2nd year classroom

[Warning]

Hellhound did things by habit but mostly because she got used to be given different tasks left and right. Otherwise, she never really did any cooking at all so it probably was the only thing she would do this well, if according to Bella. At least she didn't feel like she did a perfect job herself but if Bella said so, it was probably good and the praise made her happy nonetheless. Her attention quickly moved on to the next task as she watched her partner for what to do next. Hellhound knew it wasn't going to be this easy so she tried to stay focused. The question that came up from Bella however didn't even sound dumb to the beast girl. In fact, because the countess had mentioned it, she now was curious about why it sounded so confusing. Her attention quickly turned toward the teacher as well. "Yeah, why does it sound so hard...? How are we supposed to do it like this...?", she asked after her, sounding as serious.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Seraphina

[DrMender]

Maxwell chuckles at the questions from the two of the as he turns his attention to them as he addresses the class. He replies politely, “the recipe was written correct from an old cookbook that was passed down from the colonial time period“ as he sets his own flour bowl down before continuing, “start with 2 tbsps of water and depending on if all the flour in the bowl is combined into the dough you might need to add more“ as he mulla over his next words carefully. He continues his explanation by saying, “humidity and how dry the flour is back then had an impact on the wetness of the flour that was used in the dough, which caused a variable in the water needed unlike today things weren’t as advanced or precise“ as smiles at them saying, “good question did that help clarify the issue or any other questions on it?“

[JennyDK]

Bella sends looks towards both Hellhound and Maxwell, not at all looking satisfied by that answer."Variables? If we just go willy-nilly with measurements, why even have a recipe? It seems utterly unserious and not all thought through. This whole idea of ingredients just acting as it pleases seems to make this rather unpredictable. If anything, it just makes the issue even worse in my head. How do you mortals even deal with something this...weird?", she comments back, starting to get a bit frustrated. She looks over the vegetables and other ingredients, clearly wondering how in the world this would make anything if precise measurements do not matter in the end.

Edited April 25, 2021 by JennyDK

[Warning]

Hellhound also looked at the teacher and Bella from one to the other as they explained their point and the both of them got her thinking. Eyeing upward, she looked like she was thinking real hard about the question. First, about what Maxwell said, she thought about the whole 'start with and might need more' explanation however the scientific speak of it only confused her more than necessary. Having never cooked her own food, she had no idea how to observe changes of states when it came to adding ingredients. The beast girl certainly would have some questions to ask but Bella took over by asking about variables while Hellhound just seemed lost on her side, an expression of pure ignorance on her face as she stared at Bella first then Maxwell again. While ingredients being unpredictable was common in any synthesis, she didn't have any experience in any of them. The comment about mortals made her look specifically at Maxwell but then an idea, albeit probably a stupid one, came to her as she smiled wide to Bella. "Maybe we have to taste it! Then we'll know if it's good or not.", she said proudly, thinking for a moment that she was a genius even if tasting an incomplete recipe maybe wasn't for the best. Her eyes looked back to Maxwell as well, wondering if she was on the right path.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Seraphina

[DrMender]

Maxwell smiles politely as he replies to Bella’s and Hellhound’s comments about the recipe, “start with two tablespoons added to the ingredients if there is still dry flour and an additional tablespoon until you have added a grand total of 4 tablespoons of water all together“ as he proceeds to combine the ingredients slowly into a sticky ball of dough. After he completes the dough, he holds the bowl out to be passed around the class as he continues, “in my case for this batch I needed the four tablespoons mentioned in the dough recipe to get the necessary sticky and pliable result for the dough“ as he looks straight at Bella saying, “cooking is an exact measurements based on measurements and deals with the different senses sight, taste, hearing and feeling when cooking“ as he pauses on how to explain further before he continues, “Its and art form and many things impact a good dish and how it tastes, which includes being able to properly prepare the ingredients and tell what ingredients are good from your different senses, which a non-human would be able to tell what is fresher or reliable better than a human“ as he looks at Hellhound saying with a chuckle, “I don’t think raw uncooked dough would taste pleasant“ as he watches the other students pass the ball of dough around the class.

