Quests & Challenges

[center][b]Sunday: In Which Librarian Nina Cooks Up a Disaster[/b][/center] [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=46484245][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/coliseum/portraits/464843/46484245.png[/img][/url][/center] Nina peered and poked suspiciously at the pile of ingredients before her as if they would metamorphose into eldritch jelly. Well, you never knew... [center][item=greenpod bloom][item=edamame][item=fragrant orchid][/center] To work, then. She scowled at the greenpod bloom and placed it gingerly into a greased pan over high heat. As it crackled and began to open, she threw some edamame and a pile of fragrant orchids into the pan with it and tossed the mixture around with a haphazard handful of spices. Why was she here, again? She had no idea what she was doing. [center][item=amber algae][item=speckled petunia][item=living stones][item=glass minnows][/center] Once everything was a little crispy, she set it aside to cool and began boiling up a little bit of a sauce...thing...of amber algae, speckled petunia, and ground up living stones. [i]Precisely how[/i] this idea formed in her head she did not know. Perhaps it was something she'd read in a book a long time ago...though, considering her usual taste in books, this was either unlikely or worrying. As the sauce thickened, she dropped in some intact glass minnows for good measure. She adored how morbid they looked, taste and texture notwithstanding. [center][item=frosted violets][item=marigold][/center] She retrieved her original fried...thingamajigs...and drizzled it with her sauce concoction. For a colourful garnish, she sliced the petals of frosted violets and marigolds into thin strips and placed them over the plated fried salad. Perfect! It looked like a unicorn had thrown up onto the plate. Just one last thing... Microwave on high for two minutes. --- I would love to be added to the pinglist. This was my favourite event last(?) year, thank you for running it! :D

[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=25148122] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/251482/25148122_350.png[/img] [/url] A piebald spiral swoops down in front of the judge, twisting in an overexcited curlicue and talking a gale a minute. "Ooh COOKING have you seen Tru is she here no? oh! then I can make HER something that's awesome I'll cook for the cook where's the foo... but... no... food?" He trails off, staring in bafflement at the bushels of fresh-picked leafy plants on offer. He twists to stare at them upside down, then from every angle imaginable in a dizzying gyroscopic whirl. Finally he looks around and asks the nearest dragon hopefully, "Are there things to add is that okay can I go get someth..." Thirty minutes later, after industrious rifling through every tent occupying that section of the plateau, a heap of crushed, mashed, and/or neatly beheaded insects arrayed on an aromatic leafy bed towers before its proud creator. [center][item=fallout whisper] [item=greenpod bloom][item=mistral beetle][item=toxindiver][item=fragrant orchid] [item=frosted violets][item=black swallowtail caterpillar][item=common shellbug][item=noxious caterpillar][item=frosted violets] [item=fragrant orchid][item=frosted violets][item=greenpod bloom] [/center] daily pinglist please! :)

