Quests & Challenges

[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=39487814] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/394879/39487814.png[/img] [/url][right][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=40132267] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/401323/40132267.png[/img] [/url][/right] Cadie returns the next day. But this time, Elliot isn't with her. It's a pretty stupid story, if one asks her: Yesterday, just as they wanted to leave the tent, something started to burn, and Elliot – helpful idiot, as he is – tried to help extiguish the fire. And of course, because he's Elliot, he was so involved that he burned himself in the process. "It's not as bad", Licorice, the clan healer, said, "he'll be able to walk and fly just fine, he just can't eat that well due to the burn on his nose and he should restrain from scavenging and, of course, battling." As Cadie asked if Elliot could cook then, the Guardian had cocked an eyebrow at her and just gestured at the burns on his front legs. "You stupid?", he'd asked. Cadie took that as a no. So, she had to search for another assistant. She'd tried to butter the recipe incident up and asked Tia, but the older Wildclaw had snorted and asked rhetorically: "Well you [i]do [/i]know that I've got this… kitchen [i]talent[/i], right? That everything but tea and cutted veggies kind of [i]blows up [/i]in my presence?" Well… fine. Cadie didn't even think about asking Tia's mate – they'd never liked each other anyway. Then, she'd remembered that Marcie probaby knew how to cook, but as she asked her, the Imperial, too, had to decline. She offered her skills for the next day though, when her mate could take care of their nest. That wasn't bad, but still no solution for today. Finally, Cadie decided to take Alma, a newer clan member she wanted to get to know anyway. "What are we making today?", the young Coatl squeals in excitement. "Let me see…", Cadie murmurs, looking at the ingredients of today. "[i]Eww[/i]… it's only greenery today…" She frowns and pulls a long face. "Huh, veggies…" Alma goes silent. Then, she smiles. "Oh, I know. We can make potato pancakes with ham! Maru loves that!" The Wildclaw shakes her head. "No, we don't have potatoes, we have roses…" She hesitates. "Pancakes, on the other hand…" "With ham?", the younger dragon asks. "Or maybe with fish? How about shrimps?" "Shrimps?" Cadie frowns again. "Well… we could try salmon, that's very mild, how about that?" She nods to herself. "Yes. Salmon-stuffed rose pancakes with, uh…" She takes another look at the ingredients. "Winterbelle honey?" "Okay!", Alma squeals. "Fine. Here, take those [b]Heart Roses[/b] and [b]Blue Roses[/b] and cut them a little, will you?" The black dragon takes out a cup of honey. "I'll get the flower taste into the honey. Hopefully we can speed this up a little, normally it takes around a month, at least two weeks… but maybe I could try…" Mumbling to herself, she turns away and shoves the [b]Winterbelle[/b] and the honey into a pot. Then, she puts it on a stove and lets it simmer while she stirs the mixture. Alma turns away and starts cutting the roses into stripes. Suddenly, she stops and looks over her shoulder. "Uh… Cadie?" "Yes?", the Wildclaw answers, distracted. "I… I think I broke the knife", the Coatl confesses. Cadie whirls around and peeks over the other dragon's shoulder. "Uh… guess you did", she says. "Where's the oher half? Oh wait…" She's just spotted the other, sharp half. It sticks in the younger dragon's leg. "Uh… I think I saw a medic tent on the outside. Let's take you there, yes? Maybe they can even fix the knife…" She turns off the heat. Just in case. Alma looks to her side and