Players:
Summary: Heather and Christopher have different options when it comes to culinary ideas.
Date: December 3, 2010
Log Title: Difference in Cooking
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Kitchen
This kitchen was designed to feed large numbers of people, and looks it with its bright white walls and stainless steel appliances. The stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher are all larger than normal. There is an island with stools around it for people to sit and eat around along with a table for twelve by the windows in back. Along the wall is a hole in the wall looking into the dining room so food can be passed back and fourth. Anything you want to cook or eat in the kitchen you will find the food and supplies to do so.
Something of a reputation has come to be associated with Heather's cooking, perhaps for a good reason. Among her mad cook concoctions include grilled swiss sandwich with mango chutney, fried processed turkey and bologna and pieces of apple mixed into wild rice and pasta with a combination peanut and tomota sauce with shrimp. These are only some, but all the dishes are more or less unusual, but Heather doesn't seem to care. She's content to tend to her dishes, all of them going at one, zipping between them to make sure that nothing gets overcooked.
Coming into the kitchen from the hallway is Christopher. Like usual he's got several grocery bags with him though one of them is filled with boxes of Andes Mints. He gives Heather and smile and wave. "So what are we cooking today?" He asks Heather as he places his bags on the counter. "And I hope you don't mind if I confiscate the oven in a bit, I'm going to be making lots of cookies, but the dough has to chill for a bit first."
And not too long after Christopher arrives, July shows up. Where groceries go, July isn't too far behind. She's so thankful for this particular perk of her powers: eat eat eat. "Oh, hey, Heather." the brunette says as she greets her friend, before looking at Christopher, smiling still. "Hi there, Mr. Mayfair. How are you all doing?"
"I usually cook things easy to finish quickly. I do not want to spend too much of my wake cycle cooking," replies Heather's tape recorder while the girl just nods her head a couple of times before she looks over her food. She zips over to play a second message on the tape recorder, "I'm cooking six dishes, four novel, two repeated." Only Heather really knows the meaning of her statement but, as usual, she assumes that other people automatically know what she's talking about. She looks over at July and then tilts her head slightly before waving and playing now a third: "I'm doing rather well."
"Six dishes, that's a bit ambitious. I can manage about 3 at time if I want to make something good." Christopher says but then to him his cooking is his pride. He wants things to be perfect when he cooks. "So what are these six dishes you are cookign and what do you mean by novel and repeated?" He figures the repeated means something she's cooked before but novel he cant figure out. He gives July a smile wave. "Hello July, how are you doing this afternoon. And you can call me Christopher or Mr. Parker rather than the full Parker-Mayfair."
July blinks at the number of dishes being made, "I don't know about making six dishes, but I have no problem dealing with said six dishes once they're done." the girl says, giggling softly and nodding to Heather before looking at Christopher. "Oh, sure, Mr. Parker." she girl says, nodding. She might have graduated but Christopher is still older than her. She reaches for the bags, in an effort to help you. "Let me take these, Mr. Parker?"
"With time slow, it's not difficult to keep up with six," plays Heather on her tape recorder. And if she actually tried to cook something decent, she might still be fine juggling six. "A repeated dish is a dish with zero mutations from a previous medium to high priority recipe. A novel dish is a high priority dish with one mutation. There are many other categorizations, but novel and repeated dishes are most common in a regular wake cycle."
Christopher can't help but smile as he starts to take things out of the bags. "Thanks July, just sort the ingredients out on the table, I'm going to start mixing up the cookie dough soon. I think I'm going to be doubling the recipe and then making four batches." He says as the more you increase the recipe the more off it might become so making several smaller batches is easier. "Mutations in a dish…sounds like you're cooking has it's own X-Gene." He jokes. "And you have a very interesting way of thinking when it comes to the culinary arts."
July chuckles softly as she starts pulling the ingredients out of the bags and onto the table to be sorted out, "Yay, mutant dishes in a mutant school for mutant students." she grins softly as well, giggling softly, "So there'll be a school celebration for Christmas, or what?" she asks as she finishes unpacking the ingredients.
