Deluxe Kitchen, a First Time for Everything! [SOLO]

[kittygrey]

Ame stepped into her newly remodeled kitchen for the first time. She had walked in through the entrance to a large room, which was meant to be her library cafe. Looking around, she realized that really, she had a lot to do. All it had was a counter and one bookcase, but she would need chairs and tables, and more space for books. Essentially, she needed everything that a cafe could need, but she had time to do it. She wasn't in any hurry to open it, but she was happy that she had at least purchased it, as now, she didn't have to constantly bother Lynn, the Lander she had been staying with and she had her own space for her and her animals to roam free and do what they wished. Her house was complete with a stable in the back for them, but she would allow them in the house more often than not, probably only putting them in the stable when there were guests over. But aside from that, as she opened the door to the deluxe kitchen she had paid extra for, her mouth dropped. It was three times the size of Lynn's, which made her feel a bit bad, but there were shelves and cupboards and drawers for days. It had even come equipped with the majority of the things she would need to cook with. She clapped her hands together and beamed as she looked around. She had a mission to do, and with her new kitchen, she was ready to hop to it.

She opened her inventory and clicked on the ingredients she needed. She had been asked by the potion's shop man that Lavinia had started doing her crafts in, to make them supper. She hadn't seen her in a while, since their shopping excursion, and now she knew why. Apparently, she had been given a big job, one that dealt with her slaving over her potion equipment for several days. The Lander had told her that she needed to rest and deserved a good meal and who better to do that than her. She thought of Lavinia not only as her best friend, but as a little sister as well, so of course she agreed to the task. He wanted baked fish and french fries, and easy task for her to complete, as she had made them many times in the other world. She looked down at the fish that had laid itself out on the island counter, with the potatoes and the herbal mix she always used; oregano, basil and parsely. She also had a lemon as no fish was prepared properly to her without one. She wished she had some capers, but she knew not everyone liked them, so she just let them be. She definitely did not want to make something Lavinia or the Lander wouldn't like. She turned and looked towards the knife block. A set of fine knives sat in slits and she looked through them. One large chef knife, a Santoku knife, much like a chef's knife, only better for chopping vegetables, which she took out of it's slot and placed it aside for the potatoes. There was a bread knife, a tomato knife, a Chinese Cleaver, a utility knife There were both straight edge and serrated edged carving knifes, and slicing knives, one of each blade to be exact. She was in heaven as she looked at the set. Those didn't even include the pairing knives that also came with her kitchen.

She took the Santoku knife, a slicing knife with a serrated edge and a miniature chef's knife and headed back to the island counter in the middle of the kitchen. She set the Santoku down beside the potatoes and the slicing knife beside the fish. First, she had to peel the potatoes. This would involve the mini chef knife. First, she washed each of the potatoes and then began to peel them, running the mini chef's knife across it, peeling the skin off. Once she had peeled six potatoes, she rinsed them off and took the Santoku knife and began chopping the potatoes into long, semi- thick pieces to make fries out of them. Once she finished, she took down a large cooking pot and poured in Canola oil, just about half way and turned the heat up, then turned on the oven to preheat it for the fish. She took down a mesh, metal strainer and would work on the fish while the oil heated. She truly loved to cook and she had chosen the location of her house carefully, making it right at the gates of Londinium. It was a hot spot for adventurers and as soon as they came in, they would smell the treats in her shop. As there were many other cafe's further into town, she knew most people would visit her out of pure convenience alone. She was happy with the location, and the lot was large, giving her a decent sized house in the back of the kitchen area as well as a place for her animals to live and a garden in the backyard of the house/ cafe. Yes, she was going to have a fine time bringing it together and making her shop known to all in Londinuim.

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[kittygrey]

As she let the pot come to a boil, Ame focused on the fish. She brought out a baking pan, setting it aside and took her slicing knife in hand and began to cut into the already gutted and skinned fish. It was a larger chunk that she could just easily slice into smaller pieces. She would make three dinner plates for the enchantress, one going to the Lander who always helped her. She sliced down and across, making three fair sized pieces of fish. She tossed her knife elegantly into the sink and patted the fish down a little, adding canola oil to it, rubbing it into it. The Lander had requested a less fatty meal, so that was the reasoning behind this oil and not the more conventional vegetable oil. Once she had finished rubbing the fish, she took it over to the baking pan and set each one down and slightly away from one another. She took the spices she had bought and sprinkled them along each piece of the fish, making sure to have it spread evenly. She then took the Santoku knife, after washing the lemon, and cut it into eight pieces. She took one piece and spread it along the fish, squeezing the juices out onto it. She did the same for each piece she had prepared and then once the dinger for inside of the oven went off, she popped the fish inside of it.

She checked the oil, almost hot enough to cook the fries, but while she waited, she set the lemons aside and took down three plates. She set the aside and once again, checked on the pot, now fully boiling at the correct temperature. She took a hand full of fries and popped them into the mesh strainer, then dosed it into the oil. She watched as it simmered and soon the fries became a wonderful, crispy golden brown. She set the fries down on a separate plate with some paper towel to be able to let the grease of the oil drip off, then she did it twice more and shut the stove top off once she was finished with it. She opened the oven, checking on the fish. It was coming along nicely, but it would have to wait a little longer more. She instead went back over to the fries and sprinkled a little amount of salt on then shook them around in the paper towel, removing the rest of the grease from them, or, as much as she could anyways. She then took them and put a hand full on each plate, making sure there was an equal amount of them. Once she had finished, she began to clean up the things she no longer needed. She took the used dishes to the sink and wiped off the island counter, disinfecting it with soap. She didn't want the smell of fish lingering there, or else any other food she prepared would smell, and sometimes even taste like it. With her wanting to start creating her pastries for her cafe, she just couldn't allow it to be as such.

As the time clock went off for the oven, she slipped on her oven mitts and took the baking sheet out, setting it on the stove top to let it cool. She opened the windows in the kitchen and let the cool breeze flow through as she allowed to fish to cool a little. She continued to clean, washing the dishes she had used up until now, not wasting anytime in doing so. If there was one thing that she would call the worst about cooking, was the clean up after and if you let the dishes sit, it took more time to clean them then she would have liked. Really, she had never had a problem though. She kept up with her work and made sure everything was always clean and tidy.

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