fandomhigh | Baking Workshop 5/22, FH Home Ec Classroom, Monday Morning

Piper smiles at the students as they show up at the home ec classroom after ~~handwave~~ hearing some sort of announcement letting them know to meet here.

"I'm Piper in case some of you might not know," she says somewhat cheerfully, handing each student a syllabus.

She points out the plate of brownies on the counter in front of her. "I made these for you because that is what we will be baking today. Try one if you'd like. I'm told I make the best brownies ever." She smiles proudly. "We will not be making the kind I brought in, though. They have a secret ingredient and, if I told you what it is, I'd have to vanquish you and no one wants that."

Piper grins to let them know she isn't serious about the vanquishing. She hands each student a list of ingredients and instructions. "I'm not going to lecture you because this workshop is supposed to be fun. So we're gonna get started right away. These instructions are, hopefully, easy to follow. If any of you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask."

Equipment Needed

bowl

8x8 baking pan

spatula

mixing spoon

measuring cups

measuring spoons

Ingredients

6 Tablespoons Cocoa

1/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 Teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup flour

1 cup toasted pecans (optional)

2 eggs

Instructions

Melt 1/4 cups of butter in a microwaveable dish.

Measure 6 tablespoons of Cocoa powder into the mixing bowl.

Add melted butter and mix.

Add to Batter (1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt).

Mix batter.

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Flour the Pan (cover pan with butter, then add some flour to keep brownies from sticking)

Pour the brownie batter into the dish.

Put the brownies into the oven for 35-40 minutes.

Let them cool until slightly warm.

[ooc: Brownie ingredients and instructions are from here.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sam had no idea about the flour on her nose, on her cheek, or in her hair. It was probably better that way. "That's what I was hoping, actually. Where are you from?" She poured some vanilla into the mixing bowl.

"Raleigh, North Carolina. Well, not actually Raleigh, per se. I'm from Milford, about fourteen miles north of the city. See, Mom and Daddy used to live in Raleigh, it's where they met. But they decided that they wanted a backyard for their kids. You know, once they had kids. But they really only had one. That's me. But they moved out to Milford. North Carolina. Where I'm from."

She popped a couple of pecans in her mouth.

Sam blinked. Wow. "Do you always have this much energy in the morning?"

"Only when I'm nervous.

"Do you think Piper has any doughnuts around here?"

"Don't be nervous. The people who enjoyed physically torturing other people left a while ago," Sam said, beginning to stir the ingredients in the bowl, then realizing she'd forgotten the butter. "You could ask?"

"Physical torture?"

And there goes the measuring cup.

Fortunately, it's plastic, so it doesn't break.

Unfortunately, it's full of flour.

And gravity? Totally still working.

"What? They left!" Sam brushed off the leg of her jeans, which didn't really help, because she then got cocoa on them in place of flour.

"Sorry about that," she bent down to help clean up.

Ainsley's eyes were huge. She seemed frozen in place for a second. Then she realized she was making a spectacle of herself and she dropped to the floor and started helping Sam.

"I beg your pardon?" Ainsley screeched in a whisper. "Do you mean to tell me that they let people physically torture other people around here? Like the rack? And that Chinese water thingy?" If she was sad and homesick this morning, she was thoroughly freaked out now.

Oops. Backpedaling time. "Let them? Oh, no, of course not! And nothing as involved as the rack or Chinese Water torture, I swear." Sam reached out to pat Ainsley on the arm, then decided against it. The other girl looked ready to run screaming out of the room and she didn't want to spook her.

"Really, it's much better now. Um, didn't anyone warn you about Fandom when you first got here?"

"Warn? No! I was told it was a school for unsually gifted students! I was sent here so that I could get a halfway decent education without those hicks at Milford High making my life miserable!"

Sam sighed. "It is a school for unusually gifted students." She stood up and dumped the flour into the sink, cursing Fandom High's PR department. "It's just that some of the gifts? Probably aren't exactly what you're expecting. It's more than just a place for smart students, although we have those, too."

Ainsley was still sitting on the floor, and looked up mournfully.

"Then what is it?"

If her father were present, he would point out that this is the first time Ainsley has given the "kicked puppy look" without being completely aware that she's doing it and what the effect is.

"Some of the people here have...special abilities," Sam tried to explain without giving up too many people's secrets, "or are from places where things like aliens and vampires exist ~~and followed them here~~."

"Aliens? Vampires?" Ainsley squeaked and fell heavily on her rear end from where she'd been squatting over the flour spill.

Between this and her homesickness, it's a little too much. A tear made its way down her face. "I want to go home," she whispered.

Sam crouched down to look Ainsley in the eyes, remembering her first month at the Academy. "Hey, now. You're gonna be okay."

"There's some weird stuff that goes on here, it's true, but the people here are good. Some of the best I've met anywhere, and that's saying a lot. They have different experiences than you do, but isn't that just an opportunity to expand your horizons, to learn about other people and how their lives work?" She tried to help Ainsley to her feet. "And we have a lot of fun here--you should have seen the Christmas pageant," she giggled, "and I can promise, this place does not have a problem with smart girls. Isn't that worth sticking around?"

Ainsley sniffled as she let Sam help her up.

"Okay." The "no problem with smart girls" comment had grabbed and held her attention. "I'll give it a try."

She then surveyed the disaster area that was her work station.

She slid everything onto the baking sheet and put it over by the sink. Then she gathered new ingredients and came back.

"I want to try this again."

Sam nodded in approval. "Good girl. I'm gonna stand over here, by my moat monster, in the hopes that my bad cooking karma won't infect you." She gave the bowl a couple of half-hearted stirs. Nope, still lumpy. Maybe it needed some water.

Ainsley giggled as she watched Sam poke at the brownie batter.

"When my Nana makes brownies, the batter stays kind of lumpy."

"Really?" Sam peered into the bowl again. "I guess everything's in there, except the pecans." She began to pour the batter into the prepared pan, then set the bowl on the counter and slid it into the oven she'd preheated earlier.

Baking Workshop 5/22, FH Home Ec Classroom, Monday Morning

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