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 Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 4:29 pm
Smiling, she gave him a friendly pat on the arm before beckoning for him to follow. "I'll...I'll teach you some easy tips," she promised, "Once you know how to cook, cafeteria food can't compare." Not to mention that, so long as one saved their food carefully, it tended to be cheaper in the long run.
"The only real downside is that it takes a while," Xiu explained, leading him to the demon dorms, "Because you have to go shopping, and get everything ready, and--...I-I'm sorry, I'm blabbering, aren't I?" She tended to get a little chatty when she was feeling awkward.
When they reached her room, she opened the door and gave a little bob of her head. "You first, Sheridan! Um, please excuse the mess!" Mess? What mess? The only thing that seemed a little disorganized were photos that were spread across her desk top, but at least there wasn't anything on the floor.
"Would you like anything to drink before we start cooking?" She asked, slipping into the walled-off kitchen area that was adjacent to the door to search for aprons. They would also have to pick out a simple recipe too, hmm.
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 8:38 pm
Sheridan nodded, quietly following behind her, his tail swaying with each step. He didn't recall if he had ever been in the demon dorms before, they were certainly impressive, far more elaborate than the monster dorms, more so than he would have thought necessary, but he supposed it was nice to look at.
"It's alright."
He didn't mind if she babbled as she put it. He was sure he did the same when he got on the subject of stars. He was listening to her speak, silently wondering just what he had gotten himself into, cooking sounded a lot more complicated than he had thought.
Hmm? Oh, they had reached Xiu's room? He looked at her for a moment, then peered into the room curiously before stepping inside. Mess? It didn't look especially messy to him, it was at least far neater than his own room with its books and papers scattered throughout, not to mention whatever his cat had decided to destroy while he wasn't there.
"Um, no, I'm fine."
He followed her to the kitchen area stopping at the doorway, glancing around the room to the various appliances, counters, and whatever else was in the room. He didn't have anything like this in his dorm, not that he would have known what to do with it if he had.
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 10:40 pm
"O-okay, so...I was thinking of this recipe." Xiu already had the book open, and she slid it over to Sheridan on the counter. The recipe looked to be for some kind of pan-fried fish with a side of vegetables--a simple yet tasty dish. While he was looking, Xiu was digging through her cabinets and her fridge for everything they would need. "It seems like a good recipe to start with for a beginner."
She paused, pulling her head out of the fridge to look at the dragon. "...D-do you eat vegetables?" She hoped he wouldn't be insulted by the question--considering all the different races at school, the Baku could hardly keep track of which of her friends ate what. Sheridan was also the first dragon of his kind that she had ever met.
Sliding a cutting board onto the counter, she flopped the fish on top and, with a small grimace, grabbed a knife. "I don't really like this part, but...it has to be done. Um...ever gut a fish before?" She was also tempted to ask him if he wanted to do it for her, but that wouldn't make her a very good teacher, would it?
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 7:25 am
He stepped toward the counter somewhat uncertainly before stopping to look down at the book, reading the directions and ingredients for the recipe. Measuring, he could do that, though admittedly he wasn't too familiar with these terms. How did they compare to grams and liters?
Looking up as she spoke, Sheridan answered with a nod.
"I do, fruit as well."
It had been a legitimate question. There were afterall individuals who were strictly carnivorous just as there were those who were vegetarian and those who ate both. Having been unfamiliar with each other previous, Xiu would have had no way of knowing that Sheridan was quite fond of vegetables of most types.
He watched as she put the fish on the counter, it looked--wait, had he ever what? He shook his head, his eyes widened slightly at the idea. No, he definitely had not.
"You don't...eat it whole?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 7:05 pm
Xiu made a note and filed it away in her mental cabinet. Considering that she sometimes like to make random desserts or dishes to give to friends, she liked to keep a list of what they did and didn't eat. "Is there anything you don't eat, then?" She asked, turning to smile briefly at him. Then her gaze slid back to the fish, and she grimaced. Time to get to work.
