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 Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 11:31 am
The recent baking frenzy Micah had gone on had pretty much depleted her supply of ingredients. Well, more like the family’s supply, but whatever. She’d promised to use her own money from her job as a barista back in Scotland to pay for replenishing their pantry. She didn’t really spend much money back there, since you typically have to leave the house to do that, so she had a fair surplus of cash. Especially since the conversion rate was like… 1.5 pound to 1 American dollar. In short, Micah was kind of rolling in the bank for the time being.
She strolled down the aisles with her cart – Micah sort of had to focus on calling it that instead of a trolley – tossing in multiple bags of flour, sugar, chocolate chips; really anything and everything anyone would need for baking anything. Next on her list were eggs, milk, heavy cream, and other various and asunder wet ingredients. When finally she was done with the family list, she was on to her own list. She’d made a deal with her family that if it wasn’t for the house, then she had to buy her own ingredients. This was partially to keep the house stocked, partially to slow Micah down.
Tonight Micah was going to make blackberry crisp, and so would need only a short list of supplies. First, however, and most important, were the blackberries. Living near a big city in Scotland, Micah had gotten used to being able to find fresh produce no matter what the time of year. She would have to look sort of hard to find sweet, fresh blackberries this time of year so far from a major trading port.
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Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:50 pm
Gwendolyn Caspian was no chef, nor would she ever be. That was Maddy's job to do all the cooking, as she was the one that watched all those cooking shows late in the evening and subjected her to some new torments from time to time. Admittedly, Gwen was an excellent guinea pig and would eat anything thrown in front of her at least once, and when it came to an honest opinion, Gwen had them in droves. But today was different, as she was going out and buying some extra supplies for groceries, and it wasn't to satisfy Maddy's nitpicky demands. Instead, they were for herself, and the meal that she was planning for when she finally revealed to her family (ie. Maddy, her mother, and he who will not be mentioned) that she was in a serious relationship. With one named Anandi Rai. Normally she would have already told her family of this, especially Maddy who had been questioning her strange behavior as of late and had begun to suspect that her sister was romantically involved with someone, but she wanted to wait for the right moment. Perhaps after her mother had the baby? Otherwise, she'd come off as wanting attention drawn to her, and while Gwen wanted that, she didn't want them to think that her relationship wasn't genuine. Because it totally was... So she had to make sure this meal was big. REAL big. Even if it meant spending a little more than she was willing to for food. She'd make the biggest, best meal that the little firecracker could muster, and so, armed with a long list, a full wallet, and manning one squeaky buggy, Gwen took to the store, prepared to plow through the crowds and anyone that dared get in her way. She was a girl on a mission, and that mission was put on hold immediately when someone was blocking the way to the blueberries. Despite her willingness to just run her over, she cleared her throat and hoped that'd be enough to get her attention. "Ahem... so... any good blueberries?" Not that Gwen knew what to look for in good blueberries, but she figured that would be a rather passive-aggressive way of getting her point through. Of all the times she wanted to be direct, she was willing to give them a warning, at least...
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:31 pm
Micah had been so lost in her search that she visibly jumped when Gwen addressed her. Momentarily disarmed, Micah turned her wide gold eyes on the other girl, voice lost. And then it stayed lost. Because Micah knew passive aggression like the back of her hand, it being her weapon of choice on a day to day basis. Something inside of her growled low and dangerous. The coals of her temper stirred with that growl, cold and black for now, but poised and ready to be lit. She watched Gwen for a few more heart beats, wondering if it was worth the fight. I mean, this girl could have just said please or something. Even just excuse me. Make an attempt at manners. Are you sure you’re not just hearing things?Micah’s lips thinned before she finally forced herself to smile. Stepping aside she offered, “oh yeah! I mean, this store is usually good about their produce. It is a little fresher if you take from the bottom of the stack, though. When they fill the shelves they put the newer things at the bottom or the back. Keeps things, fresh, you know?” Granted, Micah would wager that if they were found out, the stockers wouldn’t be all that happy with them. It probably would mess up their system and earn them both dirty looks. On the other hand, any modicum of trouble she could get this other girl into would be welcome. It would serve her right, trying to be passive aggressive.