[JennyDK]

Bella seems about to speak at first, as she is still unsure why it needs to be variables and not just proper and exact measurements. Her inquiries seems to not really reach Maxwell from how she interprets it. She sighs inwardly and just decides to just go with it. If the measurements are allowed to be all willy-nilly, then surely could Hellhound and her too. Of course, she would rather not go into that, but apparently this calls for it."Let's just...try and see how it goes. If it turns out bad, that will be fault of the recipe miss Hellhound. So don't think it has to do with our performance. So...shall we take it from the top?", she speaks, mostly to her companion.

[Warning]

Hellhound had raised an eyebrow with all the explanations, obviously not looking like she understood all that but at least, she wouldn't try to taste anything not ready to be tasted. She would have to use her other senses, which she thankfully could do with the help of the teacher's example he passed around. Once Bella also saw it, if she wanted to look at it, she moved it to another person then considered what was said so far. She had to make something that looked like what she just had seen but she wouldn't do it without help. Before her was the other ingredients for the preparation: flour, salt, sugar, butter, eggs, etc. If she didn't know how to use them yet, she still could grab one thing she knew and so took a spoon that was there for them then looked at the countess. "We will do it...! But um... What does the book say about those? I will help as best as I can. At least I think I can do that...", she said with a confident or at least trying smile to motivate herself, even if she wasn't fully sure to do it correctly. If steps consisted only of filling her spoon with some powder then she would be ready to do that. The eggs were another story since she never cracked any before.

Edited April 27, 2021 by Seraphina

[DrMender]

Maxwell chuckles as he takes his bowl back of the pastry dough as he watches the students before stating out loud, “The first thing I recommend is to measure the necessary amount of sugar and then take your whisk or beater and cream the room-temperature butter into the sugar making a paste” as he motions to each ingredient. He finally holds up the fresh egg and continues, “Afterwards you will break the necessary eggs into the bowl without getting any shells in it. I would recommend breaking a single egg at a time in a separate bowl before adding the egg to the creamed sugar n butter” as he looks at the different students.

[JennyDK]

Bella listens to both her partner and then Maxwell, trying to make it into a precise and accurate process in her mind. She gives another look at Hellhound."Allright, I think I know how to properly execute this. I will measure things and you will prepare them. How about that dividance of tasks? It shall hopefully take advantage of your more hands-on skills and my intellect. I am certain this will make us succeed!", she says, even with a little bit of bravado and cockiness to her voice. She begins to instruct Hellhound to the best of her abilities and going from what the recipe says exactly. The vague parts she simply aims for the middle version.

[Warning]

Hellhound beamed when Bella looked ready to begin and she was happy to hear she could be useful with some tasks. "Preparing things, I got it! We will do it together and make something yummy to eat! Tell me what to do.", she expressed quite excitedly, being always so cooperative with the promise of reward at the end, being food in this case, that was ever so tempting. When instructed what to do, the beast girl went about her task, trying her best to do it properly. Preparation wise, she did the slicing or other similar mixing tasks if they were required and she left the measuring to Bella, which would be a bit too complicated to her right now anyway. Her tail couldn't help but sway playfully as she kept herself busy, being like a child doing some cooking for the first time.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Seraphina

[DrMender]

Maxwell watches and corrects those that need assistance with measuring or preparing of ingredients of pastry dough. He coughs softly as he states, “Once the eggs, sugar butter are mixed and your dry ingredients are measured you will slowly mix the wet ingredients of the creamed mixture with the floor and mix in the wet ingredients like water or milk” as watches the class before stating, “Once you have added the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients slowly mix them together with a mixing spoon” as he motions to a wooden spoon. He continues on to state, “On the dough is mixed together with no dry flour, you will cover with a damp towel and then we will move onto the filling” as he watches the class follow his demonstration of mixing the dough.

[JennyDK]

Bella's smirk on her face grows the furter into this they get and it still looking like something that is acceptable and well enough, given the vagueness of the recipe. Going for the middle road seems to work in their favour and makes her wonder why the author didn't just do that instead of the aforementioned guessing work."Well done, miss Hellhound. Looks like your rough and menial labour skills do their job and get our dought to be decent. This is what can be accomplished when brains and brawns work together", she comments, not really intending anything negative about it since it is effective."Mister Maxwell, can you approach us and deem our efforts thus far? I do believe that we have done satisfactory up to this point."