((Hmmm...dragon judging after watching two episodes of Food Wars. The temptation to make my judges just burst out of their clothes for good rolls is terribly tempting. Maybe next year [emoji=coatl winking])) [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=38225245] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/382253/38225245_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] @Daemonengrau Ah, yogurt! Another treat Tonraq was used to recommending and preparing when dealing with sick dragons. It was delightedly versatile and very good at hiding some of the more pungent medicinal herbs. Though when he got a closer look at the dish, it was obvious that Kalaghi had clearly struggled. "I will say this, you did find a good way of getting rid of the orchid's smell," he commented, taking a few extra pretzels with him. They wouldn't be palate cleansers exactly, but he was hoping he could use them as an emergency counter if there were any other particularly bad dishes that day. @Infinity14 Tonraq was quite impressed by the idea of doing oatcakes for this particular challenge. While he was lamenting the amount of salads he had to consume, this definately wasn't one of the alternate ideas he'd toyed with. Twentis's execution of the idea though...eh...it was acceptable at the very least. "Using the citrus lionfish to counterbalance the orchids was a good idea," he said, eyes skimming over the coatl's workspace so he could get an idea of the ingredients used, "but I think real citrus would work better. It's left a bit of a fishy aftertaste to the oatcakes." @LordMaroo If he thought oatcakes were impressive, Tonraq was more impressed that a dragon managed to make a [i]cake[/i] that utilized all the ingredients. "Using the greenpod bloom as a flour base seems to be a trick a lot of contestants are using," he pointed out, "Definitely creative, but you might want to grind it up even more coarsely next time. While your cake tastes good the texture is pretty grainy." @Jaspernoir Tonraq was [i]very[/i] dubious of the glitter. He understood the point of food looking appealing and appitizing, but wasn't that just excessive? And make a mess everywhere? Turns out it didn't matter though. The trifle wasn't quite as good as the delicious soup he'd had earlier, but still very close. The ladyfingers were a smidge too soggy, but the flavors melded perfectly and everything else was spot on. He might have even licked his lips once or twice between bites. @HalfPintAsh Tonraq wasn't as impressed with the "greenpod as a bowl" technique as he would have been before another contestant used it, but it still made for a lovely sight. Unfortunately the ice cream hadn't set as hard as it should have, and was starting to melt everywhere, making Tonraq wrinkle his nose in annoyance. "Not all that easy to eat, is it?" He points out, before acknowledging that the dish at least scored well on taste. @Quintillion Tonrag stared at the thing infront of him with unmasked horror. What....had this skydancer [i]done?[/i] But nope. He had to try it. Even if it terrible he had to take even just the [i]smallest[/i] bite possible. He finaly manages. And then almost immediately has to sit down to get his bearings as the mess of tastes and textures are almost as bad as physical blow. It was bad but...surprisingly somehow not terrible. @sockmonkeygerald A vein ticks in Tonraq's temple as the hyperactive spiral approached him. He knew there were plenty of low key Spirals, and even more who were hyperactive but still at least thought things through before speaking or acting. And then there were types like this one. And Tonraq lived with two others like him back home. That was more than enough for him to handle. Though...this one did bring him delectable buggy treats... "You could have worked harder at assembling this one," he noted, popping another caterpillar in his mouth (wrapped in a greenpod petal so he was at least pretending to focus on the actual required ingredients) and enjoying the goo filled pop as it burst in his mouth, "Several of the other judges are going to be much harsher and less appreciative of simpler meals." Nevermind the fact that Tonraq had been pretty harsh himself over the course of the day already. [center][img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/130278/13027766.png?mtime=XHr7BQAATMM.png[/img][img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/231985/23198461.png?mtime=W_HzBwAASDE.png[/img][img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/50875/5087419.png?mtime=W-1gZwAAQjQ.png[/img][/center] @L1BR4 There are exactly three judges that can understand fluent coatl. Meringue looks scandalized. Ursus starts cracking up with silent laughter. And Bloodstone carries on like she hadn't heard Cumulus' tirade at all (though being the closet one to the couple at the time she absolutely heard it).

[center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=48598329] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/485984/48598329_350.png[/img] [/url] [item=greenpod bloom][item=frosted violets][item=fragrant orchid][/center] The witch Prydwen surveyed the given ingredients with interest. Of course, her first thoughts went to poisons and alchemical brews, but no - those simply would not do for a cooking competition. She couldn't win, after all, if she poisoned the judges... It would be rather uncouth to do so. Unfortunately, she was not as skilled with cooking as she was with witchery, but there was no time like the present to learn! [center][item=greenpod bloom][/center] The greenpod bloom would be the centerpiece of the dish. She set up a slow-burning fire, hanging a pot that was definitely for cooking and not a well-used cauldron over it, and placed the bloom inside. Roasting it slowly over the fire would cause the pod to open and spill the greens within. The pod itself would get tender, but it would stay firm enough to hold the rest of the dish within it. [center][item=frosted violets][item=honeycomb fragment][item=fig][/center] Next she began to prepare what would be the topping for the dish: sugared frosted violets. She extracted honey with care from the comb, mixing it into a pot with quartered figs. That would be left to boil until the fig flavor had infused into the honey. Petals plucked carefully from the violets, they were set out to dry until the fig honey was ready. After letting it boil until the honey was dark and the figs were shriveled, she painted each side of each petal with it, and placed the whole tray of them into a cooling device, since she didn't have any ice magic of her own. The honey would freeze to the petals, and when sprinkled on top of the dish would provide a burst of cool sweetness. [center][item=fragrant orchid][item=minty jadevine][item=peppermint][/center] Now, it would take some strong herbs to disguise the horrendous scent of the fragrant orchid - best used in noxious brews, but perfectly edible if you knew what to do with it. It had a unique flavor that one would not suspect given the scent of it. Adding water and sugar to a pot, she placed the orchids, minty jadevine, and peppermint leaves into it. Those would be left to boil down into a minty syrup that would provide a little tingle in the mouth! [center][item=honeycrisp apple][item=miniature potash peach][item=sugarmelon][/center] Now for the "filling" for her greenpod bloom bowl - this selection of fruits would marry and mingle with the flavors of the other chosen ingredients. Peeled, sliced, and diced up, she added them to the blossoming greenpod - filling it almost to the brim! - and let the fruits slow cook over the fire. Straining the leaves from her orchid syrup, she drizzled it over the fruit filling, tipping the pot over until the fruits were all but swimming in the syrup - almost like a warm, fruity dessert stew! When that was ready to come off the fire, she plated the greenpod, and got out her sugared violets, which had crystallized nicely. The faux-ice magic would keep them cool even on top of the warm stew, and she sprinkled them liberally over the top. When one took a bite of this dish, this is what they would experience: a cool, crisp honeyed violet mingling with soft apple and peach, hints of minty flavor rounding it all out. And when you were done with the dessert stew, you could eat the bowl too! (( i'd like to be added to the pinglist please!!! ))

