"Aww." Amelia coos in delight at seeing Apricot snuggled up in my arms when we get home. "Aren't you two just the cutest? But, I'm surprised they let you go so early."

"No one left to heal." I say with a smile and sit us down next to her. She's currently losing a game of Risk against Delilah, and it looks like everyone else was already defeated a few rounds ago. "I see Apricot wasn't lying about you getting your butt kicked."

"Shut up." She jostles me with her elbow, but carefully so as not to wake Apricot.

"What do you mean no one left to heal?" Helen asks the question that they're all thinking right now. "The fair usually goes until the healers just can't anymore."

"I can refill my mana from the sun, so they stuck me with the tedious stuff that would have drained their magic." I explain. "Honestly it was mostly just boring stuff that took more magical muscle than skill to deal with, but at least it gave me time to work on a couple of things."

"Yes, Apricot showed me her new crossbow." Amelia says while shaking her head. "I can't believe you made it out of aluminum."

"What? The wood one I made was too heavy for her, and it's not like we're lacking for the stuff now." I try not to roll my eyes, knowing that she only brought that up to tease her friends with. "Now, the titanium, that I would love to get my hands on some more of. At least until Ed works out some of those steel alloys, anyways."

"Who cares about some stupid metal, I just want to know what you're cooking us for dinner tonight." Lianna interjects, earning a laugh from the group.

"How does pork sound? And how are you guys with spicy food?" It's been a lifetime since I had some good Chinese food, and even though I'm missing a couple ingredients, I should still be able to do a decent job with what I have.

"Heh. You just found Li-Li's weakness." Delilah smirks at her cringing friend. "She can drink a man twice her size under the table no problem, but give her something spicy and she wimps out."

"Don't worry, Lianna, I know plenty of non-spicy recipes too." She'll just have to miss out on the mapo doufu and the other Szechuan dishes I plan to make. "And, Babe, you might as well just concede at this point, you're not going to win this one." I say to Amelia who has been debating her next move for a couple of minutes now.

"Oh, shut up and get cooking." She grumps back before ending the game.

"I already am." What I'm actually doing is collecting molds while looking for a good match for aspergillus oryzae, so I can make some soy sauce and black bean paste. Of course, I'm doing this out of everyone's sight so they don't have to see a bunch of fuzzy soybeans and wheat. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sweetie. Did I let my magic get too noisy?"

"Hey, when did we get home?" Apricot blinks up at me and then around at everyone else.

"Just a few minutes ago." I say while playing with her hair. "Elise let me go early because there was no one else to treat. I was just doing a little preliminary work, so I can make dinner."

"Mhm, is that why the kitchen is filled with fuzzy beans?" She tapped into the magic I was using to keep an eye on everything.

"Yeah, I need some fermented soybeans for the spare rib marinade I want to make." And, damned near every other Asian dish. "This is basically what I did to make the wines the other day, but with a different type of fungi."

"Oh, they look like those flowers you made for the girls." Amelia says when I project a microscopic image of the different aspergillus fungi I'm cultivating right now.

"Wait, is that what mold looks like up close?" Delilah leans in closer to peer at the image. "You have to show me that spell. Please." She begs.

"This strain, yes." I add a couple more projections. "Most microbes have simple shapes; yeast are round balls and the bacteria that turns milk into yogurt are simple rod shapes. But, there is as much variety on the small side of nature as there is on the larger side."

While I explaining that and putting on a show, I'm also accelerating six months' worth of fermentation in the kitchen. The solids get strained out and then everything is shifted into storage, so I can pull the soy sauce candidates out one at a time for testing.

"Hmm, the colors are all lighter than they should be." I muse while eliminating any that don't smell or taste right. "Oh, duh! I forgot the sunlight. I'll just add a magic light to the next batch." I ended up with a couple of aspergillus strains that produce something pretty damned close to soy sauce.

"Mmm, salty." Apricot comments after tasting the two I picked out. "Never had anything quite like it, but it tastes good. Also, I love how you're using storage as a teleport spell now." She adds with a giggle.

"Here, try it with some of these." I 'teleport' over some edamame that just finished simmering. "I like to eat the pods whole, but most people just pop the beans into their mouths." I fashion a pair of chopsticks out of wood and do just that after dipping it into some soy sauce.

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"Okay. Two questions. Mmm, make that three questions." Lauren holds up two fingers. "What are these, how are they so good, and what are those?" She points to my utensils.

"Immature soybeans, the magic of salt, and chopsticks." I clack them together and snag another pod before they all disappear. "Don't worry, I won't make fun of you for using a fork to eat *Asian* food." I reply in a teasing manner and then hold back a snicker at the look that crosses her face.

"Make me a pair." She orders and then spends a good minute just fumbling with them to everyone's amusement, not that they're doing any better with the ones I made for them. "How the hells do you eat with sticks?"

"It's not that hard." Amelia says with a smug look on her face, and a clack from the chopsticks in her hand. She and Apricot have been using their mind-meld brain boost to learn how to handle them. "And, before you say anything. This is the first time I've seen, let alone held such a strange utensil." Her smugness goes up a full notch at the sour look on her friend's face.

"Why don't you show them how they work while I get started for real." I shift Apricot off of my lap so I can go into the kitchen. "Or, you could all follow me." I say with a laugh when they get up to do just that.

