Welcome to Gaia! ::

Twirling on her heels Acacia let out a long musical laugh as Tambrey agreed to at least try the caviar, she of course understood that the woman was a vegetarian but she was willing to try the offered item just to please her. “Alright! Give me just two shakes sweetie,” merrily chimed the slender built woman as she pulled out the red caviar and set it back out, it was the less salty and pungent tasting of the two, she didn't want to overwhelm her friend with the fishy taste. With a quick face the light-haired medic once again washed her hands before addressing the bookish grunt. “Hey come here,” she urged softly once she was near the fish eggs again, casual movements allowed the slender framed woman to brandish one of the mother of pearl spoons from the case seemingly without effort. Setting the teaspoon down on a paper towel Acacia pulled a small lemon towards her sanitized station and cut into it until she had perfectly carved wedges sitting neatly on the counter lined up evenly spaced out. “Give the caviar a few moments to slightly ease out of the chill. Normally when serving the roe you let it sit out about ten minutes prior to serving and you normally don't open it until you are about to serve it. Um---” she tapped her cheek with her well-kept fingernail almost as if she was in thought. “Now a lot of people fu---erm mess up when serving caviar by using metal spoons, yeah that is a huge no-no, if any metal is use on the eggs even silver it oxidizes the eggs and gives it a very bad taste, ruining it. I use mother of pearl spoons, but you can also use bone, tortoise shell, stone, and wood. Even plastic works if you don't have a proper caviar spoon.” Acacia explained as if it were everyday knowledge that she was discussing, the manner in which she spoke revealed volumes about her etiquette and rich up bringing even though her tenor was anything but condescending or snobbish. Peeking towards her friend almost sheepishly the slender framed woman showed the spoon to her friend as she popped open the jar.

“The proper and simplest way to taste caviar is to place it on the back of your hand between the thumb and forefinger junction, just two or three eggs is a big enough amount to sample the taste as well as quality of the roe,” as she explained the light-haired grunt took Tambrey's hand in her own and very carefully placed two red eggs on the spot that she was meant to sample from. “Just suck it off, and if it is too much for you to handle just get one of the lemon wedges and bite into it, it will instantly drown out the caviar taste. For the most part.”

Stepping away from her friend Acacia grinned brightly just for a few moments before sniffing the air and narrowing her eyes playfully. “You used onion in the puree didn't you? Nice choice, but we are going to get you outside of your box before we are done here today yet! Go on, give it a taste, and if you have to spit it out, it just means more for your lovely lady bird.”

The slender built woman bubbled with a giggle as she watched her friend going for the lemon after tasting the small amount of roe on the back of her hand. “Yeah, metal really ruins the taste,” she commented in return affirming Tambrey's earlier question. “Well, you might not want to buy it for yourself but if I happen to drag you off one day to an upscale party, I want to be sure that you don't feel out of place---” Acacia trailed off for a few moments then blushed. “I mean it isn't like I was planning on taking you anywhere like that---but ya know just in case.”

Fidgeting with her hands the light-haired medic eyed her bony fingers as well as her palms and knuckles, her mouth jerked with a small twitch as if she had spotted something disgusting. Shaking her head Acacia forced her eyes away from her already pink hands and smiled at her friend even though it was apparent she was was uneasy suddenly.

“I'm not saying anything bad about onion, it is a very versatile ingredient, it can be savory, sweet, bitter, spicy, crisp. Onions are wonderful. But we are gonna take the puree up a notch. Now, when you think of Asian cooking, besides ginger, garlic, soy, what other flavors are present in several dishes?” The question seemed rhetorical as she asked it, grinning sweetly the pale complexioned medical grunt briskly strode towards were the puree was sitting on the counter near the food processor. “Tamie could you do me a big favor and put the caviar back into the refrigerator with the lid on it. I need to stir the tofu and get the other ingredients ready.”

It was almost humorous how the tall light-haired woman seemed to be everywhere in the kitchen almost at once, her movements were anything but frantic yet the way she held her body and her strides seemed urgent as if every action was more important than the next. It was within seconds that the woman had stirred the peppered onion tofu before removing it from the heat, then was near the puree holding a small plastic sealed fruit cup that contained mandarin oranges, cherries, and pineapples. Without explaining Acacia began to add the fruit into the processing unit as well as adding a few herbs, pinon nuts, a bit of garlic and lemongrass. “Okay, so I just added a few items to the puree, the sweetness of the oranges and pineapple will counter combat the hit of the pepper but the heat will still be present, the other items are meant for undertone and texture. A bit of zest from the lemongrass and a buttery crunch of the nuts. Now my darling chef in training, we are actually ready to get the ratatouille all together. We don't' want to fully cook the bean curd otherwise it will be chewy instead of firm when the dish as a whole is ready. Now I am going to give you a step by step of how to layer the ratatouille but I am going to let you do it all by yourself. Step one, get the deep round white dish that I already set out for us, step two, add the puree to the bottom of the dish as well about four table spoons of extra virgin olive oil, strep three layer the sliced vegetables anyway that you like in an overlaying circular pattern; alternating the cooked tofu and onion with about three to four fresh vegetables in the pattern. Once this step is complete drizzle the glaze over the whole dish, then cover it with parchment paper. Then just pop it in the oven for about forty minutes.”

