Completed Cooking for Health

[Pearl]

10 Fall, 515 AV
10th Bell, Morning

“Don’t get too close,” Belkaia instructed the boys who were anxious to get a closer look at the smaller of the Zibri.
“Mind your mother. Even the calves can kick hard enough to break a bone,” Pearl added, the smile still lighting up her face because they had been able to purchase the Zibri and get a good start on their herd.
Both mothers were attentive to their children, but were also relaxed on the grasses as they enjoyed the warmth of the day, knowing that these warm days would soon fade into fall and winter.
“You’re feeling well?” Pearl asked Belkaia, turning her head just enough to look to her before looking back to the boys, which were now playing a game of chase as they headed back towards their mothers.
“I am, and so is my little girl,” turning to look to Pearl as she put her hand to the growing baby bump, “she’s moving. Do you want to feel?”
Pearl rolled over onto her left hip, her elbow pushing against the ground and her biceps taught so she could prop her upper half up while reaching over with her right hand to place it Belkaia’s stomach.
Belkaia guided Pearl’s hand as the baby inside her moved, “just there, can you feel her?”
“I can,” Pearl smiled as the tiny baby fluttered inside Belkaia. “I can’t wait to meet you, my beautiful little dove,” Pearl cooed as she leaned in to press a kiss Belkaia’s stomach next to her own hand. “You’ll have two older brothers to watch over and protect you, and who you can torment for days upon end, a father that will adore you like no other possibly could, and two mothers that will love and care for you along with an entire family that will help you to grow and spread your wings so that you may soar through life.”
“I love you, wife.”
“I love you too,” Pearl smiled as she looked up to Belkaia.

“Momma catch!”
Pearl heard the unmistakable voice of her son, Garrison, and looked up just in time to see him galloping closer to her before launching himself into the air at her. She had to move quickly, rolling over on her back and both hands reaching to claim her son just before he would have landed upon her chest. She gave a small grunt at the effort and then laughed. Garrison was giggling that infectious little giggle of his as he held his arms out wide to the side in a game he and Pearl had obviously played together before. “Me fly!” the toddler squealed, delighted while Pearl held him up in the air, moving her arms forwards and backwards several times before lowering the young one down to her chest and hugging him fiercely. Soon she rolled over, Garrison trapped beneath her and she got up to her hands and knees and then began to tickle him, enticing those little squeals and giggles from him for a few ticks before getting up to go and chase Kyanite.

“Come here my little man, so Momma can love and hug on you,” she gave a silly little cackling laugh as Kyanite took off running away from her in their little game.
“Run Bubba Ky! Run fast!” encouraged Garrison as he crawled over to Belkaia and up onto her chest and tummy for cuddles; Belkaia wrapping an arm around him and holding him close.
“Don’t squish your baby sister too much.”
“Me won’t,” he said as he wiggled around to wrap his chubby little arms around his mother’s neck and smack a kiss to her cheek.
Pearl was finally able to scoop up Kyanite from behind, her arms hooked beneath his shoulders and legs and she brought him up to her rub her face at his tummy and make smooching sounds before blowing a raspberry against his bare little belly.
Kyanite laughed and pushed at Pearl’s head. “Ma!” he hollered.

Pearl was still laughing as she settled Kyanite to the ground and kissed the crown of his head. The little boy wrapped his arms around her thighs and hugged her tight. “Come, let’s help Momma up and make our way back to the pavilion, shall we?”
“Do we have to?” Kyanite almost whined.
“Afraid so, love. But, you and Garrison can help me pick dandelions along the way, okay? I need bunches of them for tea to help us all stay healthy for when it gets cold, and for Da.”
“For Da?”
“Yes.”
“Why Da?” he asked as he took up her hand, holding it while they started walking back over to where Belkaia and Garrison were.
“Because he needs it for his tummy so he can stay healthy and take care of all of us.”
“Okay. We help,” he said proudly. A statement that earned him a grateful squeeze of his hand and an adoring smile from his mother.