seems to discover the half knife in her leg for the first time. "Oh, look at [i]that[/i]!", she chirps. "I already wondered where it went!" "Um… yeah…" Cadie gently pushes her out of the tent. She returns a few minutes later and finds the pot of honey and the half-cut roses just fine. Very well. She sighs and starts to simmer and stir the honey again while simultaneously cutting the roses. By the time Alma returns, her leg bandaged, she's almost done. With the roses, that is. "Fine", the Wildclaw mumbles. "So… would you mix a bit of that milk over there with… let's say three eggs, please? And then you mix that with the roses and a bit of flour. Oh, and don't forget the salt. And a few sliced Lumious Almonds." "Sure!" Being injured doesn't seem to affect this Coatl's good mood in any way. She does just as ordered until it comes to the salt. Then… well, there's a loud crash and a dragon lands on the floor along with lots of spices. Cadie, who just took the pot off the heat, jumps aside. "[i]For Noodledad's sake[/i]!", she yelps in surprise. "What do you think you're [i]doing[/i]?!" Alma gets up, smiling, and tries to clean herself with moderate success. "I was looking for the almonds. I saw something I thought were almonds, but it turned out to be [i]High-Voltage[/i] Almonds. I was so surprised I fell from the ladder." "I do have the almonds here already", Cadie points out. "You could just have asked, you know. Now, please, clean that mess up. I'll finish the dough." And she turns away to do just that. [i]Wow[/i], she thinks. She's never met a dragon [i]that [/i]clumsy. "I'm done!", Alma finally chirps. Cadie already boils the salmon with a little wine and salt and fries the pancakes. "Fantastic", she sighs. "You can finish the honey, then. You'll have to filter it, so the flowers are gone. Do you think you can do that?" The Coatl nods. "Sure I can!" She grabs the pot with the honey and a colander, which she puts over a bowl. "Be careful", Cadie adds. "I don't really want to do that again. It took me long enough, you-" Too late. Right beside her, something splashes and she's not the slightest bit surprises as drips of honey land on her wings, shoulder, and face. She just closes her eyes and breathes in and out. She won't kill that dragon. In, and out. No, she won't. In… and… out. "Um… Cadie?" Alma gently taps her shoulder. "Half of the honey is still fine. I'll… I'll filter it again, okay?" The Wildclaw nods, utilizing all her patience. And she hasn't got much of that. "Yes. Take a new colander and do it very slow this time, please." Finally, Alma's done, and Cadie's already prepared the stuffed pancakes. She's made four plates like yesterday, and put them in different corners of her workbench, just in case. Taking the honey off Almas hands, she smells it and crouches up her face. She sticks a spoon into it and tastes. "Eww. That's [i]really [/i]sweet. Let's don't use much of that." And before the Coatl can even offer her help, she pours a thin line of honey over the pancakes and decorates with a tiny winterbelle flower. Done. "I'll take them to the judge!", Alma squeals, already carrying the plate in her claws. Not even two steps away from the workbench, though, she stumbles and falls to the ground again. Cadie sighs, already preparing the next plate. "Let's just wait until the judge comes here, yes? And please, clean that up." … "That was fun! Can I come tomorrow too?" "Oh, uh… actually Marcie offered her help…" "Oh! Fine. Maybe another day then!" "Um… maybe…" not. [size=1](Again, I apologize for mistakes.) (Edit: Agh, forgot a space! I hate it when that happens. [i]Pancakesand[/i]. Tch.)[/size] Also, could I be added to the daily pinglist? Makes things easier...

