Though Kanika had never focused her skills on cooking and nor was it a hobby of hers, she felt she was still pretty decent at it. The new harvest had come in now and since she and Pyrrha were preparing to maybe, possibly, receive a blessing she wanted to cook something nice for her. Possibly even a whole dinner they could have together as a small treat. It wasn’t really a date, since they didn’t really do things like the others did. But it would be a nice gesture and they’d be able to spend some quality time together.

First, she had to gather the ingredients. There was plenty to pick from around their home, and Kanika went there first. She checked what they had and quickly got an idea of what she could do with the herbs and vegetables she found in their garden. Then she quickly left to go to the nearest Kahikinan village, she wanted to get a whole fresh fish from this morning’s catch. Some spices also caught her eye and some other root vegetables as well. She wanted to make plenty of side dishes with the fish. It was going to be a feast.

Returning home, Kanika got to work. First, she took care of the fish, opening it up and removing the things they wouldn’t eat but would keep for later. They’d maybe make a stew of some kind as a dish. She cut up the herbs and crusted the fish with it and some of the spices, using oil in the mixture as well. She wrapped it up with some large thick leaves before setting it above the fire. Her mouth was already watering, just this fish was a treat for her in and of itself. She couldn’t wait to pull apart the juicy flaky goodness for dinner.

With the fish slow cooking over the fire, she got to work on the side dishes. She wanted to pickle some of the vegetables, cook others, and mash some as well. She was also planning on a small salad with a herb sauce which would match the ones she’d used for the fish. She began cutting everything up, separating everything into pills by what they’d be used for. Then she put the vegetables into the vinegar and also brought that to the fire so it could cook. There was nothing hard about what she was doing, simple cooking at it’s best.

While she was decent at cooking simple things, baking as something else altogether that Kanika did not want to touch. So instead, she’d grabbed some fruit and would cut them up to make a fruit salad. Then she’d grabbed a citrus and used that along with some sugar to coat everything. Pop in some berries in there too and their dessert was ready to go.

Next, Kanika headed to another Elaria’s home, the girl was a baker and she knew she’d have a fresh bread that she would trade for. She’d brought some vegetables from the market to trade for it and was pleased when she returned home with it. She wrapped it as well in those thick leaves and placed it near the fire so it would be warm when she cut into it. With everything on point, Kanika got to work on setting the mood.

The fish was going to slow cook for a while, and although she would be flipping it from time to time, she didn’t touch it. Kanika spent her time cleaning up the mess she’d made in their tiny kitchen and cleaning up their home. It wasn’t dirty but she wanted everything to be neat. Then she pushed their table to the wall as well as the chairs to the side, she found a few blankets and laid them in the middle of the room. She set up some candles all over the room before setting up some of the side dishes on the table.

Right before Pyrrha was due home, Kanika removed the pickled vegetables to place in a pot and took out the now warm bread to cut and also put on the table. It was going to be like a buffet for them. The last thing that Kanika would take out from the fire was the fish which smelled so good her mouth watered. She quickly opened it up and set it in the center of the table, she only tried the tiniest piece before Pyrrha arrived. A chef had to try their food before serving! Kanika hoped that Pyrrha would enjoy this little treat.