Fandom High School

"I've realized," Ignis admitted, "as I was going over my thoughts on what we haven't covered yet in this class, that I may have skipped right over a common staple in many kitchens simply because they are not devices I myself tend to use often, and that is the humble toaster and its counterpart, the toaster oven. And, as with many of these appliances and devices, the name is a good deal indictive of its purpose: to toast things, using radiated heat. They are often times notorious for being fickle and imprecise devices, varying wildly from product to product, although with a bit of practice and familiarity, one often can manage to know the precise conditions to produce a perfect slice of toasted bread with a beloved toaster.

"Of course," he continued, with a wave of his hand as he ushered in what should be quite obvious to them by now, "a toaster can be used for more than just toast, and a toaster oven opens the door to a myriad of other possibilities, and we will be exploring our options in today's class. But let us first discuss how a toaster works before we start getting into exactly what to use them for."

"My apologies," said Ignis, as he got class started, "for my absence last week. Hopefully, you all learned something useful all the same from Misters Amicitia and Argentum and not just...questionable habits. Today, we're going be talking about these," he took a moment to lift one of the devices on the counter in front of him this time, "another method of blending things called an immersion blender, so named because of how one immerses the blending aspect of it into whatever it is they're blending. Other terms for it, such as stick or wand blender, you'll notice, are equally descriptive. Typically, this sort of blender is best when one is making a variety of soups and sauces, especially if one doesn't wish to go through all the hassle of other types of blenders we've discussed previously in this class. It's rather quick and easy for smaller batches, especially in regards to those things, but you can also use them for even whipped cream or smoothies if you feel so inclined.

"As usual," he continued, "I will go over not only the mechanics of how it works, but also how to actually use the immersion blender. I have a few simple recipehs to try if you'd like to hone in on something more focused, or, as always, your own experimentation is strongly encouraged, especially in trying out all the different attachments for different styles of blending.

"But above all else," and there was a smile that you didn't even need to look that closely to notice!, "the most important accessory to any immersion blender cooking will be your aprons."

"Well, now," said Ignis as he pushed up his glasses and got class started for another week, "our heads should be a bit clearer once again, which puts us in an excellent position to explore more of the conveniences of the modern kitchen. And since we discussed the convenience that a device like a good rice cooker can bring to the table, we'll continue on that trend this week by bringing in the many conveniences of the slow cooker, or, as it has become more colloquially known in reference to one of its most successful manufacturers, a crock pot.

"And, as with anything we're likely to encounter here, there are both benefits and downfalls to the use of a slow cooker in your cooking repertoire," which he would naturally get into in exhaustive detail as well as, of course, even just how to use one, various features, and cleaning tips.

"Now, clearly," he said, when he finally started coming around after covering all the bases, "we haven't got the time to prepare the sort of slow cooker recipe that would truly reflect the true nature of its name, but there are a few things we can make to familiarize ourselves with the equipment that doesn't extend throughout the whole day. I have a queso dip recipe that we can make and try by the end of class, as well as one for spinach and artichoke. I also encourage you to try and think of your own sort of dip or sauce that might be able to benefit from a quick mix in a slow cooker, and, to give you a better idea of what more time would give us, I've also brought along some cheesy panade and some Korean-style short ribs I started last night to be ready for this morning, if you'd like to try and have me walk through those elements, as well.

"And, of course, any questions are always welcome."

Even more interesting looking appliances were set out before everyone in the classroom today, as well as an apron, at each station. There hadn't been any egregious incidents with last week's blenders, but, well, he figured it wouldn't hurt to take that exptra step toward protection with regards to cleanliness as they moved onto other tools with a great potential for messes.

But what he held in his hand was a good old fashioned wooden spoon.

"When it comes to mixing things in the kitchen," he said, and he gave the spoon an expert flip in his hand, not unlike he often did with his knives, and plunked it down into a bowl of dough in frot of him, "there are, of course, the tried and true methods that have stood the test of time, but, in deference to ease and convenience and technology, a wide variery of devices to make mixing easier have been developed. The Gold Standard is, of course, a stand mixer, which quite often allows you to set and forget whatever you're mixing until its ready, usually with interchangable parts to suit your specific needs. There are also hand-held ones, such as these, some electric, and some manual, that require a bit more of you than a stand mixer might, but not nearly as time consuming or demanding as merely a spoon.

