Cooking Time with Ran! ((for orchidsblood))

[lefthertainted]

On Friday at 3 o'clock on the dot Mio leaves work, by 3:15 he has arrived back at his house. He hopes that he has managed to arrive before Ran, it would be impolite to make a guest wait.

((As per the icon, Mio is a boy right now. :D))

Comments

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

Ran has a small collection of recipes in her purse. She hasn't completely settled on what they're doing for this first lesson because she needs to know what cooking supplies Mio has. Knock knock!

[lefthertainted]

Mio opens the door.

"Hello, Ran-san. Please come in."

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

Ran blinks a few times. "How'd you get LOLed?"

[lefthertainted]

"I'm not sure. I was just walking and I suddenly turned male. There wasn't anything suspicious looking either." Mio sounds slightly put out by this.

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

"Wow. That's really awful." Ran steps inside. "If I could just check your kitchen to get an idea of what sorts of tools you have, I can come up with a shopping list."

[lefthertainted]

"Please. Go right ahead." Mio leads the way to the kitchen.

Ran will find all the implements you would find in a normal kitchen--a nice array of pots and pans, spatulas, spoons and other various cooking implements, and a reasonably good set of knives. Kitchen appliances include a refrigerator, stove, oven, microwave, toaster, hot water kettle, and of course the rice cooker that was Ran's housewarming gift to Mio. One thing Ran will notice is an almost complete lack of food. There are toast-making supplies, tea-making supplies, and possibly a few pieces of fresh fruit, but that's it.

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

In other words, Ran will also have to make sure they buy spices. Okay. "Oh, great, you have everything we need for what I wanted to make most. Have you been to the Farmer's Market? It's a bit of a walk from here, but it's worth it."

[lefthertainted]

Mio shakes her head. "No, I don't believe I have."

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

"It's pretty cool. Everything is in season somewhere, so you can get some really good deals if you browse." Ran heads for the door.

[lefthertainted]

Mio follows Ran. "That sounds good." She didn't want to admit it to anyone, but her budget this month was super tight due to the unexpected expense of having to buy male clothing, so being able to get good deals on ingredients was a major plus.

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

Pasta isn't all that expensive anyway. It's almost as cheap as rice, if certain sacrifices are made.

[lefthertainted]

And and home-made food is much less expensive than restaurant food, which is probably the more appropriate comparison. (Although eating at restaurants in the Nexus is cheaper than you might initially expect, due to the reduced costs resulting from minimal rent and no taxes.)

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

It is a bit of a walk, so Ran eventually asks Mio about how her ikebana is going.

[lefthertainted]

"It's been going well. I showed my teacher some pictures and he wanted prints to hang on his wall." Mio is still a little o.o about this.

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

"That's neat, but it sounds like he doesn't quite get the point of ikebana."

[lefthertainted]

"I know. But he's not Japanese, so I don't really expect him to."

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

"Mm, yes. I tried explaining to a tourist once, and I ended up wondering if my English was poorer than I thought."

[lefthertainted]

"I wonder why it is so difficult for foreigners to understand the Japanese aesthetic?"

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps they aren't raised to appreciate subtlety." The Farmer's Market is in sight now. It's a little late in the day for it, perhaps, but there's still a good selection of places.

[lefthertainted]

"Perhaps not. Many of the Americans I have met are very straightforward."

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

"Mmm." Ran pauses before they reach the first vendors. "Are there any vegetables you particularly like or don't like?"

[lefthertainted]

"No, not in particular." Mio looks around a bit. She's never been to a farmer's market before.

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

Ran likes the chaos of it as well as the excellent prices. "There's one place that sells spaghetti sauce. If they're open right now, we won't have to go to the market after."

[lefthertainted]

"That sounds good. Can you see them from here?"

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

"No, but working out a shopping list in front of the vendors generally gets me tempted to buy a bunch of things I don't need." Ran leads the way through the stands.

[lefthertainted]

Mio won't distract Ran then. He follows Ran through the stands.

((Oops, I keep forgetting about this thread. XP))

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

And there's the sauce vendor. He also sells homemade pastas. He greets Ran with a toothless smile.

[lefthertainted]

Mio examines the sauces. Should he get regular marinara sauce or the sauce with roasted garlic and herb? Decisions, decisions.

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

"Get the garlic and herb. You won't have to add anything to it that way." Ran pokes through the pasta shapes. There's lots of different ones and they're all good in different ways.

[lefthertainted]

Mio picks up a bottle of the garlic and herb sauce. After pausing to consider for a moment, Mio also picks up a packet of regular spaghetti noodles. "Will this be enough, or will we need more?"

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

"That's enough for the two of us plus some leftovers."

[lefthertainted]

Mio buys the sauce and the pasta. Where to next?

[orchidsblood.livejournal.com]

"Hmmmm, spinach. You can use some for a salad if the smaller bags are gone." This way!

[lefthertainted]

"That sounds good." Mio follows Ran to the next stall.