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 Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 3:19 pm
shirokitsune [ XD! I know everyone is sleeping or away still, but I'm so bored .. xD so here is another post. sweatdrop ]Shiori had come now to the kitchens, and saw that Miyoko was already preparing some of her ingredients. It had begun to smell delicious and cozy. She went to the low brick oven in the center of the room, lit it carefully, and placed a large black skillet on top. She let it heat up for a while.
She was quiet for a moment, then -
"Miyoko-san, are you doing well? You seem so lost in thought. Did you know that young man? He was very nice to give you your shoe back." She smiled at her warmly.
She put a bit of olive oil in the pan and watched it simmer for a bit out of the corner of her violet-brown eyes.[16]
( post 16 )
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:07 pm
Shiori gave a compassionate giggle in the return. "Well, it would be perfectly okay if you did, at least to me. I think the okiya's should be more open in certain things .. maybe that's not the popular opinion of others though. I suppose it's better to keep things like they always have been. Tradition is very important of course."
But love is even better, she thought privately. She was purposefully being vague - Shiori had a habit of noticing everything and remembering it, and she liked to be specific and exacting at times, as was said before. But she did not want to seem too interested, and she didn't want to seem nosy or meddlesome, after all.
"Oh! You are? Don't worry, I tried to pick up a few more things while I was out. What would you need?" She went ahead and put the vegetables in the pan for Rose-san. It hissed and popped loudly ..
[18]
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:11 pm
" Spring onions. I knew I was missing somthing when I passed that veggitable stand." she said, cutting a bar of tofu into little squares. Plopping them into the stew , she saw the spring onions sticking out from under some soba noodles. " Oh, you got some!" she ran over and hugged Shiori happily " You're wonderful, Shiori-chan!" she grab enough and began to cut them, humming to herself gleefully.
( post: 17 )
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 3:56 am
Ayame walked into the kitchen.
"Rose-san, Shiori-san, I'll be checking if we need any more food." Ayame said. "We certainly make the cupboard look quite roomy, My; you could fit a full-grown dog in there!" She searched the cupboards, her eyes darting slowly to and fro.
"We seem to be short on miso shiru." She finally announced. "Serena-san, could I go to the market to buy some miso for us?"
[Post 16]
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 5:48 am
Rose nods to her and slices the onions with ease, whirling around and sneezing again, her face would have been in the direction of the exit. "excuse me..." rose begins starting her tea, "the onions are right here"
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:15 am
Shiori laughed and hugged the girl back warmly, then bowed her head. "Thank you for your kindness Miyoko-san! I'm so glad I picked them up."
She looked to Ayame and smiled. "That would be terribly sweet of you. You don't have to of course. But wouldn't it be lovely if we could make meals together often, maids and maiko alike!"
Poor Rose, Shiori thought. She herself didn't have much of an aversion to onions, as she had been used to chopping them up and using them for all sorts of things (now mabonasu, on the other hand .. ) she reached over and retrieved a bowl of very cold spring water, and passed it to Rose. "Here! Sometimes it helps if you rinse your hands and the knife if your eyes start to water .. at least it did for my mum."
In the case of her oyakodon, it was coming along quite well. She added the sliced chicken and green onion, and after it was cooked she poured a beaten egg over everything. Right away she sprinkled the snow peas on top. Now she just had to wait till the egg was mostly cooked.
[19]
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:00 pm
Rose smiles "I'll be fine" rose stifles her last sneeze, and moves on, gathering some of the spare herbs and spices, grounding some up, making a rather odd tea with what it seemed, random things. rose knew what she was doing, her tea was different than most, it had many flavors to it. sometimes hot, sweet, sour, bitter. anything but in the end, it tasted wonderful
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 3:56 pm
"Yes, Ayame, you may go to the market," Serena answered with a smile.