[DrMender]

Maxwell walks up to pair after hearing the request from Bella about inspecting the group's work on he dough as he stops in front of the pair looking at the work that had been completed so far. He gently picks up the dough as he inspects the completed product before replacing it on the counter as he smiles at the two stating, "I would let the dough rest a couple of minutes and then you can roll the pie dough out to a 1/4 of an inch" as he looks at the other ingredients that have been washed for use on the counter. He continues by stating, "Once you have rolled out the dough, I would then peel and slice the apples to be lightly tossed in cinnamon with sugar to be placed in the pie dough" as he gently picks up one of the apples as twirls the apple lightly before slowly removing the apple with a knife that he removes the peel with a knife that he removes from his apron pouch. After a couple of minutes, he gently holds the apple out to hellhound as he comments, "If Bella wants you to go ahead and peel the other apples before having them sliced or however you two want to divide out the last bit of the pie making before it has to be baked" as he keeps a small smile on his face.

[Warning]

Having listened to all that, Hellhound wondered what she should do next, thinking about that dough but it seemed that there was much more to do as well. Only by cooperating with her partner, they probably would do well enough to make it work. She had a hard time trying to remember everything though and would easily find herself confused but thankfully Maxwell sort of came to her rescue, intentionally or not, by handing her an apple after showing them how to peel it. With a smile, she took it and a knife. Even if her claws were sharp, she wouldn't be able to do a good job with them so she had to resort to a human way. "I'll do this, then! I think I'll be good at this.", she said before turning to Bella. "Is it okay with you or do you need me to do something else...?", she then asked, to make sure their tasks are balanced right for the both of them, just in case Bella had a choice of her own on what to do.

Edited May 21, 2021 by Seraphina

[JennyDK]

Bella listens to Maxwell comment on their progress and their next tasks. It seems fairly straight forward. She can sense, with her Auspex, that Hellhound may be a tad bit confused and such, but it seems to die down once they some aid from the teacher. Having her become even more confused and such would surely ruin their chances of completing their task, so it is still in Bella's interest to keep their teamwork going well and smooth. She gives a gentle nod towards Hellhound."No no, that is adequate and well. Just go on with that task and I shall oversee things and take care of the rest", she comments, dividing the tasks between them still and directing if needed. She then focuses on the dough, using the weird rolling device. She watches some of the other stations to see how this is done.

[DrMender]

Maxwell looked around at the other students as he sees a couple of the students struggling with the rolling pin and the pastry dough as he chuckles before exlaiming out loud, "Alright class to a look up front and I will show you how to roll out the dough to the correct thickness" as he claps his hands making his way to the front of the class. He stands in front of the class as he quietly washes his hands before grabbing the dough he made at the beginning of the class as he places the dough in front of him and grabs the rolling pin as he says, "grab the rolling pin by the small pins on the sides of item and gentle press down on the dough pushing forward before rolling the pin back towards you" as he makes a show of the action. He continues, "You would then pick the rolling pin up and turn the down and repeat the action until the dough is circle in shape and your desired thickness" as he takes a couple of minutes repeating the action to get the dough to the necessary size and thickness.

[Warning]

For now, she held onto the apple and the knife and listened to the teacher, even if she probably wasn't going to be the one who does the roll. It could still useful though and it would be rude to just continue while he explains. Only after he is done, she really starts her own tasks and began cutting the apple(s) the way she was shown a moment before. Not seeming to worry about anything, she went her playful self again and kept it up until her task would be completely over and not before, unless she would be interrupted. With her dexterity, she probably would have done an acceptable job and the apples would be at the very least good enough to be used for cooking, none really damaged. Once finished, she looked at her partner, wondering if she was doing as well on her side or if she needed help for anything, always excited to be useful when needed.

[JennyDK]

Bella is easily following the instructions about how to use the rolling pin in the right manner, trying her best to make it as perfect as possible, of course. However, a question does pop up in her mind soon enough."Mr. Maxwell. What exact dimensions does the dough has to be at? Just perfectly round shape? I need to be aware of the specific length, thickness and width. I have failed to see these numbers mentioned in the book", she says, once more encountering something the recipe is way too vague about. At the moment, her mind is too focused on this issue to really deal with much else.

[DrMender]

Maxwell watches the groups as they roll out the dough and cut the apples after peeling them as instructed before noticing that some of the class are looking confused and thoughtful after Bella's question about the dough. He rubs the back of his neck with a chuckle as he replies, "bakers weren't the best at writing down their recipes when they were passed down as in the past they would be uttered verbally or to an apprentice hence the lack of information not always being noted in recipes Bella. Recipes didn't change until the modern era to be more detailed" as he gives an explaination for the lack of detail.

