of it this brightening. Salt, now, on the other hand, actually accentuates the sweet flavor. Seems strange and perhaps a little counterintuitive, but trust me - it works!"

Adelyn again nodded, and dipping her hands into the sugar bag grabbed a small pinch of it with her thumb and index finger. She rubbed it between her fingers and let it fall into her mouth. Given looked at her interestedly. Rubbing the ingredients with that mannerism was very chef-like, he decided, but certainly not into her stomach. He laughed merrily and she looked sheepishly at him, shrugging her shoulders. She couldn't help it; Adelyn loved sweets and sugar.

"Now this here is flour. It's typically made from wheat ground up. It's the main ingredient, really, and it's quite starchy. As you can see... the richness of it really adds up with all of these ingredients. Life's joys. Live rich," he smiled, looking into her emerald eyes with his blue orbs, creating a semblance of flirtation. Her cheeks reddened, and she broke the gaze. As cute as Chef Given was, Adelyn really had taken a liking to Ariston. A bowl of eggs lay on the countertop and he picked one egg out from it and held it delicately in the palm of his hand. He continued, noticing how flustered the woman had become simply by looking deeply into her eyes, "Eggs are the binding agent, bringing all the ingredients together, making them quite mixable. It's actually my favorite part, if you want to know, of the early stages. It's quite exciting, truth be told. Alright, hopefully this wasn't too much information? Ask if you need me to explain anything again. If not we can continue on."

Adelyn paused and bit her lower lip just a tad, a habit of hers. "Just to make sure - baking powder for desserts and yeast for bread, correct?" He nodded, she was correct in that. He pushed some of the ingredients to the side of the countertop they would be working on for the duration of the lesson.

[Adelyn Weiss]

Tools and Utensils

He smiled warmly at the woman beside him, quite content to go on looking at her, but rather just elaborated a bit further on the ingredients, "Many other ingredients can be used depending on what it is you are cooking. For example, if your cake is to have frosting or decorations well - those need to be added as well, too. Or to give bread some life, taste, and make them interesting things like sesame seeds are added. Personally, I am a big fan of fruit! I add raisins to my bagel breads, along with some cinnamon. Strawberries on cakes, and so on. But I shall not be giving you ~all my secrets right this moment, Miss Weiss, but there is a lot I wish to share with you."

Adelyn looked down at the countertop, feeling pretty shocked, but never did she feel uncomfortable. He did not give off that air. Chef Given was definitely flirtatious. Good-looking men gave in to that type of behavior so frequently, especially around the young beauty. Modesty aside, Adelyn had come to realize men saw her as quite attractive. She was slowly getting used to the idea, but it still made her turn quite pink. "Thank you Chef Given. Any advice or extra bits of knowledge you've acquired from your days as a baker I'll gladly take and keep. It's just a matter of remembering it! There is so much to learn." As though she had said something ever so silly he laughed wildly, and gave her a small hug.

Chef Given then began shuffling around the large kitchen again, this time gathering bowls, utensils, and all sorts of contraptions Adelyn figured were needed for baking. She stood and watched in awe at how instinctively he reached for everything as though he had placed them there himself - which he hadn't, of course, given the fact the moment she walked in he had asked some of the newly staffed cooks to help him. The man simply knew where things needed to be placed in a kitchen. This would help immensely come time for the permanent chef.

"Mixing bowls... I'm sure you've seen and used them to prepare your dinners though made of a different material, and not for baking, Miss Weiss. This is where we place all the ingredients aforementioned and blend them together. More commonly these are made of wood, but this is a first-class resort and these are made of glass. I've brought several out as we'll be making more than one baked good. I'll take care of the dishes later." All this he explained in such simple terms, making her understand completely. For a moment Adelyn had feared baking would be overly complicated and that she'd fail or just not get it.

Given picked up some measuring cups and spoons, turning a bit red himself, "Normally I just instinctively measure how much of each ingredient I need. After pouring so many times afterward at a certain moment it just feels right. And I know then that the amount I've put into the mixing bowl is good, even if it's more or less what a recipe says. This is why some baker's desserts taste better than others: each to their own methods. In any case since you're only just beginning, there is a calculable way of mixing ingredients and it is with these that you do that."

"Hm," Adelyn answered shortly, impressed by his natural abilities to do such a thing. She hoped with time to become as great a baker as that to be able to go based on instinct instead of measuring exacts. After all, Adelyn did things out of emotion and passion, not precise measurements. "Impressive, Chef Given. It's my job to strive for that sort of talent now. But for the sake of learning I think I will in fact stick to the measuring cups and spoons until I'm ready without."

