Log: Late Night Baking
Who: P'draig, Reighley
When: Day 16, Month 12, Turn 8
Where: Kitchen, Fort Weyr
What: Reighley runs into P'draig again, and they talk briefly.
Kitchen
The kitchen area has a huge vaulted ceiling, formed from a bubble when this volcano was active. From the entranceway off the Living Caverns, the kitchens appear to be brilliantly lit and sparking clean. Everything shines and immaculately cleansed. To the right is the bank of ovens. Each is built of the finest fire-resistant brick made by the Minecraft. The smooth outer surfaces are plastered and painted in scenes from Fort's great Threadfall battles, making these ovens some of the most finely decorated anywhere on Pern. The first, and smallest, is specialized for pastries and other delicate items. Tables and sheets for all manner of careful baking surround it. The next two ovens are the large mass-baking ovens that are integral to every large Weyr kitchen. Here, a nearly endless stream of meatrolls, breads, and other staples are made. The fires are almost always hot, and Bakercraft apprentices work alongside Fort Weyrfolk to complete this major part of feeding the Weyr.
Further along used to be the cooking hearths, but they seem to have been replaced with the new-fangled cooktops that the Bakers are installing everywhere these days. This is where huge pots of stew and soup are cooked as well as any sauces that need large pots to simmer in. Along the left side of the aisle is the huge prep area for the kitchens. Gleaming white marble countertops are the theme here, with brown and black trim subtly reminding the viewer of the kitchens' home. Above the countertops are metal racks filled with ceramic bowls, and even a few of the very expensive copper ones. Throughout the kitchen there are storage areas under counters and workspaces, and drawers throughout the area suggest locations for utensils. Food seems, for the most part, to come from the storage areas in huge quantities, though spices and certain very commonly used ingredients are stored in the kitchens themselves.
Late evening sees the kitchens largely in cleanup mode except for one corner where a former Baker-apprentice seems to have appropriated a bit of counter space. Riding leathers have been traded in favor of an apron over older-looking clothing and P'draig looks happy as a clam with his arms into a pile of dough up to his elbows. He's humming as he works, the sound a almost lost in the din of cutlery being put away and pots and pans being scrubbed as the evening meal is well over.
Drifting into the kitchens, Reighley slides carefully between the cleaning workers, glancing curiously at each as she continues onward. One person, however, out of place, catches more than that one look, and Reighley drifts over to join P'draig. Leaning on the counter, she offers a simple 'Hi' to garner his attention and interrupt the work and the humming.
P'draig looks up at the sound of a familiar voice and his face is immediately wreathed with a broad grin. "Heya Reighley!" he says cheerily. "Wanna help me make a special bread for the Weyrlings?" His hand squishes through another handful of dough letting out a little puff of flour with an odd sort of wet sigh. "Kneading bread dough is probably the best way on Pern that I know to get rid of frustration too for that matter. How've you been doing?"
Reighley peers at the bread, cocking her head as she observes the kneading. "Special bread? What kind of bread?" she wonders. Eagerly holding her hands out, she adds, "How are the weyrlings. They always seem so... busy, when I see them, that I hate to bother them. And it's... weird now." She wrinkles her nose, glancing downward again. "After the hatching, it's just... Well. I dunno."
P'draig shifts the dough around and then partitions off a bit for Reighley passing it over to her to knead. "It'll have nuts and dried fruits in it - highly nutritious and very yummy too," notes the Weyrlingmaster. "Yeah, they're busy - we keep 'em that way on purpose. The first few months are the toughest," he continues to explain, then they get a bit more breathing room ... at least from their dragons they do ..." he tapers off and nods at those last words even as his hands grow busy once more with folding and shoving the dough around. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I didn't Impress the first time I Stood and it was like ... watching all of these folks I'd spent so much time in close quarters with moving past me onto something else new and different that I couldn't touch or be a part of. I decided to go off and do something else ... stay busy for a while."
"Yeah," Reighley agrees with P'draig's latter sentiments quietly, studying the bread rather than the man. "I... kind of thought the same thing. My mom--she wanted us to go home, my brother and I, but... I don't really want to, and he, well. He doesn't want me here all by myself," she admits after a second. "But, well. I've been thinking, and--after the hatching and everything--I think I'm going to... to apprentice. To the healers."
