Cooking is a science, a type of chemistry. To create a piece that is both amazingly delicious and perfectly prepared, exact measurements must be observed. To this end, I had an array of dishes, measuring cups and spoons, a digital scale, and a pair of detailed checklists.
It never hurt to be prepared.
Sunset had given me the use of her kitchen to prepare dinner for us while she ran an errand with Applejack to get ready for the spring clearing of the Apple farm. Cooking recipes that I had learned over the last few years and adjusting them for her vegetarian lifestyle was a challenge that I relished. It was an experiment, epicurean in nature, and I intended to make sure she enjoyed every bite.
And I had a great idea for dessert as well, though I was nervous about suggesting it.
I set the ingredients on the countertop in order of preparation and pulled the pan from one of my overnight bags, wiping the dust off with a damp cloth. I then took a paper napkin and dabbed it in vegetable oil, wiping it through the pan to season it. I set it aside and began preparing the ingredients.
I minced some garlic cloves, measuring the outcome precisely on the smaller of the digital scale, adding pieces till I hit the gram measurement I had in my notes. I then turned towards the rest of the vegetables, coming to exactly one cup each of zucchini, yellow squash, asparagus, hearts of artichokes, green beans, and carrots. I then measured out a half cup of peas, setting it on the scale and pulling several out when I saw it was over the amount I had found made the best balance by weight.
Accuracy is important, after all, in all sciences.
I put one of Sunset’s few cooking pots on the stove, measuring out water and rice into it in a ratio of two-to-one and added a few drops of oil. I let it cook itself while I returned to the preparation of the rest of the dish, setting a timer so as not to let it overcook. I set it slightly shorter than the twenty-two minutes I would have at home, not knowing the variance between my stove and Sunny’s. Overboiling rice can make it turn to mush in this dish.
I set the pan on another burner, coating it with two teaspoons of vegetable oil and letting it slowly come to temperature. While it heated, I sliced a length of soy sausage into equal lengths. Noting that the oil was starting to shimmer, I took the sausage lengths and dropped them in the pan with the garlic I had minced earlier. I stirred it around the pan. Once the sausage was browned sufficiently and the garlic sweated down, I added the vegetables, seven saffron threads, a pair of bay leaves, a half-teaspoon of paprika, a tiny bit of curry powder and a dash of salt. Next, I added fourteen ounces of diced tomatoes, from a can, sadly. With it being the middle of January, I couldn’t find any suitable fresh tomatoes and had to settle for the canned variety, despite their increased amount of sodium and other preservatives. Rinsing them could only remove so much.
As I added those in, my timer went off and I checked the rice, finding the white grains even with the water line. I removed it from heat and set it to the side while to finish absorbing the water while I finished simmering the vegetables. After a few minutes, I added the rice to the pan, along with vegetable broth from a thermos. I reduced the heat slightly just in time for Sunset to walk in through the door.
“Hey, you,” she said, coming up behind me and slipping her arms around my waist. She nuzzled the back of my neck, sending shivers and tingles up my spine and making me want to ignore the stove for a minute to return the affection.
I reached behind me with one arm and tangled it into her thick hair, sighing happily. “Hey yourself,” I whispered, turning slightly to kiss her before turning back and giving the mix a slight stir. “This should be ready in about seven and a half minutes or so if you want to set the table.”
She grabbed two plates from her sparse cupboards, setting them on the table with some forks. “So,” she called. “What’s on the menu?”
“A nice, smoky paella,” I said, pulling the pan from the heat when I saw all the liquid absorbed. I poked through and pulled the bay leaves out and sprinkled some chopped parsley into the mix, carrying the pan to the table and setting it on the heat pad I had set there earlier.
As I went back in for the tea I had made, I smiled.
“It’s a Spanish dish that I learned a while back,” I said, excitedly. “Technically, it’s from the Valencia region, but that’s beside the point. It’s traditionally made with chicken, rabbit, or snails, but there are so many variations on it. I made sure to include some of your favorite vegetables in this particular outcome. I also added a bit of curry seasoning to it for an extra kick. ”
Sunset looked around, a frown crossing her face. “Where’s the serving spoon?”
