fandomhigh | Baking Workshop 7/17, Monday Morning

"Good morning," Piper greeted with a smile. "You're going to make oatmeal cookies today. With raisins! Unfortunately, I didn't have time to make samples for you. Sorry. I did bring muffins, though."

She pointed out muffins she had purchased earlier at J,GOB. Then she handed the students a list of instructions. "As always, if you have questions, do not hesitate to ask."

Equipment Needed

Mixer

2 Cookie Sheet Pans

Measuring Cups

Measuring Spoons

Spatula

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cup Shortening

2 Cups Brown Sugar

1 Cup White Sugar

2 eggs

1/2 Cup Water

2 Teaspoons Vanilla

2 1/3 Cups Flour

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

2 Teaspoons Salt

2 Cups Raisins

2 Cups Pecans (optional)

6 Cups Oatmeal

Cooking Spray

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a mixer set on medium high combine and mix shortening, brown sugar and white sugar thoroughly.

Add eggs, water and vanilla on medium speed.

Add flour, cinnamon and salt on low speed.

Make sure that all these ingredients have been thoroughly combined.

While your mixer is still on low speed, add raisins and pecans.

Mix in the oatmeal.

Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Use a teaspoon to shape the cookie dough into clumps.

Put the cookies on the middle rack and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Make sure not to bake them over 15 minutes.

Remove them from the oven and let them cool for at least 5 minutes before removing them from the cookie sheet.

[ooc: ingredients and instructions from here.]

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"Hello," Alphonse greeted cheerily. "Mind if I lend a hand again?"

Sakurazaki frowns as she eyes the line of prepared ingredients. "Not at all," she says after a moment of shifting the position of the cup of raisons. She was having difficulty imagining that she'd be successful at combining all of that into something edible. "In fact, I'll probably need it again."

"Looks like you've got everything prepared," Alphonse thought aloud. He turned towards Sakurazaki, eyeing her briefly before quickly turning his sights back at the ingredients. "Um, new dress?"

Oh, God, he did notice. Wait, what was she thinking? She bites her lip a little as her face turns as pink as the dress itself and she switches the two eggs around, rotating their position in the line. "Not entirely new, no," she says, eyes glued to the eggs as they wobble a bit from the rearrangement. "I got it when Ranma and I went away for that weekend. Just kinda figured, um, today would be a nice day to wear it..."

Her eyes shift to the instructions. Why did she feel nervous? "So, should we take turns like last time? I already did the preheat thing with the over, so the next step would be yours, I guess." She smiles a little.

"Oh," He paused. "It looks nice on you." Alphonse looked over the instructions, eyeing them questioningly. "A mixer? Oh boy... I guess I should throw this stuff in first." He tossed in the needed sugars and shortening into the bowl, taking a moment to find how to turn the thing on before switching it on to the right setting.

Sakurazaki's smile settles a little easier. Nice was good. She could do nice.

And she turned her attention to the mixer. The little contraption with its whirly...things looked more to her like a weapon Chachamaru-san might have used, rather than something to bake with. But Chachamaru-san did like cooking, so it started to make an odd sort of sense. She starts getting the next items together to go in when the first part is mixed in and it's ready to go to the next setting.

"Wonder why we didn't use one of these things with the brownies," she says idly, cracking the eggs expertly. "I kind of liked the stirring bit a lot."

"~~It's because the amount of air... wait, no, I'm not supposed to know that.~~ It is an odd little contraption," Alphonse said. "It sure beats stirring it yourself."

"I dunno," Sakurazaki shrugs a little as she carefully pours in the water and the vanilla. "Maybe today it's good; my arms are still kind of sore from Saturday."

Her ingredients in, she gentle comandeers the mixer, watching it all blend together and ready to switch it to the lower setting when Alphonse is ready to add the next set of ingredients. "You did very well, by the way," she looks up at him with a grin and a flash of admiration. "I'd forgotten that you sparred, but it was a pleasant reminder."

"Mm?" After throwing in the ingridients for the next step, Alphonse absentmindedly rubbed at his chin, giving her a modest smile. "Ah, I screwed up pretty badly at the end," he said. "Parker was really good."

"You were both really good," she assures him, getting the next ingredients ready and waiting with it ready to be poured in while it all mixes well like the instructions say. Peering into the bowl, Sakurazaki grimaces slightly. She still stands on her opinion that, once it's all added together, it definately doesn't ever look like anything that should be eaten.

Alphonse let out a chuckle, getting ready to prepare the cookie sheet. "You were amazing, too," he said. "I've never seen you use a sword before."

"Which only reminds me, Alphonse," Sakurazaki says, lifting her chin and adopting a lofty tone, over a grin, as she reaches for a couple of spoon, "that you've still to come down to the salle one of these days and help me with my rock training." She hand him a spoon with a very serious arch of her eyebrow.

"Well," he began, grabbing the spoon offered to him with an equally broad grin. "You need to tell me when you're going down there first, silly."

"I know, I know," she chuckles. "But, really, when we're in the dorms, I can garantee it's almost every afternoon. Not so much when we're out here; not as convenient."

Digging her spoon into the mix, Sakurazaki grins, feeling some sort of odd buzz of happiness. It's enough to make her playfully twist up her face and stick out her tongue as she plops the first clump onto the cookie sheet. "You sure this is going to end up as food? And this is coming from a Japanese girl! We eat raw squid! But this just looks kind of gross."

Alphonse turned to her with a grossed out look. "Raw squid?" He began making his own rolls out of the dough, plopping them down on the sheet as he finished. "Of course it's going to, it's how cookies are made," he teased. "Which reminds me, I can't break tradition..." Alphonse grabbed a small amount of the dough out of the bowl with his finger and promptly popped it in his mouth.

"Ugh!" Chuckling, Sakurazaki sticks out her tongue in mock disgust as she picks up a rhythem of little dough-ball making. "I think I'll take raw squid over raw cookie dough. I know, I know. What a freak."

"It's good!" Alphonse said in protest, holding up a small ball of dough between his fingers. "This is the stuff that becomes cookies, after all." He put the ball down on the cookie sheet.

"Becomes is a key word, I believe," Sakurazaki grins softly, shaking her head, putting the last of it on the cookie sheet. Her head tilts slightly as she looks down at the clumps of dough ready to go into the over.

"Hopefully, anyway," she assesses with slightly nervous grimace.

"We managed to make good brownies last week," Alphonse reminded. "I'm sure this will turn out just as good."

"This is true," Sakurazaki nods with a little grin. Maybe they wouldn't turn out like rocks as they probably would have if she hadn't had his assistance. "Thanks for the help again, Alphonse."

Baking Workshop 7/17, Monday Morning

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