I Live by the Woods [On Hold]

Chapter 11: Released

"You have thirty five minutes to whip up your favorite recipe that we have learned. Once again, I'll say that you need at least one source of dairy - whether or not it's served in a glass or in your recipe - and the same thing goes for fruit. Your time starts now!"

I quickly faced Enoch with wide eyes. "First thing that comes to your mind, and I'll see if we can make it work."

Enoch's eyes widened quickly and he began to stutter. He frantically scraped his brain and blurted the first thing he could scrounge up.

"Brownies!"

Immediately a large grin made its way onto my features and I grabbed ingredients. I made my way over to the fridge and pulled out the wet ingredients, followed by a bar of chocolate and the whole case of strawberries.

"I'm thinking brownies with chocolate chunks and infused with strawberry as much as possible without drowning out the brownie itself. Yeah?"

"Yeah," he simply replied, still in shock of when I asked. I nudged his arm with a smile and returned to measuring quantities.

"Are you gonna help me or what?"

He snapped out of his shock and skittishly grinned. "Yeah, sorry. I'll start chopping strawberries."

"Thanks." I mixed the ingredients together and cut up chunks of the chocolate bar. I threw the equal of a whole bar into the batter and mixed furiously, glancing at the clock that read twenty five minutes and counting.

I looked over my shoulder to see Enoch frantically finishing off the strawberries, and I smiled as he freaked out from nearly cutting himself. He continued, nonetheless, and when I finished mixing the chunks in, I abandoned the batter and grabbed a knife.

That didn't sound murderous.

I joined his side and we finished the package in record time. I took half of the strawberries and mixed them in with the batter before pouring it into a greased pan and placing it in the oven. I grabbed the remaining strawberries and minced them quickly, leaving no time to waste.

I scooped the strawberries into a bowl that Enoch had brought out and began mashing them with a fork. How Enoch knew I needed the bowl, I had no idea.

"I'll get the other chocolate bar and the confectioner's sugar," Enoch quietly spoke as he headed for the fridge.

"Yup," I muttered and added cane sugar to the strawberry mush. Enoch appeared at my side and broke the chocolate bar into a bowl. He proceeded to place it in the microwave and melt it. He grabbed a small whisk and a flour sifter while it melted, and I hid a smile at how much he was becoming like me.

He whisked the chocolate until it was fully melted, then added a bit of milk to loosen the thickness. After that, he began cleaning up our workspace.

I finished mashing the strawberries just as the oven dinged and Enoch pulled the brownies from the oven. He checked to see if they were done then threw the toothpick away. He effortlessly cut a beautiful square from the pan and placed it on a prepared plate.

I poured a bit of the strawberry sauce on top and Enoch followed behind me with the melted chocolate. He handed me the sifter and poured a small amount of confectioner's sugar inside. I dusted the top of the masterpiece and placed a slice of strawberry that I had saved on top. I drizzled strawberry and chocolate sauce around the edges of the plate and set a fork beside it. I filled a glass with milk and set it beside the plate as the teacher called out one minute.

Enoch and I stepped back, no longer in a rush. We both cut ourselves a slice of the remaining brownies and took a bite.

Sharing a look of satisfactory, Enoch and I finished off our share and looked around the room.