[center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=22321846][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/223219/22321846_350.png[/img][/url][/center] ButtsPie kicked himself mentally for his mistake in the first round. He'd been so excited to participate again that he'd forgotten to put on his apron. He fixed the issue immediately the next day, carefully putting on his apron and tucking his wooly coat into it so it would not shed again. Then again, maybe it wasn't his coat... To cover all his bases ButtsPie took the Pomeranian and placed it under his workstation. He held up a piece of leftover ram meat to get its attention. "Stay." The dog dropped his tiny butt to the ground and did not move. "Good boy," ButtsPie gave him the treat and set up a barrier just to make sure the dog stayed contained. [item=heart rose][item=winterbelle][item=blue rose][item=cinnamon][item=grassland grain] The Nocturne's eyes lit up when he saw Meringue was the judge for the day. The Coatl seemed like a really sweet dragon, and baking was her specialty too! He hoped he could make something she would enjoy. At the very least, if it turned out wrong he knew he would get some solid advice. On that note, ButtsPie set about making his decided confection; cupcakes. He took some already-prepared grassland grain flour and added the sugar, eggs, and a bit of salt. When his batter was mixed to his liking he separated it into three bowls and, for fun, added small bits of the different flower petals to each. This left him with three different colors of "confetti cake", and the batter would carry a bit of the flavor too. Satisfied, he poured the batter into cupcake tins and set them in the oven to bake. The icing would be a fun part, if a bit messy. The whipping cream wen tin fine without any spilling but ButtsPie did manage to get confectioner's sugar all over his apron. Just a breath sent a puff of it flying. He couldn't help but laugh though. "A bit of a waste, but it's a workplace hazard I suppose!" he chuckled to himself. He got the rest of the icing mixed without much mess and once again divided it into three containers. ButtsPie then took some crushed flower petals and mixed them into the icing, flavoring and coloring it all at once. The winterbelles were sweet enough on their own to go on a plain vanilla cupcake. The heart roses were floral-tasting, but there wasn't much else. That icing also received some raspberry juice to give it a more interesting flavor, bringing the color to a nice pink. The blue roses already tasted like blueberries, so he just made sure the flavor was strong enough. The icing turned a lovely pastel blue. When the cupcakes were done baking he made sure to let them cool before applying the icing to its corresponding confetti cake color. As one last extra touch ButtsPie sprinkled some cinnamon on top of the iced winterbelle cupcakes. ButtsPie did not actively study Coatl, though it probably wouldn't be a bad idea. However, he had made an effort to ask Pompeii to teach him a few phrases, since he remembered Meringue was a judge. It was (relatively) easy enough to mimic the Coatl"s humming phrases but remembering what meaning was attached to them was harder. When Meringue reached his station for judging he managed to get out a "[i]Hello[/i]," before promptly forgetting how to say his next words. Not wanting to embarrass himself by accidentally saying the wrong thing, he sheepishly switched back to Common, "I hope you like them."

[center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=25263517] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/252636/25263517_350.png[/img][/url][/center] Dia giggles softly to herself. While she admits (to herself) that Lynnie’s entry had been absolutely delicious (she'd saved Dia a slice of the roast after letting Gourmet have a healthy slice), her reaction to the judge had been priceless! Her fellow Guardian is still fuming over the ‘overcooked’ comment. And her ingredients are flowers today! Perfection. Dia’s specialty is candies and sweets. First she finds some blueberry jam, and caster sugar. She sets aside the jam for later, and beats up an egg white. Then Dia carefully plucks a blue rose and a heart rose, brushing them with the egg wash and then sprinkling them carefully with caster sugar and leaving them to dry on a baking sheet. That done, she puts three pots on the stove, filling them each with distilled water and flower petals after she's rinsed them, one pot for each flower. It takes about thirty minutes for the flower water to be fully infused, and then she drains the waters into jars and discards the depleted petals. Dis preheats her oven to 325 degrees, and then greases and lines two cake tins with parchment paper. After that she sifts her flour while her butter is softening. She beats butter and caster sugar into a pale, fluffy blend next. She beats four eggs, and adds them gradually to the butter and sugar. Next Dia adds a teaspoon of the winterbelle water, and beats in half of her sifted flour. The other half of the flour gets folded in gently, and the batter goes into her cake tins and into the oven for twenty minutes. While her cakes are baking, she turns her attention to the filling. Dia beats up some heavy whipping cream, slowly adding a teaspoon of the blue rose water. After she gets soft peaks, it's time to gently fold in four tablespoons of that lovely blueberry jam. This tints the cream a pretty, pale blue-purple. Once the cakes are done baking she pulls them out and lets them rest for ten minutes, before turning them out onto cooling racks for the rest of the cooling period. After the cakes are cooled, she puts one of them on a pretty serving plate, and spoons the cream over the layer. Dia would normally top this with crushed blueberries, but the defrosted winterbelle smell so delicious that she carefully layers the sugary-sweet flowers over the cream before adding the second layer. For the icing, Dia mixes up powdered sugar with the heart rose water, making is a pretty pale pink, and drizzling it carefully on top of the cake, letting it drip over the sides. She sprinkles the top with her candied rose petals, and she's done! Dia carefully cuts a slice of the cake and serves it for the judge, paired with winterbelle water over ice, garnished with a frozen winterbelle flower. She sneaks a peak at Lynnie as she waits for the judges, giggling at Lynnie’s jealous expression. One for her! ----- ([url=https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/rosewater-raspberry-sponge-cake]Rosewater & raspberry sponge cake[/url]- obviously mucked with this one more than the last one, but w/e, lol. When you have canonically blueberry flavored roses, you go with blueberries.)

