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 Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 5:02 pm
A smile and a nod. When they were done here they would go get the telescope then, or he would bring it to her, either way. His tail twitched, he would always be happy to introduce another to beauty of the stars and universe, and all the mysteries that lay beyond.
"Okay."
Picking up one plate first, he scooped out half of the vegetables before setting that one aside, then taking the other plate for the remaining half. He may have been a touch of a perfectionist when it came to splitting the vegetables exactly in half, taking some from one plate to the other until he was satisfied.
"It smells delicious."
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 1:15 am
Biting down on her bottom lip, Xiu suppressed a giggle as she watched with what care he took to separate the vegetables perfectly. It definitely wasn't a bad thing though--how the food looked was just as important as how it tasted. It seemed that even if Sheridan wasn't very sure about the cooking part, he was a natural at presentation.
"It does, doesn't it?" Leaning over, she set a clean pan onto one of the other elements, and started to heat it up. "Now for the fish. We don't want to cook it in this same pan because the sauce will make it taste kind of funny." She poured a bit of oil and added a dollop of butter into the new pan, watching as it began to sizzle. Swirling it around, Xiu stepped to the side and motioned for the dragon to take over.
"Just toss the fish on, and kind of...lightly shake the pan from side to side, like this?" She picked the pan up by the handle to demonstrate. "We want a nice golden crust to form, and then flip it over to do the same to the other side."
While he worked on that, Xiu scurried around the little kitchen to prepare a nice fruit tea to go with their meal--something refreshing and chilled to go with the pan-fried fish.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 2:37 pm
The dragon nodded. He guess that made sense, though he would have never thought of it if she hadn't mentioned it. Was it really that bad though, to mix the fish with the vegetables if they were going to eat them together? Clearly Xiu knew what she was doing, and since he did not, he would take her word for it.
"Okay."
That seemed easy enough, right? He eyed the pan for a moment, then the fish, and finally deciding he could indeed do this, he picked up the fish and dropped it into the pan. Ahhh! That had not been a good idea! Hot oil, hot oil! It had splattered everywhere! In retrospect he should have been more careful when he did that.
"Umm..."
Help.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 4:39 pm
Xiu had been looking elsewhere at the time, having been distracted with making tea. This was not a very wise idea considering that, as she was trying to teach someone who has never cooked before to pan-fry a fish, she should have been paying a little more attention. As it was, she didn't realize that anything was wrong until a tiny flick of hot oil spat at her hand, causing the Baku to jolt in surprise.
"Wha--oh! Sheridan, are you okay?!" Without even asking if the oil had hit him too--she assumed it had, considering how close his hands were to the pan--she hastily grabbed his hands and dragged him over the sink, having him hold them under the cold running water. For all she knew, it could have just been a tiny speck of a splatter like the one that hit her, but better to be safe than sorry!
"S-sorry." She wilted, her tail and ears drooping slightly. She should have shown him how to do it first, or at least should have watched him! Remembering the fish at the last moment, Xiu carefully reached out to give the pan a small shuffle, just to ensure that their lunch didn't end up burning.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 6:12 pm
Sheridan nodded, as much caught off guard by her actions as he had been by the spattering oil in the first place.
"I'm okay."
He showed his hands, they were unharmed, no burns. It seemed the bulk of the oil had spilled on the stove and the counter. Whatever oil had hit his hands had been no match for his thick skin and scales.
"But I think I made a mess of your kitchen."
A blush touched his ears, a tail twitch as he gave her a reassuring smile. There was no need for her to apologize, if it wasn't for her he would still know nothing about cooking, now he was learning.
He was definitely going to be helping her clean up afterward though, he'd really made a mess.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 6:42 pm
Oops, perhaps she had overreacted just a little bit? Blushing from embarrassment, she abruptly let go of his hands and handed him a clean cloth to dry them off. "S-sorry, I thought...well, it's good that you're fine." The fact that his skin might have been different from and stronger than hers had never occurred to her.
Turning to survey her kitchen, Xiu laughed and shook her head quickly. "It's okay!" She reassured him, dampening a cloth so that she could wipe up some of the oil, "Don't worry about it. As for the fish, um..."
