(no subject)
I do things at their simplest level, and so far, Nakeisha has been brilliant at helping me and erxplaining things so i can understand. so here goes to try to post my first fic. (crosses fingers, toes and anything that will help).
TITLE: Domestic Science
AUTHOR: Kalliekat
PAIRING: Gibbs/Abby
GENRE: Het
SUB-GENRE: Humor
SUMMARY: see title
SPOILERS: none
WARNINGS: none
RATING: PG
WORD COUNT: 1722
DISCLAIMER: don’t own them, they belong to other more fertile imaginations than mine, not making any money, just borrowing, and will return in good condition.
oh, i do own the bunsen burners!
TITLE:Domestic Science.
Abby frowned. It wasn’t her fault she couldn’t cook. Just because she preferred to sit in the car wrecking yard, working out what had happened to the vehicles, instead of staying home baking cakes wasn’t her fault. It was her genes. That’s what it was. But it didn’t help with the problem at hand.
Gibb’s birthday
Yes, she could go to the store and buy him a cake. But she didn’t want to do that. She just knew that Shannon and Kelly would have baked him a cake, and whilst she had no feelings of jealousy about this, in fact she loved hearing about them, she wanted to do the same for her boss man.
She also knew that every attempt at cooking she had made had been a disaster. And she couldn’t believe how many pots and pans things needed. And knives with sharp blades and palette knives - since when did painting get into cooking? and spoons and draining thingies and anyways what the heck was a cup????? What size cup???? A little dinky coffee canon? A tea mug? An empty caf pow …………..?
Take 2 cups, did they have to be the same size? Surely if she used 2 little coffee canons and 1 egg that would not work the same as 2 pint mugs and 1 egg. Her scientific brain could work that one out.
Research Abby thought. Research! She still had a week.
3 days later, Abby punched the air and squealed. She’d spent any free time she could on the internet trying to sort out her dilemma of amounts and types and sizes - all this just to make a cake. It was ridiculous she thought, then instantly reminded herself who the cake was for! Her Gibbs. It would be worth it.
She’d found a recipe, for chocolate fudge cake, that told her the amounts in grams, ounces, and cups. All she had to do now was shop for the ingredients and things. It was a quiet week, with any luck she could experiment here in her lab and no-one would be the wiser. She grinned; it would be “a piece of cake!”
Tuesday morning arrived, and found Abby in her lab, surrounded by butter, chocolate, flour, eggs, sugar baking soda and powder, sour cream, vanilla extract. She sighed. She was tired, a case had come in on Sunday evening, and they had all been called in, she had worked extra hard to get all the forensics completed late Monday night, she really needed a clear day now. DNA samples, finger print analysis, blood splatters, absolutely no problem. But this operation needed time, patience, skill, and most of all peace and quiet. She’d tried to slip out of bed without waking Jethro this morning, it was a game they played and she rarely won. This morning was no exception! So she’d lied, told him she needed to clear up things in her lab, “cross the t’s and dot the i’s” so as to have maximum time off later in the day to celebrate his birthday. Gibbs had smiled at her, the smile that melted her bones, but she had to be firm! Think cake Abby. Operation chocolate fudge.
Sifted flour - ok, Abby sneaked along to Ducky’s morgue and snuck out again with a sieve, she figured she could sterilize it before she sifted anything, and also she found a large glass bowl would do for mixing things. Maybe she’d sterilize that too, you never knew what they did in there sometimes!
“Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water…….” This should be easy…. Ok, a large test tube that should do it, clamped over a Bunsen burner. Water in the tube, chocolate in a Petri dish balanced on top. That was the chocolate nicely melting.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy…… so, in goes the sour cream with the butter and sugar. Doesn’t look very creamed to me, or light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time….. Oh, Abby nodded, I get that, kind of like scrambling them. Okay, next, mix the melted chocolate and boiling water. Whoops, oh well shrugged Abby, realising too late it was only mix the chocolate and water together to cool, not bung them in the cake mix yet. putting it in the mix will cool it down and save time late, why are the eggs cooking? Oh, the hot mix…. Just have to mix it a bit more. Sift the sodas and flour, and fold in the chocolate mixture alternating with the soured cream….. But she’d already put in the cream thought Abby, it said cream the butter and sugar. Vanilla flavouring. 1 tsp. what’s a tsp? She opened the bottle of vanilla flavouring, and whilst tipping it into the mixing bowl said Tuhssspuhh. That should work. Back to fold in, fold in? Honestly Abby muttered, people think science is complicated, nothing like this though. Folding flour. Tsp cups…
Divide the cake between layer pans…. Layer pans? More than one…. All she had was a large glass dish, rectangular in shape. So, I’ll go with that. it can’t make that much difference.
