Thirty Four Spoons {Dictated; Filtered away from First Gens but to those going on Expedition}

[cyan_maid]

So what's your stance on granola bars?

[It's a weird question for such a serious filter, but soon there's the sound of clinking and clacking and general kitchen fiddle-diddling.]

We'll need food for the trip, right? And I'd venture that whoever we find out in those towns would appreciate any help they can get, if they are truly in some dire straights! So I thought I'd make granola bars. It's definitely relieving to know that there are varieties that don't need to bake in an oven!

If you have any specific requests, please let me know! I'll label them accordingly and everything!

[If you'd like to pester Jane in person, whether because you overheard her or you're just passing through, she'll be in the kitchen for quite some time, mixing bowls and pressing down their contents into cookie sheets. They make for great molds! And please feel free to meddle with her recipes or snitch some goodies for yourself!]

Comments

[whichwayyoulean]

[Of course he's going to leave his tower to pester Jane. Or, more to the point, meddle in her recipe. He'll just be wandering behind her, casually dropping mini marshmallows into the granola mixes.

Doop doop nothing to see here]

[cyan_maid]

[She's casually pretending she can't see him, but with every marshmallow he drops her smile grows a little wider. Aw, she can't, it's good to see him having fun.]

Enjoying yourself?

[whichwayyoulean]

Maybe. [A slight smirk here]

Just making sure everyone's getting their daily marshmallow intake.

[cyan_maid]

Hoo hoo! Well color me surprised, I had no idea marshmallows were a main staple of the food pyramid!

[whichwayyoulean]

Maybe they're not quite there yet, but in a couple of years? They'll be right there with the vegetables.

[cyan_maid]

Then I suppose I shall have to await that day with bated breath!

[Notice how she's totally not trying to stop you.]

[whichwayyoulean]

[Good Jane, allow the marshmallows run freely]

It'll be the most glorious of days.

So, looking forward to heading out to possible certain death?

[cyan_maid]

[She chuckles!] I certainly am! Though I do have hope that it's less certain death and more something we can actually assist all those poor folks out there with. Will you be joining us this time around?

[whichwayyoulean]

Someone's got to man the wagon tents and smuggle children over the borders.

[cyan_maid]

You make it sound like smuggling children is your job!

[Jane laughs some more, but she's really glad to hear that he's coming. He is getting out and about and that is good.]

[whichwayyoulean]

Some of the kids here might think it actually is.

[cyan_maid]

I think it might be more that they know they can hide in your wagon and aren't scared if you tell them to get out.

[whichwayyoulean]

Well, this time they're going to have to give it a miss. It's probably gonna be dangerous.

[cyan_maid]

But danger won't stop them! It doesn't stop me, and if the children here are half as brave as I think they are, then they'll go for it no matter what might come after them!

[whichwayyoulean]

Yeah, well you don't count as a kid.

And I'm pretty sure someone will try to stop them.

[cyan_maid]

I don't? And here I was under the impression that most of the adults here think of me as such. [She doesn't blame them for that, but...she's gone through her own troubles too, she can do things!!]

So, better it be you than anyone else?

[whichwayyoulean]

Naw, you've got it way more together than most of the adults here. You've earned your honorary grown-up badge.

That's the theory I usually live with.

[cyan_maid]

Hoo hoo! Then I shall wear that badge with pride!

It's an interesting theory to be sure.

[whichwayyoulean]

That's what I like to hear.

I serves me well.

[fanstheflame]

Never heard of them. What are they?

[cyan_maid]

[Never heard of them? Oh, Gale!!]

Well, they're granola shaped into bars so you can eat them on the go. Granola is little bunches of rolled oats and nuts and honey, and sometimes puffed rice too, and fruit or chocolate. It's usually eaten loose, but it's a right mess, so pressing them into a mold and cutting it into bars makes everything much cleaner.

[fanstheflame]

That sounds really good... and a little bit like the kind of stuff Katniss and I used to take with us when we went hunting. [he smiles]

I've never had puffed rice before, though. Wouldn't it taste a little weird in with the other stuff? [he's thinking it'll taste more like the savory rice that Ino puts with curry]

[cyan_maid]

Not at all! Rice is just like any other grain, and when it's puffed it's quite nice! Crispy and light, even. It works well with the texture.

[fanstheflame]

But the flavor isn't too .... what's the word. It doesn't clash with how sweet everything else is?

[cyan_maid]

It doesn't? Rice is usually pretty plain, it's easy to make it work with sweet and savory things. Or is rice different where you're from?

[fanstheflame]

We ... didn't really have rice, not in my part of Panem, anyway. I've only ever had it here, and it's usually with curry, which is pretty spicy.

[cyan_maid]

No? I see. Hmm, well, if it's with curry then it's definitely going to be spicy. You can use rice for a number of things, that's what makes it so great! You can even put it in pudding.

[fanstheflame]

That's interesting... You know a lot about food. Are you a cook, or is it just a hobby? [coming from a place where food was always scarce, this sort of thing fascinates him]

[cyan_maid]

It's a hobby of mine, though baking is what really runs in my family.

[Rue already broke Jane's heart when she was around, Panem is just going to make her more upset.]

[fanstheflame]

Your family are bakers? ... That's pretty cool. We ... there was only one baker in town, where I came from. The Mellarks were kind of important.

[cyan_maid]

I see! But we're not just any old bakers. The Crockers are the absolute biggest baked goods entity on the market!

[fanstheflame]

So you're ... actually famous for baking? Wow. You must all be really good at it.

[cyan_maid]

My great grandmother was a baking genius! I just think I'm alright.

[She'd be even better if not for, well, you know, the whole loss thing.]

But golly, I don't mean to toot my own horn. That stuff doesn't really matter in Paradisa, does it?

[fanstheflame]

Being famous? No.... Definitely not. I have a friend who'd flip her lid if she was as famous here as she is at home, she hates it. [and with good reason]. I'm just not used to hearing of people being famous for baking.

[cyan_maid]

Hoo hoo! To be completely honest, it's more my family that's famous. Me? Not so much. It doesn't really come with as many benefits as you might think.