Xander needs help learning how to bake O.o

BlisaMarshmellow · 2017-02-22 04:50:27 PM

http://forum.rwmuck.org/viewtopic.php?id=99
http://forum.rwmuck.org/viewtopic.php?id=100
(I will add more logs that led up to this as I finish reading them )

In which Xander tries his utmost to make cookies....

DISCLAIMER: I have no idea if this recipe alteration will actually work. I looked at this one http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/gr … l_cookies/ and then modified it to fit in the world of medieval Europe. Hopefully it would actually work

SCENE: Redwall Abbey Kitchen

CHARACTERS: Xander, a male badger. DoraRose, a female mouse. Zarok, a male monitor lizard. Tanya, a female beaver.

LOG:

Xander was in the kitchen yesterday and mad hard black circles that ended up piles of dust thanks to Tanya. Today he is free from his tag along and is trying again. He only mixed up one bowl of stuff and placed it on a sheet again, only this time it all formed one large cookie...sort of, he sighed as the large sort of cookie is stuck to the cookie sheet and so he lays the sheet down and frowns, plus again it's sort of brick like, just not as brick like as before. He sits down in a chair and looks ready to give up.

DoraRose enters the kitchen, dressed in her training/traveling outfit - all black, basically. "Friar Lacota?" She calls, then spots the badger. "Oh, hello, Xander. Have you seen the Friar.....I say, are you alright?" Concern shows on her face as she walks over to him.

Xander looks over "He isn't in here, which is good since he proba'lly be mad at me" He looks to the cookie sheet and is still trying to figure out the best way to get the mess off the cookie sheet, there may be one small area of it that's maybe a cookie, the rest isn't.

DoraRose looks at the cookie sheet and sighs. "What are you trying to make, Xander? Have you ever cooked before? Did you....it looks like you didn't grease the sheet before you put, um, whatever this is on. Did you?" She's not accusatory or mad sounding; she sounds like she's trying to find out how to help him. Grabbing the sheet, the Warrior mouse takes a wooden spoons and starts attacking the dead cookie thing to get it off.

Xander frowns "Ummm....oatmeal cookies and grease the sheet?" He sighs "I...tried to make cookies and first time they were like hard black circles that Tanya pounded into dust piles but I cleaned it up...I wanted to help replace cookies that...welll got messed up when I sort of...kind of..." He takes a deep breath "Few days ago I tried to reach his favorite cookie pot and it fell and broke all over the kitchen and had cookies in it and yes I cleaned it up and I did manage to make him a new pot, it's not the same.....but it's a pot"

DoraRose listens as she hacks chunks of burnt cookie off the sheet. "Well, you're doing the right thing, trying to make replacements. Please get another cookie sheet; I'm going to teach you how to make oatmeal cookies." Pausing from her work, she flashes him a smile. "Even Warriors need to eat." Then back to hacking at the burnt cookie stuff. It's about half off...and on the counter, making a mess. Oh, well. She can clean it up.

Xander manages a smile "Well....everyone eats and...I can cook fish but not cookies" He goes to find a new cookie sheet and sits it down. "The clay pot took a while to make, had to redo it like...well a lot and then someone else made it get all hard but that's ok for clay and I plan to try and make it colorful later and it be filled with cookies and give it to Friar Lacota."

DoraRose has managed to get all he gunk off the cookie sheet and now sticks it in the washbin. "That's a good idea; I'm sure you'll do a great job on the pot....and on the cookies." Pointing to a bowl of almond butter, she adds, "Spread a thin layer of that on the part of the pan where the cookies will be." She then starts cleaning up the burnt cookies into the compost bucket.

Xander nods as he does so" Ummm...so this helps them to not like stay on the sheet like they have before right?"

DoraRose nods. "Yep! And after you're finished with that, put a thin layer of flour on it; that'll help, too." Having finished putting he last of the burnt cookie in the compost bin, she washes her paws and grabs a big mixing bowl. "Okay, now for the cookies themselves...."

Xander nods "Ok..."He is listening and trying to remember all she says as he finds flour and carefully makes a small thin layer on top and looks it over, he adds a little more and then sneezes, luckily away from the cookie sheet.