He nodded and grabbed a large wooden spoon, "This here we use to blend everything all together. Very simple utensil, but one of the most important!" And then he picked up the whisk and brush, the former of which Adelyn had never before seen. "This bent wire is called a whisk. You can also use this to blend ingredients, but it's most useful for whipping cream... I don't think we'll be using this nowbright. And the brush is used to put glaze or juice on foods sometimes before, sometimes after baking. Glaze or juice can add flavor, color, or shine. A brush won't be needed for what we are making in this kitchen for now."

It wasn't too much information to take, and everything had a simple use. "Alright, I'm pretty sure I understand what each and every ingredient and utensil here can do. Is it time to start baking yet? I'm so very eager! And not to mention a little hungry. What will we be making, if I may ask?" she clapped her hands together happily.

[Adelyn Weiss]

Hardware

With a playful smile he teased, "Not not yet Miss Weiss. A little eager to start are we? Don't worry, when I first began baking I acted the same. Always wondering when I could bake my next dessert. Be warned, this can lead to bad-tasting delights, which seems strange in of itself... but it's possible. Believe me, I ended up with under-cooked or burnt cookies in the beginning. And that's no way to start a chef's life. Luckily my mentor..." and at this he paused slowly, his voice breaking unexpectedly, "she was kind, gentle, patient. A real winner." His eyes looked watery, but no onions in sight, the man actually had broken into tears.

Adelyn looked on at him in slight horror. "My goodness, Chef Given! I had no intention of having you cry! Really, I didn't know baking would bring back awful memories. Perhaps we should continue forebright? I don't mind, really..." She patted his back reassuringly. He took her in his arms and hugged her tightly. Small, wet tears trickled onto Adelyn's shoulder, she felt it.

The man pulled back and shook his head fervently, "No. We go on. Perhaps later I will tell you more about her. For not, I need to introduce to you the actual hardware." With his back of his hands he wiped away tears, sniffling slightly. This was most unexpected for the poor unassuming Adelyn, and even though she listened attentively in the back of her mind she felt sad. And Adelyn gave into sadness too easily. It had been a trait of hers since childhood.

His voice now a little colder, his emotions hidden he continued, "These pans her are for baking. These are meant only for baking in the oven, and not to be used on the stove. Like this one, they're shallow, and of all sorts of shapes. More commonly they are square, rectangular, or circular, but depending on the piece," he spoke of desserts like art, which Adelyn very much enjoyed, "a pan may sometimes be in shapes like hearts, stars, and so on." He knocked on the bottom of the pan, "It's usual for these to be made from aluminum or even steel. Liquid-y dough is poured into this."

A look of confusion came across her face, "Dough? What's that?" she asked simply. Chef Given smacked his forehead lightly, having forgotten to explain that term to her. "Dough is simply the name of flour mixed with water or milk. Sorry, it slipped my mind to say that earlier. The consistency of it depends on what you're baking. Cake sometimes has a more liquid-like dough than say... regular bread."

Next he picked up a long, thin, and flat piece of metal. "This is a baking sheet. Flat desserts are made on this, like the ever-delicious cookies. Chocolate chip are my favorite, honestly. And if the dough is more solid than liquid-y it will only flatten and expand slightly. What's your favorite type of cookie?"

Adelyn's eyes seemed to sparkle, "Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite as well! Especially warm, right out of the oven. My caretaker used to tell me stories about gypsies and bake cookies. Or she'd read to me... and I would sip a cup of milk. Those were wonderful days. I haven't eaten any really good cookies since then to be quite honest."

His eyes opened wide, "You haven't? That's impossible! Alright, I say we make some nowbright so you can get a taste of home. Is that alright with you? We'll be making a few desserts, but that can be our first. You do have a few hours to spare from your managerial duties, yes? That way we can spend most of the work brightening on this." She nodded with a big smile.

"This, my darling Adelyn, is a cooling rack. The metal of these is raised so air may flow on all sides of the good - top, bottom, sides - you know, and they cool evenly this way, and not to mention quickly. You simply place the cookies - er, the baked goods on here right after coming out from the oven. Hah, it seems I'm really wanting those cookies now. We'll begin shortly, I promise." He took his hand off the corner of the metal rack, but said, "Some are raised several levels high, and some of those are available in this kitchen, but for cookies I usually just use this one-level low cooling rack. Easier to wash, too, honestly."