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[Pearl]

“What is this?” Yuki asked the group when they made their way back into the pavilion each carrying a double handful of the small yellow flowers, with as many stems and roots in tact as was possible from when they were pulled from the ground.
Kyanite was the first to explain, “Dandelions for tea.” Pearl smiled as he got the word out properly, even if it sounded like a mouthful for the younger boy.
“Is that so?” Yuki asked.
Garrison nodded and added, “Uh huh, so we be not sick when it get cold.”
“Momma has been teaching you about medicine, I see,” she said with a wink to Pearl.
“Just a little,” Pearl admitted, smiling to Yuki.
Garrison yawned really big just then, his mouth open wide and showing all of the teeth he had gained. As yawns are contagious, Kyanite was soon yawning right along with him.
“Both of you look like Cree when you do that,” Belkaia laughed. “Come on you two, give your dandelions to Momma, and the three of us are going to go take a nap.

Pearl laid the cleaned dandelions on the log so they could dry after their washing and knelt down to get the fire stoked and restarted. “Is she alright?” asked Yuki.
“Aye,” murmured Pearl while she stirred the coals around, finding an ember that was still glowing red, but only slightly. She leaned in and blew upon the ember a little to help revive it. “A bit tired from our walk, but well, physically,” she added the last word quietly as she had her own suspicions of how Belkaia was really doing, but nothing solid enough to do anything about, except to stay attentive. As the ember reacted to the addition of air, glowing more brightly, Pearl added in a few smaller sticks and twigs, sitting back on her haunches to watch them take to flame. When they did, she added a couple larger sticks and before long the fire was going once again.

Yuki watched Pearl, but didn’t ask anything further about Belkaia, for now. “You mentioned cooking lessons and something about ginger root earlier. Is that what you wish to work on today?”
“Please? If it wouldn’t be too much trouble?” Pearl was quite anxious to get some of the crystalized ginger put away as well as some of the ginger syrup stored for coughs and tummy aches that she knew would arise during the colder months to come. “I have the recipe, but I’m going to need all the help I can get to make it come out right. But once it does, we’ll have a good store of crystalized ginger, which is good for stomach aches, nausea and the like, as well as few jars of ginger syrup which is good for coughs and to soothe a stomach as well. I just have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that tells me we are going to need it this year, and lots of it.”
“Alright then. And what of this dandelion tea?”
“That’s for all of us to drink, a cup a day, if we can manage it, for as long as we can manage it through the fall and winter. It will help us just feel better, increase our appetites,” Pearl paused and looked to Yuki with a knowing smile, “and help us digest our foods better. It will also help Belkaia with her pregnancy so she doesn’t get bloated from retaining water and keep her from getting a bladder infection because of it all.”
“We’ve got our work set up for us then, let’s get started.”

Pearl put a pot of water on to boil and smiled to Yuki, “That’s the part I know,” she said with a grin. “I’ll go and get my book with the recipes in it, the jars and the pestle and mortar.”
Yuki laughed, “I’ve got the dandelions, the ginger root, and the sugar here that you brought in earlier.”
“Oh good. We’ll need a knife to slice up the ginger root, and a cup for measuring the ingredients. Oh, could you bring some clean water up for us to use?”
“Absolutely.”
Both women set off then to gather the remaining necessary supplies.


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[Pearl]

Pearl had both her books laid out before them on the log, one turned to the page for dandelion tea, and the other turned to the page of her journal that had the recipe for crystalized ginger root and ginger root syrup on it, along with her odd looking sketch of what the ginger plant and root looked like. “Don’t mind the picture, I’m not very good at drawing,” she chuckled.
Yuki picked up the book and read over the recipe for dandelion tea. “This one looks easy enough to start you off with. Take some of your leaves and petals and pick them off the dandelions. We’re going to need one small handful of them for each cup we brew. How many cups of water did you put in the pot when you set it to boil?”
“Six cups is all I put in.”
“Alright then, six small handfuls, about the size of an eating spoon is what we’ll need.” Yuki showed Pearl with her own cupped hand how much of the dandelion she needed.
“Okay, I’ll get it ground up.”
“No no, don’t grind it into a powder. Just crush it a little so that the flavour is easily released into the water.”
“Oh, right. Okay.”

