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Koro has one great advantage when it comes to cooking: as an imperial, he can eat everything. And he does! He constantly asks visitors to the clan about their local dishes and that is how he came across the unusual take on Jalapeno Poppers he presented to the judges. Unfortunately, it was a mixed success. Perhaps he should have stuck to traditional Dragonhome dishes? After all, they are still his favorites, especially a good striped monitor that's been broiled for hours on notocactus slices. To die for...

[center][b][u]Day 2| Challenge 2[/u] [/b][/center] [center][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/594413/59441276_350.png[/img][/center] [rule] Rhea stood dumbfounded, almost dropping the spoon in her hand as she watched the judges taste her dish. She had decided on a whim to prepare something completely foreign to her: that food from that japan continent?,...country? Whatever. When they first arrived to Sornieth, the takoyakis spread like fire, getting a place in the menu of every restaurant... but not Rhea's. Her idea was met with instant regret, table covered in flour, mayonnaise and Flamecaller knows what else. Her dish was just as messy as her cooking space and she her expectations for the flavor weren't high either. To her surprise, everything went better than she thought. "Oooh, takoyaki? I love these soo much"- An enthusiastic Latona grabbed a takoyaki and shoved it into her mouth, along with the three judges. Rayth was the first one to speak and his answer caught Rhea by surprise. Nassau and Aion didn't seem disappointed either, but their critiques were right. Rhea had still had a long way to go until she became a seasoned chef, although she knew he was getting there.

Hmph. StrawberryCream was annoyed that the judges doubted her just because of her age. It's their fault for not setting age restrictions, she checked the rules before she joined! She felt a little bad about the mushrooms, but it wasn't her fault no one made sure the dishes were safe for all the judges.

Well, it was dinner time back home at the clan, and though Spice offered to take over, StrawberryCream wasn't about to trust the clan's food with that alchemist. Chances are, the tundra would bake a fruitcake if she tried to make lasagna, if she even succeeded in making something edible.

She decided to make something simple, since she was tired, but picked a dish that was still full of a nice variety of flavor: a special combo pizza!

In a clan of dragons that ate all kinds of food, it was hard to find something that pleased everyone. Luckily, a few years ago, a clever imperial had figured out how to combine all four major food groups into something all dragons could enjoy! It was a very versatile treat that was easily adjustable to fit different clans' preferences.

StrawberryCream started by preheating the oven, then finding the extra-special dough at the very bottom of the pantry. The bag of dough was separated into four parts, and Spearmint fetched her a rolling pin so she could spread each of them out. Then she carefully pinched the sides together to make a shape that was somewhere between a circle and a square.

Next came the sauce! For the seafood portion, the choice was easy: some delicious fish oil from the golem workshop! This was a bit on the pricey side, but StrawberryCream thought it was definitely worth it. She drizzled it onto the blue-tinted disk at the top left. She spread pesto over the plant dough, pâté over the meat dough, and cricket juice over the insects. She personally didn't understand why other dragons liked these tastes, but it was only up to her to create, not judge.

And now, the best part: The toppings! Last week's grocery rush had brought a nice new variety to the pantry. She happily scooped up jars of creatures from venues she'd barely heard of, scattering shells and bugs and flowers and - a beak? She stopped, turning over the object. Yep, this was definitely a beak. Well, if that's what wildclaws liked these days, she supposed there was no reason not to use it. She added three more.

The oven was finicky sometimes, so StrawberryCream opened it to check the temperature. She was blasted by a hot wind not unlike her introduction to the Ashfall Waste. Blinking, she saw that the thermometer had cooperated, and she popped in her creation and set a timer. A short while later, it was done. For a moment, she admired her creation. To her, cooking was an art, almost an alchemy in itself - though much less likely to create an accidental living being! She enjoyed the chaos of taking all these different parts together and sculpting something entirely new - and it was delicious!

Moment of contemplation over, she picked up spearmint and flopped out of the kitchen. On cue, Spearmint began to bellow, signaling to the rest of the clan that food was ready. As she heard the other dragons pause to come eat, she smiled, knowing she was ready for whatever the next day of cooking madness might bring. Hopefully not more mushrooms.