Adelyn laughed, and rubbed her tummy jokingly, "You and me both, Geoffrey. Oh!" She covered her lips with her hand, "If I may call you that, of course..."

He cut her off from talking further, "That's perfectly acceptable. I like our familiarity. No need to be entirely formal! We are only baking and not negotiating a trade deal." Upon raising her eyebrows he clarified, "Yes, I have heard of your position as Aedile in Paxia. My mentor - my wife, actually, had been there baking for a friend's wedding when they attacked. After that I kept myself aware of the news in coming from there. And well, now you know."

She looked down at the floor, her shoes suddenly very interesting. "I lost my brother during the attack... but not from the orcs. But I rather not talk about it. I'm real sorry for your loss, Geoffrey. And many may say it, but honestly I know how you feel. And the sadness is overwhelming, it takes over you, over your entire life if you don't actively seek happiness. And that is what I am trying to do. So let us bake to happiness!" Now was no time to dwell, the sadness might hurt Adelyn deeply and for a time to come. So instead she stuck to that optimism, even if inside she felt miserable, cold, and alone.

He lifted her chin, and for one fearful moment Adelyn thought he would kiss her lips. No, he looked into her compassionate strikingly green eyes with his azure orbs. He bent down and kissed her forehead. He pulled her into a tight hug, once more, and whispered into her ear, "Don't let depression take over your life, Miss Weiss. I'm afraid I did, and I regret it every day. I let too much time pass me by with that. Live, and fully."

For a basic baking lesson things sure were getting kind of deep. Her cheeks turned bright red at the caresses and attention from the man, and maybe he had supressed a lot of love after his wife's death. She was sure he still loved her and felt the need to love again. A mental image of Ariston flickered across her mind and she pulled away slowly. If things didn't work out with the elf - would she have a chance with... and she stopped herself, completely ashamed at her train of thought. By now her face looked like a tomato.

OOCWill include the oven in the next post. This one is kind of long... Hah.

[Adelyn Weiss]

Oven and Mixing Ingredients

He understood her pulling away. The two had barely met, she might even be in a relationship; he didn't know the circumstances at all, but he did know he felt attraction toward the woman before him. She was quite the beauty, unlike any woman he'd seen, and he wondered, except for maybe his wife. But his wife was a little older than Adelyn and she had possessed a more "mother of your children" sort of look. While Miss Weiss looked energetic, bubbly, cute. His smile turned into a sexy smirk, and he agreed readily to part from the hug. Geoffrey did not want to push her away when they were only just getting to know one another.

The man chuckled, "Alright Miss Weiss, we can finally get started! Let's head on over to the oven. In here, foods get baked and the oven provides the heat source, similar to the stove, except the heat is contained and consistent. The amount of fuel determines the temperature and for baking we need it pretty hot. Something along the lines of 375 degrees, but of course measuring this is more an art than a science. I really wish there were an easy way... but there isn't. So, here let me show you how much fuel we need for cookies. This is important!" He added fuel to the oven, struck a short stick against the brick surrounding it, and threw it in. Flames erupted within, and the oven had begun the heating process. "We need for it to reach the desired temperature, so this is why we start the fire before mixing ingredients. By the time we're done the oven should reach the right amount of heat."

She nodded, staring into the bright orange flames. Something about the warmth of the fire comforted her, like a fireplace, she supposed. Adelyn turned back around to the counter where all the ingredients had been left out. Trying to remember what she had learned she looked around and grabbed the glass bowl. The young woman noticed he was giving her time to think about what utensils they might be using without saying a word. She also reached for a spoon and placed it beside the bowl. "For now, I think these are the only two things we need to place the ingredients in. And speaking of ingredients, what goes into making cookies?"

The tall blond reached down and opened a bottom drawer. Sheafs of parchment lay inside it messily, beneath a carefully bound book with a brown cover on the front. A flattened flower had been pressed and glued onto the it. In pretty calligraphic writing in a somewhat faded black ink it read: A Baker's Recipe Book.* Geoffrey picked it up, and it was clear to Adelyn the book held sentimental value to him. He opened it on the counter, turned a few pages and glancing inside the girl read near the top, "Chocolate Chip Cookies" in that same writing. Below it was a list of ingredients alongside a painted image of cookies on a stack of plates. Much attention to detail had gone into this book, she could tell.

