[AQ]Baking Treats[Aoife/Mitsuo]

[Aoife]

"I mean..." It could be a little interesting to try. It would have to be a sweet bread of some kind obviously - and she could think of a few recipes that might be able to adapt to make it. She'd watched a few youtube videos recently of people making jelly with pop - but she wasn't quite sure "I suppose it would just be used as a yeast replacement." She let out a small hum - slipping away a little into her head to figure it out. "No sugar at all -" She glanced around a little - yeah they could do it. "Coke would turn the bread green." She finally spoke to him - her tone matter of fact. "Coke had a lot more added to it than Sprite does..." She moved around the space a little. She took another long moment - was she really about to do this? "...once we're done with the cookies."

"Not two, we're one island, but we're split in two." She thought most people knew that - but obviously not. "Northern Ireland is owned by England, the Republic is like, free." She wiggled her fingers - as if to show that fact. She didn't go on to explain why - she wouldn't unless she was asked. Honestly - the trouble in Ireland wasn't the best conversation to have over baking. 

Honestly it was amusing to watch the way he cut out the cookies - she'd only ever seen her little brother do it the same way. She turned her face away slightly so to hide her smile a little. She'd have felt a little bad if he thought she was laughing at him or something. "Hm - well I'm from like the country side." She'd have to start with that - sure she went and visited the city sometimes but she was way more use to green open plains that a cityscape. "And I lived in this huge old house - it was kind of scary actually..." Probably haunted and infested with the little people. "So like - it was all really slow over there, you could kind of forget other people existed. But Japan is like being slapped in the face, like you really have to think about other people out here." Or at least she thought so. "But food - it's all really...brown." She wasn't sure how else to really explain it. "Barely any rice or noodles. Potatoes like their replacement." But also a reminder that Ireland wasn't always a great place for growing food.

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

Mitsuo didn't know much about baking, but he couldn't help but give a bright smile and his eyes sparkled a little with excitement at her words. It sounded like she liked the idea, and that made him enthusiastic! He wanted to try to bake it now! "Are we doing it then?!" he asked eagerly, his eyes shining bright at the idea. But he blinked a little at her comment about Coke, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to think of how it would look. Green didn't sound bad to him but he paused once more at her further words. "A lot more added to it?" he asked, knitting his eyebrows in query. It made him wonder if green bread was a bad thing to have.

He gave a slow nod at her answer, not seemingly quite understanding it, but getting it. Sort of. "I...see," he said, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think about how that would work. Was it like Korea...? "Is it like South and North Korea maybe?" was his question, waiting expectantly for her answer. He scratched his head - which caused a puff of flour to fall on his head. Though it seemed that he didn't notice it at all. "That's interesting," he said, though it was laced more with confusion than anything else. It sounded complicated.

He was continuously cutting out the dough in the same way, not realising at all that it was an odd way to do it. Soon however, he was done cutting out the shapes on that particular piece of dough and he smiled proudly at his handiwork. "Oh I see!" he said. He began to laugh again at her words about the countryside. "Really now?" he said. "Scary how?" he asked. He couldn't help but laugh a little again at her words. "Was it really?" he asked once more, raising his eyebrows in query. "Potatoes are good though!! Especially in curry, don't you think? Or even mashed, that tastes good too!" he said, his eyes shining once more at the talk of food. "Oh! But it probably looks and tastes different over in Ireland, huh?"

"Oh!" He suddenly said, before pointing at the dough on the table. "Do you want to like roll this excess dough up and roll it back out again to cut out more cookies?"

[Aoife]

"If they had that weird 'Coke Life' it would be okay." She turned her gaze to him - looking a little bothered. "Coke has like a lot of sugar, caffeine and a load of extra acids in it, so it'd make it difficult to adapt a recipe." She shrugged again. Or at least she was pretty sure it would be difficult to adapt to. Maybe if she had a few days to figure it out it could be done but in that moment she really didn't have the patience to figure it out. "Either way - we finish the cookies first." The cookies were to help the cooking club - they mattered the most for the moment. 

