Chapter 27: Real Food

‘Sun shining through the balconies’ “Morning already” Rising from my sleepy stupor; slowly savoring the warm comfort of the bed. Watching as my foggy mind disappears along a gentle breeze flowing through the room. Feeling the breeze on my skin. I wonder about how the weather changes subtly. Wind, heat, humidity all these things foreign within the game yet clearly present in this wondrous world. Clearly, seasons are present, the weather has started to shift, colder nights more common, strong winds ravage the landscape.

My mental musings were quickly drowned out by a grumbling stomach “let us get some breakfast I suppose”. ‘Walking down the cold steps’ I should have put my armored boots on. Nothing to be done now I suppose. ‘armor standing to attention in my room on an armor stand’. You would think I would keep it within my bag of holding; you would be wrong. Something about seeing the armor smartly placed brings a smile to my face.

‘Echos follow my footsteps as I follow the corridor’ My kitchen could use some improvements I suppose ‘coming to a small room’. Ovens, dishes, and many common implements are both readily and easily available. Just cursed with a bad case of laziness I guess.

I can't put it off forever. After breakfast, I will fix it if only to make my life easier. I would wonder what I should have to break my evening fast but I have little options. Something I hope to remedy today. Food is the most fundamental luxury, which I have full intention of indulging in. Getting fat is hardly a risk; bodies are relatively disposable now. Although thinking about it, I don’t feel as though my weight has fluctuated at all, which is odd. It may very well be a function neglected from this world. Only time will tell.

Chopping up some pumpkin, 2cm cubes. I pan sear them over a fire before lightly dusting them with sugar and placing them; covered, within the fire to finish cooking. A pleasant and light breakfast. Sadly fast food like cereals is not currently on the menu. So I simply must get creative. Slightly saddened by not having sugary cereal to eat. At least here; my cooking skills are improving by leaps and bounds.

Having enjoyed the subtly sweet pumpkin, rich in its unique flavor. I get on with my day ‘Lightly jogging to my bedroom’ I enter quickly. Dragging my feet is burning daylight; with that in mind, I equip my armor. Placing it on myself like a seasoned knight. As you would say, but truly back in the day; knights had squires to help them remove the armor.

Heading to the main room, slowly becoming smaller with the addition of hastily placed wires and haphazard machines with hoppers sticking on them. Decore was always my specialty outside of the building, rather than the inside. I will clean it up… one day. I quickly collect up clay, placing it in a colorful array of shapes produces a variety of unfired items such as plates, mugs dining wear. Both unsurprised and disappointed, simply placing them within the furnace ‘fires’ them. I can appreciate the convenience, lacking in realism as it is. With a range of general dining wear, I move on to kitchen tools. Chef knife, first and foremost instead of using an axe. I also create a variety of pots and pans, bowls from glass panes. A wide range. Many from pams harvest crafts. A good mod.

Taking some wood I craft a few simple shelves. ‘walls now littered with a range of items’ Neatly organized into dining wear, mixing, and cooking equipment. Taking some iron, Redstone, and a variety of other assorted materials I create an electric stove. Powered by the local neighborhood ender conduit.

Taking the opportunity I also produce a sink, several metal countertops, and a few other standard kitchen types of equipment. With all that this place looks almost modern. With sudden inspiration, I collect some quartz and change the kitchen to a more clean design – “better”. I installed a snow golem fridge adjacent to the counter, far more convenient.

With a functional kitchen; I now must collect quality ingredients to do it justice. Time to forage! stepping outside the castle I am quickly assaulted by an over-energetic spider. “Missed you to buddy, tell you what; want to come with me?”. Obviously unable to talk, but I would appreciate company. Editing the shield to allow monsters through, I fly down the island, a spider in tow. A leash of silk around my waist; floating in the wind as I descend. As we touch down the spider excitedly vibrates as it explores the terrain. ‘with a steady walk in the direction of the forest’ I am hoping the thicker underbrush and plants will hold nature's bounty, so to speak. Carefully treading the increasingly thickening area.

I make sure to keep an eye on my companion and the ground looking for edible plants. It's not long before I see a conspicuous bush. A ‘ground garden’ a brown bush containing root vegetables and tubers. Breaking the garden; I pray for something different. “sweet potato! Of course, I get another form of potato” to hell with my luck. Placing it inside my bag for replanting none the less. It is still different even if I would reroll it in a heartbeat. But this is not DnD rather food hunting instead. Continuing on my foraging expedition, spider swinging through trees with silken ropes. Surprisingly agile the little thing.

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It's not long before I seeing a richly colored green bush, a foot tall with small white flowers. If I recall correctly? A herb garden. “Promising” ‘fingers crossed, breaking it’ “celery”. ‘face was drawn in a thin line’ “is this a joke? I hate celery!”.

