Well Don't Overdo it

by **Ixzo** on August 5th, 2016, 6:10 pm

73rd of Summer, 516AV

It took the Kelvic quite a bit of time to find everything she needed. The lioness was not the best cook, and she had never cooked for so many before either. Six! Normally she would find any reason out of doing so much for so many, however today the cat had a more specific reason. She was a little put off that only Rufio was aware of her birthday, and the prideful woman couldn't let that slide. Not much of a conversationalist, she shouldn't have been surprised, and yet she felt the need to remind her new family of her existence. She missed the closeness of her clans in the jungle, but more so, she missed the parties. It had been a lonely year with the Endrykas and the lioness needed her pride back.

A little weary with the large load, Ixzo set the basket on the ground beside the campfire. The wind picked up, flattening the grass around her and sending a thrill of goose-skin down her bare arms. It was a nice relief from the heat, although it would make it a little tougher on her to start the fire. Tossing two dried clumps of dung into the fire, she shuffled around so she her her back to the wind, kneeling over the shallow pit. A small bundle of tinder, dry summer grass easily gathered from the lands surrounding them, was gently pressed into the top. With experienced fingers the Kelvic nimbly hit her deteriorating flint a few times until the tinder caught.

Quickly, so that the wind would not steal her flame, Ixzo cupped the fire with her hands, shielding it as best she could. On a stale night she would have to blow on it to make it grow, but now the wind provided plenty of air to let it spread with ease. Only once the rich scent of earth filled her nostrils as the fire clung tightly to the new fuel, did she scoot back, sure that the wind would no longer steal it.

She added two more bricks, and then watched the fire consume them too, slowly working its way through the condensed bricks.

by **Ixzo** on August 5th, 2016, 6:10 pm

She liked the fires here in the plains better because there was almost never smoke with the dung. In the rainforest, one had to dry their wood for days before it was useful, and even then there was always the chance of smoke. This lack of smoke would also be good for cooking. While the dung bricks did not smell horrible when used in fire, she think the Stormbloods would rather have meat smoked with real wood, however rare, rather than dung.

"Hey!" The jabber of Pavi caught her attention and Ixzo looked up to see Asher limping towards her. He had been grooming the Semes, and had obviously wandered over to see why Ixzo was not taking a nap as she usually did in the afternoons.

"Hey," She waved, looking back towards her ingredients and pulling out the sack of rice. She wanted to start this first, as it would take the longest. Rice, at least, was easy. Although not so common out here, it was a staple for her back home, and she knew the drill well. One part rice, two parts water, cover, cook. Easy.

It wasn't as if any of her meal planned was terribly difficult, just grilling things and making use of all the delicious chili peppers she had gotten her hands on. That was where she was trying to educate the Drykas, they liked their foods bland. No curries, no peppers, little in the way of sea food, it was disappointing. Even if those things weren't readily available to them, did they have nothing spicy out here?

Tonight they'd get some spice.

by **Ixzo** on August 5th, 2016, 6:10 pm

She was listening to Asher's approach, letting the human settle beside her, curiously poking through her bag. He, like the rest, already knew she wouldn't speak much, so he asked first.

"What are these?" Ixzo grinned, reaching for the burlap bag he handed her. She pulled a small crisp pepper out and handed it to him, before taking one out for herself and setting the bag to the side.

"Chili Peppers!" She enthused, crunching on the red pepper and tossing the stem aside. The sharp jab of spice in her mouth did not come until she was well into chewing it, seeds and all. Following her lead, the Drykas took a small nibble on it, and frowned.

"Not very flavorful." No purpose. He signed, and Ixzo grinned, waiting for it. The disgust that crossed his face thrilled her and the Kelvic cackled with glee as he tried to spit what was left out of it. Still grinning, she turned back to her ingredients, pulling the fresh meat from the top and setting it on her cutting board. She had hunted this elk herself, so she knew the meat was good. Unwrapping it, she laid it out on the board, eyeing them. They looked large enough at the Spitfire, but now she was questioning the portion. Each was the length of her forearm and about as wide, although not as thick, and there were three flanks there. Surely it would be enough with all the rest as well. It was not the best cut of meat, for she had spent most of her coin on the chilli peppers, although the flank would do well just as is.

