Garlic & Butter
Title: Garlic and Butter - Prologue
Pairing: JA/JP
Rating: R for language.
Warning: Um, don't read on an empty stomach?
Disclaimer: Fiction, fiction, and more fiction.
Summary: Jared was born with many gifts, but only one will give him the courage to take a stand for himself, and create magic out of the most humblest of things. Adapted from Ratatouille.
Main Post
July 1982
San Antonio, Texas
Jared was born lucky - a fact that had been told and retold many times as he grew up. His mother went into early labor and was rushed to the hospital where he popped out in less than an hour with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. However, it was loose, presenting no problems for the second Padalecki son who greeted the world with an outraged scream of protest before being placed in his mother’s embrace.
The newborn and his mother, Sharon Padalecki, were deemed healthy enough to be discharged the next day. With the baby firmly strapped into a brand new carseat, the parents made their way to their home in San Antonio. They were not ten minutes from their house when a sixteen-wheeler in front of them suddenly swerved right, plowing through two lanes, the break-down lane, and right over the bank. The family almost had to return to the hospital as Sharon greyed out from hyperventilating. Jared didn’t make a peep though, he had slept through the entire thing.
And this became a theme in Jared’s life. One which Jared didn’t mind the least: better being lucky than not was his philosophy as he grew up in the rambunctious Padalecki household. His older brother, Jeff, always had his friends come by and the youngest, Megan, held her own court. Jared, on the other hand, preferred to make few buddies and stick with them. He saw no reason to compete for popularity since he didn’t suffer from lack of attention from his family, especially Nana.
The paternal grandmother visited whenever she could, and made sure she spoiled all her grandkids when she did. Nothing too much, mind you, but Nana was a great cook, especially with sweets, and the entire house would be wallowing in the scent of fresh cinnamon whenever she had the urge to make sweets for her grandchildren, especially Jared who loved to spend time in kitchen with her.
One day, Jared’s father came back from work with a cooler that nearly took up all the trunk space in his car. Looking polaxed, Gerald explained that an office buddy in the firm had returned from Alaska with freshly-caught fish. He gave one to Gerald as a present while regaling him with tales of how he’d wrestled with the monster of a halibut.
“Well, I guess I could fry it up in batter and serve it with some chips,” Sharon commented as she examined the fish crammed into the cooler.
“You’ll do no such thing!” Nana proclaimed, horrified. Without another word she and Jared dragged the cooler into the kitchen. Not five minutes after that she sent her son to pick up ingredients in the neighborhood grocery store. Jared followed along out of curiosity.
For the first time Jared was made to examine the spice aisle, then the produce section which he usually avoided at all cost, like most Sugar Smackin’ nine-year-olds do. The list of foodstuff made no sense to Jared. And it didn’t seem to make much sense to his dad either as the man muttered to himself more often than not while examining tomatoes, fresh cilantro and basil.
In fact, Jared was so curious that when they returned, he stuck by Nana’s side to watch what she would do with all the weird stuff.
What she did was magic. Nothing was deep-fried, nothing was slathered in batter, as most seafood was in Texas. She even kept the head and the tail while she worked around the huge fish, singing songs in a voice that made Jared wince and smile at the same time. Once in a while, she would give a task to her grandson: ‘peel this,’ ‘chop that,’ and ‘give me a kiss.’
Jared did all that was asked of him, so by the time Nana stuck the fish into the oven, he felt he was partially responsible for whatever mayhem that would result.
Nana poured herself a generous glass of wine and even let Jared have a sip or two while they waited. The rest of the family was busy setting up the picnic table in the backyard as the weather was warm enough for them to dine outdoors.
Nana took a deep breath and smiled. “Can you smell that?”
“Yeah, what’s going on?” Jared asked, glancing at the oven with wary eyes. The scent wasn't bad, just weird for him. It also made him wonder what the fish would actually taste like.
“It’s the white wine,” Nana said, raising the glass in a salute. “It'll only take another ten minutes for it to finish cooking since halibut is very delicate.”
“That fish was like Godzilla!”
Nana laughed. “It was big, yes, but the taste - it’s very mild, so you can’t cook it with strong herbs. If you do that, you’ll ruin the fish and that would be very bad.”
“But you used tomatoes.”
“Only three,” Nana answered. “The rest I’ll use for salad.”
“Will it taste good?”
“It will taste like nothing you ever had before.”