"Hm? Oh, nope! Maybe it's just me, but there are only certain parts of the fish I can eat, so..." She trailed off, tilting her head a little as she began to gut the fish, her smooth movements indicating that she had done it many times before. The frown on her face, on the other hand, indicated that it was not a job that she liked very much. "If you eat fish whole, you probably don't have to gut them like me, but this is how you do it if you have friends over who don't eat the insides."
Satisfied by the job she had done, Xiu grabbed a heavy pan and put it on the stove, letting it sit to heat up. "Any questions so far?" She chirped, giggling a little. She felt like a real teacher!
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 9:41 pm
He was quiet for a moment, thinking about the question. He couldn't think of anything off hand that he absolutely would not eat. Though he supposed there were some things he generally preferred not to eat.
"I don't really eat red meat, but I suppose I have enjoyed it a few times."
He wasn't especially fond of the taste or flavor. It was always either too red or too tough, not to mention it always dripped red all over his plate. He much preferred the flavors of the sea and the sky.
Oh, he supposed he hadn't really thought about the fact that not everyone liked all parts of the fish. Wait, she was gutting the fish now? He watched for only a moment before hastily looking toward the recipe book deciding he did not want to watch that right now.
"You turned on the heat before you added the fish?"
Wasn't that a waste of heat?
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:50 am
"Pretty much the same as me, then." Xiu laughed softly, wrinkling her nose at the thought of red meat. It wasn't that she didn't eat it, but she didn't particular enjoy it. Too much red meat also tended to make her feel quite ill. "I'm not much for meat in general, actually. I prefer sweet things. Spookies, cakes," There was a brief paused, and she then she added sheepishly, "And dreams. Especially good dreams."
She was a Baku after all, albeit a rather strange one.
Nodding at his question, she gestured towards the recipe book. "We want the pan to be nice and hot when we add in the oil and the fish, otherwise it won't cook evenly. Until then..." She reached into their cabinet to grab some spices and flour, sliding them towards Sheridan.
"We need to add a little spice to the fish and dust it lightly in flour. Would you like to do the honors?" It wouldn't be a very effective cooking lesson if there wasn't any hands on work.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:28 am
"I like spookies."
He gave he an inquisitive look, wondering for a moment how one ate dreams and how they were obtained. Intriguing, but ultimately a question he dismissed in favor of the current subject at hand, that was the fish.
"Oh, that makes sense."
He'd never thought of that. It was a good thing he wasn't the one teaching the lesson, or he'd have simply thrown the fish into the pan and let it do whatever it was going to do...which was most like burn to a blackened crisp for all he knew about cooking.
A twitch of his tail, Sheridan blinked at her, then looked to the fish and then the recipe book. Spice and flour? Uh... Okay, he could do that, maybe. But how much was he supposed to put on it? He scanned the page of the book, searching for the answer to that question without much luck. What did 'to taste' and 'dust' mean? And which did he put on first?
Taking the spice container in one hand, he shook it over the fish, probably much more heavily than he should have and certainly not very neatly. Then the flour, oh wait, was that too much? Argg, he was making a mess!
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 3:55 pm
"Oh! Do you?" What a lovely coincidence! Since she and a friend had baked spookies the other day, Xiu had been left with a whole batch of them. She made a mental note to give Sheridan one of the little packages she made after lunch.
Noticing his frustration, Xiu suppressed a giggle and reached forward to help him. "Dusting means that you just want a light coat," She explained, brushing some of the flour off with a clean hand, "But you're not doing a bad job! So, while we wait for the pan to heat up..." Patting off her hands, she slid the fish and cutting board to the side and pulled out a clean board.
"Chopping vegetables. This part is easy, so don't worry and take your time, okay?" She grabbed one of the random vegetables she had set out and a knife for each of them. "You just want to slice them up like this. About a centimeter thick?"
As she went through her half of the vegetables, the Baku hummed thoughtfully. "So, what can you tell me about astronomy? I've always been interested in it, but..."
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:50 pm
"Oh...okay."
He looked down at the flour he had scattered all over the counter as well as the fish. This was a lot harder than he had thought! He hoped she didn't mind the mess. He would help her clean up when they were done, that would make it okay right?
Cutting vegetables, that he was sure he could do, but as he took the knife in one hand he paused again. About a centimeter? Did it need to be exact? Should he measure? Where should he start? Uh...