P'draig kneads along quietly as Reighley speaks then pauses as she makes that last statement and reaches for some sacks that stand near the bowl he mixed the dough in. He rolls each one open and grabs a handful of almonds from the first and punches the dough down to sprinkle the nuts into the resulting dimple. "Good of your brother to stick by you," he remarks neutrally before going on. "Healers, wow, good for you," encourages the brownrider. "And good for us too - you won't be far away so we can visit!" he winks at her then before plunging a floury and doughy hand into another sack, this time pulling out dried berries to join the nuts already studding his dough.
"He's good like that," Reighley agrees, despite her periodic complaints about her older brother. At the latter remark, however, she glances up, offering him a smile. "Yeah, that's what I thought. And... Well, I told my mom before they left after the hatching, and she said maybe I could ask if I could study with the healer /here/, just so I don't have to leave. I'd like to stay here, if I can, but after seeing what happened then and everything, I just thought. Well. I'd like to /do/ something. They /told/ us people might get hurt, but it's... it's different when it's the person standing right next to you bleeding."
"Yeah," agrees P'draig with a slight wrinkling of his nose. "It wasn't a very clean Hatching," he shakes his head once and sighs. "I like it better when no one gets hurt, but I'm glad that ... in a way it helped you find something you'd like to do." His hands start working the fruit and nuts into the dough more thoroughly and he slides the sacks over for her to use. "Put in as much of each as you'd like. That's what's nice about this: you can't really go wrong, just mix up the different flavors however you like and chances are it'll come out tasting great."
Reighley nods slowly, reaching into one of the sacks and pulling out a handful of nuts. She places them carefully in the dough, along with a second handful, this of fruit. "It was my first one, and I hope there's never gonna be another one like that," she says, shaking her head. "It was awful. But... I think it's something I can do, healing, I mean. It's a good thing, right? I like helping people." Pause. "I thought about being a baker, but..." She shrugs slightly, offering the brownrider another, brighter grin.
P'draig selects another handful of nuts from a different sack and blends these in, popping one in his mouth for good measure, he crunches away on it. "I'm with you on that," he says seriously between munchings. "Though I do hope that you'll choose to Stand again - dunno about the rest of the Weyr, but I'll miss you." There's no jollying or pretense to the remark- he really means it. "And yes, Healing is a very good thing to do. Helping people, no matter what the manner is always a good thing in my book." He laughs for that last. "Who's to say you won't still get a chance to do some bakering? You don't have to join the Craft or be a Bakecrafter to enjoy a little bit of time in the kitchen. I mean, technically I'm not a Baker anymore but here I am! Back in the kitchen for fun. Though of course of Cook had her druthers ..." he trails off with a meaningful look in that direction and a knowing wink for Reighley.
Reighley follows P'draig's glance, grinning at his words. "Yeah, I guess so. I like helping sometimes, just... not sure I could do it all the time," she agrees, nodding. "And, um. Weeeell." On the latter question, she hesitates, delaying an answer by adding more fruit to the dough. She takes P'draig's cue as well and swipes a couple of pieces for herself before answering, "If they ask me again, I guess I will. I mean, you can't say no, right? Who would /do/ that? It'd be just silly. And it /was/ fun--until the hatching."
"Yeah, the kitchen's not for everyone," agrees P'draig as he starts dividing his dough up into several smaller balls. He pulls a couple of bread pans down from a rack and plops a ball of dough into each. "Some people do say no ... they might decide they'd rather do something else ... I almost didn't Stand for the Clutch that I Impressed at."
"Really?" Reighley glances around quickly, brows arching. "I don't think I could say no. I mean, what if I /was/ supposed to impress, and then I wasn't there? Would my dragon just... pick someone else?" She frowns slightly at the thought, shaking her head once and helping to ball up a couple of pieces of dough.
"Pretty much," says P'draig passing her a pair of pans for her dough. "It's rare that a dragonet can't find someone who suits," he continues and catches up another pair of pans. "Bring those with," he nods towards hers as he heads for the ovens, "and we'll get these baked right up. I think we could even eat one ourselves and save the rest for the Weyrlings. With butter or maybe some of that good soft creamed cheese I saw back in Stores ..." his voice trails off as he brings the pans over to the oven and he places them into the still-hot red maw of one, so that the sweet scent of fruity bread soon fills the kitchen.