"Like...hm...yeah." She nodded her head a few quick times. Yeah - that was a pretty decent comparison. "Kind of. But...it was less forced onto the country. The Irish were repressed by the Brits and this was the best we got for fighting back." All things considered she really didn't need to be so angry about it herself. It had been about ninety years ago...for her at least. She knew from relatives it still wasn't good in the north. 

She let out a small snort of laughter herself - just saying it was scary was a little odd. "Scary like - its super super old. Like hundreds of years...it creaks loads and it just sounds creepy." She tilted her entire self slightly. "All my friends thought it was haunted or something." She shrugged. Them saying it had never made it any better. "-I don't think I've ever had potatoes in curry..." She never really ate curry at all actually. It just wasn't something she thought of making. "Mash is good though - fried potatoes are good too. With cabbage and bacon." She might start salivating is she thought about it too much more actually. "I think...it might be similar. But...potatoes themselves might taste different actually. Irish soil is apparently more acidic than most..."

"Oh yeah -" She moved back towards him - grabbing a rolling pin as she did. "Bad idea to waste good dough."

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

"Coke life?" the boy repeated, tilting his head a little at the phrase. "What's that?" he asked. He had never heard of it. But he paused at her explanation. "Oh," he said, frowning a little. Was that a bad thing? He didn't really know honestly. Okay, it was bad health-wise, but Mitsuo didn't care about those right now. He was a young boy! He could be careful of his food intake later! Right now, he wanted to enjoy whatever there was in the world! "Does things like that affect the baking?" was his question, looking at Aoife.

"I...see," the boy said slowly, though he honestly didn't quite get it. Things like those often flew over his head. Still, he smiled brightly back at Aoife. He couldn't fully understand it, but at least he shouldn't look rude about it.

"Really?" was his response, as he rolled up the dough into some kind of ball. Well, it resembled a ball at least; he didn't really know what he was doing, for he only wanted the dough to stick together to form one large piece. "I guess that does sound a little creepy." He laughed. "It sounds like a good place to do a horror challenge don't you think? All you need to do is decorate it, cover up the windows to make it all dark and voila you have your own haunted house!" he said, a little sparkle in his eyes. It sounded like fun!

But he looked back in disbelief at Aoife. He couldn't believe what he was hearing; it sounded so strange to him. Never tasted potatoes in curry? "Really?!" he said, surprised. "Damn, I gotta bring you out to one of the curry places in Otonoki next time. You gotta try it!! It tastes so good, like you cannot even imagine," he said dreamily, already salivating at the idea of hot dark curry, the stewed potatoes and carrots covered in gravy, along with pieces of cooked chicken. But he perked up brightly again as she continued to talk. "Yes! Potato mash sounds really good - I've always wanted to make one, but I'm not that great with Western dishes," he shrugged. "Wait - fried potatoes with cabbage and bacon?" he asked, his eyes shining at the idea. That sounded so good! "I gotta try that! That sounds so tasty!!"

"Oh, that makes sense," he said. "You gotta tell me what the difference in taste is when you eat a Japanese potato next time! I want to know!" he said, laughing. He moved to allow her to go over to the rolled up dough. "Let's get all of the cookies done so we can try to bake that Sprite bread!!" he said. "I'll totally punch out as many shapes as possible so that we can have time later!! Let's do it!!" He pumped a hand into the air in excitement.

[Aoife]

"Its like...a healthy version of coke." Had it only been sold in the UK? She wasn't actually sure - but considering he'd never even heard of it then it wasn't like they could actually use it to make anything. "With less sugar and added stuff." She was pretty sure it also kept its natural green colour - but she'd never really checked. She didn't really care about anything but the classic coca-cola. "Sometimes it can - baking is really finicky and even tiny things can mess it up." She shrugged a little - a small grin on her face. "I mean...we could do it, but it would take a little more looking into to make sure it turned out okay." 

"You wouldn't need to decorate." She shook her head as she thought about her old family home. Both of the homes she lived in, the one in Ireland and the one in Japan were old and creepy - and maybe even a little bit derelict. "But yeah...it'd be a pretty good place to do something like that." Although...she thought it might be a little bit dangerous actually - while she certainly wouldn't mention faeries out loud...certainly ones wouldn't be too happy with something like that. 