Chocolate Chip Cookies ~ 3/4 cup sugar ~ 3/4 cup packed brown sugar ~ 1 cup butter ~ 1 large egg ~ 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour ~ 1 teaspoon baking powder ~ 1/2 teaspoon salt ~ 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Adelyn looked from the book to Chef Given to see his reaction. He had none out of the ordinary, but instead looked at her and said, "I want you to have this. She gave it to me when she taught me, but I know everything in it by heart. The book needs to be passed on to you now, and I just know you will treasure it as I have. There will come a time when you will no longer need this, but for now follow the recipe."

Taking the book into her hands, she admired the work in it. She flipped delicately through the pages and saw the recipes went in order from basic to completely amazing. She assumed his wife had written recipes in the order she had baked them. "Wow... thank you Geoffrey. I'll gladly accept this and use it when I bake until I, too, have memorized the recipes within. Now let's see here. The ingredients I need are all here except for the chocolate chips and the brown sugar. We have those?" The baker hustled on over to another cabinet and took both out. He placed them on the counter, and said, "Yep. Here we are!" His enthusiasm seemed to be returning.

Adelyn mixed 3/4th cups of sugar and 3/4th cups of brown sugar using the measuring cups. She placed a cup of butter in the bowl, and grabbed one large egg. "I love cracking eggs open. It's so fun... like a surprise inside," she giggled, cracked the egg, and let it fall inside the bowl with the other ingredients. "You'll want to stir in the flour and the baking powder now," he told her. She measured a cup of flour, poured it in and stirred all at the same time. Adelyn took another cup and did the same. And again with another 1/4th cup of flour. She kept stirring for a little while, then stopped to measure a small teaspoon of baking powder. Her arm grew a little tired, but she kept on stirring to get everything mixed in. The dough felt stiff, and she remembered Given mentioning that more solid dough expands and flattens a little.

"Good, good!" he told her reassuringly. He nodded approval. She was doing just fine without much instruction from him. The book said it all, really. He stood behind her, watching her soft hands controlling the large wooden spoon. She had the movements right, and after some time he tapped her hand. "Alright, that looks good. Stir in the chocolate chips now."

Opening the bag of chocolate chips allowed the aroma of the dark chocolate out into the air, and the young woman breathed in deeply the delicious scent. She could almost taste the chips melting in her mouth. She grabbed one with her hand and place it in her mouth. It did melt, and readily. With bright eyes, the woman looked up at Given. She grabbed another chip, "Open your mouth!" she told him. He did so, and laughed heartily. Adelyn threw the chocolate chip into his mouth, blushing at the same time.

All the ingredients were now in the bowl and properly mixed. She set the wooden spoon atop the counter and stretched her arms. "Stirring sure does take a lot out of you... takes a while, too. It's almost a work-out!" Adelyn had a petite body and hardly any real muscles to speak of so it definitely worked her out a bit.

* May I get this item approved for the taking?

[Adelyn Weiss]

Baking the Cookies in the Oven

Chef Given grabbed a the long thin baking sheet and set it vertically beside the bowl of dough. He opened a drawer and pulled out a tablespoon. "Making this pretty is a bit of work, but you can do it, Miss Weiss. I'd say measure out about a tablespoon, sort of full, and space these out two inches apart. All this dough ought to fit onto this baking sheet. It'll make approximately #* cookies... we can't eat that many you and I, at least I don't think so... but we can always share these with the other staff members working hard around here. No one will mind free cookies, that's for sure."

Adelyn did as he instructed and with a tablespoon spread out the cookie dough on the sheet in neat even rows. She looked surprised to see just how many cookies could be made from the simple ingredients. The hard work now over, a sort of accomplishment washed over her. Sneakily, she tried scooping up a bit of dough and from the spoon she grabbed it in her hands. "Is it strange if I prefer the taste of cookie dough to cookies? It's just so much more moist, and sweeter. And you can taste the chocolate chips that much more." Using her spoon she moved some dough over, just to make sure that when it expanded it wouldn't hit the other cookie.

"Uhh..." he began, "well, yes just a little. The dough's not baked! Just don't eat too much or you might get a tummy ache. Don't want that before you even get to taste your cookies!"