[center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=47883074] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/478831/47883074_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] "Explain this." Herayla stared at the three green... things sitting innocently at the table. Having been around those Arcane dragons for long enough, he didn't trust that innocence a single bit. He glared at the plants for a few more seconds. When they provided no answer, he switched his glare to the Nocturne in front of him. [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=30851829] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/308519/30851829_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] "They're plants," Kayania offered, as if he hadn't noticed that already. "You know. Basis of nature, bringers of spring, hardy things that grow everywhere. Do I need to spell it out for you?" Herayla resisted the urge to pitch the table and its contents are her. "Why are you giving me plants? What are you - what am I supposed to do with these?" "Make food?" Kayania asked. "I don't know. Isn't that kind of your thing? You take plants and create wonderful dishes for the rest of us." Heralya stared at her. "Kayania. I'm a barista." "It still involves plants, right?" "Only in the most technical sense," Herayla said. "Why. Why are you forcing this upon me? I don't want to do this. Find someone else!" "It can't be that hard to make food!" Kayania protested. She brought out a pot of hot water. "Here, I've got everything set up. Just tell me what to do, chef!" "You are going to poison someone. I do not know who, but it is going to happen, and I will be the one to blame, because that always happens." "So you'd better intervene before I do so, right?" she chortled, and Herayla sighed. "Put the [b]Greenpod Blooms[/b] in," he directed. With a gleeful little laugh, Kayania dumped the shredded blooms into the boiling water. Herayla reached over and added some sugar and a drop of vanilla extract. It'd seep into the leaves and bring out their flavor. While the blooms seeped, Herayla diced the [b]Frosted Violets[/b] and [b]Fragrant Orchids[/b], careful not to spill the nectar from the latter. Using some Honey from the Training Fields, he mixed the three ingredients together to create a sweet paste. He found the buns that he and Kayania had intended for lunch, still crisp and ready to eat. Injecting the paste into the buns, he let them air out on top of a dish. "What's that?" Kayania asked, bringing over the boiling water. Herayla took it from her. "Is that lunch?" He poured the now-pale-green water into two waiting cups, then sprinkled the top with chopped fragrant orchids. "Buns with sweet flower paste and green tea," he announced with a smile. "Dig in."

@DragonNoodles

No worries! Questions are exactly what pinging is for :)

And to answer yours, you do not have to enter every single day. You're correct in that you won't receive a daily prize nor the raffle tickets for days you don't compete in, but that won't bar you from enjoying the rest of the contest.

//I’d love to be added to the daily pinglist [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=49692335] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/496924/49692335_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] [indent]Faeg hadn’t cooked in a long time, she was used to being a part of the coliseum Snapper Squad, but as the clan was trying to train more recruits, she’d been left at home today. Therefore, to cure her boredom, she decided to join a cooking competition. [item=greenpod bloom][item=frosted violets][item=fragrant orchid] Faeg stared at the three ingredients in front of her. “I may not know much about cooking, but I know there’s no way I can make these three things go well together,” she grumbled. On a more positive note, at least today’s items were plants, a food type she enjoys. First she tried to pry open the greenpod bloom, hoping it might have some tasty seeds or decorative petals inside she could work with, but with all her might she couldn’t make it open. Aggravated, she moved on to the next ingredient. She thought the frosted violets looked quite tasty. She knew she could chop them up to make a refreshing, cold salad. Unfortunately, she took too long to chop them up and the previously frozen flowers thawed and became warm. Growing more aggravated, she moved on to the next ingredient. “It looks like a regular flower, it should be easy to work with!” she said to herself with a mock happiness, already assuming something would go wrong. The moment she was about to pick up the flower, the foul smell reached the snapper’s nostrils. She let out a sound of disgust, there was no way she was going to cook with that putrid, meat-scented flower. Enraged that she couldn’t get her culinary crops to work with her, Faeg began crushing up the ingredients with her large feet, until they were ground into tiny pieces. She picked up the grains of what had been plants and threw them into some boiling water, hoping to watch them shrivel up and disappear, but instead, the ingredients began to brew into a liquid that actually smelled pleasant. Though it wasn’t food, Faeg managed to make a nice cup of tea, and with that, she let out a sigh of relief.[/indent]

