Maybe There Is Hope

Learning to cook and the visit

Chapter 11

A few days later

"You've got your apron on? Did you wash your hands yet?" Marinette stood with her hands resting on the counter, looking across it to Felix.

"I washed my hands. I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Felix did not look prepared. His sleeves were hanging down by his hands, buttoned at the wrist as usual. He gawked at the ingredients set out nicely on the counter, despite them being common enough.

"Can I help you with one thing before we begin?" she stepped around towards him and he seemed to grow more anxious. Is he thinking that he screwed something up before we even start? "I think it will be better for your shirt if we roll up your sleeves. Sometimes the flour wants to puff up into the air and it would be a shame if some got on there."

He put one arm out as she had beckoned, allowing her to roll his sleeve above his elbow, then repeated for the other arm. He took some deep breaths.

"I know you said you wanted basic lessons, but how basic do you want? Should we go through the ingredients first or the measurements? Or would you like us to jump in by reading the recipe together first?" Marinette wasn't sure how much Felix knew about cooking. She obviously knew he hadn't done it at home but that didn't mean he wouldn't know the basics of measuring.

"Let's start at the very beginning. I can read the labels for the ingredients but I'm not really good with measurements..." Felix anxiously forced the words out, then let out a long breath, working on trying to blow the stress from his body.

Marinette took this into stride and slowly went through each ingredient and what it was used for. She then took out the measuring cups and explained what each abbreviation meant. Then she pulled out the recipe. First, she read the entire recipe out loud, so he had an idea of the general parts. In the second read-through, she put the ingredients into groups based on what step it would come into play. She put mixing bowls next to the ingredients that would have separate bowls, and measuring cups next to the appropriate ingredient. By the end of this thorough process, Felix had color in his face again and had stopped shaking. Marinette made a show of turning on the oven so it had time to preheat.

"Now that we've gone through this a few times, are you ready to start making the dough?" Marinette smiled at the boy, clasping her hands at her chest. He nodded once and stepped towards her. They had already agreed that she would be there to help show him how to do it, not to bake on her own.

He reread the first step, measuring out the dry ingredients in a bowl, double-checking each measurement before adding it to the bowl, then slowly mixing them together. Marinette was right, the flour did rise in the air like a dust cloud and he was relieved that his sleeves were up and relatively clean. One step down.

He started the second step, mixing the wet ingredients in a new mixing bowl. He stopped for a moment and looked at Marinette. "Why do we need two separate bowls? Aren't they going to be mixed together anyways?"

"Well first the dry ingredients should be mixed on their own to make sure they're evenly spread throughout it. You don't want a clump on baking soda or all the sugar lumped into one part of the dough. The reason that you mix the wet ingredients separately is so when you add them to the dry ingredients you don't have to mix them as much. The batter stays lighter if it isn't overmixed." Felix knew he wouldn't remember all of that reasoning but he knew it would make them taste better. With that knowledge, he finished measuring and mixing the wet ingredients, then took a deep breath. This isn't so bad...