[center][img]https://orig11.deviantart.net/226a/f/2016/260/7/5/food_white_masked_dustbug_by_dogi_crimson-dahwix8.gif[/img][font=Baskerville][size=6][color=#F38235] Day 1[/color][/size][/font][img]https://orig03.deviantart.net/dcbd/f/2016/260/2/c/food_red_winged_dewbug_by_dogi_crimson-dahwfwk.gif[/img][/center] [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/10927647][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/109277/10927647_350.png[/img][/url][/center] As Mushroom was given their appetizers challenge they were shook by the recipe: [i]Toasted Crickets with Dipping Sauces[/i]. Normally they used bug flour for the baking, but they had never tried to [i]Toast [/i] crickets before. Thinking back, they had only used bug flour, never the whole bug. Bugs contained a large amount of protein, though using the flour, Mushroom wouldn’t have to handle the creature itself… It had already been delt with. But now Mushroom had to cook them live to add the best flavour...This was going to be a little more complicated compared to their favorite simple bug cookies they favored. As they were wondering on how to add the correct dipping, which would compliment the crickets the best, they heard a muffled [i]"What"[/i] coming from one of the other kitchen stations. They looked around and figured the noise came from kitchen station 31. A Coatl, in warm cream and umber hide and covered bright red gembond was looking at their recipe with a weird expression. As if he felt someone was looking at him, he looked up and met Mushrooms eyes. Mushroom, feeling extremely nervous, remembered what Dixie had said and gathered their courage and mouthed [i]"Are you okay?"[/i] to him, where he mouthed [i]"Yeah, but ... Weird fish."[/i] back am them and pointed at the recipe. Mushroom giggled and mouthed back [i]"Weird bug" and gestured to their own pecipe. [/i] They smiled at each other and both mouthed [i]"Good luck" [/i]to each other and began to prepare their dish. Mushroom was so proud of themselves, instead of hiding their face and avoiding eye contact, they had had a nice conversation - even if it was [u]a silence conversation[/u]. __ Mushroom had troubles keeping the bugs at the frying pan. 1) When they opened the jar with the bugs, they would jump up into the air and almost land on Mushroom’s face. The first time one of the bugs did this, Mushroom made a gasp, where they fast covered their mouth shyly in hopes of noone hearing them. But luckily the noises from the other kitchens drowned their surprised voice out. 2) The crickets were making a weird popping noise which had Mushroom jumping around when the pop sounded. [i]"God, I miss baking! It is less noisy!"[/i] They thought to themselves. Looking back at the recipe, they knew they needed to come up with a dipping too and went to the food supplies for inspirations. Looking around the supplies, they went to the fruit areas and began to read the different signs. [i]"Apples, cherries, kiwifruit, mandarin..." [/i]All these were good but given Mushroom didn’t eat plant, they didn’t knew what they would taste like - Dixie was the plant eater of those two. And then they came across a sign..They tried to read what it said, but given this was a strange fruit to them, they had trouble pronouncing what the sign said... [center][i]"Fr..E..Sh..A..Voca..Do"[/i][/center] This fruit sounded interesting, they decided to go with this [i]Fr E Sh A Voca Do, [/i] they figured, given it was green, that it would make an interesting and hopefully tasty flavour to the popping roasted crickets. __ As the time had gone, and the judges were going to judge the many amazing dishes, Mushroom felt the anxiety grow bigger and bigger as Raith came closer. They looked over at the Coatl, who looked nervous but was holding his head high. He looked back, with big eyes and Mushroom made two small thumbs up to him and gave a smile. __ [i]"Oh lordie, give me strenght..."[/i] They whispered as the judges approached their dish. To their surprise, their Raith wasn't as harsh as they had feared but rather... They seemed to like their dish? Thank god for proteins...! Aion, too seemed to like their dish very much and gave them suggestions of how to the ingredients for the future. They wrote that down mentally, soy sauce: good sauce for popper bugs. Nessau wasn't very much impressed and sadly Mushroom knew why... They had not roasted them enough, due to the popping noises, which resulted in them not being well done and didn’t provide the crunchy bite Nassau was asking for. They nodded their head and thanked the judges, in a low voice, for the score. They looked back at the Coatl, who had followed the judging of their dish, who gave a worried but encouraging smile to them, which Mushroom reciprocated. But before the judges and Latona went to the next dish, Latona turned around and said [i]"When dealing with crickets, make sure they are fully dead before cooking them, we’d hate for them to start jumping out of your pan."[/i] Mushroom froze and just stared at Latona, who gave them a wink and followed the judges. [i] "Oh god.. if.. they Latona had seen me jump, that meant... everyone else most have seen me jumping around in my kitchen!"[/i] Extremely embarrassed, they hid their face in their small claws, blushing so much their face almost resembled a tomato. ~ I realized I had posted it two times, my bad!

