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 Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:56 pm
Shalaera had adapted to her new craft quite well once she'd been pulled out of candidacy, having spend much of said candidacy doing chores in the kitchen to keep herself productive -- so as old as she was to have been jumping in, she'd been doing well. However, she had found herself losing her mind as of late.
Or thought she was anyways. Maybe it just came from the oddity that came from suddenly devoting herself to something much different than what had been the original goals of the girl.
Mmnnngh...
Perhaps she was just having a bit of a down-day because of some overly-complanitive candidates and their bantering about how short (in comparison to her own) of time they'd been standing without impression thus far.
...
Really, it was a bit of a downer, but like a good worker, Shalaera had been able to shove it aside, just like every morning, to go and get to work.. on something. She wasn't quite sure where she'd get started yet.
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:45 pm
“There’s pots what needs scrubbing, and we’re doing the bread for lunch,” Mirelle said as she walked past Shalaera carrying a tray of cups to hand off to a drudge. “Or if you could keep an eye on the klah while I make certain nobody’s burnt the sweet rolls for breakfast, that’d be lovely. All needs doing, so take your pick.” Thrusting the cups into the drudge-girl’s hands, Mirelle all but shoved her out of the kitchen and refilled a pitcher of fruit juice before even glancing at Shalaera and giving her the short nod that acknowledged her as one of the competent cooks, nearly a greeting among equals. Nearly.
Time was that Mirelle would have let someone like Shalaera check on something as simple as loaves or rolls, but until she got to the bottom of the mess that was ruined food, she wasn’t about to say anything at all. Ducking around one of the non-Crafter cooks working the ovens, she snapped at someone about to remove a loaf too early and shoved a tray of rolls in to properly brown, snorting as she inspected someone’s product.
“Shoddy workmanship makes for bad kitchens and discontented eaters,” she remarked darkly to the cook whose work she was reviewing, but she took a bite of one of the rolls, gave a brief nod, and sent the cook off. The remaining roll went into her pocket, and as she glanced under a cloth at the sweet rolls that had just been taken out, she gave a soft sigh of satisfaction before returning to Shalaera. “Besides,” she added softly to the woman, “a bad kitchen doesn’t impress those as review you when you aim to walk the tables for Master rank.”
It wasn’t an admission Mirelle made often; but she wasn’t looking over the kitchens merely because she was angry. She wanted that rank advancement.
"Morning," she added as an afterthought, picking up a tray of redfruit slices and casting about for an empty-handed drudge.
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:11 am
Truly, Shalaera hadn't been too expectant on being considered an 'equal' to anybody who had been in the craft much longer than her -- she simply knew that doing her best and keeping on top of what had been asked of her would keep her in good favor and keep the whining down. She'd had a bit of an earful of such whining already.
She didn't need anymore of it.
"Which is why I'll keep working hard to make sure everything stays in good order." she offered back just as quietly, having taken up the task of washing some of the pots while keeping a watchful eye on that Klah-pot. Not the best of 'compromises' she could have made, but the sooner she cleaned things up the sooner they could be used again.
Really, not even Shala was sure what had been the case of the 'sabotaged' (she could only assume it was such) meals. But as long as there were several capable eyes looking over everything, it all would have gone along smoothly.
Besides...
"So what are the mealplans?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:23 pm
"Good girl."
It was one of the highest turns of praise Mirelle gave out, but she was feeling generous this morning, in spite of everything. She approved strongly of Shalaera's multitasking; capable hands and a healthy interest in the kitchen were a relief and a nice break from the Candidates who halfheartedly attempted the tasks they were given, or the drudges who went about their chores with methodical correctness but no creativity. Dishes didn't invent themselves!
Speaking of dishes....that was a good question. Mirelle shrugged and glanced at Shala for a moment as she collected the bowls she would need to begin on the afternoon's meat rolls. "We've had complaints about too much fish," and she paused for a moment to glare at the Candidates working morning kitchen shift, implying it was their fault there were complaints. In truth? It might have been. It was certainly not the fault of regular kitchen staff that had sent one of the headwoman's deputies down to scold her for overuse of fish. "So there will be herdbeast this evening. Roasted." It was too early for that meat to go on, though.
"Lunch is stew." As it nearly always was; stew was the easiest way to use leftover meat, and it fed the large numbers it needed to. "And meatrolls, of course, and bread." She paused for a moment and then gave a short nod. "And I want to do bubbly pies or cakes today."
Honestly, she disliked baking, but supplying the weyr with sweets meant fewer annoyed residents and a better reputation for the cooks. Mostly Mirelle.
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:55 am
And Shala knew what a compliment it was, beaming at it (though discreetly) before 'hmm'ing over the day's mealplan. Well, that sounded simple enough in words -- however, she knew better than to expect it to be executed smoothly. Ohhhh no, not with all of the candidates who were more concerned about impressing than doing their job -- she knew how it was. She'd been there (but she liked to believe she hadn't slacked as much back then).
"Well, if there are complaints about too much fish, we should find a way to mask it in stew. However, sweets may be the best distraction there -- I know several of the candidates are fond of bubbly pies. My hand with making them isn't as skillful as it should be though."
Of course it wasn't, she'd only been in the kitchen's 'properly' out of her candidacy for a little less than year!