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 3:46 am
Now that the stew was cooked, she took her cooked rice and filled a large round dish with it. She then picked up the still-sizzling skillet and tipped it so that the stew poured gently onto the rice. Steam rose up over the finished meal.
Meanwhile she had been watching Rose make her tea. She herself delighted in the scent of things that were hot and sweet. They reminded her of the tea her father would make for her to keep her awake during zazen meditation. Of course normally tea for this purpose was not so sweetened, but Shiori loved it, and her father acquiesced happily.
As she set to work cleaning the skillet and cooking utensils she had used, she noticed she felt already much more serene than she had in a very long time. The scent of the tea helped calm her mind as well. With her aunt, things were different. She was hardly around, as she was so busy, but things were always hectic there, and Shiori, ashamed as she was, had neglected her meditation completely. As such she hand been listless, and found things had lost their spark.
But now everything seemed so beautiful again, and full of purpose ..[20 posts .. YAY! xD]
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 4:20 am
Akemi walked into the Okiya House and was shown to her quarters. She thanked her guide and turned to look out of the window in her room. The gardens looked so calm and serene, the scent in the air was delicious. She lifted her nose and smelt the fragrance. Akemi turned around and slipped on her slippers. She walked to the kitchen, where another gorgeous fragrance was emanating from.
"Hello," said Akemi, she bowed to the three women in turn.
"I am new to this okiya, would you like help tidying the kitchen?"
{1st post}
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 9:41 am
Miyoko tilted a spoon into her stew,letting some broth pool inside the tiny bowl. She brought the spoon to her lips and siped. As a bright smile came to her face she turn around and proclaim. " It's Done!!" Her attention was suddenly drawn to the doorway. the girl announced her name and asked if they needed any help " Hi, there! I'm Miyoko Usegi. Wonderul to meet you!" She bowed at Akemi and smiled cheerfully.
( post 18 )
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 1:53 pm
"Hello Miyoko, my name is Akemi Saitama. What's in that stew? It smells divine! I can't wait to taste it!" Akemi smiled back at Miyoko. She had only just arrived, and already she was enjoying herself!
Everyone looked like they were having such fun preparing the meal. What a wonderful place! She thought.
{2nd Post}
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 2:14 pm
Shiori bowed low to the girl, smiling broadly. "Konnichi wa, Akemi-san." I am so glad you've come to help! We just have some cleaning up to do really. If you want, you could help set the meal out. We made a lot!"
She turned to the large dish she had made and lifted the sides carefully.
"I will take this to the dining quarters, and then go see if Mother and Serena-san would like something to eat. Then we shall all have a fine meal with Rose-san's wonderful tea! We can all clean up the kitchens later on." She bowed her head with another smile and made her way to the adjacent room. In here it was very roomy, and the walls were a creamy color with dark beams. There were many windows to the garden, so that the afternoon light flooded into the room with slanting rays. A gentle wind flowed inside and ruffled the gauzy curtains ..
A quote came to mind then, but she could not remember where she had heard it.
"Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me!"
In the middle of the room was a long low black table, shining and clean, surrounded by soft mats to sit on. She placed her dish upon it, and took out several pairs of pretty chopsticks (which she had tucked conveniently in her obi), placing them on the table as well. Now as she rose she glanced about, wondering where Serena-san was. [21 .. I'll just keep listing them for now. xD]
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 5:52 pm
Serena came in and apologized quickly.
"Shiori, I would be honored if you became one of my maikos,"Serena said, turning to the girl.
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 4:18 am
Akemi turned to address Shiori, "Dozo yoroshiku, Shiori-san," she said. She smiled once again and looked at the plates upon the kitchen worktop.
"Of course I will help set the table!" Akemi proclaimed, she walked further into the kitchen and stopped in front of worktop. She reached and carefully took a plate, then followed Shiori into the Dining Quarters. The room was large, bright and breezy and the view into the Gardens was stunning. Akemi faced Shiori,
"Where would you like me to put this?" She asked.
{3rd Post}
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