"Ah - okay! I'll have to try it then!" He seemed...rather enthusiastic about the potatoes. But she supposed potatoes were pretty good and versatile so excitement about something like that made total sense. She nodded a little bit again - and turned her attention back to the baking for just a moment. "It's not too difficult to make - just boil, salt, pepper butter and...depending on your tastes milk or cream..." She tilted her head back a little, thinking deeply about how her mums mash tasted. Ah - she was just getting hungry now. "And then smash it." 
"It is! It's so good -" Ah - but the bacon from Ireland and Britain...was different to other kinds of bacon too. "The bacon is different to bacon over here too - it's made with the loin and the belly." She only knew that much because they'd once kept their own pigs - and more than once she'd watched her dad prepare the meat as he loudly explained what he was doing.

She let out another snort and re-rolled the dough. "When I next eat one I'll definitely tell you." Although she wasn't exactly sure she'd be able to pin-point exact taste differences. But she supposed she could try - considering she was become curious over the matter herself as well. She moved out of the way again - not wanting to get her hands chopped off considering how hard he could hit the dough. "Yeah - just finish stabbing it and then we can start the...experiment."

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

"A healthy version of coke?" the boy began with a tone of mild disbelief, before he broke out into a bit of a laugh. He never even knew that there was such a thing as a 'healthy' coke! Most of what he heard was how much sugar there was in the fizzy drink - which, honestly, he barely cared about either. "Is this like a new marketing fad or something?" he said jokingly, laughing once more. It was clear that he didn't believe that there could be a coke that was less diabetes-inducing. "Oh really? Even you?" was his surprised response. He thought with someone who loved baking it probably was really easy for them to create all the breads and pastries without much of a hitch. "I always have problems with baking," he gave a disappointed sigh. He had always wanted to bake some of the pastries he had seen on TV and in recipe books, but they had a tendency to turn out...undercooked. But he turned to her with a bright smile. "But I'm sure if we both work together and with your experience, it'll turn out a-okay!" he said with a wide grin.

The freckled boy laughed at her answer. "Maybe I'll go by your house one day then!" he said brightly. "I want to know how...creepy it really is," he tagged on. It sounded like fun! "Do you have like creaking boards or creepy paintings or something? Or like cobwebs everywhere?" he asked, sparkles in his eyes as he did so.

"Yes!" was his excited response. He listened to her intently, nodding every few times as if acknowledging her words. He more or less knew some of the ingredients for making mashed potatoes, but he never actually made it in real life. Which was funny considering that it sounded like a simple dish to make. But the idea of smashing it immediately made him gasp in excitement and he leaned into her space with bright shining eyes. A recipe where he could use all of his strength to mash it up!! "We should do it!!" he immediately said, sparkles in his eyes. "Let's make potatoes mash one day! Please let's do it!!"
His eyes grew wider the more she spoke and his eyes brightly lit up as she brought up the bacon. Oh gosh, he was going to salivate with the way she described it. "God, now I want bacon," he said groaning. Salty meaty strip of meat...! And the sizzling sound of the bacon hitting the oil, and the smell of the bacon wafting through the air...mmhmmm. "Damn, I want to cook one right now."

"Okay!" he said, grinning once again, moving back towards where he was before. He grabbed the cookie cutter and he immediately began punching out as many shapes as he could and as fast as he can!! He wanted to get to the Sprite bread quickly!

[Aoife]

"Mostly? They advertised it as one and stuff." She shrugged her shoulders a little. She wasn't really all that sure about what it contained herself. "Like...theres all kinds of regulations in the UK and Ireland about sugar content so it's probably something to do with that." She didn't care that much about sugar content herself, but if things were being used as ingredients that kind of thing mattered. She hesitated briefly before responding to him. "Of course even me. Like its really easy to make little mistakes and I have made plenty. Even a different oven can mean different outcomes and I know the first batch of cookies I made in here weren't the greatest. Everything has a quirk." It was just as fun doing that when she first got started in a new space and while yes, things didn't come out at her usual standard the more she got use to her environment the better her baking got. She turned her hand to her wrist, fiddling with the bracelets there. "Haa, always?" She didn't think she'd ever met a person who always had issues with it. "Well...apart from this, if you ever want help feel free to ask." She nodded her head a little - her hair springing about her head as she did. "But yeah - I'm sure we'll do it well together." 