When: Day 16, Month 12, Turn 8
Where: Kitchen, Fort Weyr
What: Reighley runs into P'draig again, and they talk briefly.
Kitchen
The kitchen area has a huge vaulted ceiling, formed from a bubble when this volcano was active. From the entranceway off the Living Caverns, the kitchens appear to be brilliantly lit and sparking clean. Everything shines and immaculately cleansed. To the right is the bank of ovens. Each is built of the finest fire-resistant brick made by the Minecraft. The smooth outer surfaces are plastered and painted in scenes from Fort's great Threadfall battles, making these ovens some of the most finely decorated anywhere on Pern. The first, and smallest, is specialized for pastries and other delicate items. Tables and sheets for all manner of careful baking surround it. The next two ovens are the large mass-baking ovens that are integral to every large Weyr kitchen. Here, a nearly endless stream of meatrolls, breads, and other staples are made. The fires are almost always hot, and Bakercraft apprentices work alongside Fort Weyrfolk to complete this major part of feeding the Weyr.
Further along used to be the cooking hearths, but they seem to have been replaced with the new-fangled cooktops that the Bakers are installing everywhere these days. This is where huge pots of stew and soup are cooked as well as any sauces that need large pots to simmer in. Along the left side of the aisle is the huge prep area for the kitchens. Gleaming white marble countertops are the theme here, with brown and black trim subtly reminding the viewer of the kitchens' home. Above the countertops are metal racks filled with ceramic bowls, and even a few of the very expensive copper ones. Throughout the kitchen there are storage areas under counters and workspaces, and drawers throughout the area suggest locations for utensils. Food seems, for the most part, to come from the storage areas in huge quantities, though spices and certain very commonly used ingredients are stored in the kitchens themselves.
Late evening sees the kitchens largely in cleanup mode except for one corner where a former Baker-apprentice seems to have appropriated a bit of counter space. Riding leathers have been traded in favor of an apron over older-looking clothing and P'draig looks happy as a clam with his arms into a pile of dough up to his elbows. He's humming as he works, the sound a almost lost in the din of cutlery being put away and pots and pans being scrubbed as the evening meal is well over.
Drifting into the kitchens, Reighley slides carefully between the cleaning workers, glancing curiously at each as she continues onward. One person, however, out of place, catches more than that one look, and Reighley drifts over to join P'draig. Leaning on the counter, she offers a simple 'Hi' to garner his attention and interrupt the work and the humming.
P'draig looks up at the sound of a familiar voice and his face is immediately wreathed with a broad grin. "Heya Reighley!" he says cheerily. "Wanna help me make a special bread for the Weyrlings?" His hand squishes through another handful of dough letting out a little puff of flour with an odd sort of wet sigh. "Kneading bread dough is probably the best way on Pern that I know to get rid of frustration too for that matter. How've you been doing?"
Reighley peers at the bread, cocking her head as she observes the kneading. "Special bread? What kind of bread?" she wonders. Eagerly holding her hands out, she adds, "How are the weyrlings. They always seem so... busy, when I see them, that I hate to bother them. And it's... weird now." She wrinkles her nose, glancing downward again. "After the hatching, it's just... Well. I dunno."
P'draig shifts the dough around and then partitions off a bit for Reighley passing it over to her to knead. "It'll have nuts and dried fruits in it - highly nutritious and very yummy too," notes the Weyrlingmaster. "Yeah, they're busy - we keep 'em that way on purpose. The first few months are the toughest," he continues to explain, then they get a bit more breathing room ... at least from their dragons they do ..." he tapers off and nods at those last words even as his hands grow busy once more with folding and shoving the dough around. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I didn't Impress the first time I Stood and it was like ... watching all of these folks I'd spent so much time in close quarters with moving past me onto something else new and different that I couldn't touch or be a part of. I decided to go off and do something else ... stay busy for a while."
"Yeah," Reighley agrees with P'draig's latter sentiments quietly, studying the bread rather than the man. "I... kind of thought the same thing. My mom--she wanted us to go home, my brother and I, but... I don't really want to, and he, well. He doesn't want me here all by myself," she admits after a second. "But, well. I've been thinking, and--after the hatching and everything--I think I'm going to... to apprentice. To the healers."