As she explained each step Acacia was already busy getting another mixture going, with basil, rosemary, lemon, garlic, and butter and was working the paste by hand as she talked to Tambrey keeping eye contact with the woman; it was apparent that she was working with the escargot for Palu.

“Any questions?”

Acacia's fair complexioned face went from enthusiasm to an embarrassed perplexed expression, her smile wavered until her mouth pursed into a small 'oh'. “Hmm, feel free to wake up Palu. Ampule still needs to stay in his ball for a little while longer. He he doesn't wake up from his nap on his own he soooooo gets grumpy,” down casting her vision so that her eyes were locked on the cool tile beneath her bare feet. “As for what we will do for forty minutes, that is up to you. I don't mind if you read. I know that I will be cleaning the kitchen while we wait.”

The cooking space was already clean by normal standards, she had been taking dirtied dishes to the sink and dishwasher when she had finished, everything was already clean but according to Acacia and the manner in which she spoke; seemed to her that the culinary area was filthy.

“Or we could talk if you want. Or something.”

Acacia's expression faded into something close to scrutiny at the bookish grunt's words, clearly she hadn't expected her friend to actually want to help clean the kitchen; as refreshing as it was to hear it still was just a slight bit surprising. Cupping her own jaw with her left hand the fragile built medic hummed with thought. “Well, if you really want to help. That would really be wonderful. I mean I will mop and everything so you don't have to worry about that, but if you could help with the dishes that would be great. I will also get the counters, I don't really want you to be handling bleach too much before you eat. Or maybe we could just hold off on cleaning until everything is ready. We could just get the dishes done. Maybe that would be a better idea?” The latter of the statement seemed reluctant almost strained, the idea of just walking away without cleaning immediately was a bit disturbing for the taller of the pair but she pulled off a neutral attitude when she offered the inquiry.

Flipping the escargot into a small pan Acacia worked with her left hand as her right donned her hip, her stance was casual as she worked the dish with what seemed like effortless motions; indeed the movements were graceful and fluid with each action she took. From behind the light-haired grunt looked at home in the kitchen, barefooted , casually dressed, at a closer inspection Acacia seemed calumniating and fidgety. “Normally,” idly began the aristocratic sounding medic. “when making escargot you cook the snails then pour them back into the shells but since Palu is going to be eating these I am just going to garnish her dish with them as they are. The whole beak thing seems like it would be hard to consume them if I put them back in the shell. I know she is a bird and they are used to breaking shells but---” Acacia wriggled her shoulders with a shrug as if the thought was something that baffled her. “kinda seems like a lot of mess, all the pecking and scratching and whatever. Regardless I don't think she will mind much, if they aren't in the shells.”

Setting the dish to cook slowly on an extremely low heat the woman spun around to face her friend wearing a charming smirk at lit up her fair complexioned face highlighting her attractive sharp features noticeably.

“I'll get the wine, lets go sit down and talk for a little bit, girl to girl.”

Acacia chuckled as she caught all the tidbits of what her friend had stated, a sense of pride flared as she had taught the bookish woman a few things that she didn't know before; sure they were practically useless pieces of information but still she had educated her friend about some of the finer view points on cooking as well as dining. With a quickened stride the light-haired medic rushed over to the freeze and pulled out the bottle of chilling muscat, pausing for a few moments Acacia gazed around the kitchen while gnawing on her bottom lip some. “Ya know, not a lot of people know that you cook the snails separately. In fact if you think about it, snails eat decayed matter for their food source so you would assume they would make you sick if you ate them. However,” Acacia continued her dialog as she walked over to a cabinet and pulled three wine glasses down followed by a very beautiful almost crystalline bowl from the cupboard as well. “there is a long process in getting snails ready for human consumption. Most are breed and a few weeks before they are intended for the cutting block they only feed them certain types of foods, however most helix snails are disemboweled of all matter in their body before being packaged. Ergo, they are already removed from their shell for that process alone. Then there is the matter of proper thorough cooking, personally it is a lot of effort to make escargot but at the same time when people think sophisticated high fashion food, escargot and caviar are two items that are extremely high on the list. Closely followed by pate, fondue, and foie gras. Which might I add,” her voice tightened and lowered in pitch, showing a sudden flare of conviction and seriousness. “You will never see me, eat or cook with foie gras, I don't condone the abuse and mistreatment of waterfowl, especially ducks. The process is cruel and unfair to the animals. So just a heads up, that is one dish that you would have to learn to make yourself if you were ever interested in it. Which I doubt you are, I mean---foie gras is fattened goose or duck liver and is used on its own or prepared with meats---I just---it really isn't something I would assume that you would ever want to try. Sorry---I just---ramble sometimes, just tell me to shut up next time, Tamie.”