"Ah - you should if you like being creeped out." She let out a puff of laughter. She'd gotten so use to living in such a place so she didn't think it was all that bad - but she supposed if somebody else came by they might actually find it bad right off of the bat. "Creaking boards yeah, creepy paintings...I'm not sure actually. But no cobwebs. We try to keep it clean." She grinned a little - nobody really took an interest in her house specifically before.

He reminded her a little of her siblings as he seemed to only get more excited. She couldn't stop the grin on her face even as he moved into her space. "We can make it sometime for sure!" She'd never been sure she'd been excited about making mash before but the excitement was building a little and honestly it was a little bit silly but still. "I guess we could borrow the cooking room at some time to do it." She let out a low hum - or they could actually make it at her creepy house but she wasn't sure he'd be able to handle a slew of tiny children. She roughed up her hair once more. "But yeah. We totally should." 
She could only continue smiling as he continued talking. She was definitely hungry too. Before she continued talking she moved to grab one of her previously made cookies. Honestly at this rate there wouldn't be any left to let the cooking club have for their bake sale. "I mean...we're already gonna make a lot...so maybe another time would be better?" She rose an eyebrow, slightly amused. 

She couldn't stop the small burst of laughter as she watched him move back to the dough. Looked like they were going to get to the sprite bread faster than she thought considering he was moving way faster than he had been before. The moment he was actually done she'd put them into the oven. They'd have plenty of time to get it done while the cookies baked and cooled to actually take care of the sprite bread. 

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

Mitsuo raised an eyebrow in both disbelief and amusement, before he gave a bit of a chuckle. Wow, the UK and Ireland were really different! That sounded boring though. "Why regulate sugar?" he asked, though it was a mildly amused response. He could guess at its probable reasons, but it was much more engaging to poke fun at it rather than discuss the reasons for the regulations. "I mean, sugar used to be like a great commodity you know! Or something!" He squinted as if he was trying to remember something from the history books but he soon shook his head, giving up almost instantly. History wasn't his thing. But he gave a confused expression to the other - before he realised what she had meant. "Really even you?" he said, surprised. He seemed to take in whatever she had said seriously, raising a hand to his chin as if in thought. Or perhaps storing the information in his brain somewhere for use later. "I didn't think about that! But now that you mention it, ovens and stuff do have their own little funny traits right?" he began excitedly, laughing as he finished his sentence. He beamed brightly at her offer. "Oh wow thanks!!! I'll totally text you and stuff whenever I need your expertise in baking!!"

His eyes sparkled at her invitation and his grin stretched from ear to ear. But his expression fell a little at the mention of 'no cobwebs' or 'creepy paintings'. "Awww man!" he said, seemingly crestfallen. Though it was clear from the twinkle in his eyes that he was simply having fun and was not at all serious about his sad state. "Then I'll just have to come over and decorate it myself!" he said determinedly, pumping a fist into the air.

"Yes!!" he cried, shooting up both of his arms in grand excitement. Mashed potatoes! They were going to make mashed potatoes! ...Well fine it wasn't right now, but they were going to one day in the future! That was what counted! "Text me whenever and I'll be there!" he said determinedly, laughing as he did so. He laughed once again at her words. "I guess you're right -- hey! You're eating a cookie now?" he exclaimed, watching as she picked up one of the biscuits that they had made. "Don't tempt me!" he whined. If he munched on them, there wouldn't be any left for the cooking club!

As soon as he punched out the last piece of cookie dough, he carefully laid the shapes onto the metal tray before grinning back at Aoife. "All done!" he said proudly, gesturing with his hands as if inviting her to 'admire' his handiwork. "Come on, let's get to the sprite bread already!" he said, his eyes sparkling.