P'draig kneads along quietly as Reighley speaks then pauses as she makes that last statement and reaches for some sacks that stand near the bowl he mixed the dough in. He rolls each one open and grabs a handful of almonds from the first and punches the dough down to sprinkle the nuts into the resulting dimple. "Good of your brother to stick by you," he remarks neutrally before going on. "Healers, wow, good for you," encourages the brownrider. "And good for us too - you won't be far away so we can visit!" he winks at her then before plunging a floury and doughy hand into another sack, this time pulling out dried berries to join the nuts already studding his dough.
"He's good like that," Reighley agrees, despite her periodic complaints about her older brother. At the latter remark, however, she glances up, offering him a smile. "Yeah, that's what I thought. And... Well, I told my mom before they left after the hatching, and she said maybe I could ask if I could study with the healer /here/, just so I don't have to leave. I'd like to stay here, if I can, but after seeing what happened then and everything, I just thought. Well. I'd like to /do/ something. They /told/ us people might get hurt, but it's... it's different when it's the person standing right next to you bleeding."
"Yeah," agrees P'draig with a slight wrinkling of his nose. "It wasn't a very clean Hatching," he shakes his head once and sighs. "I like it better when no one gets hurt, but I'm glad that ... in a way it helped you find something you'd like to do." His hands start working the fruit and nuts into the dough more thoroughly and he slides the sacks over for her to use. "Put in as much of each as you'd like. That's what's nice about this: you can't really go wrong, just mix up the different flavors however you like and chances are it'll come out tasting great."
Reighley nods slowly, reaching into one of the sacks and pulling out a handful of nuts. She places them carefully in the dough, along with a second handful, this of fruit. "It was my first one, and I hope there's never gonna be another one like that," she says, shaking her head. "It was awful. But... I think it's something I can do, healing, I mean. It's a good thing, right? I like helping people." Pause. "I thought about being a baker, but..." She shrugs slightly, offering the brownrider another, brighter grin.
P'draig selects another handful of nuts from a different sack and blends these in, popping one in his mouth for good measure, he crunches away on it. "I'm with you on that," he says seriously between munchings. "Though I do hope that you'll choose to Stand again - dunno about the rest of the Weyr, but I'll miss you." There's no jollying or pretense to the remark- he really means it. "And yes, Healing is a very good thing to do. Helping people, no matter what the manner is always a good thing in my book." He laughs for that last. "Who's to say you won't still get a chance to do some bakering? You don't have to join the Craft or be a Bakecrafter to enjoy a little bit of time in the kitchen. I mean, technically I'm not a Baker anymore but here I am! Back in the kitchen for fun. Though of course of Cook had her druthers ..." he trails off with a meaningful look in that direction and a knowing wink for Reighley.
Reighley follows P'draig's glance, grinning at his words. "Yeah, I guess so. I like helping sometimes, just... not sure I could do it all the time," she agrees, nodding. "And, um. Weeeell." On the latter question, she hesitates, delaying an answer by adding more fruit to the dough. She takes P'draig's cue as well and swipes a couple of pieces for herself before answering, "If they ask me again, I guess I will. I mean, you can't say no, right? Who would /do/ that? It'd be just silly. And it /was/ fun--until the hatching."
"Yeah, the kitchen's not for everyone," agrees P'draig as he starts dividing his dough up into several smaller balls. He pulls a couple of bread pans down from a rack and plops a ball of dough into each. "Some people do say no ... they might decide they'd rather do something else ... I almost didn't Stand for the Clutch that I Impressed at."
"Really?" Reighley glances around quickly, brows arching. "I don't think I could say no. I mean, what if I /was/ supposed to impress, and then I wasn't there? Would my dragon just... pick someone else?" She frowns slightly at the thought, shaking her head once and helping to ball up a couple of pieces of dough.
"Pretty much," says P'draig passing her a pair of pans for her dough. "It's rare that a dragonet can't find someone who suits," he continues and catches up another pair of pans. "Bring those with," he nods towards hers as he heads for the ovens, "and we'll get these baked right up. I think we could even eat one ourselves and save the rest for the Weyrlings. With butter or maybe some of that good soft creamed cheese I saw back in Stores ..." his voice trails off as he brings the pans over to the oven and he places them into the still-hot red maw of one, so that the sweet scent of fruity bread soon fills the kitchen.