Having filled the sheet Adelyn grabbed the pan and walked straight for the oven. Heat came from the oven and she could feel it on her face and arms as she stood near it. Carefully, and just a bit fearfully, she shoved in sheet. She pushed it in a little bit further and then pulled her hands out right away. The young woman dusted her hands off and then placed them on her hips. Looking to Chef Given she smiled and looked really rather smug, "Now how long are we going to let the cookies sit in there? 10 minutes perhaps?"

He nodded, "Ah! Yes, that's exactly right. You're already getting the hang of things. 10 minutes is a great time, and they probably will be done by then. We'll check. For now while that cooks I'll also show you to make a cake. How's that sound?"

Her eyes widened, "We're not done making desserts? I really hope we don't eat this all... I won't be able to eat until forebright at this rate!" And he laughed, placing his hand on her head. "No, of course not! This is only for practice. I have to make sure you know what you're doing before you set your house on fire!"

* How many cookies would that recipe make?

[Adelyn Weiss]

Mixing Ingredients

Chef Given asked Adelyn to look through the recipe book while he cleaned up some of the mess they'd made. He gathered the now empty bowl and the dirty utensils. They all went into the sink on the opposite side of the kitchen, near the back. At the back stood one lonely looking cook washing all the dishes, unwrapping them from the boxes in which they were delivered. Apparently he'd been there the whole time, staying as quiet as possible. It sounded like Given and Miss Weiss were having quite a blast, and some emotional conversation all while making those cookies.

Returning to the woman's side he told her, "I want to teach you to make a yellow cake. I'm sure the recipe is nearer the front of the book as well. I remember it so well because the painting of it was absolutely wonderful, very colorful. Here, let me leaf through to find it. Oh oh there it is!" He brimmed proudly as though it were his cake. And indeed it was a cake he had baked, and his ex-wife had painted it in, but he didn't tell Adelyn this.

Yellow Butter Cake ~ 3 cups all-purpose flour ~ 1 tablespoon baking powder ~ 1/2 teaspoon salt ~ 1 1/2 cups sugar ~ 3/4 cup butter, softened ~ 4 eggs ~ 1 tablespoon vanilla ~ 1 cup milk

"Wow," she said naturally, "That cake looks amazing... All the attention to detail that must go into a cake frosted that way! I can't wait to start learning how to frost cakes, but I'm sure we will learn that a different day." He nodded at this, putting his hand up a little as if to say, 'slow down' at the pretty little woman. "This recipe has a lot more sugar and even vanilla! I almost feel bad putting in so much. Too sweet to handle~" she giggled.

"You're the only thing too sweet to handle! Come on now, let me show you where I keep the vanilla extract and some other color dyes for food." And they walked toward a wooden cabinet off to the side, and upon opening it Adelyn marveled at all the spices in a turntable rack. "Every spice anyone could ever need or use is on this rack. I keep all the small little bottles here so they don't get lost in this kitchen. It's always hard getting adjusted to a brand new kitchen, but we chefs manage." He grabbed the bottle of vanilla and passed it down to Adelyn, softly grazing her hands.

She felt his touch alright, but safely ignored it, pretending to be completely oblivious. Adelyn bounced back on over to the counter they were working on and placed the vanilla on the table. She looked down at the book again, and picked up the flour. She measured three cups and poured it into a bigger bowl than the one they used for the cookies. She went into the bag of baking powder, grabbed a tablespoon and in it went into the bowl. Next came the 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and she took a mixing spoon from the counter and started stirring them all together. It was quite dry and after a few turns she stopped and pushed it to the side.

Instinctively she grabbed another bowl, placed the butter and sugar inside, and grabbed a whisk. Adelyn looked up at Given and he was absolutely brimming from ear to ear, "That's perfect! You already have a baker's natural talent for knowing to just mix things separately. Keep going. If you have any questions, just ask, but I'll be here watching and if I see something go wrong then you know, I'll help."

The young woman began mixing the two with a strong arm movement. She kept at it, occasionally switching hands. Adelyn kept at it until the mix looked at felt creamy. She added one of the eggs, and beat the mix with the whisk once again, and very well before adding anything else. Adelyn continued to do this until all four eggs were well-mixed into the batter. Opening the vanilla bottle, she measured out 1 tablespoon and poured it in.

Without waiting for Given Adelyn ran to the enormous cold room, or fridge rather, and got the milk out. She measured exactly a cup with the measuring cups and then placed the milk back in the fridge. She placed a small amount into the second bowl, mixed it slowly, then put in some of the dry flour mixture. She put these in alternately and kept stirring it. "What do you think? Beat it some more or is it good to go? Looks creamy to me." Given inspected the mixture and nodded, "Good to go!"