She eyed their meal, grabbing spatula to poke at it experimentally. When it didn't spit at her, she sighed in relief. "I don't think it'll be causing too much trouble, if you wanted to try finishing the cooking? It looks like the bottom side is almost done, so you can use this to flip it. Then just shuffle the pan as usual." She had to finish the tea, but this time, she would be a little more careful to keep an eye on her new friend's progress.
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Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 8:39 am
"Thanks."
A quiet smile, he took the cloth and dried his hands before folding it carefully and setting it on the counter that was furthest away from the stove and, by proxy, the mess. After already making a mess between the flour and the oil, he could at least be neat with the towel.
"I'll try."
This time he was much more cautious, sliding the spatula under the fish before he lifted it from the pan, then as gently as he possibly could flipping it over and letting it land on the other side. There was still a bit of spatter as the oil hissed and crackled causing the dragon to take a step back, but it had only been a few drops this time.
"How much longer does it need to cook?"
Cautiously he reached out to grasp the handle of the pan, a quick shake across the heat before setting it back and pulling his hand away.
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:02 am
"Um, well, see this?" She stuffed the fruit tea into the fridge to let it chill and moved back to the stove. Leaning forward, Xiu pointed to the surface of the fish, jerking her hand back when a bit of oil popped up at her. "You want a kind of golden crust to form, like on this side. You can lift up a corner of the fish with your spatula if you want to see if it's ready."
Since they were just about done now, the Baku excused herself so that she could grab some utensils and napkins so that she could set the table. She didn't invite others over for lunch a lot, so she hoped that she wasn't forgetting anything. As for the oil-splattered stove and counter...
Well, she could clean that up later, right? A meal was best eaten when it was fresh and hot off the pan. Determining that everything was ready, Xiu moved back into the kitchen area and smiled.
"Ready? You can slid the fish onto the plates now, and we can start eating." She leaned forward to turn off the element, and then went to retrieve the tea she had prepared.
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:22 pm
Sheridan nodded, poking at the fish for a moment before sliding the spatula under the fish to lift it up enough to see the bottom. It looked done right? He still wasn't quite sure how brown 'golden brown' was, but it did seem to match the color of the topside, maybe a little darker.
"I think it's done."
Carefully he lifted the fish from the pan, taking as much care to divide it evenly between the two plates as he had the vegetables. Setting the spatula aside, he turned to the stove for a moment to make sure all burners were off (cooking was like anything else involving an open heat source right? Never leave it unattended). Then picking up both plates he turned to Xiu.
"Which one would you like?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 1:49 pm
"Either is fine! You did so well dividing it, that I'm not sure there's too much of a difference." She teased lightly, reaching out to take one of the plates. Setting it down on the table, she eyed the fish for a moment before looking up to beam at Sheridan, her tail giving a little wave. "It looks really good, Sheridan!" Xiu nodded approvingly and clapped. "Ready to see how it tastes, now?"
She beckoned for him to take a seat before she slid into her own. After taking a sip of her tea (just to ensure that she hadn't completely botched it up, which she fortunately had not) the Baku gave the fish a taste testing.
"...It's delicious!" She chirped, grinning at the dragon with her fork in mouth, "Give it a try! You're a pretty good cook, you know."
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:17 pm
Taking his own plate to the table, Sheridan eyed Xiu for a moment as if he suspected she was just being nice before settling into the open chair. It certainly smelled good! And it looked good too, well only one thing left to do...
Picking up his fork, he broke off a piece of the fish, a moment to let it cool, and then--hey, it was good! He looked up with a smile, a flick of his tail, and then tentatively tried a bite of the vegetables. Ah, those were delicious, hmmm, he wondered what was in the sauce.
"I think you're the one who really did the cooking, I just made a mess."
He had blushed at the compliment, his ears turning a light shade of silver, he really hadn't done that much. Well, maybe he was a bit proud of himself for learning something new and at least not burning anything. Maybe he could learn to cook after all.