[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=3104717] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/31048/3104717_350.png[/img] [/url] After trying to umm... curse? Poison? Incapacitate? the judge when she competed last year, Shimmerwave is back again (a whole lot different- hopefully they don’t remember the little fae from last year), and this time ready to prove she’s not a immature teen and maybe in the meantime become more in touch with her love for flora. Today’s ingredients were perfect for that. But before she started doing any cooking, Shimmerwave spent a few hours picking the most vibrant flowers, stripping the roses of their thorns and tying them into little bouquets practicing her newfound skill for flower arranging. She even emptied a large pepper shaker into a salt shaker -hopefully no body used it that salt shaker- and created a floral arrangement with it and an aluminum tray which she dug out from a pile of various pots and pans. Then she proudly carried it over to the quiet Merinuge and set it down on the table before her. “Lovely flowers for a lovely coatl!” Shimmerwave declared. Not getting any response, (or maybe she just didn’t hear it in the busy kitchen) Shimmerwave returned to her work space, now cluttered with an excess amount of flowers, petals and bouquets. Also, she hoped Merinuge didn’t think she was trying to bribe her. She just wanted to cheer up the coatl (because for whatever reason, Shimmerwave thinks that any dragon that is quiet must be sad). Clearing as much table space as possible, she set about cooking, or rather, baking. Shimmerwave doesn’t ever cook but she knew bread was made from flower (or was it flour?) so she took a huge pile of [b]Winterbelle[/b] petals and crushed them into a fine powder. Adding some water, salt, sugar and [b]Blue Rose[/b] petals, she did her best to kneed the mixture into dough. While she would’ve liked to make it into some extravagant shape, she found that the dough was quite crumbly. In the end, she lumped it into ball and stuck it into the oven. After staring at the still unused [b]Heart Rose[/b] for awhile, she decided she would make a dip/spread for the bread. She peeled off the harder outer layer of the stems and mashed them into a pulp. She added some water and a pinch of sugar then called it a day. She found a pretty little bowl in which she put the jam in and once the bread had baked for 45 minutes, she pulled it out and presented it to the judge. ----- And Shimmerwave was later seen handing out the small bouquets to the other contestants (although they were probably sick of seeing flowers all day) // I just imagine the final product being a huge crumbing mess with random blue petals sticking out of it //

[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=33070705] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/330708/33070705_350.png[/img] [/url] Yesterday had been rough, and the stress was showing on Hecate's face. That old saying of wearing your heart on your sleeve, held very true for a dragon like Hecate; however she did her best to not let it affect her work. The moment her eyes drifted to the flowers sitting in front of her, Hecate knew what she was doing. It was time to make her specialty, macaroons. She hurried off to the pantry to grab the rest of the ingredients including: egg whites, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and unsalted butter. The first step, of course, was to candy the flower petals. This including plucking off each petal carefully, and placing it on a sheet of parchment paper. Then, lightly brushing on an egg wash with a pastry brush; followed by immediately sprinkling on sugar. Normally, the next step would be allowing them to sit over night. However, Hecate had no time for this. Thankfully, the dragons from the lightning flight had allowed the festival to use some of their machinery, and Hecate was able to simulate this step in a mere matter of a seconds. The next step was to begin working on the actual macaroons. Hecate first whipped the egg whites into a soft foam, gradually adding the granulated sugar and crushed flowers until a glossy meringue was formed. She then combined the almonds and powdered sugar into a food processor, pulsing them until the nuts were ground completely. The next step was adding this mixture to the