Still, she had learned a fun trick from Siglay, which made already juicy meat taste even better. Marinade. Not adventurous enough to try the hundreds of spices and sauces that the old Drykas had used, Ixzo stuck to the dark vinegar she had picked up from the market. Gently the Kelvic dropped the three flanks into the mixing bowl. It took her a moment, sniffing each clay jar, to make sure it was the right thing before she simply dumped all of the dark vinegar into the mixing bowl with the steak. It covered the meat easily, leaving only a little of the red for her to see, but she would be mixing it soon so she didn't mind.

Grabbing the small salt bag, she dug her dry fingers into it for a hefty pinch, spreading that over the marinade as well. Then, as she always did, Ixzo pulled out the garlic. The root was slightly different than what she remembered in the jungle, but Ixzo used it so often now, it was one spice she was confident with. Confident, because garlic could really go with anything. And Siglay had assured her these would go together, so she took her word for it.

by **Ixzo** on August 5th, 2016, 6:11 pm

With practiced motions, Ixzo peeled and minced the garlic, dropping it in as well. She was about to mix it in with her hands as was, when she caught sight of the sugar she had just bought.

"Can't forget that." She laughed to herself, before quickly glancing up to see if Asher was still around. She was not surprised to find he had disappeared somewhere, and it didn't take Ixzo long to return to what she was doing.

With her fingers now a little sticky from the garlic, she dug them into the sugar, taking a little more than she did with the salt, and dropping that in as well.

As that was the extent of her spice powers, Ixzo surrendered the sugar bag back to the basket of ingredients. With a grin, she dipped her fingers into the marinade, spreading the salt, garlic, and sugar throughout the dark vinegar. She could feel the sharp sting of it where her hands were cut, but continued until it was thoroughly mixed anyway.

Dipping her sticky hands into the wash bucket, Ixzo set the steak aside, remembering to start the rice. The sun was going down within the bell, and she wanted to get this done before everyone started filing back into camp.

Standing back up, Ixzo readjusted as her hips popped with the effort before grabbing the crock and strolling down to the stream.

"Jungle woman!" A little boy waved at her from across the stream, and as Ixzo leaned down to fill the crock, she waved back. His older sibling, a blonde Drykas, shushed him then quickly shot Ixzo a glare. Her eyebrows furrowed as she stood back up, one hand running across the scars across her chest which reminded her of home. If she hadn't been so distracted with her cooking, the huntress might've questioned the look, instead she simply turned back towards her own camp, setting the crock beside the fire.

It wasn't hard to see when the rice was half of the water, and Ixzo poured it in easily, capping the crock and setting it in the center of the fire to boil for a little bit.

by **Ixzo** on August 5th, 2016, 6:11 pm

While it heated up, Ixzo pulled the three cabbage heads from the basket as well. She set the cutting board up and placed them on top, She had only minced a little bit of the garlic for the steak, and before she started on the cabbage, Ixzo set to finishing that off.

While she peeled, her mind wandered back to the short exchange. She was not wondering why it had happened, she had gotten a rude awakening at the beginning of the season on how the Drykas were taking the sudden influx of foreigners. Yet, it appeared as though the children didn't hold the same grudge their parents did…

Whatever. She brushed the thoughts from her mind. She didn’t need to worry about it any longer, she was protected now, that was the deal. From now on she answered to Azmere rather than the city, one of the many benefits of living with the Stormbloods now.

Once she had finished peeling and mincing the garlic, she set it to the far end of the cutting board, rolling one of the cabbage heads over. With a sawing motion, she chopped the cabbage vertically from the head, cutting off slices of it about an inch thick. She did this with each cabbage, carefully setting the slices aside so the outer leaves would not fall off too easily.