Zarok walks calmly--rather than running--into the kitchen, in search of a snack. He quickens his pace however when he sees DoraRose. "Heya Dorroze," he says chipperly, nodding to Xander as well.

DoraRose smiles at her adopted nephew. "Hey, there, Zarok. I say, would please help us? This'll go faster with 3 beasts working on it." She gets oats, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg and measures them out. "This is how much you need of these dry ingredients. Xander, please find another mixing bowl and 2 wooden spoons. Zarok, please get me honey, water, almond butter, and walnuts. Oh, Xander, please also get some dried fruit. Oh, I'll need a cutting board and a knife, too...."

Xander nods and finds some dried apples and some cherries as he manages a smile "Would these be ok Dorarose?"

Zarok nods gamely. "Let'sss do thisss," he hisses to himself, bolting off to get the required ingredients, dodging around anybeast in his way. He returns shortly with a jar of honey, a large jug of water, and a jar of walnuts. He bolts off again after setting the ingredients down to get almond butter.

DoraRose smiles and takes the dried fruit. "Perfect! Now, measure out the wet ingredients." She tells him how much to measure out, then sets to work chopping the cherries and apple slices into very very tiny little bits. When she through with that, she starts to work on the walnuts, all the while explaining the things to Xander and Zarok. "Okay, now, Zarok, please measure out the almond butter. Xander, once you're done mixing that into the wet ingredients, please mix the dry ingredients and the wet ones together in the big bowl...." soon all that will be needed to add is the fruit and nuts.

Xander blinks "So you mix them....separate...why?" He seems confused but he does carefully follow the directions and measures out things, a couple tries to get one of the dry ones right. Dry in one bowl and wet in the other are mixed separately and then he looks between the bowls, ok so now they both go into this third bowl and the badger frowns, why so many dirty bowls just for cookies and all the stirring he has to change from his right to his left paw and back again.

Zarok follows DoraRose's instructions, measuring out the almond butter with reptilian precision. He's also confused about the separate mixing, but assumes the Warrior will explain things to him shortly.

"If you mix them together at first, you'll get weird lumps. Other than that, I have no idea why you have to mix them separately; I'm just doing it the way my mother and grandmother taught me. Also, next time, you can just pour it into the bowl the dry ingredients are in, instead of a 3rd bowl," Dora says as she now puts the fruit and nuts into the batter. "Okay, now fold it like this," she demonstrates, then lets the badger take over while she turns to the baby beaver and smiles. She vainly tries to brush flour off her tunic as she squats down so she's more on eye level with the baby beaver. "Oh, no, he's okay. He's a lizard, and lizards don't have fur. They have scales instead. He's okay."

Xander nods "I will remember that thanks and it did mix a lot better than my first two tries...." He blinks at Tanya "Tanya...wot are ya doing in here?" He then gives his attention back to the mousemaid and watches, the folds the ingredients together carefully.

Zarok smiles as well, quite toothily. "I's fine. Fur's too messy for me," he says jokingly. "Scalesss'r easier to wassssh." Turning to Xander, he asks, "Need help with any o'that?"

Tanya backs up a little when she sees teeth, she looks to the floor quietly and seems a little unsure of the lizard now. just slightly though

DoraRose lets a Novice handle the Dibbun and stands, turning back to the 2 young males. "Good, keep going! Zarok, please take this cotton and put it in the oven." She tells him how long to leave it in there before taking it out. "Then bring it over here and let me see it."

Xander watches and listens as he is learning, "Cookies take a lot of work, then so does anything if you want it to be like...good right?"

Zarok puts the cotton in the oven as instructed, waits for the given amount of time, then carefully removes it, running over to DoraRose carefully. "What's that for?" he asks curiously.

DoraRose nods. "Yes, anything good takes time. Patience, food, quilts, training; everything demands a lot of time and effort if it's going to turn out well." She looks at the cotton while answering, "That lets me know how hot the oven is. See how brown the cotton is already? That means the oven is actually pretty hot, so we'll need to put the cookies near the front and not leave them in for very long." Taking 3 small spoons, she motions for the badger to stop stirring. "Okay, now use these spoons to scoop out some batter and put it on the cookie sheet," which she does, "and make sure to keep a decent amount of space between the cookie balls, because they're going to spread, and if they're too close together, they'll just be one giant cookie and that will sort of be a mess." She shows them how far apart to put the cookie balls, then hands them each a spoon so they can get to work. She made a decent sized batch, so when the sheet is half filled she gets another one and greases and flours it, too, because they're going to need 2.

