New Plan, Step One: Provide For My Community [open]

[summerdude]

Magnus needs something to change, so when a Mansion calendar helpfully informs him that it's International Falafel Day back on Earth, he goes to the library for some cookbooks, and then to the kitchen.

He lays out ten different falafel recipes. He gathers the ingredients they list, as best as he can understand them. He has canned chickpeas and fresh chickpeas and dried chickpeas and chickpea flour and box mixes of falafel that say 'just add water!'

Cripes.

"I can do this," he says, peering at the assorted recipes intently for a good ten minutes, and then takes the dried chickpeas over to the sink to rinse and soak.

Comments

[summerdude]

Magnus follows her instructions carefully.

[sporesprouter]

"Perfect. While that side is cooking, you can push it around gently with the spatula so that if there are any hotter spots in the pan, it doesn't get one bit of the food a bit too hot."

[summerdude]

"Tress," Magnus says, doing as instructed. "Can I tell you a secret?"

[sporesprouter]

She blinks. "Of course you can."

[summerdude]

"You really can't tell anyone I said this," Magnus warns.

[sporesprouter]

"Not a word," she promises.

[summerdude]

Magnus glances furtively around, then stage-whispers, "You're better at explaining this stuff than Hanguang-jun."

[sporesprouter]

Tress schools her face to solemnity and nods. "I won't say a word." She nods back to the pan. "Lift the edge a little bit with the end of the spatula and look at the color of the bottom."

[summerdude]

"I'm looking for brown," Magnus says, confidently, as he tries to peek without the falafel sliding all over the place. Then, less confidently, "Right?"

[sporesprouter]

"Light brown. Some people say golden brown. About the color of my hair, if that helps."

[summerdude]

"Most of the falafel I've seen has been dark brown," Magnus says, but he squints dutifully at Tress's hair, and then peers at the bottom of the weird-ass falafel he's making.

[sporesprouter]

"You can let it cook a little longer if you want it a bit darker. You're the falafel expert, after all. The recipe writer might have just preferred it a bit undercooked."

[summerdude]

"We should probably follow the recipe," Magnus decides, and flips the falafel.

[sporesprouter]

"All right. Perfect flip! Probably a good idea anyway to try it as written first anyway, and then if you don't like it, you can adjust things like browning it more."

[summerdude]

This was Magnus's thinking, too; he sighs with relief. "Great," he says, poking the top of it. It's warm, but not so hot as to cause risk to him.

[sporesprouter]

"You're doing a really good job."

[summerdude]

"Well," smiling, "you're a really good teacher."

[sporesprouter]

"Thanks. I'm glad you think so."

[summerdude]

"I do wonder if this recipe is for falafel from a different, like, culinary tradition or whatever, though," he adds.

[sporesprouter]

"Could be. You can find so many different recipes for almost anything."

[summerdude]

"Maybe even one from another world." It looks wrong! He trusts Tress completely but it looks so wrong.

[sporesprouter]

"It's possible! Some of the food at Wanderers Gather wasn't very different from things you can find on my world, for example. How's the bottom of the falafel looking now, by the way?"

[summerdude]

"Ummmmm." Magnus checks. It's looking a little blonde. "I think more time, right? Another... minute or two?"

[sporesprouter]

She glances at the color. "I think so, yes."

[summerdude]

"Look at me, learning how to cook," Magnus says, grinning.