And Nana was right. Ten minutes later, she pulled out the fish and masterfully presented it in the plate that was usually reserved for the Thanksgiving turkey. Jared found himself deboning his slice of the fish, but he didn’t care. After the initial cautious bite, he wolfed down everything on his plate and ended up getting two more helping while Jeff and Megan struggled with their first serving. Jared never had a whole fish before and now that he had, he firmly believed he could never have fish-n-chips at the local mall. Not when something this wonderful was available.
Sitting under the starry sky, surrounded by his family, Jared realized how intoxicating food could be - that something so exotic as a whole fish could be had, and more importantly, that it could taste so wonderful.
After that day, whenever Nana came by, Jared would plead for her to show him how to cook something, anything. Jeff teased him of course, asking Jared if he was practicing to be someone’s good wife. Megan got incredibly pissy that her older brother was encroaching on her playtime with mom, but once she figured out it was just Nana Jared wanted to spend time with, she lost interest in staking out her territory.
It wasn’t long before the parents figured out their middle child was gifted in the kitchen. Jared was always good at figuring out the small stuff. He had a mind for solving problems and working within the confines that required clear and level-headed thinking. But he never displayed much for imagination - that was left to Megan who had no problem creating different worlds and even galaxies for fun. It was only when Jared was in the kitchen with Nana that he displayed a certain artistry, even as young as he was, along with an unusual flair for showmanship.
Like most fathers, Gerald didn’t exactly take to the idea of having a son in the kitchen, but Sharon quietly pointed out that he had no problem eating whatever Jared was cooking, so he had little cause to complain. So, it wasn’t long before the father began taking out cookbooks from the library for Jared. His son took to them as eagerly as he had taken to Treasure Island and the Bellairs series. And, as he watched Jared work alongside Nana, Gerald realized that cooking was no easy thing. Jared would have two pans going and was capable of making precise measurements even though he was barely eleven years old.
So, with encouragement from both his wife and his mother, Gerald quieted down and humored Jared and his ‘hobby’. It wasn’t long before puberty hit and other interests lured Jared away from the kitchen. Gerald was quietly relieved to find his son doing normal boy things, but there were times when he wished that Jared would return to the kitchen if only to whip up Nana’s special Christmas cookies. Those little nougats were spectacular and he loved to have a couple with his evening coffee.
Part I
Pairing: JA/JP
Rating: R for language.
Warning: Um, don't read on an empty stomach?
Disclaimer: Fiction, fiction, and more fiction.
Summary: Jared was born with many gifts, but only one will give him the courage to take a stand for himself, and create magic out of the most humblest of things. Adapted from Ratatouille.
Main Post
July 1982
San Antonio, Texas
Jared was born lucky - a fact that had been told and retold many times as he grew up. His mother went into early labor and was rushed to the hospital where he popped out in less than an hour with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. However, it was loose, presenting no problems for the second Padalecki son who greeted the world with an outraged scream of protest before being placed in his mother’s embrace.
The newborn and his mother, Sharon Padalecki, were deemed healthy enough to be discharged the next day. With the baby firmly strapped into a brand new carseat, the parents made their way to their home in San Antonio. They were not ten minutes from their house when a sixteen-wheeler in front of them suddenly swerved right, plowing through two lanes, the break-down lane, and right over the bank. The family almost had to return to the hospital as Sharon greyed out from hyperventilating. Jared didn’t make a peep though, he had slept through the entire thing.
And this became a theme in Jared’s life. One which Jared didn’t mind the least: better being lucky than not was his philosophy as he grew up in the rambunctious Padalecki household. His older brother, Jeff, always had his friends come by and the youngest, Megan, held her own court. Jared, on the other hand, preferred to make few buddies and stick with them. He saw no reason to compete for popularity since he didn’t suffer from lack of attention from his family, especially Nana.
The paternal grandmother visited whenever she could, and made sure she spoiled all her grandkids when she did. Nothing too much, mind you, but Nana was a great cook, especially with sweets, and the entire house would be wallowing in the scent of fresh cinnamon whenever she had the urge to make sweets for her grandchildren, especially Jared who loved to spend time in kitchen with her.
One day, Jared’s father came back from work with a cooler that nearly took up all the trunk space in his car. Looking polaxed, Gerald explained that an office buddy in the firm had returned from Alaska with freshly-caught fish. He gave one to Gerald as a present while regaling him with tales of how he’d wrestled with the monster of a halibut.
“Well, I guess I could fry it up in batter and serve it with some chips,” Sharon commented as she examined the fish crammed into the cooler.