Adelyn had finally finished mixing the cake batter.

[Adelyn Weiss]

Checking the Cookies and Eating them, too!

In between whisking the cake batter Adelyn checked the time on a clock hanging from the wall and after some five minutes she went to go check on the cookies. To even out the heat she took the tray out after those five minutes and rotated it so the other side got the most heat. She didn't exactly recall Given telling her to do this, but it seemed the most natural thing to do to balance out the amount of fire the cookies received in the oven.

She continued beating the cake mix and in another five minutes came to check back up on the cookies. They looked nice and golden brown. With her hand she waved the smell of the cookies her way and she took in a deep breath. So far they definitely smelled delicious, and they did not look the least burnt, not from the top anyway. Using the cute and pink oven mitt she'd found lying around she grabbed the tray from the oven toward her after turning off the flames. Adelyn put the large tray on the counter. "Oh yum, these look absolutely delicious! Now it's time to let them cool and see how they taste."

With a spatula she lifted each and every cookie and placed it atop the cookie cooling rack. Some were slightly odd shaped, but she credited it to her lack of cookie-making experience. With time they'd come out just just fine, and eventually even in interesting shapes and sizes. She envisioned holiday shaped cookies and it made her smile at the success of not having burnt this first batch.

A few minutes later Adelyn walked on over to the cookies and grabbed one. The suspense was sort of killing her. Chef Given only stared at the young woman, an eyebrow raised. He couldn't help but to laugh at her. The chef felt confident the cookies would be excellent and to their liking. Adelyn took a small bite, a bit fearful at first, and the chocolate chips simply melted in her mouth. A small sound of pleasure escaped her lips, "Mmm!" She turned around happily to face Given and exclaimed, "These are the best cookies I've ever tasted. Hah, the taste of triumph and accomplishment never tasted so sweet! Thank you so much for showing me how to bake, at least these basics. Here, here, take one!"

The two munched on a few cookies for a while before returning to the harder work of mixing a cake. Adelyn put all the cookies in a fanciful circular flowered plate. She'd be sure to pass these out to everyone at the Crystal Gardens later.

[Adelyn Weiss]

Bake a Cake!

Geoffrey grabbed two round pans and placed them on the counter, one beside the other. Unlike the cookies the cake would not be divided into pieces nor would they be on a flat pan. "So we can do more with this cake I'm going to suggest we split it into two pans. The cake will also cook more evenly and reduce times significantly as well." In fact doing this would help the girl learn to decorate or add filling to the center of cakes later, but he left this information out for now, not seeing it as relevant to the studies of the brightening.

Adelyn nodded, somewhat understanding what he was saying. Taking a bigger spoon she grabbed the big bowl she had mixed the batter in and tilted it sideways. With the spoon she scooped up some cake mix and let the dollops fall messily into the thin round pan. It was easily noticeable she was frustrated because the smooth mix no longer looked quite as smooth but instead lay messily inside the pan. "Should I smoothen this out? Oh, it won't come out even like this!" She huffed quietly and worked with the spoon to even out the cake in the pan.

Geoffrey smacked his forehead. "We forgot to put butter on the pan so the cake won't stick to it. Nevermind that other pan, let's at least do it to this second one." Adelyn frowned at this, but said nothing for now. Even renowned chefs could forget steps occasionally she figured and the girl was learning after all. He looked at her blank expression and for a second time this brightening he looked sad, "She always did that when we baked something together you know. And I realized it no sooner after you finished putting in half the mix in there. I'm sorry!"

Adelyn's face showed signs of understanding. The mistake had been innocent, sad in fact. There were no more words to express how much she empathized with him so she said none. Silently she grabbed the butter and walked to a stove. Using a metal spoon she got a lot of butter and after turning on the stove melted it a little bit.

After it was a bit melted she returned to the pan and using a pastry brush she spread an even layer of the butter on it, making sure to cover every section. "It's fine! We can make it work. I'll just pour this cake batter into this pan, wash the other, do the same and then add the remainder of the mix after it's been prepared. How's that sound?" Adelyn smiled optimistically at him.

"Oh you're adorable! That will work just fine. Hmph, I'm surprised you don't need my help quite as much as I would have hoped. You're too naturally talented at all this!" He laughed strangely, still caught by the sadness of his past.