"Well, it's an evolutionary approach, eventually designed to become perfectly fit according to my tastes, yet still accounting that I enjoy my meals to be different," says Heather, now starting to plate the dishes, since they're done with the cooking portion. She glances around quickly and then plays, "Christmas? When is that? I remember it last year, and everyone was giving gifts to everyone else. It was only a month after I got here."
"We always do a celebration, I'll be decorating the mansion up a bit for the Holidays and on Christmas we'll have a nice dinner for the students who don't come home." Christopher says as he goes over to look in his work bag for his recipe. "It's on December 25th Heather, the same day it is every year. Do you not celebrate Christmas…..oh sorry, I should think better. Not every religon celebrates." Christopher isn't religous but he does celebrate the holiday.
July ah's and nods to Christopher, "Room for one more? I promise to not eat up all the sweets." The rubber girl says, grinning widely at her former teacher. "Some do, but under different names." she hsrugs gently, at the mention of other religions. "Even if Christmas today is just a business holiday than a religious holiday, itself."
"Other religions? No, I just never celebrated it before coming here. I'm not sure what it's for, but everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves," says Heather, wringing her hands lightly before she continues to plate. "Thanksgiving was new, too. I never really celebrated anything before here, so I though you just liked to celebrate here."
"Well.. for those who are Christian it's a holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus their lord and all that, for others, like my husband and myself, it's more of a family holiday." Christopher explains. "There is no religous conotations when we celebrate it, and like July says, yes it's kind of commerical, businessy but I like to think of it as an excuse to sing stupid songs, be surrounded by tackey decorations and just spend time with those I love and let them know how much I appricate them. I love Thanksgiving cause I go nuts cooking. And there is nothing wrong with celebrating."
"No, I don't think there is anything wrong with celebrations. And you meal on Thanksgiving was good, and saved me some preparation times," says Heather, scratching her head lightly now that everything is all played up. "I honestly don't know much about religions anyways. I'm glad that I am still allowed to celebrate. Maybe this year, I will be a participant instead of an observer."
"That'd be nice if you participated Heather." Christopher says with a smile. "Religons can be a touchy subject but kind of facinating at the same time. If you get a chance walk around Salem Center and see how all the shops are decorated. I decorate my own place down there. Also going down some of the side streets, the homes there are decorated in wonderful fashions."
Heather nods her head quickly, "But I need to know the rules for participating, what do I do? I don't want to embarrass myself participating in my first Christmas," plays Heather, deciding on a couple plates to transport to the table now and sitting in front of them. "Maybe I will go down there and look if someone wants to come with me." In other words, if Connor will teleport with her in tow.
Christopher looks at Heather and looks at her very seriously. "Okay, there is one rule to participating in holidays. And it's a very important rule and if you break it…there could be trouble." He pauses…almost for a bit of dramatic effect. "The big rule is…to have fun." He then breaks into a huge smile. "There is also gift giving during the holidays but don't worry yourself too much over getting gifts unless you want to. Though there is the chance some of your friends might get you something."
Heather listens very seriously, and seems even more serious when the rule is revealed to her. Almost troubled. "Okay, I will try," she replies, not really one to often has 'fun' exactly. She rubs her earlobe lightly and then says, "How do I know who I should give a gift to?" Pause. "Is it everyone who is going to get me a gift?" An information game, is it?
"Well there's no list on who you should or who you shouldn't. You have to ask yourself if you -want- to get them a gift. Usually it's between family and close friends." Christopher will be getting a small gift for all the students in the school like he usually does but he's not going to say that to Heather. "No..it's not everyone. Gift giving isn't mandatory it's a choice."
Heather furrows her brows slightly. "Okay, then." The rules are less cut and dry there. "I think I will just gets gifts for important people to me." She rubs her hands together lightly and scarfs down her food like a barbarian (in fast world, though, it's not too rude). "Sometimes I don't understand social rules, and gift giving is kind of new to me."