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:31 am
"Bottom of the stack? Is that like pulling milk from the way back of the fridge?" Gwen asked, as once Micah had turned to address her, any anger or annoyance she might have had was quelled, and now her curiosity was peaked. As eager as she was to just grab the blueberries and go, she had no clue what she was really doing here, so maybe engaging a conversation with the other girl would have been useful to her, seeing as she seemed to know a lot more about this than she did. No big surprise there. There was a lot of things Gwen didn't know a lot about, and she was okay with this most of the time. "My sister does that from time to time and acts all hush-hush about it, but if it gets you the freshest stuff..." What she said made sense, and not at all considering the other girl's ploy and her anger that drove that thought in her head, Gwen gave the idea a thought. She was making a big meal, and she did need the best blueberries that this store had to offer. Else how could she break the news to Maddy and the rest of her family? "I'm not used to this cooking business or produce shopping, so I'm honestly clueless what a good batch of blueberries look like." Gwen had no shame in admitting, looking to Micah was a sense of 'I don't want to really ask for help, but I'm going to ask anyway' overrunning the rest of her other senses right now. She really, really wanted to make this a meal to remember, and she'd be willing to seek help from a complete stranger to get it. "You seem to know what you're talking about. Could you tell me if any of them look good?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 12:14 pm
Really, any excuse to show off. Small, wordless spat aside, Micah was always up for preening her own feathers. She settled back into herself and stroked the pile of produce in her basket absently, looking over a bunch of apples. She should make a pie. Misha loved apple pie. Really, Misha loved pie. Really Misha loved everything fresh, being honest. She pulled a bunch of apples from the rack, nodding as Gwen spoke. "Well, it does sort of mess up their dating system, and that makes it a bit of a pain in the a** to keep things fresh, but heartlessness is sometimes the necessary approach, especially when feeding a family." As thought Micah knew anything about being heartless. Her ego swelled to add bravado to her voice and stomp out any remaining irritation cause by their meeting. What really sent her over the edge, however, was when Gwen asked for her help. Her eyes brightened and her smile nearly split her face in two. "I'd love to help. Anything for an aspiring chef!" Micah ignored whether her assumption was correct and instead carried on chattering. "Tell me what it is you need, love, and we'll go hunting for the best we can find."
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 5:51 pm
"Okay, then I'll definitely take your word for it. Families and girlfriends deserve the best, right?" Gwen took in the other girl's wisdom with a grain of salt. No, it wasn't anything personal against her because she did raise a perfect point, but maybe it was the growing desire of justice within Gwen that pestered her about such a method. Even now, in a regular grocery market, her powered side seemed to want to take over, but she did her best to hold it in. Not this other girl's fault, just the way of the world. The fresh produce world, one that Gwen had a feeling she'd have to start respecting a whole lot more now with her relationship. "Thanks for the advise." She wasn't sure what to make of her smile except that it was almost frightening, but it was a welcoming change from their initial encounter, so Gwen tried to retaliate with a smile of her own. Micah's assumption was off, but Gwen had no business in correcting her- if it got her the ingredients and advise she needed, then she's let her call her Billy Bob Dangleberry for all Gwen cared! Sometimes, it was just worth it knowing she wasn't going into this alone... "Well, she's Indian, you know, from India, so I'm told that they have a lot of spicy food. So I was maybe thinking of something for curry, that wasn't just a mix... and the blueberries were going to be for the desert, assuming our palettes survived my first attempt."
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:54 pm
"Mmh," Micah knew the cuisine well. "My brother all but demands I make him his lamb tikka masala. Like I'm some kind of personal chef." She laughed once, high and sharp to further illustrate her disdain. "He's a brat. But you, my dear, you are not, and unlike him, I will take the utmost care of you. Food is the international language of love after all." She gently guided Gwen away from the produce with a firm hand on her shoulder blade. "And I am going to make sure you win some hearts with dinner." And Micah always kept her promises. Well, the ones she made to strangers anyway. Well... everyone but Misha. She didn't need to keep her promises to him, where was he going to go, they were twins. They hadn't even hit the spice aisle before Micah started pulling at her bottom lip thoughtfully. It'd been a while since she had to build a pantry, and she wasn't sure if she remembered, exactly, what spices to get. She knew what she was out of when she ran out, but she wasn't sure what she had, per say. She began pulling off spices one after and other and considering them as she spoke. "Do you know the spice levels you want? Your girlfriend is Indian, so chances are she can tolerate and actually wants a higher level but what about you and your family?" Tumeric, red chili, cumin... what else what else? "You'll need a protein. What kind of curry were you thinking?" Would she even need any of these? Gwen had said curry, so probably not. Micah was just getting a head of herself. There was still plenty to consider with just curry anyway. "Vindaloo, red, yellow, korma..." She listed them out loud for her own sake more than Gwens as she searched for what she needed. "the spice level you need will limit your selection, of course. Rice or potatoes as a side? And were you wanted something cooling like -- oh gosh what is it... the yogurt smoothing goodness I know this one." Turns out she didn't. But she knew how to make it, and that was all that mattered.