By this point, with a soured mood, I am walking quickly. Just hoping for something decent. I still stored the celery for replanting but I doubt I will consume it. Walking further inside the forest, trees growing denser I find it is far more difficult to find such small bushes in the increasingly larger undergrowth. ‘pausing ponderingly’ “let's go around”. Walking to a route with sparser trees. Quickly being rewarded with another ‘ground garden’. Breaking it with haste I finally got something decent - onion. The very versatile vegetable can enhance even the most boring sauces.

Spurred on by a good find, I continue on. “I refuse to leave here without a decent bloody dinner in hand,” I say with dramatic arm gestures. Finding a fallen log and seeing a ‘garden’ that I am not sure I should gather. Finding a ‘mushroom garden’ I cannot help but wonder if it's even safe for me to eat the undoubtedly wide variety of mushrooms that this could give me. I guess it would be a waste to leave it. With that thought In mind, I break it; finding an unassuming brown mushroom. Promptly being placed in the far corner of my golden bag.

Hopeful something more, immediately edible will show up; I continue on. With a quick pace, I quickly find another ‘garden’. I cannot identify this one from memory. Once you know what you are looking for, they are easy to identify. Sharing similar sizes and shapes. ‘breaking the garden’ “Candleberrys, hu? A good find”. Now I know what ‘berry gardens’ look like.

Appreciating the fact I got immediately edible food. “Progress” I continue this little venture for a while. It was fruitful, not just because I got some fruit. Tomatoes count okay! With a multitude of berries. I am also very happy since I gathered both garlic and ginger; staples in a kitchen. Sadly as I gathered more, duplicates started appearing. Really just common logic, since each garden has a limited pool to draw from.

Sadly I didn’t find any tropical gardens or fruit trees. They would really improve the variety. Likely tropical gardens are jungles only and fruit trees will be biome specific. Nothing to be done but keep my eye out.

Upon heading home, tired spider behind. Poor thing exhausted its self adventuring, then trying to chase a squirrel which promptly escaped. ‘Landing on my island’ am dizzied by a spider excitedly jumping over me to go bed. Silly thing, I appreciated the company none the less. Shaking off my exhaustion I head to my small garden beside the castle. ‘quickly tilling the earth’ I plant the seeds I gathered. I accelerate the growth until I have a few plants of each.

Now, what should I make for dinner? Without animal products, my options are… limited, to say the least. Still better than cooking potatoes in every way you can fathom. With an idea in mind, I begin. Producing press, an easy product to make I quickly convert pumpkin seeds into oil. Oil is fundamental in cooking, although I prefer olive or sunflower oil. Cooking down thickly chopped onion until it turns translucent I add strips of peppers and finely diced garlic. Once everything Is cooked I add water and a pinch of salt. Lightly roasting some potatoes before peeling the hot skins off and roughly chopping them; both sweet and normal.

After the vegetable broth has heated for a time. I add the potato and allow it to reduce at a simmer. ‘smelling the kitchen’ “Divine, I've missed real food.” I would love to add some pan-seared braising beef. Haven't got any on hand so for now, I will be a vegetarian. Technically vegan since I have no animal products at all. We must fix that soon.

I was unaware ‘slimes’ had a sense of smell. Yet they must since sling is at the door waiting for food. “I’ll give you some too you gluten.” Take some bread slices I lightly dress them in oil before putting them inside to oven to crisp up slightly. Taking two bowls I ladle the concoction inside. Setting up a table for me and placing the bowl down for sling, a slice of bread each. Sling quickly dives onto the food; jiggling with glee. ‘taking a spoon full of my food’ “damn this is good” I expected it to suck given it's vegan and made with intuition rather than a recipe. It's not godlike, but anything is better than pure potato at this point.

The food was quickly eaten, I stored the remaining inside glass jars for another day. Do microwaves exist? Wait, of course, they do. This place has everything after all. Checking the recipe, circuit made with Redstone iron and lapis, metal base, glass. Pretty simple recipe. Making it before I forget. Convenience is divine.

‘Promptly slouching in my chair’ Appreciating the full stomach and happy soul. “Food is the best.” After resting for a while, the bloated sensation passes. Deciding to take a walk to burn some of it off. I take a long walk along my island, appreciating how it is coming along, trees have actually spread from the original saplings I planted. Life continues to grow, an odd thought given this world is so close to Minecraft. During my walk, I spot an odd sight. “Is that a spruce tree?” How on earth did that get up here.

quickly looking for a bird or another carrier for seeds. Seeing none I approach ‘resting my hand on its bark’. “How did you get up here? How odd” Guess I should be on guard for anomalies like this but the tree was such an odd sight I lost myself. I gather a couple saplings before planting more. Another building material is always welcome.

‘walking home’ “best get some rest.” As I ascend the stairs I mentally go through the day. Mentally agreeing it was a good day. I start writing my daily diary entry. The book is quickly becoming filled I will have to get a new one soon. I should give it a title for easy identification. How about ‘The diary of Aeternum volume 1 Earning my place’ Good enough I suppose. I have a few more days left before I will have to change the book.

‘Resting comfortably’ I quickly fall into the inky blackness of sleep. Peaceful and happy.