"Well it's kind of like gift giving on your birthday. It's a celebration thing." Christopher says. "And that's a good way of going about it, getting gifts for those who are important to you. That's usually what people do." Christopher says as he starts to mix a bunch of ingredients methodically together. "Well unfortunatly there is no book for social rules. It's one of those things we all learn and develop on our own and on our own terms." What she's eating though does get a raised brow.
"I've never received gifts on my birthday. I'm not even sure when it is. It's irrelevant to me, since I experience time differently. I just calculate my timeslip age based on my year of birth and date of my manifestation, and then I let you guys sort out whatever my practical age is," explains Heather, before glancing between the two empty plates, and bringing them to the dishwasher.
"Really, you've never recieved gifts…what about a cake or even a celebration?" Christopher asks sounding mildly shocked at this. He makes a mental note that he'll have to figure out when her birthday is and throw her a small party. "It must be hard for you though…having to experience everything differnt than others."
"No, never any of those things. Is that normal to get these things?" replies Heather, raising her eyebrow. She seems skeptical. She zips over and glances between the four remaining plates, quickly wrapping three of them up and storing them for later and grabbing the third to take to the table. "I'm not even sure if it is hard. It is hard to relate and understand, and to be patient as others take so long, but alone, I think it is the same for me being alone as anyone else."
"It usually is normal, but…it all depends on your parents and how you were raised as well." Christopher says as he doesn't want to make her feel awkward about it. "That's what I meant, hard for you to relate." He can tell since she doesn't know so much about culture as well, or at least holiday culture. "So…I'm going to be decorating around the mansion this weekend…would you like to help at all? Going to be putting up lights, decorating trees and maybe even making Gingerbread Houses."
"My parents were strange. Dan Brown, codename: Mindbender. Cheryl Brown, codename: Upgrade. It's possible you've heard of them. They were not holiday people I guess," says Heather. And indeed, they weren't, although they were involved in spikes in St.Louis criminal activities around holiday times, so maybe they were a /little/ festive. "I can help decorate, but you have to help me to figure out where everything is supposed to go."
"I don't think I have." Christopher says but he might look up her parents later this evening to see what he can find out. "So I take it your parents had superpowers as well." Seeing with the codenames. "And no problem, I'll be happy to show you were everything is supposed to go. It's more just getting the place festive than anything else. That's part of why I'm making cookies for the students who want to help. I'll also have hot chocolate and hot cider for those who want it."
Heather nods her head quickly and says, "I like cider and hot chocolate… And yes, my parents had superpowers. Illusionist and booster." Even a google search can bring up the news articles that Heather's parents were apprehended and seperated from their severely neglected daughter, who was not expected to be able to make full reintegration into normal society and was sent to a mental health institution. "So if I help decorate, I will be able to have some of the cookies?"
Christopher laughs. "Of course, even if you don't help you'll be able to have cookies. But I'd really like it if you did." He says as he mixes up one batch of dough and puts it in the fridge. "My sister has super powers too but she doesn't really do much with them. She works at a museum in the city."
Heather starts putting all the dishes that she used into the dishwasher and then nods her head quickly, "Well, I spend most of the time killing time, so I can decorate. What is your sister able to do?" She glances about, toward her watch and then towards the door, "My wake cycle will have to end pretty soon here." She doesn't yet leave, but picks up the plate to take it with her.
"She can restore things to what the orginally were. It's an…odd ability. It helped Jeri and I out when we were turned into children." Christopher says with a laugh as he goes to put the dough in the fridge to chill. "I have to go check on something myself really quick too Heather. But it was great chatting with you and I look forward to your help tomorrow!"
The girl nods her head quickly at Christopher a couple of times and then zips out of the room, carrying her plate with her. After a moment, she comes back in and plays, "If I am sleeping when you start, I only sleep for an hour at a time. And can you post a reminder on my Facebook?" With that, she disappears for real.
