"No!"

Iris squealed as Basil dabbed a huge dollop of whipped cream onto her nose. Basil grinned mischievously as he pulled her close, licking it off. Iris wrinkled her nose, as she complained

"Eww! Now my face is all wet!"

Basil didn't apologize, however, as he just pulled her closer and they continued to work on the dessert they were supposed to be making. This one was actually called cranachan and was very similar to a trifle, even being served in a tall glass with many layers. The dessert was originally meant to be a celebration of harvest with seasonal raspberries, cream, oats, and a corn-based whiskey.

After the initial success with the wheat-based beer, it didn't take too long for the researchers to figure out how to make other types of alcohol. As always, the quality was a little rough, at first, but Iris was confident they could improve it in a few years' time. Iris wasn't even really a fan of drinking alcohol, but she couldn't deny that it played an important role in the history of her world. There are so many different cuisines that involve cooking with it from German beer bratwurst to Irish shepherd's pie with beer to the cranachan they were making now with its whiskey.

Usually, most of the alcohol would be cooked off, only leaving the taste of the alcohol behind. That made it so that it was safe for even cubs and pregnant females to consume the dishes. However, Iris was most certainly being proactive in planning for the worst-case scenario. She didn't want her citizens to become alcoholics as it would not only make them unprepared for defending their city, but it would also negatively affect their health. Luckily, most of them seemed pretty wary about the alcohol since they knew it could affect their ability to both conceive and carry a healthy pregnancy to term. Even the males tended to avoid the stuff since they didn't want their potential cubs to end up harmed because of their actions.

"It looks like we're getting low on the tablets as well."

Basil informed her. She nodded before replying

"Alright, we'll make some more of those when we're done with these."

Scottish tablets were actually similar to the layer of caramel used for candy barks. It had to be spread out in a thin layer and then broken into pieces before serving. It required a good bit of work to make as well since they had to prepare condensed milk, butter, and sugar to use in the dish. While they could, technically, stop by Fawn's shop to buy some of the ingredients, she only kept a limited amount on hand at one time. However, they could very easily get fresh milk from the auroch each day, they just had to ensure they made a fresh batch of butter on the nights they were getting low.

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Since Iris didn't want to make things too hard for them, she had kept the menu rather limited. Just a soup, entree, side dish, and two desserts were more than good enough. While she had also included some specialty drinks when they did some cuisines, she wasn't aware of any non-alcoholic drinks they could do. So, she had skipped that part of the menu this week.

Of course, cooking and serving weren't all they had to worry about either. There was also an entire mountain of dishes they would have to regularly knock out. Since preparing the food usually took up less time than the actual cooking, Basil and Iris would be the ones to wash the dishes as well. After they finished the two desserts, they would likely have to start on a new batch of dishes.

That would mean Basil had to carry a large basin out to the riverside and bring back some fresh water. No matter how much things had improved, they still didn't have running water. Then they would have to add some liquid lye soap to the water and use a scrap of animal hide to wash each of the dishes. If there was any food stuck, there would be no abrasive sponges or scrub brushes to help them out. They would just have to exert their strength and be persistent until the dish came clean.

Iris was glad that she didn't have to worry about being the one to do that. All of her mates were more than happy to take care of the hard work for her. So she could just work on the easier tasks or even sit aside and take a break whenever she wanted. Iris didn't feel comfortable letting them do all of the work, but she was more than happy to work on the easier-to-clean dishes.

She had actually taught Hazel a new idea for the workshops to use thanks to her experiences over the last few weeks. They now had wooden scrapers, similar to the plastic ones from her previous world. There were also now dish drainers made from sturdy stone that they could use to air dry the dishes. Holly and her mates had been pretty overjoyed to have them as well as it had made their lives significantly easier. Still, it was a shame not to have a proper sponge...

Iris shook her head, it wouldn't do any good to dwell on the things she couldn't change. After so many years in the beastworld, it wasn't like it was anything new. What could be changed, would be changed with time. What she didn't know, she could hire others to research and, hopefully, with time, they would find a solution. The rest, she could only leave a record of in the highly guarded archives hidden in the inner city. Maybe her daughters would be able to use the knowledge to continue to build on her legacy.

Even if she couldn't enjoy such luxuries, she couldn't help but hope they could have a better future. After all, it wasn't like Iris was doing all this just for her own benefit. Sure, it was nice to have better variety in cuisine and to have entertainment to enjoy. It certainly made her life here more bearable. However, that was far too shallow of a goal and wouldn't have motivated her to come as far as she had.

Sure, there were the system quests, which she had yet to receive another one of, but she had gone above and beyond even what that called for. The reason she wanted to improve everyone's quality of life was because she didn't like the idea of her friends suffering. It would be too sad if Fawn froze to death in the middle of the cold season, if Holly died during childbirth, or if Pearl died to wild beastmen on the way back to her home tribe. It would be even more tragic if Iris lived long enough to watch her own daughters suffer for her lack of being proactive. She could only do what she could to ensure everyone could live happily and healthily as long as possible.