"So today," he said, "we'll be exploring these different mixing options and learning how to use them, and then letting you try various different things to get used to them and develop your own preferences or perhaps to even start understanding that, for all its convenience, maybe you still prefer something mixed by hand or whisk overthe more complex options. Let's begin."

Ignis sighed a little, as the class gathered in the danger shop as requested for this week, and pushed his glasses slightly more up his nose before beginning with today's lesson.

"You may be wondering," he said, doing a poor job of ignoring the gentle, grinning whurr, whurr sound that was repeating in his head as he launched the class, with a wide variety of boxy contraptions and packaged goods on the counter before him, "why we are meeting in the danger shop today, and the answer to that query would be that I find it far more effective to learn through experience. One can tell something time and time again not to do something, but it's only when they can understand firsthand why not that the importance truly sets in. Today, that lesson sets in with microwaves and the importance of knowing its limitations and what might happen when one attempts to cook something for too long or something that should absolutely not be cooked within one without having to deal with those consequences outside of a simulations.

"So," he continued, barely holding back another one of those sighs, and reminding himself that, like a Band-Aid, it was best to just rip it off and get it over with, "we are going to discuss and learn more about this piece of modern kitchen equipment that has become, unfortunately, in my personal opinion, just as ubiquitous as the ovens and stoves we discussed in the last lesson, and then hopefully, we will rarely speak of it again. I will not deny that it has a certain place for convenience and, occasionally, it can be a useful tool, but, overall, there are very few things it can contribute to the kitchen conversation besides its convenience.

"We will learn all about what a microwave is, how they work, as well as experimenting with different foods as cooked in a microwave as opposed to other means, trying a few convenience, microwave-friendly foods, as well as experimenting with the perils of putting certain materials like metal, plastic, or styrofoam and why it is a bad idea.

"Of course, I will acknowledge my bias in the fact that microwaving in general is a bad idea, but, yes, it is an important part of a modern kitchen and the ease and convenience is undeniable. After all, having a microwaved meal is still far superior to having no meal at all and sometimes it can be the right fit for a busy schedule or a lack of skills otherwise.

"With that, then," he nodded, "let us begin..."

"Well," said Ignis, "we've made it to the end of the semester without burning down the preserve,"--no small feat, with a Beaker in your class!--"but we've still got one more day to get through, so let's do our best to continue the trend, yes? As our final day, I'd like to just take a few moments going over a camp kitchen essentials checklist"

To follow along, he'd actually gotten his in the Braille he'd been getting much better at, and as for the others? He was really just taking Gladio at his word that they were, in fact, accurate.

"Just to make sure you understand everything on the list and to cover anything that may need a bit more elaboration. Then, we have all of our equipment here, as well as a Coleman^TM full of ingredients, so use the time to perhaps try something new or try to hone some of the cooking styles we've learned in previous lessons. A good wrap-up class, if anything, and, yes, fire extinguishers are on hand."

"The weather has, for the most part, been cooperating with this class quite nicely," Ignis said as he began the lesson for the week, "but, eventually, when you are out camping, it is inevitable that it will likely rain, at some point. So today, despite the fact that we will not likely be burdened with such a condition in the meantime, we are going to focus on some essential tools and tips to help create delicious food while camping even when one finds themselves quite waterlogged.

"In a nutshell, your basic tips will break down into a few main points: having the right equipment, keeping dry and safe, and perhaps an ounce of prevention. We'll go over with proper portioning of meals with proper packaging today, as well as the best equipment to have on hand for such conditions, properly utilizing an umbrella or tarp, and, most importantly, knowing not to attempt to cook in an enclosed space.