meringue and quickly folding them in. This was the hardest part for most chefs, and Hecate gave the mixture her utmost attention. She then stuffed everything into a pastry bag and piped out the shapes of her macaroons, before sprinkling them with candied flower petals. The first row had the heart rose, the second had the winterbelle, and finally the last housed the blue rose. She then allowed them to sit while making her frosting. For the frosting, Hecate first added sugar and egg whites into a large bowl over a saucepan of water and whisked away. Once the sugar was fully dissolved and the mixture looked a bit like marshmallow cream, she poured them into a separate bowl off the heat and began whisking away again. Once cool, she added in the butter and began mixing again. At this point, she separated the mixture into three smaller containers and added in crushed candied petals to each making sure not to mix the different flavors. Once everything was done, all three mixtures were placed into piping bags and Hecate moved back to her macaroons. The macaroons had set for about 30 minutes by the time Hecate was done, and she placed them quickly into the oven. They stayed in there just a short while before being removed and taken off their backing tray. She sat them in a machine that allowed them to cool quickly, before piping the buttercream mixture onto half of the macaroons and toped them off with the other half. She placed one of each kind on a plate, and garnished them with a few extra candied petals. (You now know more about making macaroons than you probably every wanted to know, I'm so sorry. However, you can use this recipe pretty vaguely to actually create some for yourself, so that's a plus.)

[i]DAY 2 Challenge[/i] “Frinth! Frinth!” Windrith wasn’t quite bellowing for his mate, but he was definitely louder than she liked. Frinth suspected she knew the reason. Before she could open her mouth he burst out “That cooking contest! The one we competed in last year! It’s started! We’ve missed the first day! We need to catch up! We need…” “Stop,” she cut in “there’s no need to get worked up! We have no shortage of excellent cooks, and they’ve been expecting this at some point. You no doubt got a preview of the secret ingredients through Gwentoth, so you just need to consider who is most likely to use them the best.” Windrith stopped shouting and blinked at her for a few moments. “Really? Well, yes, plants, she said, so we need a plant-eater … We don’t have a lot of Tundras here, though. Wait! [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=242017&tab=dragon&did=26298078]Pestilenth[/url] went last year, she already has experience, so ….” “So it would be best not to remind the judges of that!” Frinth interrupted. “Ah, perhaps you’re right,” Windrith conceded, remembering the details as they’d filtered back to him. That red Coatl might still be there ... He took a deep breath and set off to see who was around. He found Myropalth first. Yeah, she could try it. Myropalth was thrilled at the chance to represent WindSky this year, having heard about this event from her elders. She was even more delighted to see the ingredients. Ahhh! She inhaled deeply. Heart Roses, Winterbelles and Blue Roses, what heavenly aromas! If it were up to her, she’d skip cooking them entirely, and just dive into a plateful! But that wasn’t what she was here for... However, that impulse gave her an idea. She’d watched Camelliath using flowers to decorate some of her tea cookies - she’d try that! First she’d need to bake some cookies, something simple: butter, sugar, flour …She wasn’t entirely sure of the proportions - Camelliath was jealous of her recipes - but they looked right, thin and delicately golden. She boiled up a simple syrup, let it cool slightly, and carefully dipped each blossom, then positioned each one onto a baked cookie to set up. Just lovely! And so colorful! Though maybe those Winterbelles weren’t holding up as well as she’d hoped. She added a sprinkle of Luminous Almonds to those, arranged them in the center of her platter, and alternated the roses around the outside. They were sure to be delicious! [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=35020125] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/350202/35020125_350.png[/img] [/url][/center]