He gives a thoughtful look for a moment before explaining, "Take your pie plate that the dough will go into and it doesn't need to be perfectly circular just bigger than the pie dish by about an inch to account for shrinkage of the dough when it bakes. Also roll the dough out to 1/4" or 0.635 cm for the thickness" as he places his own rolled out dough into the pie plate. He continues, "Once the dough is rolled out to the necessary size and thickness, gently place the dough into the pie plate and time the excess dough along the edge of the plate that hangs over the lip before also taking a fork to dock the center of the plate to prevent it puffing up like so" as he gentle presses a fork over the inside of the dough on the pie plate. He smiles at Hellhound and replies," Very good miss Hellhound and those of you that cut n peeled the apples, Once the apples are peeled and sliced, make sure to take a lemon or lemon juice and drizzle a small amount over the apples to prevent them from turning brown as well."

[Warning]

Hellhound remained quiet for a while, just watching her partner and the teacher's exchange, in case she'd learn anything from it. The mathematical part of it confused her as expected but regardless, she just eyed from one to another. Nothing of it seemed relevant to her, at least for that moment, as much as it probably was for Bella who was taking care of the dough. When the smile came to her with the teacher's advice, her attention went all to him and while she was proud of being praised, the next part felt like she unknowingly forgot something important to do that could ruin her efforts. Eyeing around nervously, she spotted the lemon stuff she needed and picked it up then focused her attention on her apples before sprinkling some on them. It took a moment for her to feel certain she had done what was needed then finally relaxed, hoping it was enough.

[JennyDK]

'Finally!', Bella thinks to herself as some proper and exact numbers are put out to her so she can better do her task, rather than going about all willy-nilly. Oddly enough, having things precisioned like this makes it even easier for Bella to get into and perform, so when it comes to following further instructions, she does so flawlessly. Her plan to make sure the tasks were divided like this seems to have worked perfectly as well and she mentally congratulates herself for her immense brilliance and genius."Miss Hellhound. Very well done...I knew you would be up for the task. Looks like we are doing fine as a team!", she says, encouraging her even further.

[DrMender]

Maxwell claps his hands at the finishing of the steps that were last listed out for the dough and the apples, he makes a statement, “now you to add the white bean shaped pie weights and blind bake the pie shell in the oven for”l 10 minutes” as he dumps a can of the weights in his own pie shell and places it in the oven. He continues saying, “Your oven will need to be set at 350 degrees F and after the pie has baked for 10 minutes remove the pie shell with pot holds to not burn yourself before setting it on the stove top.” 

[Warning]

Hellhound blinked a bit when the next steps were announced. This was becoming a little confusing but she still had work to do. Picking the bean shaped things, she showed them to her partner, pointing at the dough. "We have to do this next...! Then, um...", she spoke briefly, looking at the oven. The task looked simply enough as the number was in plain sight, switching it to 350 degrees to prepare it for the cooking of the pie. "There. All we need to do is do what he did with the dough and put these on it. Right...?", she asked, seeming uncertain if she got the tasks right, hoping Bella would know with more certainty.

[JennyDK]

The dump of information is very straight forward, despite there being a faire share of it. Bella handles such information dumps pretty well, as long as they are clear and precise. So she keeps an eye on Hellhound for now and listens to any questions she may have. The steps are pretty easy in themselves, but her partner seems a tad uncertain. Uncertainty is usually the easiest path to bad results. So she takes steps to alleviate this in Hellhound."Yes, correct miss Hellhound. Just do it step for step...no rush. If you get uncertain just let me know. I will go ahead and read a bit ahead to prepare us for later", she comments and nods approvingly.

[Warning]

Hellhound nodded and turned to the pie thing and did what she had to do by steps. The book itself was useful at least on the imagery part. It allowed the beast girl to  do things exactly as shown. Anyway, the teacher also had shown his side of example so all she had to do was mimic it and she was thankfully smart enough to not fail something so simple. Copying exactly what she was shown, she did everything in order until it was time to put the dough and weight in the pie shell in the oven. The part about 'Don't burn yourself' made her giggle since she wasn't the kind to get burnt but rather the kind to burn other things. She didn't even feel the heat of the oven all that much as she was setting the shell inside it. Once done, she closed the oven and the timer began its count. With a sigh of relief, Hellhound sat there and looked toward Bella, in hope she did everything as she was supposed to.