[Aoife]

She let out a small snort - she thought the answer was rather obvious. But she supposed it could be over looked considering just what it was like in Japan. "It's cause there's a lot of overweight people." She waved a hand, she didn't really think it was all that important. People judged others too harshly for things or at least that was her view on the matter. "Sugar - rich people food." She let out a fake, sad sigh. "All those poor people making cakes with sweeteners." Actually - anything made with sweeteners did taste horrible. In her opinion at least. It just tasted way more fake when filled with anything that wasn't sugar or honey. "Yeah, yeah even me! Making anything can be super difficult." She had way more trouble with savory food than baking but she still gave it her all in the end anyway. 
She nodded her head quickly a few times. "Um-hm! Right!" Without noticing she'd started bouncing a little on the balls of her feet. She didn't think she'd ever spent so much time just talking about baking - it was a pleasant experience.

She let out another snort of laughter. "I'm so sorry my house isn't up to your creepy standards." She shook her head slightly - amused by the idea of him just coming over to make her house creepier than it already was. Although she wasn't exactly sure how he'd manage that in the end. "Ah - I suppose you will." She let another amused sound. "I'm sure you'll do a better job than we have."

Aoife nodded her head again, a wide grin on her face. She'd probably have to find the ingredients before they could actually think about making mash. Ah, but now she really wanted to make it as well. "Will do then!" She let out yet another puff of laughter. "Oh no. You caught me." Well - she wasn't exactly trying to hide the fact she'd been stealing them. "All this food talk made me hungry -" She may have taken a tiny whiny tone. "Anyway - I'm gonna make more so...for the next...five second they're free game?" 

She gave him another wide smile and a quick thumbs up before she moved to put them into the oven. "Good job! They look good!" But obviously while they were cooking they could spread or anything - but she assumed that they'd turn out perfectly fine. "Ha - yeah, yeah! Lets get it started!" She moved away from the counters, her hands digging into her pockets. She moved quickly - leaving the room and coming back with a bottle of sprite. 
"Have you...ever tried to make bread before?" A process she thought of as messy but it was one of the most fun things to bake as well.

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

"Eh," was Mitsuo's nonchalant response, shrugging as he did so. It was clear that he didn't really care too much about it. "From the way I see it, I'd say we should eat whatever we want! We gotta like enjoy life you know?" he said determinedly, before he laughed. Talking about weight reminded him of Suna and her little salad. "Still, people who can do diets are incredible; the amount of discipline it takes to do that is something that I simply do not have," he continued with a grin. Hearing the other make out a fake sad sigh, he too couldn't help but let out a fake sigh too. "Indeed," he said, putting on a sad little pout on his face in jest. But he soon brightened up, laughing at their own little 'show'.

He grinned mischievously at her, a twinkle in his eye as he thought up of all the ways that he could totally make her house scarier. "You'll see, I'm totally going to go over and decorate it until it really looks like a haunted house!" he said, smiling wide. "Oh but I'll need some help though - gotta have more than one pair of hands to really turn it into something that could be in horror movies!" he said, laughing a little. "Maybe I should invite Yukiya, or Suna, or even Ai...ahh who else do I know..." It was as if he was seriously considering it.

But the moment she said that the cookies were free game, he whipped his head back to her so fast that one wondered if it was humanely possible. And took his mind away from strategising how to redecorate Aoife's house, but who cares! Food! "Five seconds! Are you totally serious about that, because I'm sure I can clean this whole tray in five seconds flat," he said, grinning wildly again with sparkles in his eyes. Yet he didn't even wait for an answer from Aoife, already grabbing a cookie to take a massive bite out of. "Mmhmmm!" he said, savouring the sweet taste of the cookie in his mouth. It had a good texture to it, and just the right amount of sweetness - ahhh, he was in heaven! "It's so good! You really know how to bake, Aoife!"

The moment however that she said those words, Mitsuo immediately pumped a fist into the air. "Yeah!" he said - before stuffing his mouth with the rest of the cookie so that he wouldn't be disgusting and sprayed food everywhere just because he was overly excited. "Lefs totally gif if -" he swallowed. "-started!" he said, laughing.