[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=7173591] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/71736/7173591_350.png[/img] [/url] Chess looked at the flowers a bit dubiously. Perhaps he should have skipped today and let the clan baker compete - roses were much better suited to the sweets and pastry world. Not that he couldn't do a dessert himself, but it certainly wasn't his specialty. He thought about making a jelly or jam again, but the host was clear on day one that it wasn't [i]necessary[/i], as long as he utilized the jam-inspired ingredients in his dish. Chess wasn't secure enough in his baking skills that he wanted to show them off in front of someone who considered them her specialty. [i]Hmmm...[/i] he paused thoughtfully in his examination of the ingredients. He usually focused on savory dishes, but one meal of the day lent itself well to some extra sweetness: breakfast! Rosemilk Pancakes would showcase the rose petals well, in his opinion, and be creative. Well, he hoped so. The Imp glanced around at his competitors but couldn't really tell what any of them were making yet. [b]Entry: [s]Rosemilk Pancakes[/s] Gull 'n Rosemilk Berry Waffles[/b] Required Ingredients: [item=Heart Rose] [item=Winterbelle] [item=Blue Rose] Additional Ingredients: [item=Seaberry] [item=blue-footed gull] [item=Blue Honeycomb] First, he crushed the Blue Rose petals and put them in a bowl of milk to infuse it with their flavor. Next, he used the Winterbelle and created sugar-covered rose petals to sprinkle over his finished product. While those were drying, he gathered the ingredients for his pancake batter and strained the milk. He also started a Heart Rose butter (chopped rose petals mixed into a butter and put in the cooler to chill). That took care of all the required ingredients. Chess chose a grassland grain flour, which was a little lighter than amaranth and would work better with the delicate rose flavor. He mixed the batter using the rose-infused milk and then gently folded in some flour-dusted seaberries. (The flour would help prevent the seaberries from sinking to the bottom of the pancakes.) The seaberry flavor would complement the blueberry undertones of the rose petals used to infuse the milk. Just then, [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=101617&tab=dragon&did=11686098]Aura[/url], his clan's Wind priestess and ambassador, stopped by and handed him some blue-footed gulls. Chess just stared at her in confusion. "A Spiral over at the Cloudsong Celebration area gave them to me to give to you," she said. The Imperial made a vague gesture to her left. "So I thought I'd drop them off for you to use today." Chess, not quite recovered from his confusion, stuttered,"Um. Wha - what? What exactly did he say?" "You could be a little more grateful," Aura said. Chess narrowed his eyes at his clanmate. "Ok, fine. I just mentioned that you were over here at Mistral Meals and he said 'maybe this flock of seagulls will make a good secret ingredient!' I thought you'd be [i]happy[/i]." Chess sighed. "There are already seagulls in the pantry - I didn't need..." Chess trailed off as he noticed a competitor plating what looked exactly like rose-flavored pancakes. "On second thought, we are allowed to supplement our entries with our own specialty ingredients. Let me just think..." Chess headed towards the pantry, muttering to himself and giving Aura a brief wave when she yelled, "You're welcome!" at him. He came back carrying a strange looking device, clearly made by an industrious Lightning clan. Chess had made chicken and waffles for his clan before - then, he had used oranges to flavor the waffle, but the rose would make them even more light and delicate. The batter he had already made was salvageable - he just tweaked the ratios a bit, and it was ready to go. Chess cleaned and battered the gull, resisting using the roses in the batter, fearing he'd overpower the dish with rose flavor. Instead, he used the Winterbelle to make a syrup that he poured over both the gull and the waffles. The final touch was a scoop of the rose butter on top of the waffle stack and the candied rose petals delicately placed on the plate. He cleaned off the edges of the dish and placed it in the judging area, satisfied at least that he had been creative in the use of the required ingredients.