She took the dish, with the chocolate mixture in it over to the “oven” she had concocted. Three Bunsen burners were flaming away, underneath a metal sheet. It had been surrounded by a metal casing with a square of glass in the front. Abby put the dish on the metal sheet. She put over the casing, and hung a thermometer inside to check the temperature. She checked the recipe. Gas mark 5 - somehow she didn’t think Bunsen burners, though gas powered qualified for this one. 190 C that she could do! She had a fan at the ready to dissipate the air if it got too hot, now all it needed was 25 minutes or until it was firm to the touch.
Frosting - butter milk confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder.
Melt the butter and milk, add sugar and cocoa and beat well. Simple decided Abby, and waved her spatula around wildly when she had the frosting how she wanted it.
By now, Abby was hot, sweating, and chocolate frosted. But she was pleased with her efforts.
Checking the “oven” the cake looked set to her, so she turned off the fan and Bunsen burners. Dismantled it all, then checked the cake… Erm, the frosting will cover the fingerprints…
Turn out thought Abby, but in a glass dish it refused to budge. So she thought, I’ll frost it as is. That job done, she found some candles in her desk drawer. She had meant to get birthday cake candles, but a girl can’t remember everything!
She quickly cleaned everything up, sneaking up to the kitchen and putting things in the dishwasher. Everything was quiet in the bull pen, all of Gibbs team heads down working cold cases and clearing paper work.
Abby got the cake, and the candles, and headed back upstairs. She lit the candles, and stood in front of Gibbs desk, singing Happy Birthday with a huge proud smile on her face, and chocolate frosting on the end of her nose, and in her eyebrows. Gibbs leaned back, and raised an eyebrow as he looked at Abby. “ I made this, all by myself, especially for you, thought everyone could share your birthday.” She explained.
As Tony and Ziva looked up with interest, McGee disappeared and came back with plates, forks, and a small fire extinguisher from the kitchen since the candles Abby had used were giving off quite a lot of heat and flames, and she had used quite a lot of them. Better safe than sorry thought McGee.
“Go on Bossman, blow out the candles and make a wish!” Gibbs blew out the candles whilst wishing that time could stand still for him so that his Abby could play catch up. She owned his heart and soul, he just wondered if this included his digestive system today as well…….
Should anyone be inspired to bake, here is the recipe……
CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE
Ingredients
90g/3oz/ 3squares dark chocolate
175g/6oz/3/4 cup butter
2 eggs beaten
300g/10oz/1-2/3 cup light soft brown sugar
150ml/1/4 pint/2/3 cup soured cream
150ml/1/4 pint/2/3 cup boiling water
300g/10oz/2-1/2 cups plain (all purpose) flour sifted
1-1/2 tsp bicarb of soda (baking soda) 1 level tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla flavouring (extract) 2 quantities chocolate fudge icing/frosting
Icing (confectioner’s) sugar for decorating.
METHOD
1.Grease and line the basis of 3 20cm/8 Inch loose based sandwich cake tins (layer pans) with non stick baking parchment.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the bottom of the pan or water splash into the chocolate. Alternatively heat in a microwave set on full power for about 1-1/2 minutes or until melted.
2.cream the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy and pale in colour. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
3.beat the melted chocolate and boiling water together, leave to cool slightly then mix into the creamed mixture.
4.sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and baking power together, and fold into the chocolate mixture, alternating with the soured cream and vanilla flavouring Extract).
5. divide the mixture between the cake tins (layer pans) and bake in a preheated oven at 190 degrees C/375 degrees F/ gas mark 5 for about 25 minutes or until firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins (pans) then turn out on to wire racks.
6. sandwich the cakes together with a little icing (frosting) between the layers and use the remainder to coat the top and sides of the cake. When set a little sifted icing (confectioners’) sugar may be dredged over the cake.
CHOCOLATE FUDGE ICING (FROSTING)
2 quantities required:-
60g/2oz/1/4 cup butter
3 tbsp milk
250g/8oz/1-1/3 cup icing (confectioners’) sugar sifted
2 tbsp sifted cocoa powder
METHOD
1.Melt the butter in a small saucepan with the milk.