Before getting her hands dirty again, Ixzo snagged a large iron pan from her new supplies, and set it on the edge of the flames to begin warming up.

Once this was done, Ixzo took the olive oil from the basket, pouring some into a smaller tin bowl. She divided half of the minced garlic as well, pouring that into the olive oil and mixing it with her fingers. Once she was done, Ixzo picked up one slice, brushing the garlic and oil onto each side of it. Gently as possible, without singeing her fingers on the fire, Ixzo laid it in the warming pan. She did this for each, and at the end gathered a large amount of loose leaves, which she just piled into the pan as well. There was a little oil and most of the garlic chunks left, so Ixzo just dumped those into the pan as well, letting it sizzle with the rest.

by **Ixzo** on August 5th, 2016, 6:11 pm

Deciding to let that cook for a while, Ixzo rinsed her hands in the water again. She had to roughly rub them on a rag to get all the oil off before she could begin cleaning the bok choy. This was a new vegetable to her, and the Drykas were used to it, but she had quickly learned to love it. Preparing it was common sense, she simply had to take each leaf apart and wash it.

After cutting the ends off of each leaf and making sure they were all separate, she bunched the mass of leaves up in a cloth to hold them before heading down to the stream to wash the dirt that hit between the stalks off. No one liked dirt in their teeth.

This time she was not sure if her neighbors were out, let alone paying attention to her, for the Kelvic made a point to ignore them, running her fingers down the white stocks to make sure all the grainy dirt had gotten off. Once she was done she brought them all back.

These were dumped into the last free mixing bowl. She knew that with a little water and oil, the bok choy would cook down very quickly so she saved it for last.

The Pavilion around her was getting busy Lodai and Asher came mulling about. They stopped for a moment to discuss something, paying no mind to her, and she returned the favor, now worried that she was going to finish in time, this was a lot of food.

Turning to the steak, she pulled the soaking meat out of the mixture, laying it out on her old pan. This one was smaller than the two she had just bought, but it would work for the meat, whereas the vegetables needed more room. It took a little squeezing to fit all three flanks in, but she wouldn’t need to cook them long. If it were up to her, she would have eaten the entire elk as was, but she was putting an effort in for the humans.

by **Ixzo** on August 5th, 2016, 6:12 pm

Carefully nestling the pan on the edge of the fire, she maneuvered around so that she could take the rice out. Clutching the crock with a rag, she set it on the packed earth that surrounded the campfire, she set it aside. Although she knew it would have to sit for a bit to finish cooking, Ixzo couldn't help but peak inside anyway, turning the lid so that the condensation dripped right back into the rice. It looked good to her, it was a hard thing to mess up on after all.

"Making dinner, eh?" Lodai mulled over, striding past her mess by the campfire, and Ixzo turned to look at him, sticking out her tongue. She wasn't sure, but she thought he was making fun of her, and she wasn't having that.

"Leave me alone." She mumbled, abandoning the rice to cool and returning to the cabbages, carefully using her wooden spoon to flip them. She had seared the one side a little too much, but it would have to do. She wouldn't let them sit so long on this side.

"Alright then, mind if I take this with me?" He grabbed one of the jugs of ale, and she rolled her eyes, as if daring him.

"You'll drink later." She stood, striding over to grab the jug from him as he grinned at her. "Shoo!" She waved her hand as she would a dog, and he just chuckled turning away. She didn't have time to be distracted.

A little worried she was burning things, Ixzo picked up the bag of chili peppers. They were small peppers, from Taloba, and her favorite. They were not as spicy as some of the larger ones, but a whole pound of them would do just fine. She didn't bother to pick the stems from them, or seed them. They were so small, they couldn’t hurt anyone. Instead the Kelvic poured them into the pan with the meat, poking them into corners so they could heat up wherever there was space.