"And, of course, that is a lot to cover, but we will still, hopefully, have time to put some of these lessons to use by, of course, doing a little cooking as well, with a simple chili recipe sure to keep anyone warm and comfortable on a rainy day, or perhaps some grilled cheese sandwiches or even some cookies, if you've got a sweet tooth.

"Let's get started."

In the interest of saving time, Ignis had a couple of campfires already going at the site for today's class by the time the students arrived, with a little set-up of ingredients and equipment on a table as he waited. He, of course, would be open to chatting with any students that were early, but woe be to the ones who were not nearly so punctual, as he was going to launch into the lesson the moment the alarm on his watch alerted him to the fact that it was time to begin.

"Today," he began, "we're going to be focusing on a very specific type of cooking equipment that can be very useful even in a regular kitchen, but is absolutely essential to cooking at camp, and that is, of course, the Dutch oven."

Had you come out to the preserve that day expecting an incredibly thorough breakdown of what was essentially just a really nice pot? Because that was definitely what you were getting, as Ignis broke down some of the finer details on the variety of said pot, as well as what made it such an excellent tool for creating delicious meals, especially when working with a campfire.

"But enough talk," he said, and there'd definitely been plenty of that. "Let's put these principles into action and finally get to cooking. I have three recipes for you to choose from: short ribs, a classic pizza, and, of course, for a sweeter palate, apple pie. Yes, all over a campfire. You may even find it to be a new preferred method. So let's begin, shall we?"

Like quite a few other classes over the summer, Ignis' class would be meeting out of the classroom and into the great outdoors instead, although, considering his roster, as small as it may be, there was a part of him that was wondering if everyone would be better off with this class being held in the danger shop instead of out in the old campground in the preserve.

Well. Fires had been a bit more of a thing around here, lately, so at least the fire department was relatively...warmed up.

He met the students on the edge of the preserve, listening carefully for their arrive, and, when he did hear someone coming up, greeted them with a simple, "Do me a favor and introduce yourself as you arrive. It will be better for me to know when we have everyone if you do."

But it was a thankfully small class, so once everyone had informed him to their presence, he nodded, and go started. "Welcome to Camp Cooking Essentials, a survey in various techniques and equipment to allow one to still manage to make excellent and fulfilling meals even when resources are scarce. For those of you who I've not had the pleasure to meet yet, my name is Ignis Scientia, and my former position as my team's chef required me to often cook in unexpected and inconvenient places, often in very tenuous circumstances, as well. However, even if one does not plan to spend a lot of time out-of-doors, these are all still skills that can be used in every day cooking as well. And with that, let us waste no more time, and we'll get right into it.

"Today will be a simple lesson, familiarizing ourselves with your two main sources of heat for cooking when outdoors: the classic campfire," he gestured toward the empty space where there were divots in the ground for said campfires, "and a portable camp stove," he gestured toward those exact things to his other side. "For our purposes, we have two very nice Coleman^TM Powerhouse Dual Fuel 2-Burner Stoves that we'll be working with because shameless product placement I have always found them to as incredibly dependable and superior in quality.

"We'll start with the campfires, and how to both safely and efficiently start one in the wild, and then we'll move onto the stove, which is much easier, but will be a little different to work with than your traditional kitchen stove. But, since this is a class about working in the field overall, we must first seek out some wood for our campfires. We will set the time at, let's say, five minutes, and when you hear the bell," at this point, he reached for a bell and rang it for demonstration, "you'll return to camp and we'll get started in earnest. Please do not get lost, although if we need to reroute this class to be one that focuses a bit more on search and rescue, then so be it."

That was...mostly...a joke.

"Alright, then. Let's begin."

While Ignis was fairly sure he had done very little in accomplishing the admittedly, surprisingly monumental task of turning some of these students into chefs by any stretch of the imagination, he went into this final class of the workshop feeling optimistic about how it had gone because, if anything, they had not needed to call the fire department even once, and, all things considered, that seemed...impressive.

Of course, there was still one class to get through, and the open ended nature of the activity should at least make things...interesting.