2.Add the sugar and cocoa, and beat well until smooth and glossy.
3.Leave until tepid, then pour over the cake
TITLE: Domestic Science
AUTHOR: Kalliekat
PAIRING: Gibbs/Abby
GENRE: Het
SUB-GENRE: Humor
SUMMARY: see title
SPOILERS: none
WARNINGS: none
RATING: PG
WORD COUNT: 1722
DISCLAIMER: don’t own them, they belong to other more fertile imaginations than mine, not making any money, just borrowing, and will return in good condition.
oh, i do own the bunsen burners!
TITLE:Domestic Science.
Abby frowned. It wasn’t her fault she couldn’t cook. Just because she preferred to sit in the car wrecking yard, working out what had happened to the vehicles, instead of staying home baking cakes wasn’t her fault. It was her genes. That’s what it was. But it didn’t help with the problem at hand.
Gibb’s birthday
Yes, she could go to the store and buy him a cake. But she didn’t want to do that. She just knew that Shannon and Kelly would have baked him a cake, and whilst she had no feelings of jealousy about this, in fact she loved hearing about them, she wanted to do the same for her boss man.
She also knew that every attempt at cooking she had made had been a disaster. And she couldn’t believe how many pots and pans things needed. And knives with sharp blades and palette knives - since when did painting get into cooking? and spoons and draining thingies and anyways what the heck was a cup????? What size cup???? A little dinky coffee canon? A tea mug? An empty caf pow …………..?
Take 2 cups, did they have to be the same size? Surely if she used 2 little coffee canons and 1 egg that would not work the same as 2 pint mugs and 1 egg. Her scientific brain could work that one out.
Research Abby thought. Research! She still had a week.
3 days later, Abby punched the air and squealed. She’d spent any free time she could on the internet trying to sort out her dilemma of amounts and types and sizes - all this just to make a cake. It was ridiculous she thought, then instantly reminded herself who the cake was for! Her Gibbs. It would be worth it.
She’d found a recipe, for chocolate fudge cake, that told her the amounts in grams, ounces, and cups. All she had to do now was shop for the ingredients and things. It was a quiet week, with any luck she could experiment here in her lab and no-one would be the wiser. She grinned; it would be “a piece of cake!”
Tuesday morning arrived, and found Abby in her lab, surrounded by butter, chocolate, flour, eggs, sugar baking soda and powder, sour cream, vanilla extract. She sighed. She was tired, a case had come in on Sunday evening, and they had all been called in, she had worked extra hard to get all the forensics completed late Monday night, she really needed a clear day now. DNA samples, finger print analysis, blood splatters, absolutely no problem. But this operation needed time, patience, skill, and most of all peace and quiet. She’d tried to slip out of bed without waking Jethro this morning, it was a game they played and she rarely won. This morning was no exception! So she’d lied, told him she needed to clear up things in her lab, “cross the t’s and dot the i’s” so as to have maximum time off later in the day to celebrate his birthday. Gibbs had smiled at her, the smile that melted her bones, but she had to be firm! Think cake Abby. Operation chocolate fudge.
Sifted flour - ok, Abby sneaked along to Ducky’s morgue and snuck out again with a sieve, she figured she could sterilize it before she sifted anything, and also she found a large glass bowl would do for mixing things. Maybe she’d sterilize that too, you never knew what they did in there sometimes!
“Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water…….” This should be easy…. Ok, a large test tube that should do it, clamped over a Bunsen burner. Water in the tube, chocolate in a Petri dish balanced on top. That was the chocolate nicely melting.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy…… so, in goes the sour cream with the butter and sugar. Doesn’t look very creamed to me, or light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time….. Oh, Abby nodded, I get that, kind of like scrambling them. Okay, next, mix the melted chocolate and boiling water. Whoops, oh well shrugged Abby, realising too late it was only mix the chocolate and water together to cool, not bung them in the cake mix yet. putting it in the mix will cool it down and save time late, why are the eggs cooking? Oh, the hot mix…. Just have to mix it a bit more. Sift the sodas and flour, and fold in the chocolate mixture alternating with the soured cream….. But she’d already put in the cream thought Abby, it said cream the butter and sugar. Vanilla flavouring. 1 tsp. what’s a tsp? She opened the bottle of vanilla flavouring, and whilst tipping it into the mixing bowl said Tuhssspuhh. That should work. Back to fold in, fold in? Honestly Abby muttered, people think science is complicated, nothing like this though. Folding flour. Tsp cups…
Divide the cake between layer pans…. Layer pans? More than one…. All she had was a large glass dish, rectangular in shape. So, I’ll go with that. it can’t make that much difference.