Not going to lie, Apollo felt very frustrated by the results of his dish. And incredibly frustrated at himself. He tried to make a dish so unique and sweet it would make the judges fall in love instantly, but the truth is, he’s never roasted anything before. But before we talk about tomorrow, let’s jump back to yesterday. Apollo’s not quite the social butterfly, so he retreated back to his hotel room as soon as the competitors were dismissed yesterday. Now Apollo may lack experience in cooking, but he certainly lacks nothing when it comes to alchemy! And even though one of the reasons why he joined Blasterchef is to get away from his job as an alchemist’s assistant (no shade to boss, he just needs a break [emoji=spiral happy size=1]), he missed his little cauldron back at home. He missed going on scavenging missions to find elixir ingredients. He missed hearing his boss and best friend go on and on about creating gold using simple materials. He could tell she was truly passionate, despite her face showing no emotion thanks to her fae-ness. And it’s only been one day away from home. Sighing, Apollo scratched one tally mark into the wall. If only cooking was as easy as alchemy. Just toss some things into a cauldron, stir occasionally, and see if you get gold. Alright, alchemy’s probably not *that* easy, but at least it doesn’t make him feel like there’s a hundred butterflies in his stomach. Black Witch butterflies, to be exact. [center][item= black witch][/center] Oh, how he wanted to brew something with his cauldron, then watch his friend Raizen refine it with a fire and hammer. A soft metal, polished into a deep brass color, then bent into the shape of a flower, and voila! Wait a minute... That’s it! A golden colored flower! Hastily, he flipped open the heavy cookbook titled [i]“The Complete Collection of Recipes Guarateed to Send Your Tastebuds to Heaven!”[/i] which was sitting on the counter. It was a goodluck and goodbye gift from the quiet but hardworking Imperial named Copernicus. And while he appreciated the thought, Apollo wished that Copernicus considered the fact that a normal book for an Imperial becomes incredibly heavy in the hands of a Spiral. After turning pages for what felt like 2 years, a recipe finally caught his eye. [quote=Page 374][center][font=book antiqua][size=2]The Complete Collection of Recipes Guarateed to Send Your Tastebuds to Heaven! - Page 374 [item=smolderpetal] [size=4][b]Crispy Smolderpetal Blooms[/b] [size=3]Easier to gather than the speckled fire lily, this hardy flower tastes absolutely divine after a good roast![/center][/quote][/font][/size] But unfortunately, roasting is not as easy as it seems. Instead of turning into a dark golden color, the flowers came out of the oven looking like wilted grass. A “hideous brown,” according to Nassau. And on top of the flowers not looking visually appealing, they were also too sweet for health nut Aion. And now we’re back in the present. Apollo flopped on his bed, screaming into his pillow. It was a stressful day, from fumbling with his words when questioned by the news reporters, to forgetting what temperatures to roast the flowers and winging it. [i]It’s only day 1, it’s only day 1...[/i] he repeated to himself. Yesterday, he thought Aion was the nice one and Raith was the harsh one. But today, Aion gave him a puny 1 and Raith actually liked his dish somewhat. What a surprising turn... But now’s not the time to cry over mistakes. There’s another competition tomorrow, another chance to redeem himself! Apollo washed his face, and flipped open “The Complete Collection of Recipes Guarateed to Send Your Tastebuds to Heaven!” right to the cultural foods section. Having lived a majority of his life in the Windswept Plateau, his tastebuds have come to have a deep appreciation for the seasoned and tasteful, yet light, Asian styled cuisine. He’s watched and helped Copernicus prepare dinner before. It seems as if no matter what meats or vegetables are in the storage, Copernicus is always able to mix and match something and make it work. And he does it all without a recipe or a degree in food preparation. (Makes anyone wonder why Copernicus has a cookbook in the first place...) All this thinking makes Apollo’s mouth water. He can imagine the smell of his favorite food, homemade noodles made out of flour, complete with a thin soup, crunchy insect wings, hearty tomatoes, and duck eggs! With a dash of salt, a drizzle of sesame oil, and a sprinkle of garlic powder, this dish keeps dragons asking for more and more. In fact, why doesn’t Apollo try recreating it tomorrow? Can’t be too hard, right? Maybe this will be the dish that captivates the judges! (I made Apollo’s tastes really similar to my own! Growing up in an Asian household, I ate “mix and match” veggies and meats every day. It really did feel like no matter what we had, my parents could always make something delicious! And all of our recipes are unwritten, most of the time we cook with instinct and “just pour the salt until it feels right.” I really enjoyed writing about this part today!)

