it's time for the WHO (who) PUDDING (pudding) COOKOFF (cookoff)

[cardsharked]

Username/Display Name: un: vierge // dn: odette
Server Channel: #general
Time: Early afternoon, probably closer to the 18th don't look at me

Aight, I'm about to enlighten a whole helluva lot of you so buckle up.

Le Réveillon is a holiday feast far and away proving the superiority of French. You'll never doubt who's on top of the ladder after a taste, so Giselle if she's still talking to me and I and anyone else who gets it are gonna school the rest of you on real food.

Normally we'd do that kinda thing for Christmas Eve and New Year's, but seeing as god and I aren't exactly on good terms and that means nothing to most of you besides, let's push it closer to the end of the year. Let's say [CONVENIENT DATE HERE]. Get the feeling some of you sad sacks are just as used to being alone for the holidays and need some kinda excuse.

Course, if you think you've got the superior recipes in your corner, you can always challenge us in the kitchen. Gauntlet? Consider it thrown. There's an industrial kitchen floor big enough for a full iron chef brawl or two.

Or we can duke it out the old fashioned way, if you wanna go for the real brawl.

((OOC: I'll throw a log up for cooking challenge, feasting, brawling, etc. after the holiday weekend, so around like the 26th or 27th. This way we can dodge overlapping with celebration plans and ICly the log can fit somewhere between xmas and new years. Unless someone else has an actual new years thing planned, I'll try to fold NYE stuff in there somewhere maybe?

Also it's close enough to the Figue and Ringo adventure that I think it's more than fair that characters can still be blasted with the truth beam for this post if you want. Go nuts.))

Comments

un: headmaid, dn: Giselle

[fixtures]

Dear Odette,

I am rather looking forward to preparing Le Réveillon at your side.
And, moreover, I am grateful for this opportunity to feel closer to dishes I have not made in some time...

As for the guests: I do ask that if you have concerns, to inform me post haste. I will endeavor to meet the requests made of me, time and preparation permitting.

It is my pleasure to serve you.

Best regards,
Giselle

P.S.
I have no such intention to cease speaking with you, unless, of course, you ask that of me.

[cardsharked]

Missy - [yes she is making a little fun]

Probably the first time I'm looking forward to cooking anything in a long while. Guess that's just the siren song of competition.

Had to give you an out even though you wouldn't take it even if someone put it in your hand.

- o

ps. dinde ou caille?

[fixtures]

[ Oh... it seems like an innocuous message, but it means more than Odette may know. Even the part where she got called 'missy.' For perhaps one of the first times since coming here, she feels like a person again in this exchange — being thought of, considered this way, despite Odette seeing something so dark in her. It's a weight lifted off her, to be treated so normally... wherever she is, her smile grows a touch warmer. ]

Caille.

[ and here's where she'd type the rest of her response in French.... IF SHE COULD REMEMBER HOW TO WRITE IN IT ]

That is the preparation I have more experience in, though I am capable of preparing both for one banquet, were that what you would like.
Which is it that you would prefer?

[cardsharked]

[Hah, that's right... turkeys wouldn't have been around much during Giselle's time, regardless of the time. It might be a tradition now, but something about cooking an American bird might just lessen the spirit of competition running hot in her veins.]

That's gonna be a lot of quails. If I didn't know better I'd say someone would choose that if they were trying to make more work for themselves. Good thing we got that whole ass kitchen at our disposal, huh?

[fixtures]

Yes, certainly.
However, there are merely two of us — hardly an entourage of maids or servants...
That is the main item to take into consideration.

We must start preparing a few days in advance.

[cardsharked]

What're you talking about, Giselle? We've got so many intrepid volunteers signing up to lend a hand.

[Nobody they can't find a way to put to work, though, as Giselle's already starting with the father of their homeland.]

Okay, so any seafood needs to wait until day-of because it ain't worth it if it ain't fresh. You know you can get the birds dressed to start with these days too?

[fixtures]

That is true — Charlie does seem eager to help. [ but like. genuinely and taking odette's text at face value. ] I suppose I was thinking more about the kitchen work alone. It is best left to those with experience.

[ That, she does not expect as much help with... nor does she really think they need too many more extra hands there. It's not like she has to sleep, so she has a lot of extra time to prepare things. ]

The birds can be dressed, and a number of breads can be baked in advance, as well. I will likely begin baking this evening, once the menu has been settled — and I should like to settle the matter of the dessert early, as well.

[cardsharked]

You're really in your element, aren't you?

[Giselle probably hasn't even noticed how being given even the slightest rein to control things on her own has got her being a little more assertive, even if it's just retreating into the comfortable role she's used to being assigned.]

Gonna need a forest worth of yule logs for starters. Creme caramel and tarte tatin to round it out? [She's one for decadence, of course, but there's a certain extent to where this menus sounds much less like a blowout feast and more like the list of someone who once never had much choice and now is spoiled for it.]

[fixtures]

As you wish.

[ as it is written, so it shall be done... it's much easier for her to simply follow an order like this than to come up with something herself. She could, if push came to shove... but her masters usually had particular feelings about what should be on the dinner table, and a return to form that way feels natural. ]

I will assemble a list of our grocery needs by the hour.
Simply notify me if there are additional items you would like to add to the menu.

Would you still like foie gras featured?

[cardsharked]

Might as well. Pate vegetal for the squeamish. Lobster n caviar might be pushing it, but no way we can go all out without getting a little bit fancy. I'd kick myself for looking a luxury gift horse too far in the mouth, and we've got a supply chain here that can get us most anything we ask.

It'd be more of a show to pull off if we weren't. I'll trust you with the list.