"However, I think I could manage the baking easily enough..." Nnngh, even if baking made the kitchen heat up more than it already was, seriously. Seriously, sometimes she wished they would have a chance to go out and take advantage of some of the fruit that grew on the island. Sliced up and put with ice it would probably make quite the pleasant treat at the end of a particularly hot day.
Alas, she couldn't suggest it without sounding out of place.
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 7:54 pm
Mirelle and Shala were of one mind with Candidate kitchen help, though Mirelle generally hated the Candidates for reasons beyond their distraction. They didn't take things seriously enough. Though admittedly...she didn't mind the gossip that came through in the peeling-corner. It was nice to keep tabs on what insane rumours were going around the place.
"Bubbly pies are the single most important weapon we have against dissent," she said, and though the sarcasm was thick in her words, Mirelle did firmly believe in bribery to keep everyone happy. Particularly when it came to food.
"Skill comes with time," she answered Shala's remark gruffly with a shrug. For a long time after her apprenticeship had ended, she had focused nearly entirely on the preparation of meats and main dishes, and not at all on dessert. Only recently had she become anything beyond mostly proficient in the part of bakercraft that actually consisted of, well, baking.
"I don't have any real want to start them at the moment, as we're still doing the rolls. Crowding the ovens just leads to bad baking." Grumping to herself, she took down one of the large pottery jars of flour and measured it into one of her bowls. "It's hot enough as-is. Fruit is good enough for breakfast and midday anyways." There ought to be a few Candidates and some drudges coming in with baskets at some point soon.
Insofar as kitchen work went, garden duty was better than regular kitchen duty; it meant dealing with Mirelle for only a minimum amount of time. Candidates tended to fight for it.
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:42 pm
"Oh no, I didn't mean immediately. By the shell we need some way to air this kitchen out though." Really, spending a day in the kitchens in the summer was one way to sweat off pounds of weight in a few months -- but it wasn't pleasant at all and if one didn't stay on top of hydration they'd just kill themselves with it.
Heat of the island, heat of the stoves, heat of too many bodies in one place...
Really, the only time the Weyr seemed to be bearable for those who weren't able to fly on dragonback to feel the wind on their face was at night -- and even then she had to be careful with furs to keep herself from giving herself heat-stroke. Oh, how the candidates didn't know how easy they had it, the whiners!
"I was just curious as to if I'd be able to assist with them later. I can understand if you want my eyes elsewhere though."
Like on other dishes that would try to run away when left unattended.
Not literally, just one couldn't be a 'clockwork' chef.
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 10:05 pm
"The day we find a way to ventilate this place better is the day a dragonet Impresses me," Mirelle answered, dry sarcasm in every syllable. "Believe me, girl, I've been trying for turns."
"If you want to help, you're welcome to help. Learning as many of the aspects as you can is good for you," she answered. "The sooner you start, the better." She spoke softly, more or less enough to mask the fact that her tone was far from its usual gruff nastiness. Anyone serious enough about bakercraft to put up with Mirelle was clearly worthy of some degree of respect. Mirelle approved of hard work.
"They're simple enough to do and you need the practice, when we work on them," she answered, indulging herself in delegating away most of the responsibility of a job she didn't like. Privileges of being a senior journeywoman, that.
"Things have been just a mess since the last Hatching," she remarked, finishing up the dough she had started and covering it as she set it aside to rise.
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 9:58 am
And that dry sarcasm was enough to earn a laugh from Shala -- oops, there went Mirelle's 'cover'... or probably not. Shala wasn't the kind to never laugh (she liked company and she liked conversation), so it probably wouldn't surprise anybody to hear she had found some sort of amusement in something.
OH GOOD.
"Well then, I'll be available for when we start that job." she said, more than happy to have responsibility delegated away on her. Besides, it was better to be able to 'blame' anything that went wrong on her -- not that it would. Shala was capable enough in the kitchen, thankfully.
"More than a mess."
Ohh yes, that last hatching had definitely kept the talking going around -- really, she'd not regretted being on the sands with the rest of the candidates when the s**t had hit the fan... or however that phrase would have worked in Pern.
"It was downright depressing -- we're lucky the united sadness of the group after that little blue betweened didn't send it's green sister after it right out of hatching."
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 6:06 pm
“Lucky indeed,” Mirelle said thoughtfully. She had only heard bits and pieces about the Hatching, and only after the fact when people were willing to talk about it again, but what she had picked up about dragons after a decade at the Weyr suggested that Shala’s words were the genuine article. She shrugged after a moment and moved quickly to one of the main cookfires, checking the heat and ensuring that the pot of stock that boiled over it wasn’t burning itself while she considered her next course of action.
"You were Standing until recently, were you not?" she asked, glancing over at Shala and completely unaware of the possible negative consequences of her words. Dragons chose who dragons chose; when you aged out it was impractical to brood over it anyway.
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Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:01 pm
The question earned a visible wince from Shala who suddenly was paying a whole lot more attention to the task at hand, peering up after a moment to glance towards the Klah-pot. She would probably be wise to remove that from the heat soon, wouldn't she?
Ahhhh yes.
However, she did have to eventually swallow that knot that had just been tossed into her gut for the sake of...politeness.
"Yeah...quite a few years too." Shala answered, sighing a bit before forcing a smile onto her face. "But it just wasn't meant to be me."
Theeerreee she went, good Shala, no angsting in the kitchen -- makes the food taste bad!
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