Her words however made him pause. Bread huh? "I've...tried," he said sheepishly, scratching his cheek a little. "But uh...none of them ever really raised properly..." Or weren't fluffy enough, or they weren't really cooked through...the list was endless. But Aoife didn't really need to know that. "But with you baking, I'm sure it'll turn out fine!" he said, giving her a wide smile. "What do we gotta do first?"

[Aoife]

She bashed her open hand with a fist, nodding enthusiastically. Her grin was wide. "Exactly! Food is there to enjoy! So people should just worry about that, not dieting." She had some very strong opinions about dieting and all the bad things that were associated with them. She shook her head slightly and pouted rather heavily as she thought too deeply about the subject for a moment. "Haa - but dieting can become a little dangerous hm..."  But she soon found herself shaking her head. It didn't matter! 
She let out a peal of her own laughter at his words - shaking her head in amusement. 

"Hm - I suppose you could do that if you wanted to." Aoife was mostly joking but she did know two out of three of those people so she supposed that it wouldn't be too bad to have them come check out her not creepy enough house. She wasn't too fond of creepy things herself but ghosts scared her much less than faeries so she supposed that that wouldn't effect her that badly. "Make it super spooky...but there are a lot of kids in my house so maybe not that spooky." She had to make sure her siblings wouldn't get too scared.

Aoife couldn't stop herself laughing again as he went for the cookies - even if he said that, there were still plenty to be made so him eating the few that were there wasn't all that much trouble. Her grin only got wider as he spoke - ah! She was glad that he liked them! People enjoying her food was the best part of making it. "Ah - though it seems like it's taking you way longer to finish the plate than five seconds huh?" She bounced on the balls of her feet. "I'm glad you think so - and that you like them."

"Well - it's pretty easy to mess it up." She nodded her head a little. It had taken her forever to actually manage to get good enough to make a decent bread that was light and soft. The sprite might knock her back a little bit but they'd get at least some decent bread out of this for sure. "It can take forever to make with hours of rising and even the kneading takes a long time." An annoyingly long time and it did her hands, arms and shoulders in even still. "Getting started thought! Yeah!" With that she started to whisk about the room - getting hold of all that they'd need.

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

"Yup!" Mitsuo agreed whole-heartedly, nodding vigorously. His eyes were sparkling, grinning widely back at the first-year. It was like meeting a comrade! A comrade who totally understood the appeal of food! "Exactly! Food is all about enjoyment! Not diets!" He huffed immensely, already caught up in their little spiel, before he started to laugh merrily. He soon blinked at her words, before nodding once again. "Yeah, that's true too - that's why you gotta be disciplined! Not just in dieting, but also in making sure that you eat right, you know?" he said, laughing a little.

His eyes shone a little at the girl's words, giving her a massive smile. "I'll totally do it! Make it super duper scary!" he cried determinedly, a fire noticeable in his eyes. He was going to make these really cool cobwebs that he once saw on Youtube, and make some fake blood and and...! But he blinked at her words, and immediately began a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his head. Okay maybe not that ambitious. "Alright, alright, not so spooky," he said, laughing a little.

But at the girl's comment, he couldn't help but pout, hands on his hips as he did so. "I was trying to be polite!" were his words. Truthfully, he was a bit of a messy (and considerably barbaric...) eater; he could be stuffing his face if it weren't for the first-year in front of him. "I could totally clean this plate in five seconds if I wanna!" He clenched up a fist, as if trying to show her that he had the resolve to do it.

"Oh really?" he said in surprise, looking back at her. "All the bakers on TV make it look so easy! But then again, so do all the celebrity chefs..." He tilted his head, furrowing his eyebrows in thought - but ah, he wasn't a deep thinker to begin with, so he quickly turned towards Aoife with a bright smile. "I'm sure we can do it though!" he said. He grinned at her enthusiasm, giving his own excited 'Yeah!' - before blinking as the girl suddenly zipped around grabbing the things that they need. Whoa, she was fast! But that only made him even more excited and as the girl gathered up the materials that they needed, he kept asking her "What else, what else, I'll get the rest!!"