Pearl set out picking the leaves and petals of the dandelions and putting them into her mortar and pestle and crushing them. She was careful not to grind them down, and only bruised the leaves so they would more easily allow their flavour and juices to infuse into the water. She continued for several minutes, crushing the leaves, measuring them in the palm of her hand a Yuki had shown her, and then putting them into one of the jars she had with her, until she had exactly six small handfuls in the jar. “That’s six,” she announced.
“For each cup, good. Now add one more for the pot.”
“One for the pot?” Pearl questioned.
“Yes, it says here to add one more handful for the pot.”
“Okay. One more, coming up.”

The next small handful of crushed and bruised leaves was added to the jar with the others. Pearl then cleaned out her mortar bowl with a little of the water they had close by. “Now we just add them to the water and let them steep?” Pearl read the recipe over Yuki’s shoulder.
“Yes, add them to the pot of water, but take it off the fire so that it’s not continuing to boil,” Yuki poked Pearl’s nose with her finger playfully and smiled. “Don’t burn yourself when you move the pot.”
Pearl chuckled and took the cloth that Yuki was holding out to her in her other hand.
“Wrap that around the handle of the pot and move it to this rock,” instructed Yuki.
Once Pearl had the pot settled onto the rock, she picked up jar of dandelion leaves and gently poured them into the hot water. She leaned over the pot as the steam of it coiled up into the air and breathed in deeply. “Mm, it already smells so good.”
Yuki leaned over it as well, “mm, it does,” sitting back with a smile she added, “Alright, let’s get started on that ginger root.”


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[Pearl]

“First we’re going to chop up the ginger root into small pieces, like this,” Yuki showed Pearl how to chop the root properly, “I’ll help you so we can get this part done quicker and get to the cooking part of it all, but it’s always important to read through your recipe thoroughly before you start on any part of it. Then break it down into each section. Prepare your ingredients, then follow the instructions on when to add them and how to cook them. What we are doing here is prepping, which is a fancy way of saying we are chopping up the root.”
Pearl couldn’t help but to smile. The woman was making the lesson fun, and hopefully she would learn from her experience and get some of her medicine making accomplished at the same time. Both of them continued to chop up the root, putting in the pan that was usually used for frying the meat over the fire, until the bottom of the pan was covered completely and it was mounding up in the middle.

“That’s enough. Okay, you read the recipe and tell me what it says to do next.”
Pearl took up the book and read her own writings, “Boil the ginger root in some water, for about twenty chimes, until it is tender, then take it off and drain the water from it,” she smiled. “That sounds easy enough.”
Yuki chuckled, “Mhmm, now go ahead and put the pan over the fire, then take the waterskin and pour water into the pan until the root is covered completely with the water.
Pearl did as she was instructed, splashing some of the water out of the pan, along with some of the ginger root, both sizzling on the logs below.
“Not so quickly! Pour it slower so you don’t lose your ingredients.”
Pearl had jumped back a little when things began to splash out and grumbled. “Sorry,” she mumbled. This time she poured the water in slower and it sizzled in the pan until it covered the ginger root completely.
“No need to fuss over it,” Yuki assured her, “let’s chop up the rest of the ginger root for a second batch, shall we? I bet we have time for two today before everyone else returns.”

The women chopped up the rest of the ginger root and put it into a bowl. “You’ll need to stir the root that cooking, to be sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Do that gently, and about every few chimes, until the twenty has passed.”
“Okay,” Pearl took up the spoon and very gently stirred it through the ginger root, being careful not to spill any more of it over the sides of the pan.
“Is it tender?”
“I think so? How do I tell for sure?”
“Use the edge of the spoon and see if you can cut into a piece of it.”
Pearl tried, but the root didn’t yield to the edge of the spoon, “not tender enough to cut with a spoon.”
“Okay, leave it to cook for a few more minutes.”
She set aside the spoon and returned to the log with Yuki.