@Eialyne - Please add me to the daily ping list! ~ [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=7173591] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/71736/7173591_350.png[/img] [/url] Chess looked over his prep area and familiarized himself with the ingredients in the pantry. Since he was a returning contestant, he knew that it would pay off later in the week to have a thorough understanding of the layout of everything in the tent area. He was getting a later start than he would have liked, but the first day of the festival was one of the few chances the Imperial had to look around before the competition was fully underway. Chess set about preparing the flowers - fortunately, the greenpods had already been slow roasted and were blooming, so he didn't have to worry about that step. If it wasn't the first day of the competition, he would have sat these ingredients out, giving one of the clan's other chefs or bakers a chance to participate. They would have been perfect for Yara, who specialized in vegetarian dishes, or Glacier, the baker. Even Mistique, their confectioner, could have done something interesting with them. But no way was he giving up his spot today. Thinking of them, however, gave him an idea. Chess had started honing his baking skills and making desserts, since he wanted to be well-rounded (and you never knew what kind of theme Mistral Meals would have the next year). To kickoff the competition and celebrate spring, the veteran chef would bake a cake! It was pretty daring for him, but his motto this year was "high risk, high rewards." Or, well, at least it was for today. He made three batters - one featuring each flower (ground up into a paste that he incorporated into the batter). He was most careful with the fragrant orchid layer, adding some herbs from his woodbasket to help mask its pungent odor. (Fortunately the flowers only smelled like meat; they didn't taste like it.) Chess also adding some toasted Sugarbees into the batter for that layer to give the cake a bit of a crunch. While the cake layers were in the oven, the Imperial made a butter-cream frosting, choosing pretty blue butterflies to mix into it, as they would add a light blue, spring-like coloring. After being blended on very high speed, the frosting had just the texture Chess was looking for. Decorating wasn't his specialty, but Chess knew he had to make the cake reasonably presentable. He decided to candy the Greenpods and Frosted Violets by coating them with sugar to make edible floral decorations. Then all he had to do was put everything together, wipe the plate clean, and wait for the judges.. [b]Entry: Spring Cake[/b] [i]Required Ingredients[/i] [item=Greenpod Bloom][item=Frosted Violets][item=Fragrant Orchid] [i]Additional Ingredients[/i] [item=Sugarbee] [item=Wasteland Pauper]

[columns][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=44756135] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/447562/44756135_350.png[/img] [/url][nextcol]"...so you're better off using another part of the plant, in future recipes, Godmom." Mossclaw explains, cutting up a Fragrant orchid, holding out the root for Gladys to smell. ...It's earthy and bright; like celery root, or turnip. Not like rotting meat at all. "You could probably kick back the smell completely just by avoiding using the flower; Spire was right about the pollen and nectar causing the smell. It's a fly-pollinated plant, so it smells that way to attract flies." "Smart kid," Spire smirks at her fellow chef. "Ohh, I can't take credit; he takes after his mom. Such a little daredevil." Gladys blushes and pats the fae on the head. [/columns] Mossclaw has scared Gladys half to death with his antics. Her first big scare was when he found a heartbeat regulator for the clan's nurse to use...by putting [i]Peacevine[/i] in his tinctures. He's been doing crazier since; honing the extract from Emetic Russula, grinding the leaves from Lace Lantana; if it's toxic, in the right amounts, it can heal. Gladys would be madder at him if his attempts didn't work. But Mossclaw was as smart as he was fearless, and twice as kind. ...Without his antidotes and potions, there'd be a lot more sick dragons in the Cirocco clan. "Speaking of your mom, she'll probably want you at the [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/raf/2641041]Cloudsong Celebration[/url]" Spire adds as she wipes down the counter. "Yeah...I guess I should go. ...Lemme know if you need help again, Godmom. It was nice meeting you, Spire." "Tell your momma she's welcome to come down and visit if this scene isn't too lowly for her!" Gladys calls out as the fae soars into the sky "You know mom's gonna visit and you guys are gonna kiss up to her and make her all embarrassed!!" He sneers back down. Gladys and Spire finish cleaning up for the night; their station is ready for the next morning. There [i]will[/i] be more success.