Both soy sauces came out tasting great, so I just picked one at random and dubbed its fungus aspergillus varecia. I then used that to make black bean sauce which then became hoisin sauce for the marinade.

I don't have the right cinnamon for five-spice powder, but I was able to find a red peppercorn that is a decent match. And, I had to go easy on the star anise because of Apricot's dislike, but the seasoning came out alright in the end.

"That's almost not gross when mixed in with all the other stuff like this." Apricot comments after I grind it all together in a mortar and pestle. Star anise isn't quite as strong as regular anise, at least for us non-fae.

"I know you hate anise, but this five-spice powder forms one of the cornerstones for this style of cooking. But, I was going to make some without just for you." I get started doing just that when she stops me.

"Let me try it how it's supposed to be first." I pull her in for a hug and kiss when she says that. "Oh, get off! And, start cooking."

I prep the spare ribs and coat them in the hoisin sauce before encasing everything in quartz. I then expand the quartz away from the food to pull a partial vacuum and speed up the marinade.

"Should I even ask what that was for?" Amelia says looking as confused as everyone else.

"I figured you all didn't want to wait until tomorrow for it to marinate, so I'm cheating." I set the ribs off to one side and pull out everything else I'll need. I'm going to make a bit of everything, so chicken, beef, and more pork join the meat already on the counter. "Nnh, I wish I had some shrimp. We really need to get that seafood connection."

"Gimme a coin purse, I'll fly into town and get us some." Apricot offers. "I did a bit of exploring after tutoring the apprentices and found a place with a mage on staff."

"You don't have to..." She's already shrunk back down, so I just toss a small purse her way. It vanishes into her inventory a split-second after leaving my hand. "Grab some good fish sauce while you're out." I call after her retreating form.

...

"Can we eat here every night from now on?" Lianna says with a moan. "Mmm, even the spicy stuff is good."

"I have to agree with Li-Li." Delilah says around a mouthful of shrimp fried rice. "I've never had anything like this before. And, I can't help but wonder what other culinary secrets Sorrel is hiding."

"Heh, I should send Granville a plate." I grin while thinking about the grumpy chef. "You should have seen the look on his face when I showed him the leftover fried chicken I was going to have for lunch. Though, I should probably work on my recipes first. I don't cook this style often and I'm missing a few ingredients, so I had to make a few more substitutions than I cared for."

"Just send him some of the sauces you made." Amelia says with a laugh. "I can just imagine his face when he tries some of the hoy-eh-zen stuff, or however you pronounce it."

"Oh, I wish I had found some tamarind, I could try recreating *Worcestershire* sauce. And, yes that name sounds just as weird in my language." I laugh when they all tilt their heads trying to parse the English name out. "Take some vinegar, add salt-cured anchovies, tamarind paste, a few different sweeteners, a splash of soy sauce, and a whole bunch of different spices. From cloves to peppers to pickled onions and garlic. And, then let it all ferment for several months or years. Makes for a really good steak sauce."

"What?!?" Helen sums up what they're all thinking in one word.

"Yeah, that's most people's reaction when they learn what all goes into it." I just laugh some more. "Apparently, an old lord found a tamarind sauce he liked while overseas and hired a couple of local apothecaries to try and recreate it for him, they added the fermented fish. Because, why not? The whole thing ended up stinking to high heaven so they just shoved the barrel in a corner and forgot about it for a couple years. By the time they found it again, it had become quite edible. Not sure how they decided to take that first bite though. I'm guessing a lot of alcohol and a dare."

"I can't tell if he's messing with us or not." Lauren says in a disbelieving tone.

"I don't think he is." Her cousin replies.

"He's not." Apricot states. "I could tell if he was lying, and I almost wish he was. I'm not going to be able to stop thinking about what went through their minds when they were trying to make that sauce. And, what the hell is a tamarind?"

"Thank you." Helen looks relieved that someone asked that. "I was too afraid to ask myself."

"Oh, it's a funny little fruit that grows in pods on a tropical tree." I draw a picture for them. "It has a tart flavor, especially after being dried out, but some varieties can be sweet enough to eat fresh."

"I think I've seen that before." Lauren says while examining the picture. "It was ages ago though, and I didn't try any."

"Well, Amelia tells me that we can find just about anything in the Capital, so I'm hoping to fill in the few blank spots in my pantry when we go." I still need to sit down and build the vehicle we're going to use. I'm sure Apricot wouldn't mind being carried while I ran the whole way there, but I doubt Amelia would find it quite as fun.

"I still can't believe you're leaving us again so soon, and to become a proper mage too." Helen pouts at Amelia. "Have I mentioned how jealous I am of that yet? We were always about even magically, but now you're probably one of the strongest magic users in the city."

"Not one of." I counter. "She beats out even the fire chief in terms of raw power; I'm not even that strong. I can just imagine what these two will be able to do with some proper training."

"And, I can just imagine what you'll be like with some proper training, mister makes up spells on a whim." Amelia sticks her tongue out at me.

"Half of that is just to impress Apricot." I say playing my magic along the pixie's wings in a way I know she loves.

"They're doing it again." Lauren complains to Delilah, earning a round of laughter from the group.

***