[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/37028655][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/370287/37028655_350.png[/img][/url][/center] Tigri was feeling less than confident in his dish by the time he brought it to the judges following the previous mushroom appetizer that had recieved a less-than-warm reception. He hoped his sigh of relief as the Pearlcatcher - Aion, he finally caught her name - swapped places with the host wasn't [i]too[/i] audible. He was very satisfied with his score. It seemed a pretty fitting number for the caliber of cook he considered himself. He kind of wanted to go up to Aion after the judging was over and apologize for making a dish she couldn't eat, but he thought it might be weird, so he just left to explore the rest of the festival. He did, however, resolve to stop and check in with Latona the next day to make sure no one else had any allergies. As he admired the bonsai, Tigri thought about one of his favorite dishes to make. It wasn't often the clan caught a turtle, but when they did there was nothing better than boiling it in a broth of herbs and vegetables, pulling it out as it begins to cook to remove the meat from the shell. The process is time-consuming and difficult, which is exactly how Tigri likes his meals.

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It seems a little clarification is necessary. I know I've said this a couple of times before, but the message must've gotten lost a bit.
The dishes you entered into the sign up form are NOT necessarily the dishes you'll end up with. I have assigned both scores AND dishes to each contestant randomly. If you're asking where your dish is, look through the other contestants, it would have been assigned to someone else. Sorry if the mix up caused you any stress!

I also would like to tentatively add, as a PSA, that I know next to nothing about cooking. Most of what I do know is from watching Food Wars. Most of what you're reading is coming from google or my imagination.

[i][b]Challenge 2[/b][/i] [i] The first round of competition is finally complete. How did you do, and what do you plan on fixing up for next time? Also, tell us your chef’s favourite dish. Do they have unique tests or are they simple in what they like?[/i] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/58795795][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/587958/58795795_350.png[/img][/url] While the score he received from the judges was not the best, Gordon knew he could improve. All chiefs, no matter how talented, make mistakes from time to time. Gordon wasn’t going to let his poor score get to him. He had gotten a better understanding of the judges preferences and tolerances with his Bruschetta. Maybe the next dish he would prepare would be his favourite. If Gordon was allowed to choose his last meal, he would eat his mum’s shepherd's pie. It was a comforting and familiar dish. As a hatchling, he would help his mother prepare it. Nothing much, just helping to cut up some of the vegetables, but it was one of his happiest memories. On top of that, it was delicious and a hearty meal. As Gordon braced himself to start the next dish, he reminisced about the last time his mother prepared it.

Luck's garlic bread recipe is tried and true in his household. He's got the recipe memorized by heart, if a few tweaks each time. The family, hatchlings included gobble it all up at home. He had thought to start the competition off with with a dish, while a bit simple, he felt confident he could do well.

The judges seemed to enjoy it for the most part but Raith seemed vastly unimpressed. Luck felt his heart drop and struggled to keep his tail from twitching in frustration. He had poured his heart and soul into the making of the garlic bread. He didn't do badly, he just wanted to be the best! Instantly he felt a pang as he realized he should have picked a more complicated dish to wow the judges with. Yet, Luck's determination has not abated in the slightest. The next dish will be closer to perfect than anything he has ever made. Although... he hasn't decided what it will be yet.

He shuffles through his favourite dishes. He makes a killer chicken parmigiana but he just made garlic bread and the flavour profile is too similar. What about chile rellenos? Those are complicated and the sauce is hard to perfect, but the spices would surely blow the judges away.

He reassured himself that today was a win, that he did not fail on his first day just that tomorrow will be better and spent the rest of his free time being indecisive about what to cook next...

[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62918473][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/629185/62918473_350.png?mtime=Xz_-mQACljU.png[/img][/url] [i]Sure! I may look cute.... but there is more to me than meets the eye![/i] Indeed, the pastel coatl may look soft and fluffy on the outside but when it comes to competitions...... sometimes she could be a demon in the kitchen! Chrononoxia watched as the judges sampled some of her canapés, her heart pounding; usually she never cooked with any type of meat.... or in this case seafood and kept her dishes vegetarian, but let out a sigh of relief as Nassau and Aion seemed to thoroughly enjoy the dish and let out their praises. Raith didn’t seemed too pleased however, instead complaining about the anchovy/radish combination. [i]Not exactly the best you could do, but being able to receive high scores from two judges![/i] she thought, raising her morales, [i]Just gotta work on practicing with meats and seafoods.....[/i] She nodded, “Thank you chefs!” And with a small curtesy, returned to her station happy about receiving a strong score. Usually, if you give her a whisk, eggs, flower, and sugar, she could whip up some sort of dessert delicacy! But give her a dwarf fawn and frying pan...... let’s just say things wouldn’t go too well...