I smiled. “Were we in Spain, we’d eat straight out of the pan itself. However, since we're not in Spain and you’ve already gotten plates,” I trailed off as I produced a serving spoon. “Might as well use them.”
I took a bite from my serving and sighed. Perfect, the saffron and paprika gave it the slightly smoky taste and the heat from the curry powder spiced up the dish. It was unusual to me, so used to the taste of chicken in this dish, but I was willing to make the sacrifice to enjoy things with my Sunny. Despite having told me she was ok with me eating meat, I was ok with going vegetarian.
It also cut down on the dishes I had to do.
Sunset chewed on her food and smiled at me. “This is delicious, Twi,” she said. “And if I know you, you have something planned for dessert after a meal like this. One thing that I wonder about, though,”
I swallowed another bite, raising an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“Besides never figuring you for a gourmand, where do you pack everything you eat?”
I frowned. “What?”
“I’ve seen your favorite snacks, and the way you enjoy good food, but you’re always a nice and healthy weight. So, what gives?”
“I’ve always had a pretty high metabolism,” I said. “But ever since camp, it almost feels like I'm always peckish.”
"And puckish," Sunny said with a smirk.
I frowned in a mock glower before smiling again. “I think that the infusion of magic from the geodes may be burning off some of the calories or something. I’ve noticed that all of us have had healthier than normal appetites lately, even Fluttershy.”
She paused from putting a small bit of a second helping on her plate. “We have?”
I gestured at her plate, and she blushed.
“I had a thought, one that you can help me figure out,” I said as I added a tiny bit more to my plate as well. “Even though the statue has been repaired, all they really did was put a cap on the pedestal. What if having the portal open is allowing ambient magic to leak over from Equestria?”
She sat silent for a moment, thinking. “Possibly,” she said. “But who knows by just how much, since we don't know how much magic the journal requires.” She took another bite of her food, her mood turning contemplative. "So much about this worlds magic I don't understand, and I don't know where to start."
I finished my paella and set my fork down on the plate. “What if there is a way to measure it?” I said slowly.
She gave me a narrow glance. “You haven’t been messing with technology again, have you?” said asked. “Last time you did, it took a week to get the DVD player working right again.”
I blushed at the memory. “No, but something I noticed from both your research notes and mine leading up to the Games, magic does have a measurable effect on local EM fields.”
I smiled. “So I was thinking, maybe tomorrow, after meeting with Cadence for lunch, we could see if we can find EM variance near the statue?”
She smiled. “Sure thing, Sunshine,” she said.
I felt the little skip my heart gives whenever that smile is turned on me. I hope I never get used to it.
“In that case, help me clean up and I’ll get dessert going.”
After the dishes were cleaned and the leftovers stored away, she turned to me and gave a curious smile.
“So, what’s dessert?” she asked.
I reached out, taking her hand, and pulled her slowly into her living room, pushing her down onto the bed. While she looked on in confusion, I went and slid the bolt on her door closed.
“Twi?”
I returned to the bed slowly, leaning down over her and kissed her with all the stored passion I had.
“We are, Sunny,” I whispered, tracing a finger along her cheek. As she watched in surprise, I began undoing the buttons of my blouse. “If that sounds good to you, that is.” Despite the confidence I displayed, I was nervous, probably as nervous as I could be. I was sure she could hear my heart pounding in my chest.
She reached up, slid her hands into my hair, and gently pulled me down into a kiss.
"That sounds delightful, Sunshine," she whispered into my ear.
I opened my eyes, feeling the warmth of Sunset’s bare body radiating next to me, and snuggled my head a little closer. The sheets felt smooth against my bare skin and I felt more rested than I had for a while. Sunset’s arms were wrapped around me as she slept, peaceful. I had noticed the times I had stayed over, she seemed to sleep better. I had a feeling that she still had the occasional bouts of arguing with her guilt, especially when alone.
I leaned forward slightly and kissed her lips before laying back down, pulling the blanket up higher in the depth of the night. I could stay here forever.
With her arms keeping me warm.
Author's Note
For those interested, this is an actual dish and recipe, though not nearly as precise as SciTwi prepares it. I find it delicious, though I tend to use chicken thighs and chicken broth