"Well," Ignis greeted them with a nod, "congratulations on surviving thus far, and with, it would seem, very few incidents. Let's plan to keep it that way for our final class. Since we've covered most of the basics to a fine degree, today will mostly be about putting those basics to use. Sometimes, when one is out in the field, one is restricted on what sort of ingredients are available to them, and so, in the spirit of such scarcity and creativity, each of you will be given a cooler with a limited amount of randomized ingredients, and it's up to you create something out of that to feed the camp. The basics...fresh water, salt, oil, and sugar...will be provided, but everything else must either be from your cooler, borrowed from someone else's cooler, or foraged in the wild."

If it came to foraging, he very much suspected this was the last he'd see of Lucille and Tisarwat...

"Let me know if you have any questions, otherwise, I'll let you all get to setting up your camp kitchens and exploring your options."

Ignis was rather pleased to find that the weather that day was rather cool and rainy, which generally made for a miserable camping experience and, therefor, helped make things feel much more authentic. Not only that, but it meant that the students could practically apply the things they learned last week, as he had them all gather underneath a tarp with their supplies in their spot in the preserve.

"Today," he explained to them, "will be a relatively simple day. Thanks to the cooperation of the weather," he gave an almost sardonic sort of gesture toward the world as a whole, "we can re-established our campfire building skills even in the dampest of conditions, which will hopefully serve you well as we work on two relatively simple recipes that will provide for a hearty and comfortining meal when one find themselves in less than favorable conditions when out on the field. Sometimes, all you need is a nice, hearty meal in your stomach to make things not all so gloomy after all. So I'll give you all some time to prepare a station, and then we shall begin."

Ignis figured a day like this one would come eventually, where the weather didn't really suit his class at all. True, dealing with rain would be a normal part of any camping experience, but this was Cooking for Camp and Field, not merely Camp and Field by itself, although perhaps it wouldn't hurt to explore that as a more broad topic.

But he had a lesson plan and intended to stick with it, and he had been a little uncertain about the quality of the fishing around the island anyway, so when they class made it out to their meeting spot, there was a portal waiting for them.

They absolutely loved him at Portalocity this week...

"Today," he informed them, "we're taking our camp and field class on a bit of a field trip, as we will be exploring the inner angler in us all. That's right. Today, we will be fishing, and not only that, but we will be learning what to do with our fish once we catch them and plan to prepare them for consumption. If you already have some experience in fishing, excellent, I look forward to seeing what you catch. If not, not to worry, I will break down the basics and the equipment once we're settled in our new location. We're going to a spot I know of that is excelling angling for both beginners and experts, and is quite in the wilderness, as well, so that we can get the full camp and field experience. So, without further ado..."

He gestured toward the portal in case anyone in particular would like to take the lead, but not before adding, "Oh. And once we arrive, do try to stay close to the fishing spot and avoid getting lost, if you can."

You know who you were!

Ignis had to admit, it was rather nice to get to teach something that got them all out of the classroom and into the great outdoors instead, although there was a part of him that was wondering if he was taking a great risk by actually holding this particular class outside instead of in the safety of something like the danger shop.

Well. The local fire department had been noting a lack of anything to do around here, hadn't he?

That thought aside, though, Ignis (still dressed to the nines despite being in the wilderness) did actually have confidence that they should be able to avoid any such disasters, and his next concern would merely be his students finding the spot in the preserve he'd scoped out for his purposes, with the exception of Prompto, who he naturally enlisted to help him carry out the equipment and cooler of ingredients for today's assignment.

"Good to see you've all found the place," he began, once it looked like everyone had arrived, and honestly, he would have been worried if they hadn't, he had left very detailed instructions. "Let us begin. This is Cooking for Camp and Field, a survey in various techniques and equipment to allow one to still manage to make excellent and fulfilling meals even when resources are scarce. For those of you who I've not had the pleasure to meet yet," which appeared to be just the one, "my name is Ignis Scientia, I have sort of taken on the mantle as the chef of my team back home, and sometimes that requires one to cook in unexpected and inconvenient places. Even if one does not plan to spend a lot of time out-of-doors, these are all still skills that can be used in every day cooking as well. And with that, let us waste no more time, and we'll get right into it.