Xander smiles and nods, he watches "Yeah...sometimes things take too long of time, like finding things" He frowns "But that's ok sometimes, I mean not like I am ...or need to be in a hurry to find another chest...let's get these cookies cooking!"

Zarok begins scooping batter quickly and efficiently, tasting the air in anticipation even though the cookies aren't in the oven yet. "Cook the cookies sssso the cookies are cooked, ssso we no longer need to cook the cookiez," he quips.

DoraRose can't help but chuckle at the lizard's little thing. "Indeed! Once the cookies are cooked we sha'n't have to cook them anymore!" She puts one set of cookies in the oven, then directs the boys to place the other one where it goes. "And now while we wait, let's wash the dishes," she says in a voice that brooks no argument. "I'll focus on this baking sheet while you 2 wash the bowls and stuff we just used. Actually, you do the washing, please, Xander. Zarok, please put all the ingredients away, and when you're done, please help Xander." She sets to work on the cookie sheet that got burned on.

Xander frowns but he nods as he knows chores are important and he goes to start washing the dishes slowly and carefully, "Ummm....thanks for helping me learn to make cookies, I just hope the Friar likes them and the new cookie pot also" He thinks and adds "I...also gonna go for a walk in...maybe couple days but I wont be gone too long or least hope I am not"

Zarok begins stashing the ingredients with nearly as much speed as he got them out, returning quickly to enjoy the aroma of the already-baking cookies. His eyes film over happily.

"Please help Xander, Zarok," Dora instructs. "Oh? Where are you planning on going, Xander? Would you like someone to come with you? I was planning on going out in a couple of days, so I could come with you, if you need someone to." The cookie sheet is now clean, so she grabs a measuring cup and scrubs at it.

Xander seems unsure of telling any beast, he shrugs as he cleans a bowl and sits it down to be dried "Ummm...just need to talk to some beast but I am sure it will go fine, not something...too hard to do and they know I am coming" I mean Nightbreath is a seer right? Course he knows all, he sees all and all that stuff

Zarok moves to assist Xander, scrubbing the dishes diligently. Setting the next dish aside to be dried, he picks up another and repeats the process. "Smells good," he says excitedly regarding the cookies, figuring he'll leave Xander and DoraRose to discuss whatever's going on outside of Redwall.

DoraRose shrugs. "Well, okay, if you change your mind, lemme know, okay?" She looks concerned, but she doesn't press. Instead, she checks on the cookies. "Okay, boys, come over here, please." When they come over, she thumps on a cookie. "When they're done, they sound like that." Using a hot pad, she gets both of the cookie sheets out. "We need to let them cool or else we'll get burned." After a certain amount of time, she moves them to a cooling rack, and then after another while (which probably seems like FOREVER because they smell yummy), she removes 3 so they can each have one. "Here's to you 2 doing such a good job!" The cookies are delicious....

Xander smiles and gets a cookie "And the rest are Lacota's"

Zarok smiles wide as he takes a big bite of cookie, nodding in approval. "'s good!"

And so they leave the rest of the cookies for the Friar to do whatever with

~*END*~

Thanks for reading! Now I want cookies.... XD

Last edited by BlisaMarshmellow (2017-02-22 04:51:07 PM)

BlisaMarshmellow · 2017-02-23 04:22:20 PM

Okay, so, after telling my parents about the recipe, they said that the almond butter would've cooked into a cracker. So they probably would've used, like, chestnut oil instead. Ooopsie

Redwall MUCK Forum

Redwall MUCK is an interactive, multiplayer text game set in Brian Jacques' Redwall universe.

Visit RWMUCK.ORG for more info!

#1 2017-02-22 04:50:27 PM

Xander needs help learning how to bake O.o

#2 2017-02-23 04:22:20 PM

Re: Xander needs help learning how to bake O.o

Board footer