Stepping away with the glasses, bowl, and wine in hand Acacia gave a half-grin that showed signs of being embarrassed. Broadening her smirk the medic strolled past the bookish grunt almost as if teasing her as she walked, the exaggerated sway of her hips were enough to make anyone at least slightly glance downward, tilting her head over her shoulder Acacia chuckled again as she stopped and held open the kitchen door for her friend. “Ladies first.” Sweetly worded the taller of the two as she held the door open politely for the other woman to enter though. She had every intention of pulling her chair out for her as well when they finally made it towards the table of choosing. Indeed she had been embarrassed by her own outburst of animal mistreatment but she tried to press past the comments to make the environment more enjoyable for both of them.

“Cucumber sandwiches and pasta are just as good as lobster thermidor,” Acacia stated softly as she lead the way across the dinning hall from the kitchen. “As far as I am concerned, a gourmet meal isn't about what you are eating but rather whom you are dinning with. In your house I am sure every meal was more fancy than anything that I have ever had.”

The nearest table seemed to be as good as the next to the tall woman, setting the flutes, bowl, and wine bottle down upon the table Acacia grinned towards Tambrey a warm sweet gesture then without effort the well-mannered grunt pulled out a chair for her friend to be seated in. Waiting for the woman to take a seat Acacia stood behind the dark-haired woman then leaned forward catching the back of Tambrey's ear with her breath. “Have you ever heard the story of Cinderella,” tenderly whispered the light-haired medic in a simmer of a voice. “Even a peasant girl can be a princess, all she has to do is meet her prince charming.” Firmly stated the older of the two grunts before sidestepping and taking the wine in her hand, it was apparent that the medic was left-handed rather than right as she twisted the built in metal cork popper; wrinkling her nose as she placed the bottom of the bottle flat against her abdomen Acacia pressed both of her thumbs as hard as she could against the plug.



The wine's unlike with champagne didn't shoot its cork across the room dramatically or spurt half of the contents in a geyser of bubbles and foamy spray rather the muscat gave a loud yet simple noise of success; and was open with not so much as a drop spilled or wasted. Shaking her head some Acacia sighed with a bit of relief, sometimes the corks were difficult to get out and would break, she was grateful that today the bottle didn't give her any embarrassing issues. Thin digits reached over shaking ever so slightly connecting with a long slender wine flute, holding the glass in place the frail built twenty-four year old tipped the bottle as she poured it with one hand filling the canter halfway full of the sparkling Icterine colored liquid; sliding it in front of Tambrey she then poured herself a glass of equal amount then sat the bottle down on the table.

“May I have the pleasure of pushing you to the table?” Delicately offered Acacia in a charming tone as she grinned impishly towards the bookish researcher. Her smile when she wore it genuinely; was infectious.

Acacia really couldn't agree more with the statement that her friend had made, there really weren't very many princes left in the world; especially charming ones. The thought disturbed the slender built medic, all women deserved a prince charming of their own; no matter whom they were.

'If love was genderless I could be her princess charming. Dammit, get that thought out of your head Evalyn! Change the subject, just change the stupid subject.'

Quirking a slender white eyebrow at Tambrey's comment Acacia couldn't help but laugh and slowly ease the woman on the chair into place at the table edge, it was a small comment but it was the distraction that she needed to run away from her fantasy. “A pretty color hm? You know, maybe you are already a princess and don't know it, because as cute as that statement was about the color of the wine and how it might sound a little odd to some. You actually just began the wine tasting judgment process without even know it. The color of the wine is the first step in valuing a good wine, followed by smell, then lightly sampling the consistency against your tongue,” Acacia stated airily as she pulled out her own chair and sat down while crossing her legs delicately. “The first sip of the wine is spit out so that you can get the subtle undertones and aftertaste of the beverage. Also if you are at a winery and you are doing a wine tasting, you are likely to get sloshed if you swallow every sip. Gawd, I must be so boring to listen to! Ugh---I am completely not used to social interaction, I'm all nervous---look,” holding out her left hand the slender woman attempted to steady the quaking of her fingertips yet her digits continued to tremble ever so slightly. “Pathetic huh?”

Shifting in the wooden chair Acacia lowered her hand to the wine glass and lifted the crystalline canter while smirking towards the bookish grunt seated across from herself. “To a new friendship, cheers.”