"Today will be a simple lesson, familiarizing ourselves with your two main sources of heat for cooking when out on the road: the classic campfire," he gestured toward the empty space where there were divots in the ground for said campfires, "and a portable camp stove," he gestured toward Prompto, who lifted up the equipment with a grin. "For our purposes, we have two very nice Coleman Powerhouse Dual Fuel 2-Burner Stoves that we'll be working with because shameless product placement I have always found them to as incredibly dependable as they are superior in quality.

"We'll start with the campfires, and how to both safely and efficiently start one in the wild, and then we'll move onto the stove, which is much easier, but will be a little different to work with than your traditional kitchen stove. But, since this is a class about working in the field overall, we must first seek out some wood for our campfires. We will set the time at, let's say, five minutes, and when you hear the bell," at this point, he reached for a bell and rang it for demonstration, "you'll return to camp and we'll get started in earnest. Please do not get lost, although if we need to reroute this class to be one that focuses a bit more on search and rescue, then so be it."

That was...mostly...a joke.

"Alright, then. Let's begin."

Due to a good amount of restraint even in the face of leather-begotten discounts, Ignis had kept his drinking moderate last night, for which he was glad for, because today was going to be a very...special day in the Culinary Fundamentals classroom. Today was the sort of day that Ignis would hold up forever as proof that he could, in fact, be conciliatory to absurdity on occasion.

Because today they had a guest co-teacher, in the form of a grinning and eager Prompto with a box in his hands, and clearly unable to stand still with the sheer anticipation for what they were about to do.

But first...

"Good morning," Ignis greeted them with a nod, "I hope this week went a little more smoothly for everyone than the last, and I'm pleased to tell you that we'll be doing a very special activity for today's class that will hopefully actually get you thinking a little bit about next's week's class, which will be our final class, so before we get into today, a word about your final exam:

"Your task, if you choose to accept it, which I certainly hope you do since it is an assignment, after all, is to pick a recipe of your choosing and prepare it for us in class. It can be anything you'd like, though I will certainly dole out far more points for creativity and difficulty based on your particular range of skills. We should have a wide variety of ingredients at your disposal, but should you need anything particular that's a little off the beaten path, please let me know and I will ensure that it will be available to you for class next week. That's it. Bringing in a recipe, prepare it for the class, and put those skills that you've hopefully acquired in our time together to good use. If there are any questions, please let me know, and, in the meantime, we'll get onto today's activity, which should hopefully be just a bit of pre-exam fun, and for which I'll turn the attention over to our guest today, whom some of you may already know, but for those who don't, this is my colleague and former Fandom student himself, Prompto Argentum. Prompto?"

The eager, nervous grin blossomed on Prompto's face as the floor was turned over to him. "Hey, guys," he said, then nodded to Ignis. "Thanks, Ignis. Boy, have we got something really special for you today, because today iiiissssss....."

He took a moment to cup his hands over his mouth and doot out a little fanfare.

"Cup Noodle^TM Day!"

Please, everyone just ignore Ignis pinching the bridge of his nose and wanting to just disappear down a hole of quickly diminishing culinary integrity. Oh, the things he did for his friends...

"Now," said Prompto, oblivious to any withering prestige beside him, and thrilled to continue, "for those of you who don't know, Cup Noodle^TM is an instant noodle soup that is popular as a quick and easy snack or meal across the multiverse! It's definitely a favorite among me and my crew, but even I'll admit, sometimes, the simplicity of the convenience of it all leads something to be desired. But here's the thing! It's, like, super easy to do things to really amp up that already delicious Cup Noodle^TM experience by adding your own ingredients and seasonings! Like, want more meat? Bam, grill up some steak and throw it in. Put an egg in it! Add some fresh veg or maybe a sprinkling of cheese or some bomb sauces, and you're really going to elevate an already amazing food to totally the next level! So that's what you're going to do today!"