He turned to watch Xiu, studying for a moment before he finally made the first cut. Ah, that wasn't so hard, it was actually pretty easy (but he was still looking up every few moments to make sure he was doing it right!).
"What would you like to know about?"
There was so much to the subject, so much in the universe, so much to learn and tell.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 9:23 pm
It was a good question, but not one that Xiu really knew how to answer. A creased formed between the Baku's brows as she continued chopping the vegetables. "I'm not even sure where to start." She admitted, laughing sheepishly, "I wanted to study some astronomy, but there's just...so much to learn. Are there any...um, 'basics' that I should know first?"
With everything chopped and ready, she eyed the pan for a moment. Perhaps it would be best to cook the vegetables first, so the fish would be nice and hot when it was time to eat. She ran her hand until the sink for a second and flicked water at the pan, nodding in approval when the droplets sizzled and disappeared. "This means that it's hot enough to cook with," She explained, before grabbing a small contained of oil and pouring some in.
The pan immediately began to hiss loudly and the oil bubbled and popped, seemingly almost threateningly. "Your turn!" She chirped, rummaging around in her fridge for some sauce she had made the other day. "Just put in all the vegetables, add the sauce, and mix it around for a little bit."
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Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:20 pm
"A great place to start is to take a telescope to the roof and look around."
He paused for a moment, taking care to not cut himself with the knife as he sliced the vegetables.
"I could let you use one of mine if you like along with a good starting book, and I will answer any questions I can."
A book seemed a good place to start, it was where he always went when he had questions or a subject he wanted to learn more on. The massive collection of books in his room was a testament to that, as was the growing stack of library books he still had yet to return.
Deciding he had probably already cut the vegetables finer than he should have, Sheridan set the knife on the counter before looking up. Whoa, what the--he had not expected the sound of crackling oil, eyeing the pan warily for a moment, looking to Xiu and then back at the pan and then back at Xiu.
"Okay."
Still not entirely convinced the pan wasn't going to suddenly burst into flames or something similar, Sheridan nodded then started to scoop the vegetables into the pan, keeping his hands as far away as possible the entire time. A curious look at the sauce before he cautiously added that as well.
"What do I stir it with?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 9:33 pm
A telescope? That was a good idea! The Baku turned to look at Sheridan in surprise, eyes wide at his offer. After a moment of gaping, her tail gave a slight wag and a hopeful look spread over her face. "R-really? May I? I-I mean, I don't want to impose or anything..."
It was almost like they were trading lessons at this point. Teaching the basics of astronomy in exchange for being taught the basics of cooking. So long as the dragon really didn't mind, then Xiu most definitely wanted to take him up on that offer.
What did he stir wit--oops! Hastily grabbing a wooden spoon, Xiu held it out to him with a sheepish smile. "Sorry. And what do you think so far? Not so hard, right?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 8:27 pm
Ah, a spoon. Reaching out, Sheridan grasped the spoon, then cautiously he began by poking at the vegetables. Gaining more confidence, he began to stir the vegetables, mixing them with the sauce. Okay, that was easy enough.
"I don't mind."
The telescope he had in mind was a smaller one, basic in its design. It was one of his older telescopes, but he had kept it in excellent condition, and it would be perfect for a beginner.
"If you like, we can go by the monster dorms later and I'll get them for you."
He smiled, looking up for a moment before the sizzling in the pan called his attention back.
"It's not too hard."
Or it wouldn't have been if he actually knew what he was doing, but he was catching on.
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:28 pm
"I-if it's really no bother to you, I'd love that!" She beamed, clasping her hands together, "I'll be very, very careful with it!" The last thing she wanted to do was destroy--or even scratch, for that matter--something someone else let her borrow. She liked to make sure that she returned things in tip-top shape.
Xiu definitely seemed a lot calmer and more cheerful now, in contrast to the blushing and stuttering Baku she had been in the library (granted that falling on someone warranted such a reaction).
"I'm glad. You're doing very well." She complimented, reaching into a cabinet yet again to get two plates this time. "They look about done! Just split them between the two plates, and we can start on the fish. I promise you this will taste good!"
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