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[Pearl]

“Read your recipe and see what the next step is,” Yuki told her while she finished chopping up the last piece of ginger root.
Pearl took up the book once more and read from her own writing, “Boil one and a half cups of sugar in one and a half cups of water until the sugar is completely dissolved. Then add in one and a half cups of the tender ginger root pieces. Boil all of that for twenty or thirty chimes. Drain off the syrup and use it for cough syrup. Let the crystalized ginger root pieces dry on a flat surface, for a day.” Pearl made a face at that last part.
Yuki laughed. “Don’t look so distraught. It takes time, yes, but it’s not the end of the world.”
Pearl scrunched up her nose, smiling and chuckling at Yuki’s words. “So should I measure out the sugar and water and get it on to boil, or wait until we have the ginger root pieces off first?”
“Go ahead and put the sugar in the water, but don’t put it on to boil just yet. Might want to stir the ginger root again.”
Nodding, Pearl began to measure out the sugar, carefully pouring it into the pot before doing the same with the water.
“Pearl, don’t forget to stir the ginger root,” Yuki reminded her.
“Oh right,” Pearl picked up the spoon and stepped over to the fire. As she began to stir it, she realized it was sticking to the bottom of the pan. She kept scraping at it, trying to force it loose. The more she scraped, the more frustrated she became. “Yuki, it’s stuck.”
The older woman took the spoon from Pearl, “let me try,” she said as she began to stir the pieces in the pan. Yuki scowled, “I don’t think I can save it all, but maybe the top layer of it that isn’t stuck to the pan.”

After they had the portion of the ginger root that they could use out of the pan and the burnt portions scraped off and discarded, Pearl was able to put another pan of the root on the fire to tenderize. This one Pearl tended much more carefully than the last batch; managing to remove it from the fire and drain the water from it without scorching the precious roots. “Should I mix up another batch of the sugar and water?” she asked Yuki as she set the tenderized pieces of root into the bowl.
“I don’t think. Considering that we lost so much of the first batch, I think this plus what we managed to save from the first will all fit well into the one mixture and be just fine.”

Pearl added the pieces of the tenderized ginger root to the now boiling sugar water. She was careful when she did so, using the spoon, and adding only a few pieces at a time. She stirred it often, at the instruction of Yuki, for the next twenty, almost thirty chimes; glancing to Yuki often to be sure she was doing it properly. It made Pearl chuckle on occasion as she thought how hard it was to cook, yet how similar the process was to treating a patient; you had to follow the proper steps, or the outcome could be disastrous.



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[Pearl]

When it was time to pour off the syrup from the pan of ginger root, Pearl and Yuki lined up the jars close together on the cloth covered board Yuki had for them to use. “This is my bread board, so don’t ruin it,” she teased the younger woman, who looked at her with a raised brow, wondering if she could indeed ruin the board if she spilt anything on it. “Just pour the syrup from the pan, slowly, into the jars. Use the spoon to keep the pieces of ginger root in the pan.

Yuki hovered close as Pearl began to pour the syrup into the jars. Her hands were mimicking Pearls in an attempt to keep the younger woman on track. “Okay, slower, that’s it,” she encouraged. Pearl filled each of the four jars to about two-thirds full of the syrupy liquid before she stopped, not having enough of the syrup left in the pan to fill another jar. “Pour that last little bit into this bowl,” Yuki said, and Pearl followed her instruction. “Now, let’s get the sticky pieces of ginger root onto the board. Here I’ll move the jars out of the way now.” Pearl waited until Yuki had the jars set aside and then turned the pieces of ginger root out onto the board, spreading them out so they could dry.