Was that a particularly smarmy smirk being directed at a certain sister in the classroom assuming she was there? Maaaaaybe.

Prompto flipped open the box.

"We've got all sorts of different varieties and flavors in here, so come on up, pick out your Cup Noodle^TM, and let's see what you can make of them!"

The only thing that had actually kept Ignis from getting in touch with Summer to substitute for his class today so that he could go back and check in on Noctis was a message from Gladio reassuring him that everything was fine. Whatever it was that Noctis had been trying to make had turned out to be completely inedible, of course, but it was fine because they got take out and they used it for target practice. That last part was not exactly encouraging, but it did ease Ignis's nerves enough that he didnt' just hop the earliest portal he could and he did make it into the classroom that morning, trying instead not to think about all the strange messages his phone had been receiving, and what kind of Fandom oddness would cause something like that to even happen.

"Good morning, everyone," he said, with a nod to the class as usual. "I was thinking that, today, we might stick a bit with the baking trend we've been on between our bread and our cupcakes, and attempt to tackle something a little more involved in that respect, and that is pies, including making our filling from scratch, which is suprisingly easy and simple to do. Now, it would seem that the most popular choices for filling include apple and cherry, but the nice thing about a pie is that it's very versatile, and I have a wide variety of fruits available for you to choose from, because the instructions on making the filling will be reasonably similar for any of these fruits. Then we will, of course, move onto the crust, put the two of them together, express a little bit of creativity in how we do our top crust, and then have a discussion about the food itself while we wait for our final results."

He gave them a small smile.

"You should be familiar with the drill by now, I hope. So everyone, take a moment to decide on your fruits, and then once everyone has returned to their stations, we shall begin in earnest."

Sorry, everyone. You were not making sausages today.

But what you were going to be making was clearly just as thrilling.

"Good morning, everyone," Ignis's voice had a slight chipperness to its usual precise timbre thanks to a particularly good cup of coffee that morning, and a clear eagerness to get on with today's exciting lesson. "Today we're going to cover yet another important, versatile, and significant staple to most balanced diets and that staple is bread. Now, people have been making bread for as long as they have been growing the wheat to make it from, and since bread is essentially just a paste of flour and water cooked, it's simple make-up make it endlessly open to variations and styles. Now, as far as this planet goes..."

At this point, if you weren't expecting an exhaustive history of the thing you were making, have you even been to this class? And while Ignis certainly mentioned the connection between the advent of bread and the usefulness of beer in those societies, you were definitely getting a bad joke about how, no, sorry, you will not be making beer in this class.

"And now...onto the actual bread making. For the sake of time, we will be skipping the step of adding the yeast to your mixture to let it rise; I have already prepared that for you, but it is a very simple process..."

After explaining how he had prepared the yeast and the dough in the early hours of that morning for them, he then went into the process of kneading and punchings processes with the dough, discussing what else could be added to make the bread more interesting, and then they could get to baking.

"Now, since there is some time before we see how our breads turned out, we can use this time to talk about bread and its various uses in the meantime. Perhaps we can whip up some quick spreads to put on the bread? Anyone know how to make their own butter? What about ingredients to put into a phenominal sandwich? Let's use this time to come up with some new recipes."

Especially since he imagined, after that aroma of fresh baked bread started to fill the room, they'd all start feeling just a little bit hungry!

"Good morning, everyone," said Ignis, greeting the class as usual from the front of the classroom with a nod. "Hopefully, by now, you've all gotten back into the swing of things after your break, especially since we're going to get right back into it. Now, we've covered many of the basics so far, and we've even started to narrow our focus on a few particular versitile elements in cooking, and this week, I figured we'd continue that trend and turn our attention to another solid staple in many different dishes and cuisines: the humble potato."

Presented, of course, with an unnecessarily dramatic flourish of his hand, holding before them said humble potato.

"Now," he said, because of course there had to be an excess of information given to them before going into the actual cooking part, "the potato is a root vegetable, a fiberous starchy tuber that can be cooked in about as many ways as there are different varieties of them. You can boil them, mash them, stick them in a stew...all of which you will have the opportunity to do today in this class. Now, extrapolating further on the benefits of a potato as an oft-used staple in a diet..."

