Welcome to Gaia! ::

He wanted to learn new receipts, something that is more ‘American’ than what he typically made. Something more ‘home’ for his little family. He had first learned to cook at his granny’s knee, then helped his mom, but Nate understood that his mix of Indian and British cooking wasn’t exactly ‘home cooking’ for his wife. Or at least that was his reasoning behind signing up for a cooking class. There were only so many things he could do with self study and mucking about in the kitchen. This time he wanted to actually talk to a professional, pick up a few things, and overall learn some relatively local dishes. Stuff that just wasn’t in his current culinary repertoire.

The space was surprisingly large, six bench style counter tops were spaced out in the classroom kitchen, four seats on one side and a range and sink on the other. Apparently this place had been designed for culinary classes but was also rented out for parties and the like. Nate didn’t quite understand but if it made the business money he couldn’t fault them for it. The young man quickly changed out his jacket for one of the aprons before washing his hands and taking a seat. He was curious as to what they would be making, and just how many people would be attending the class. Even if he didn’t do much more than he already did at home it was still worth it. Maybe he could make some more friends, or at least connections, in the city he now called home.

More and more people were showing up as Nate flipped through the notebook he brought to take notes. He only occasionally looked up as others filtered in, at least that was the case until someone else plopped down into one of the nearby seats. The young man returned the wave and was about to continue writing when he noticed something very important regarding his current ‘desk’ mate, aka the guy who just sat down at the other end of his chosen work station. “Uh, so I might be overstepping here but,” He fished in his pockets and pulled out one of the few little elastic bands he had on hand, “You will really want to make sure your hair is tied back. Health code and all that.” That and the open flames from the gas stoves would be a serious danger risk as well but that wasn’t a major concern till they got to that point in the lesson, if they even got that far. Nate wasn’t actually sure what they would be making, just that it was something for Thanksgiving sides or the like.

His desk mate, a young man who was maybe a year or two younger than Nate was, had long flowing hair that was definitely something that needed to be tied back. Nate just hoped that the little baby elastics he had wouldn’t snap the minute the man tried to use them. They did fantastic on toddler hair but could they hold up against that kind of hair? “I’ve got a few of them if it helps. If not I’m sure they will likely have hair nets or something.” They had to, didn't they?

Nate winced and murmured a ‘I bet’ while he watched the other man struggle with the hair tie before giving up and doing something to somehow secure their hair back. Unable to help himself, fearing that whatever they had done wouldn’t hold up to a sneeze let alone any actual work in the kitchen, Nate stood up and offered to tie their hair back. When he got the approval, his fingers practically flew as he rapidly braided the longer hair back. The little elastic tie was perfect for the end of the braid and soon he was content that no burns would happen… nor hair in the food. He would just need to wash his hands again, which wasn’t such a big deal since he was figuring they would have to do that anyway.

Before he got a chance to do anything else the class started and the time to just chat was thrown out of the metaphorical window. A packet of paper was handed to everyone and the teacher started off on a general lecture on what they were going to do. After giving them a rough rundown on the two dishes they were going to make, the teacher clapped his hands and informed them it was time to get down to it. They would be following the packets, with assistance from him, the teacher, to make stuffing and macaroni and cheese from scratch. Two holiday staples.

“Come on, might as well wash the veggies after we wash our hands,” Nate urged his seatmate only to pause in reading the instructions on his packet to realized, “I’m Nate by the way. Nice to meet you and hope we have an easy time cooking tonight.” Introductions were needed if they were going to get any kind of easy flow going while working together. It was hard to build any comradery otherwise.

“No worries, there is a first time for everything,” Nate would have said more, especially to ease the concern that the other male had over the packet of papers, was interrupted by the use of the app. That was a handy little piece of tech. Nate might have to ask about that after the class. As it were, the young man just nodded and went about gathering their needed ingredients for cleaning.

Once back at their spot he eyed the first page and paused, “I don’t suppose you know how to use a knife to chop, do you?” Fin did say this was his first cooking class so what were the odds that the other man knew his way around a kitchen knife? “If not, no worries I can do the onions and then walk you through the celery.” Nate figured the onion would be harder to handle, what with it being round and all. The rest of the instructions were pretty simple. Chop the bread, melt the butter, saute the veggies, mix spices and everything together. Then bake.

From what he gathered only the first two pages of their packet really covered both of the current meals. The rest were variations or complications for people who might be more skilled in some areas then not. This ‘stuffing’ stuff didn’t seem out of his wheelhouse, in fact it seemed pretty damn easy to make. Even the quick glance at the mac and cheese on the next page looked simple enough, although the cheese sauce gave him a slight pause.

((Following these receipts - Stuffing, Mac and Cheese))

“That's great. Then I shall leave it in your capable hands,” and Nate did just that. Other than occasionally checking on his partner for the evening they worked relatively smoothly and without any true hiccups. Fin had said he hadn’t been to a cooking class but seemed familiar enough in the kitchen so as they progressed in the simple steps Nate got into the groove of it. He had even deviated a bit from the instructions by browning the bread cubes he had prepped in a little extra butter. By the time the stuffing was tossed together, rather literally, into a casserole dish and put into one of the ovens Fin was pretty much done.

All that was left was to add everything together, top with the breadcrumbs, and bake. Simple. Once it was done and in the second oven at their station there was nothing to do but wait. A glance around the room showed other groups still working, a few experimenting, and one couple who was more interested in each other than the cheese sauce they were working on. Good lord, he really hoped they were a couple because if they weren’t…. Well they either were or they would be shortly.

Either way, it wasn’t any of his business. Instead Nate picked up the packet of paper and flipped to the ‘extra’ pages that listed different ways to cook the two items that were, admittedly smelling fantastic, already cooking. “I know this is a ‘basic’ class but there are just so many ways of cooking them. I wonder how they decided which receipts they list and which ones to actually have the class make.” The young man looked over at Fin and tapped one of the pages. “I mean I know this one is a bit out of reasonable range with all the ingredients,” half of them were spices, “but still. Just between us, it's a bit excessive in my opinion.” That packet of paper was likely half the cost of the entire class, or at least Nate suspected it ate into it. Paper and ink sure wasn’t cheap these days. Especially the ink.