“You’ll do no such thing!” Nana proclaimed, horrified. Without another word she and Jared dragged the cooler into the kitchen. Not five minutes after that she sent her son to pick up ingredients in the neighborhood grocery store. Jared followed along out of curiosity.
For the first time Jared was made to examine the spice aisle, then the produce section which he usually avoided at all cost, like most Sugar Smackin’ nine-year-olds do. The list of foodstuff made no sense to Jared. And it didn’t seem to make much sense to his dad either as the man muttered to himself more often than not while examining tomatoes, fresh cilantro and basil.
In fact, Jared was so curious that when they returned, he stuck by Nana’s side to watch what she would do with all the weird stuff.
What she did was magic. Nothing was deep-fried, nothing was slathered in batter, as most seafood was in Texas. She even kept the head and the tail while she worked around the huge fish, singing songs in a voice that made Jared wince and smile at the same time. Once in a while, she would give a task to her grandson: ‘peel this,’ ‘chop that,’ and ‘give me a kiss.’
Jared did all that was asked of him, so by the time Nana stuck the fish into the oven, he felt he was partially responsible for whatever mayhem that would result.
Nana poured herself a generous glass of wine and even let Jared have a sip or two while they waited. The rest of the family was busy setting up the picnic table in the backyard as the weather was warm enough for them to dine outdoors.
Nana took a deep breath and smiled. “Can you smell that?”
“Yeah, what’s going on?” Jared asked, glancing at the oven with wary eyes. The scent wasn't bad, just weird for him. It also made him wonder what the fish would actually taste like.
“It’s the white wine,” Nana said, raising the glass in a salute. “It'll only take another ten minutes for it to finish cooking since halibut is very delicate.”
“That fish was like Godzilla!”
Nana laughed. “It was big, yes, but the taste - it’s very mild, so you can’t cook it with strong herbs. If you do that, you’ll ruin the fish and that would be very bad.”
“But you used tomatoes.”
“Only three,” Nana answered. “The rest I’ll use for salad.”
“Will it taste good?”
“It will taste like nothing you ever had before.”
And Nana was right. Ten minutes later, she pulled out the fish and masterfully presented it in the plate that was usually reserved for the Thanksgiving turkey. Jared found himself deboning his slice of the fish, but he didn’t care. After the initial cautious bite, he wolfed down everything on his plate and ended up getting two more helping while Jeff and Megan struggled with their first serving. Jared never had a whole fish before and now that he had, he firmly believed he could never have fish-n-chips at the local mall. Not when something this wonderful was available.
Sitting under the starry sky, surrounded by his family, Jared realized how intoxicating food could be - that something so exotic as a whole fish could be had, and more importantly, that it could taste so wonderful.
After that day, whenever Nana came by, Jared would plead for her to show him how to cook something, anything. Jeff teased him of course, asking Jared if he was practicing to be someone’s good wife. Megan got incredibly pissy that her older brother was encroaching on her playtime with mom, but once she figured out it was just Nana Jared wanted to spend time with, she lost interest in staking out her territory.
It wasn’t long before the parents figured out their middle child was gifted in the kitchen. Jared was always good at figuring out the small stuff. He had a mind for solving problems and working within the confines that required clear and level-headed thinking. But he never displayed much for imagination - that was left to Megan who had no problem creating different worlds and even galaxies for fun. It was only when Jared was in the kitchen with Nana that he displayed a certain artistry, even as young as he was, along with an unusual flair for showmanship.
Like most fathers, Gerald didn’t exactly take to the idea of having a son in the kitchen, but Sharon quietly pointed out that he had no problem eating whatever Jared was cooking, so he had little cause to complain. So, it wasn’t long before the father began taking out cookbooks from the library for Jared. His son took to them as eagerly as he had taken to Treasure Island and the Bellairs series. And, as he watched Jared work alongside Nana, Gerald realized that cooking was no easy thing. Jared would have two pans going and was capable of making precise measurements even though he was barely eleven years old.
So, with encouragement from both his wife and his mother, Gerald quieted down and humored Jared and his ‘hobby’. It wasn’t long before puberty hit and other interests lured Jared away from the kitchen. Gerald was quietly relieved to find his son doing normal boy things, but there were times when he wished that Jared would return to the kitchen if only to whip up Nana’s special Christmas cookies. Those little nougats were spectacular and he loved to have a couple with his evening coffee.
Part I