Boy, if you'd been sitting there thinking of how much you'd like to know about potatoes, were you in luck that morning! Ignis was nothing if not comprehensive in his studies, and he was clearly intent to share with all of his students everything in his findings.

"But before this goes on too long," he eventually said, as if it wasn't already much too late, "I'm sure you're itching to get to cooking. After all, this is a cooking class! So let's take a moment to go over some of the more common preparations, such as baked, mashed, roasted, as well as au gratin, scalloped, and in a salad, starting, of course with properly preparing the potato itself, which should include a thorough washing..."

"Good morning, everyone," Ignis greeted the students from the front of the classroom as usual, with a nod, and a small adjustment of his glasses. "Today, we're going to be taking a little bit of a departure from the fundamentals part of this class and indulge in a little bit of topical frivolity in our culinary pursuits, as I understand that this weekend is a holiday, one that often involves romantic gestures and indulgences in food, if I understand correctly. Chocolates, it seems, are also quite a popular gift that corresponds with this holiday, so I thought we could best employ some of the skills we've been picking up in this class to create our own chocolate candies." He smiled, briefly. "Naturally.

"I will, of course," he added, as he moved around to the station at the front of the class to demonstrate, "go over the relatively simple steps with you, and, after you've successfully made your own batch of the basic chocolates, we can use the rest of the class period to explore both the well-stocked pantries and our own imaginations to perhaps do a little more creative twists on the simple candy, or merely work on perfecting the basics, depending on your current skill level. Now, follow along if you will, your ingredients should all be gathered for you at your stations, and we will begin by heating our cream..."

With that, he lead right into the process, explaining as he went along, all the while informing them of pretty much everything he knew about chocolate that he imagined they would just find thrilling and fascinating.

"And it's as simple as that. Now, since the chocolates do need to set a bit, I also have a recipe for an excelelnt chocolate perfect for dipping strawberries in, which is a fine alternative for those who may perfer the natural sweetness of a fruit over chocolate, while still remaining in the playful realm of the theme, though it might be a bit fun to experiment with different types of fruit, which I will strongly encourage."

"Good morning, class." As usual, Ignis greeted them all with a faint nod of his head at the front of the classroom, all pomp and circumstance and ready to deliver another in-depth lecture that will hopefully lead to no one burning the place down. "Last week, we worked on various preparations of vegetables, so today, it follows that we should turn our attention onto various proteins, specifically meats. Now, the meats here are a little bit different than what I'm used to back home, but it seems that the once that do deviate from what I know are still quite similar, and the same cooking techniques apply just as well. My apologies in advance to any vegetarians or vegetarian sympathizers we may have with us."

There was, if you looked closely, a faint smile there to help indicate that that was mostly an attempt at a joke.

( Meat sweats need not apply. )

And, with an example piece of meat glistening on the plate with a sprig of parsley added to the side for dramatic flair, Ignis held it up for a moment before setting it down.

"Now it's your turn. We have several different meats at your disposal in the fridge, as well as various seasonings, and I'd like you to take the rest of the class to explore and practice different methods, and I'd especially like you to focus on your preparation and checking your internal temperatures. If there are any questions before we begin, please ask them now, otherwise, I'll leave you to get to cooking."

"Good morning, everyone," Ignis greeted the class from the front of the cooking classroom with a nod and a barely perceptable adjustment of the cuffs of his jacket. "Welcome back. Now, before we truly get started on our culinary journey, we still have a few more techniques to pick up along the way to ensure better results when we start actually working with the food, and today, we're going to cover basic knife skills.

( Cut for...cutting! )

"And now," he prompted, "it's your turn. For the rest of the hour, you can spend your time either trying to get to know the various different cuts, improving on ones you're not as familiar with, and trying them on different types of vegetables or fruits to see just how each one responds to different cuts. Please let me know if you have any questions, please be careful, and if you're feeling ready, we'll begin."