She took the dish, with the chocolate mixture in it over to the “oven” she had concocted. Three Bunsen burners were flaming away, underneath a metal sheet. It had been surrounded by a metal casing with a square of glass in the front. Abby put the dish on the metal sheet. She put over the casing, and hung a thermometer inside to check the temperature. She checked the recipe. Gas mark 5 - somehow she didn’t think Bunsen burners, though gas powered qualified for this one. 190 C that she could do! She had a fan at the ready to dissipate the air if it got too hot, now all it needed was 25 minutes or until it was firm to the touch.
Frosting - butter milk confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder.
Melt the butter and milk, add sugar and cocoa and beat well. Simple decided Abby, and waved her spatula around wildly when she had the frosting how she wanted it.
By now, Abby was hot, sweating, and chocolate frosted. But she was pleased with her efforts.
Checking the “oven” the cake looked set to her, so she turned off the fan and Bunsen burners. Dismantled it all, then checked the cake… Erm, the frosting will cover the fingerprints…
Turn out thought Abby, but in a glass dish it refused to budge. So she thought, I’ll frost it as is. That job done, she found some candles in her desk drawer. She had meant to get birthday cake candles, but a girl can’t remember everything!
She quickly cleaned everything up, sneaking up to the kitchen and putting things in the dishwasher. Everything was quiet in the bull pen, all of Gibbs team heads down working cold cases and clearing paper work.
Abby got the cake, and the candles, and headed back upstairs. She lit the candles, and stood in front of Gibbs desk, singing Happy Birthday with a huge proud smile on her face, and chocolate frosting on the end of her nose, and in her eyebrows. Gibbs leaned back, and raised an eyebrow as he looked at Abby. “ I made this, all by myself, especially for you, thought everyone could share your birthday.” She explained.
As Tony and Ziva looked up with interest, McGee disappeared and came back with plates, forks, and a small fire extinguisher from the kitchen since the candles Abby had used were giving off quite a lot of heat and flames, and she had used quite a lot of them. Better safe than sorry thought McGee.
“Go on Bossman, blow out the candles and make a wish!” Gibbs blew out the candles whilst wishing that time could stand still for him so that his Abby could play catch up. She owned his heart and soul, he just wondered if this included his digestive system today as well…….
Should anyone be inspired to bake, here is the recipe……
CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE
Ingredients
90g/3oz/ 3squares dark chocolate
175g/6oz/3/4 cup butter
2 eggs beaten
300g/10oz/1-2/3 cup light soft brown sugar
150ml/1/4 pint/2/3 cup soured cream
150ml/1/4 pint/2/3 cup boiling water
300g/10oz/2-1/2 cups plain (all purpose) flour sifted
1-1/2 tsp bicarb of soda (baking soda) 1 level tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla flavouring (extract) 2 quantities chocolate fudge icing/frosting
Icing (confectioner’s) sugar for decorating.
METHOD
1.Grease and line the basis of 3 20cm/8 Inch loose based sandwich cake tins (layer pans) with non stick baking parchment.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the bottom of the pan or water splash into the chocolate. Alternatively heat in a microwave set on full power for about 1-1/2 minutes or until melted.
2.cream the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy and pale in colour. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
3.beat the melted chocolate and boiling water together, leave to cool slightly then mix into the creamed mixture.
4.sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and baking power together, and fold into the chocolate mixture, alternating with the soured cream and vanilla flavouring Extract).
5. divide the mixture between the cake tins (layer pans) and bake in a preheated oven at 190 degrees C/375 degrees F/ gas mark 5 for about 25 minutes or until firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins (pans) then turn out on to wire racks.
6. sandwich the cakes together with a little icing (frosting) between the layers and use the remainder to coat the top and sides of the cake. When set a little sifted icing (confectioners’) sugar may be dredged over the cake.
CHOCOLATE FUDGE ICING (FROSTING)
2 quantities required:-
60g/2oz/1/4 cup butter
3 tbsp milk
250g/8oz/1-1/3 cup icing (confectioners’) sugar sifted
2 tbsp sifted cocoa powder
METHOD
1.Melt the butter in a small saucepan with the milk.
2.Add the sugar and cocoa, and beat well until smooth and glossy.
3.Leave until tepid, then pour over the cake