Just to make sure she didn't burn the meat like she did with the cabbage, Ixzo pulled one side of the flank up with her spoon, to find it just barely browning. Judging that it could use another chime, Ixzo turned to her Bok Choy, stuffing the leaves into the second large pan. She sprinkled the rest of the minced garlic onto them and then enough oil to coat it. That was set into the crowded edges of the fire as well, and everything was cooking.

Feeling rushed, Ixzo poked at her cabbages. One side was black, but the other was just getting crispy, so she decided to pull them off. They were unevenly cooked, but when she peeled a loose leaf off, blowing on it before popping it in her mouth, she still got the delicious garlicy crunch of the vegetable.

by **Ixzo** on August 5th, 2016, 6:12 pm

Satisfied that it would do, she set the pan on the packed earth over by the rice. Re-equipped with her trusty spoon, Ixzo stirred the Bok Choy a bit before going back to the meat, it was time to flip. She immediately found it was harder than she hoped in such a small pan. It was hard enough to keep the meat inside the pan, let alone the thirty or so small peppers nestled around it. Ixzo hefted the iron pan from the fire to do so, carefully flipping each flank. She lost seven peppers in the process, but it was nothing for her to brush the dirt off and take advantage of the samples.

While she let the rest of the meat finish up, she stirred the Bok Choy again. Steam from the water was coming off the veggies with vengeance, and the thick white stalks were already turning translucent, adding the already amorous air with the Bok Choy flavor as well. Maybe dinner wouldn't turn out half bad.

Ixzo let the Bok Choy cook down some more, and tried to clean up a little before everyone got back. She was hoping Rufio would be back first, because she really wanted her bond-sister to get a good portion before the boys dug in. She doubted there would be left overs, even considering the amount of food.

Trading the new dishes for the remaining ingredients, Ixzo pilled what she could in her foods basket, ducking back into the tent to place it by the other food stuffs. When she came back out, Ixzo was eyeing the flanks curiously again, poking at edges to see how thoroughly it was cooked. She didn't want to cook it too much, it wouldn't be good if there wasn't enough juicy red on the inside, but she also knew the humans liked it much more cooked than she did. Thinking to give it another minute, Ixzo stirred the Bok Choy again. The peppers were crackling in the pan, and she knew they were done, so the Kelvic gave in and took the meat from the pan. While it cooled, the meat would cook a little more and that was all right.

Lazily, Ixzo stacked the dirty dishes and set them aside. She told herself she'd clean them afterwards with everyone else's dishes, although she really didn't want to. Wiping her hands on a rag once more, Ixzo went to stir the Bok Choy again, and realized she had cooked it too long. Quickly as she could, she stole the pan from the fire, setting it on the packed earth next to the other dishes. The sun was setting now, and it was the only time of day when her bision wasn't the best. Her mind was torn between seeing the light and seeing the darkness, and everything was slightly hazy. Even though they were off the flames, she stirred the bok choy again, frowning at the nearly mushy greens. She really should have just made a soup.

Notes and Reciept :

by **Rufio** on September 9th, 2016, 9:04 pm

◃ g　r　a　d　e　s ▹

xp

Organization +2
Bodybuilding +1
Wilderness Survival, Plains +1
Socialization +2
Planning +2
Cooking +5
Logic +2
Cleaning +1
Endurance +1

lores

Ixzo: Wishes for a Pride
Ixzo: Celebrates her sixth birthday with a feast!
Wilderness Survival: Dung-fires are less smokey
Drykas eat pretty bland food
Playing a chilli pepper trick on Asher
Cooking: Sweet-vinegar marinade
Drykas children have no grudge for foreigners
Stormbloods: Her protection
Azmere: Her Ankal
Cooking: Cabbage and Bok Choy
Ixzo: Eats meat raw
Taloban chilli peppers are Ixzo's favourite
Dusk bewilders Ixzo's nightlion vision

If you feel I've missed anything in this grade feel free to shoot me a PM! Don't forget to go back & edit your grade request here~
　　