[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=39123997] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/391240/39123997_350.png[/img] [/url] Faux saunters in, a look of greedy excitement in his eyes. "Ooh! Burning fo-I mean, cooking!" he stutters, grinning sheepishly as he stumbles into the nearest rack of copper pots and pans. Righting himself, he continues, "Today, m'dear judges, I'll be making you a delectable [b]"Ribbet"-ing Rose Souffle[/b], inspired by my lil' companion. Now, let's get bur-I mean, cooking!" [b]Required ingredients:[/b] [item=heart rose] [item= winterbelle] [item=blue rose] [b]Added ingredients:[/b] [item=butcher's fig] [item=sugary prickleaf] [b]Recipe:[/b] "Ribbet"-ing Rose Souffle, with a Butcher's Fig and sauce and a Sugary Prickleaf garnish. --- "Mix eggs, milk, butter, and sugar in a bowl. Add the rose petals after." the Ridgeback says, happily stirring the batter. Faux expertly chops the delicate petals of the roses, dumping them into a buttery mix, its aroma filling the kitchen. You can nearly taste the rich, multi-layered flavor of the dough tickling your taste buds. "Now, you want to mix these petals up real good- these delicacies are capable of releasing explosions of flavor- so stir them for 3-5 minutes to add that flowery, [i]delectable[/i] taste into your souffle!" He pulls out a glass baking pan, taking care to catch every drop of the thick, gooey batter. "Pop that in the oven for about 15 minutes, then turn it so both sides can brown gently, let it bake for 15 minutes more. "While that's baking, I will make the Butcher's Fig sauce and Prickleaf garnish. For the sauce, blend the figs until gooey, then simply pour them into a bowl and let it settle. The garnish is really quite simple- just chop them up, get rid of the prickly edges, and add [i]just a squirt[/i] of lime juice to bring out its flavor." As the wafting scents of the baking souffle batter start to emanate from the oven, Faux turns the pan. When he turns back around, a childish excitement is contained in his eyes. "15 minutes... and then we get to decorate..." he mutters under his breath. [i]Later...[/i] The oven emits a cheerful [i]ding![/i], drawing an elated Faux. He draws the pan out of the range, his face glowing with anticipation. Centered in the middle of the crystal pan is a single, golden puff, browned to perfection. The Ridgeback sets to work, gently caressing the sides of the pastry with a brush coated in the fig sauce, sprinkling the garnish on top. With a single flourish, he's done. Faux waltzes out of the room, leaving a culinary masterpiece in his wake...

[columns][LEFT][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=37462757][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/374628/37462757p.png[/img][/url][/left] [nextcol][RIGHT][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=40242971][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/402430/40242971p.png[/img][/url][/right][/columns] After hearing the last judge’s comments on his first dish, Mani wasn’t so sure what he would do to redeem himself. Even the small snapper hatchling had done better than him. Maybe cooking wasn’t his strong suit. Well, Mani could start off with taking off the petals of the roses. At least he knew something about baking. Stop it, Mani, he chided himself, the other dragons here have more experience than you. It isn’t fair to compare yourself to the other chefs. “You’re moving awfully slow for someone who’s supposed to be cooking, “ A gravelly voice behind him said. Mani jumped and turned to face the stranger. “Wha- Sekhmet? What are you doing here?” Sekhmet was the Kansa Clan’s top chef. When Mani had snuck into the kitchen after his singing practice, he had often seen her there and observed. Recently, she had taken notice of him and showed him how to do basic baking. But he had never expected her to be here. She always said she didn’t enjoy festivals. It was too crowded and noisy as if the kitchen wasn’t like that too. Sekhmet gave Mani a slow smile. “Well, [i]Puer Luna[/i], I’m here to help.” Mani flushed. [i]Puer Luna[/i] meant Moon Child in their native language, and this just so happened to be his name while he was a hatchling. Not many dragons used it now, but Mani certainly wasn’t going to get onto her for saying that. Never mind, though. Sekhmet, one of the greatest chefs (And only chef) he’d ever known was going to help him in this contest while using his hatchling-name. “Now,” the Bogsneak snapped, all of her gentleness gone. “Let’s get to work. Start cutting off the