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 11:19 pm
Had Maddy been there, she would have probably recognized the dish that Micah spouted, but Gwen was far too stubborn to ask her to accompany her. And now she was immediately regretting that decision, but so long as one of them knew what they were talking about, then she’d find a way through this predicament. Running into this girl was probably the best case scenario that she could have happened, so she was willing to thank her lucky stars. Allowing herself to be guided by Micah, Gwen answered her question with earnest enthusiasm. “It’ll just be Maddy and me- she’s my older sister. Mom and her husband live out of town. As far as spices go, we’ve had Cajun before. That’s spicy, right?” She still felt those damned crawfish’s pincers on her lips, but once it was boiled and cracked open, she found its flavor to be great. And not TOO spicy, from what she remembered. Was Indian spicier than Cajun? Gwen had a feeling it was and from what she recalled Anandi and her mom making, they were pretty darn spicy. She could handle it, but could Maddy? She’d be finding out soon enough… “T-there are different kinds of curry?” Gwen was certain that she looked like a fool in front of Micah, but there was no way she could cheat her way out of that one. Better to be honest and let them see just how much help she needed than to be caught in a lie, right? When Micah began spouting out words and colors, Gwen felt her head spin, but she tried to keep up with her, not wanting to waste this poor girl’s time when she feared that she was a lost cause. “Yellow, let’s go with yellow. I think I may have had that before… and she might like rice more than potatoes, so… rice?” Gwen really missed the memo when it came to cooking and spices, and she only had herself to blame for this one.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 2:02 pm
ChibiGingi I noticed you were going on hiatus, so I thought it'd be good to close this out! Micah popped a tube of yellow curry paste in the cart before moving on downt he line, chatting the whole time. "Indian food can be a little intimidating. There are a million and one steps but just keep an eye on it -- you're going to want basmati rice -- so to compensate for the complexity of the steps, I'd go with chicken for the protein. No guessing on when it's done enough like beef or lamb, you know? When it's all white it's done, no questions." She turned finally, grinning brightly. "Most importantly, don't panic while you're cooking. You can always work damage control, even in the final steps. I'd suggest cooking the chicken off first that way it's out of the way and done. Get little things finished like mixing spices and melting things before you get into the thick of everything, like on those cooking shows where everything is measured out in little bowls. Less to focus on, you know? And, if worst comes to worst, you can always order out. I've had to a few times, there's no shame in it." She handed over the ingredients she'd selected from the shelves over to Gwen finishing with a bright chirp, "Any questions?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 12:36 pm
If Gwen were in school, she'd probably have allowed her imagination to drift off into the depths of fairy tales and fantasy, as she had a want to do when someone started droning off in talk. Part of her wanted to and it wasn't in retaliation against Micah, but simply a habit. It'd explain why she never did all that well in classes and was an utterly average student at best, but her mind kept shifting onto Anandi, and that was enough to remind her to pay attention to what Micah had to say. She was obviously knowledgeable in the topic and ten times more knowledgeable than she could ever be, so Gwen had to swallow her pride and overcome her own shortcomings. This was for Anandi! "Basmati rice... gotcha!" She said, reaching for the bag and double checking to make sure it was, in fact, basmati before she put it in her cart. Micah was talking fast but Gwen was doing her best to keep up, and she made a mental note, saying the word aloud to remind herself to grab the chicken when they had made it to that section of the store. "Chicken... yeah, chicken's good. Never cooked lamb before... sooooo not ready for that step!" Micah suddenly turned and faced her, smiling in a way that Gwen felt unprepared for, and she came to a complete stop, her golden eyes set firmly on the one helping her out and letting her know that she had her full and undivided attention. She said not to panic, and Gwen had to resist the temptation to flash her a grin. She faced off against some of the worst the Negaverse had to offer- she was certain that she could handle some crazy cooking! What was Gwen if not confident? She graciously accepted the supplies offered to her, as well as the advice, as she gave Micah a confident bob of the head. "Thanks for the advice... I'll be sure to keep all of that in mind. You didn't have to help me out like this, but you did, and I really appreciate it!"
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