Letting him know what she was going to do Adelyn got to it then. She quickly rinsed the initial pan with water, dryed it and began anew with it. "See? No big deal!" Pouring the last of the cake mix in was easy enough and this time it poured out a bit smoother than the first time, for which she was glad.

With the two pans in hand and the cookies out of the oven everything was completely set up to put the pans in. The temperature needed to be raised and Adelyn let Geoffrey adjust that himself by adding more logs to the bottom of the oven. "This will take longer - perhaps half a candlemark. We can go pass out the cookies in the mean time! What'd you say?" the man asked now more cheerfully, his spirits renewed easily.

OOCNote to self: I hate self-mod. ): I can't wait until I finish this!

[Adelyn Weiss]

And The Cake is Done!

She agreed, passing out the cookies sounded a really great idea. The young woman felt strongly about sharing and passing along some of the goodness. She was modest of course and would most certainly not present them to anyone as her first batch of cookies. It might force people to exclaim just how 'delicious' they were even if that was not how they felt. No, that just did not sound right at all to put her friends on the spot like that.

"I'm sure I've said this earlier, but we can handle the dishes later. Let's just wait until everything is done... that's always how I do it, but you might have a different cleaning method. Let's go!" He fell into step with Adelyn and took turns asking workers at every turn if they wanted a few cookies.

Not many of the grounds of the resort was traveled because the employees flocked to the pair and rather soon the plate was completely empty of cookies except for the few crumbs left as trace of the warm and soft deliciousness. Compliments had come like no forebright, but Adelyn remained quiet as to who had baked the cookies. With Geoffrey next to her people assumed he had made them.

"It looks like they're gone right on time for us to go back and make sure the cake isn't burnt!" smiled the young woman. Secretly she'd been made so happy at all the compliments her first baked good had received. It gave her the idea to start up a small pastry shop here at the resort. Adelyn made a small mental note to ask Viskyia if there was room anywhere for one.

Rushing back to the kitchen the two took in the wonderful aroma of a fresh-baked cake. The warm air proved sweet and Adelyn walked in the direction of the oven. She prepared to take the cakes out, but first grabbed a toothpick and had it ready after pulling out the pans a little bit. The toothpick came out clean on both the pans and so she pulled them out.

"Ooh they look really nice, Miss Weiss! Let's set them out to cool before we do anything else with the cake, though!" he told her, nodding wisely.

Adelyn looked to the chef, "Oh, we need to let the cake cool too don't we? Ah what a shame. I can't wait to start eating it actually! The cookies seem to have gone down already. Seems too soon, don't you think...? What's the cooling time for cakes?"

He laughed, "A cool 40 minutes." The woman's eyes looked at him in complete surprise. The time was a lot more than expected, that much she knew. What would they two do for the greater part of a candlemark? Looking to him she blushed, realizing she should probably attend to her managerial duties.

"Thank you so much for absolutely everything you've taught me this brightening! I fear I should attend to some other maters and then come back to finish up the rest of the cake preparation." She felt bad in saying this, but it was the responsible thing to do. She took the cakes from the pans and placed them on lovely white plates. Thanks to the butter the cakes were not in the least stuck to the pans, but the shape of one seemed a little off and not entirely smooth.

Geoffrey grinned with his sideways smile, "I understand Miss Weiss. Above all I am under your employ and I'm sure you're incredibly busy. Just be sure to come back so we can finish this up."


Forty minutes later Adelyn returned to find the cakes completely cooled, but the chef nowhere to be seen. She shrugged and figured he was busy elsewhere taking care of something else. The recipe book she had gave no further instructions, but looking at the picture carefully she did notice the cake consisted of two thin layers with frosting in between the two. She figured the cake needed to cool so that the frosting did not melt on it.

Adelyn looked for the frosting and found it neatly in a cabinet with many other baking supplies. She figured this would be her little area in the kitchen, and she rather liked it. Grabbing a small spoon of the prepared frosting she stirred it much like she had the cake mix. Spreading it neatly would be an altogether new challenge.

The young woman grabbed a butter knife and spread it atop one of the cakes, evenly and heavily, but it looked delicious anyway. The other thin cake she placed right atop the other and she declared the cake complete. Sure, it didn't have the expertise of a grand cake but she had done it and all by herself.

Adelyn would wait until Given returned but for now she was absolutely ecstatic to have learned the basics of art and in so short a time. Never before did she think she'd make even a good mediocre cook and yet the woman had not only baked a cake but also cookies.