white ends of the roses- those taste sour. “ Mani hurriedly did as he was told, still in shock. “What are we going to do with these petals?” “We’re using the Winterbelles and Heart Roses for decoration, but the Blue Rose will be put into jam,” she replied with a hint of mischief, without even looking at the newly-grown dragon. While Mani had taken his sweet time trimming of the bases of the petals, Sekhmet had already taken out two bowls and filled one with salt water and the other with freezing water. “Bring them here,” she said. “Dip them in the salt water first, next put them in the cold water. Then, put them on the tray to dry, and start with the Blue Roses first!” The female added with a yelp when she saw Mani was starting with the Winterbelles. Mani did just that, checking behind him grumpily every now and then. It was nice that he had help, but the guardian just wanted to do this by himself. However, he soon realized Sekhmet wasn’t just waiting- she was doing something else. He watched as the chef whipped up something in a bowl, and when he got a closer look, it looked almost like cake batter. “Those petals ready now?” She called over her shoulder. Mani nodded. “Er-yeah, but-” “Good. Hand me the blue ones,” Sekhmet interrupted gruffly. Mutley, the handsome guardian nudged the tray over. “What do you want me to do with the other ones?” Mani asked as the brown dragon turned her back on him once more. “Sugar ‘em.” “What?” Sekhmet turned around and gave him an exasperated look. “Sugar them. Paint the meringue mixture over them and sprinkle sugar over them.” “Meringue Mix-?” Mani began, but she cut him off again when she shoved a bowl and a small, clean paintbrush in his direction. “This. Now be quiet and do as you’re told.” Mani swallowed and set the dish down on his side of the counter. All right… Carefully, he took the paintbrush between his claws and coated the Heart Rose petal. Then, he sprinkled fine sugar over both sides, let it stick for one moment and placed it back down on the tray. Over and over again, he repeated this process until all of the petals were completed. “Er, I’m done,” he announced. The female Bogsneak finished up whatever she was doing and came over to inspect his work. “Good,” she proclaimed. Now you can help me over here once you put the tray in the freezer.” Mani did as she said, and came quickly over to her. “What are you baking over here?” He asked quietly. Sekhmet gave a patient sigh. He knew the grizzled female didn’t like to be interrupted, but his curiosity was burning. “We’re making cupcakes with Blue-Rose jam as a filling, [i]Puer Luna[/i],” she explained to him. “Put the batter halfway into the muffin tins, and go back and do it again once you reach the end.” Mani nodded, a little confused at the directions. Why not just do it full the whole way? But what seemed even stranger was what Sekhmet was doing. She plopped in Blue Rose jam after every tin Mani had done using the same ice cream scooper as yesterday. After they were done, Sekhmet shoved them into the oven. “Now for the icing.” Mani didn’t need any help on this one- he had done it before under Sekhmet's supervision. Quickly, he grabbed the two sticks of unsalted butter the chef had put out, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract. By the time he was done mixing the ingredients together (with added blue dye!), the cupcakes were cooled and ready to be frosted. Now, Sekhmet was taking over while Mani went to pull out the coated rose petals. He watched adoringly as she decorated the cupcakes in lovely swirls. Once she had finished, she came over to inspect the work he had done on the petals. “Too thick of a coat,” the Bogsneak criticized, “but it’ll have to do.” They laid out the rose petals in different patterns over the icing. Finally, Mani stepped back to admire his work. “They’re beautiful!” Sekhmet shrugged and handed Mani a small journal-type book. “What are you going to call it, [i]Puer Luna[/i]?” Mani peered at the page. It was the recipe of what he had just cooked. His own cookbook! “Er, I really don’t know. I’ll think of a name later,” he decided, peering at the Snapper hatchling’s own tray. Why didn’t he think of something like that? [quote="Author's Note"] I referenced three recipes here: [url=http://ninjabaker.com/original/recipe/rose-petal-jam-filled-blueberry-cupcakes]x[/url] [url=http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/rose-petal-jam-3160]x[/url] [url=http://firstsecondbooks.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341d928653ef015390fe33b9970b-320wi]x[/url]