Pearl smiled as she stood looking to the sticky gobs of root. “They smell good.”
“They do,” added Yuki. “What does your recipe say to do next?”
She looked to the book and read, “says to let it air dry, roll it in sugar, and keep repeating that process until it’s completely dry. Says it might take a day for it to dry. Then says once it’s dry to seal it in a jar.”
“Hmm, in this heat, I bet it will dry a little quicker than a full day. Maybe by the end of the day. We’ll keep check on it and see if we can’t get it finished up before we get on to bed tonight.”
“Alright,” Pearl smiled, inhaling deeply of the scented sweet ginger root before she got busy with cleaning up the pots, bowls and utensils they had used.

10 Fall, 515 AV
9th Bell, Evening

Several times through the evening, Yuki and Pearl would toss the crystalized ginger root in the sugar, each making time between regular chores to check on it. “Do you think it’s dry enough to put in the jars now?” Pearl asked. “It said it could be stored once the pieces no longer stuck to each other.” Pearl caught sight of the mischievous twinkle in Yuki’s eyes, right before the woman took up a piece of the ginger root from the board and popped it into her mouth. Pearl’s laughter came in a short bark, which for some reason caught the attention of Meka and Kavu, who both came trotting over to Pearl to see what was up. Meka shoved her cold nose at Pearl’s hand. “Well?” Pearl looked to Yuki, a brow lifted, as she waited.
“It’s wonderful, and plenty dry enough to be stored, I think,” she said behind a lovely smile.

Meka nudged at Pearl’s hand once more, and the woman couldn’t resist the look she was getting from the dogs. “Alright, one small bite, but you’re going to have to sit for it, and be good, or else you’ll get us all in trouble,” the conspiratorial whisper was given to the dogs while Pearl glanced from the corner of her eye to see if Dravite was looking. A loving smile was offered to her husband before she took up two pieces of the crystalized ginger root and held them up before her. “Sit,” she gave the command to the dogs. Kavu promptly dropping to his haunches receiving his treat and praise, “Good boy.” Meka tilted her head to the side and looked at Pearl; Pearl mimicked the action and looked back at Meka, who finally sat back on her haunches. As soon as she did, she received her treat and praise, “Good girl.”

“If you’re quite finished playing with the dogs for now,” Yuki teased her, “I think you’ve got a good six jars of crystalized ginger root here ready for storing, right along with that ginger syrup from earlier.”
“Thank you, Yuki,” Pearl hugged her, “there is no way I could have managed this without you.”
“You’re quite welcome, dear. Come now, let’s get this stored away with your syrup so you’ll have it when you’re ready for it.”

Ledger10 x 8oz jars 5SM each
20oz Ginger Root 1cm per ounce
2 pounds of sugar 1GM per pound

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[Tribal]

G R A D E S

Pearl

Experience

• Childcare: 1
• Rhetoric: 3
• Socialisation: 5
• Bodybuilding: 1
• Running: 1
• Observation: 4
• Teaching: 1
• Wilderness Survival, Plains: 1
• Herbalism: 1
• Cooking: 4
• Philtering: 2
• Mathematics: 1
• Cleaning: 1
• Intelligence: 1
• Animal Husbandry: 1

Lore

• Belkaia: An attentive mother
• Belkaia: Loves Pearl
• Garrison and Kyanite love to play
• Wilderness Survival: Rekindling a fire
• Herbalism: Ginger syrup is good for coughs and soothing the stomach
• Herbalism: Dandelion Tea to increase appetite and help digestion
• Cooking: Following a recipe
• Observation: The smell of crushed ginger
• Cooking: Add boiled water slowly
• Cooking: How to tell if something is tender or not
• Cooking: Boiling sugar until it dissolves
• Dravite: An observant man
• Animal Husbandry: Rewarding good behaviour

Rewards

4 x 8oz jars of Ginger Syrup
6 x 8oz jars of Crystalized Ginger Root

Notes

Really enjoyed reading this (even if it was a skill grinder) haha. Good use of NPCs, they didn't play too big a role. If you think I have missed anything be sure to PM me. Enjoy the rewards!