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Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:33 am
"Don't say that," Xiu scolded lightly, grinning as she took another bite. It really did turn out well! Swallowing, she continued, "You're the one who cooked the vegetables and the fish, right? I just stood at the side and watched. As for the mess..."
She trailed off and hid a smile behind her hand. Honestly? The mess was nothing in comparison to what Xiu had done when she had first started cooking. Between dropping things and setting objects on fire, a little oil splatter was a very tame incident, especially since no one was hurt. However, instead of voicing all of this aloud, the Baku simply laughed and waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Don't worry about it. It really isn't a big mess anyways."
Despite her little size, Xiu could clearly pack away the food when she was hungry. She had eaten a fair bit already when she looked up to Sheridan and smiled. "Let me know if you'd like this recipe, okay? Or if you'd like a couple of other simple recipes? I have plenty to share."
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Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:32 pm
Now he was sure she was being nice. He supposed he had done the physical cooking, but she had chosen and added the flavors. But he did not voice that opinion, deciding it was a battle best left unfought. They had both cooked it together, how about that?
"I'll help you clean it up."
Another bite of fish, he looked up with a sheepish smile. He wasn't quite convinced it was a small mess despite her insistence, but even if it was, he couldn't leave it for her to clean up. He'd made the mess, so he'd clean it up.
But it was a delicious meal, and he soon found himself devouring his food, he must have been hungrier than he thought.
"I'd like that."
He wasn't sure where he was going to cook, he'd figure that out later.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 12:55 am
Clean up? She didn't think it was too much to clean up, but it would certainly go faster with two pairs of hands instead of only one. "We can do so quickly," She agreed, standing up and gathering up her empty plate and utensils before reaching for Sheridan's, "It'll be pretty easy to to clean up...unlike my first attempt at cooking, where I set the curtains on fire."
Xiu grinned, but instead of divulging more information, picked up all the dirty dishes and retreated to the kitchen to wash them. For the counter and stove, she laid out two cloths and bottle of something to remove the stains. She figured if she managed to wash all the dishes quickly enough, she could help out with wiping up the oil splatters.
"I'll get you my recipe notebook in a bit," She promised, grimacing as she gave a particularly stubborn spot on the pan a hard scrub, "And you're always welcome to come here and ask questions or cook if you'd like. It's nice to have company for meals once in a while, don't you think?" In fact, Xiu felt like she had to make it a habit to invite someone over once a week just so they could cook and eat together. It was a lot more enjoyable then doing so alone, that was for sure.
As they hadn't used too many cooking tools in the first place, Xiu managed to get everything washed in no time at all, setting them on the drying rack. Before moving to help Sheridan, she slid open a drawer--one that seemed to be filled with notebooks--and sifted through them. Finally, she pulled one out, flipped through it, and put it down on a clean spot beside the dragon.
"Here, these are some of my earlier recipes. They're not as difficult to make, but they still taste just as good." If one were to look through it, they would find a variety of recipes filled to the last page, some of which had little notes indicating things like, "turns out better with less sugar" and "replace frozen with fresh ones". Looked like she had gone and made some amendments based off her own results.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:10 pm
Wait, what? The curtains on fire? Sheridan blinked, watching Xiu as she disappeared into the kitchen. What...how had she...okay, so maybe he hadn't done that badly after all. Of course, that didn't mean he wouldn't have accomplished something similar had he been on his own!
"How did you do that?"
A curious tail flick, he followed her into the kitchen immediately taking one of the clothes from the counter. First thing was to wipe up the the majority of the oil, then he rinsed off the cloth and using the cleaner to finish the job.
It wasn't as difficult to clean up as he had feared, the oil and flour easily removed from the counter, and though it was a bit more difficult to clean the stove, with Xiu's help it didn't take long at all.
"Thank you."
With a smile, he took the notebook, flipping through a few pages with great curiosity before carefully setting it aside with the book he had brought from the library. It looked like there was plenty in the notebook to keep him occupied for a while, perhaps he would pick one out to try later when he returned to his own dorm.
"Maybe next time I'll bring something with me."
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