Let's Start A Bakery!

Chapter 34

After the tea party, I decided to take a long nap, and ended up missing all of dinner.

That's fine with me though. I can have the kitchen all to myself.

I looked out the window after my long nap, feeling energized and also quite hungry. The sky was dark, but the outside was lit up with beautiful lanterns, casting a soft glow over the garden.

I made my way through the dark and creepy hallways again, quietly entering the kitchen.

Where can I find cornmeal? If they even have it here...

First, I got out the other ingredients I would need.

Flour, sugar, a tiny bit of salt... I also need a cast iron skillet.

Luckily, cast iron skillets were pretty easy to find. While I was looking through all the cabinets again, I even found a few large sacks of cornmeal. I also found eggs and bottles of milk, as well as an extra jar that I would use alongside the milk to make some fresh butter, since the kitchen staff apparently didn't leave any extra butter behind.

I placed all of the ingredients out onto the counter, and dragged over a small stool so that I could reach the counter more easily. Unfortunately, it appeared like baking soda and baking powder did not exist. This meant that my cornbread would be slightly denser, but that was fine with me.

First, I heated up the oven by dropping the magic stone into the hole. Then I started making butter, which I would use to grease the cast iron skillet. I poured the milk into the jar, and screwed on the lid as tight as I could, while mentally preparing myself for all the pain my arms would have to go through. If I shook the jar up and down, over and over again, eventually, butter would form inside of the jar. I didn't want to operate the large butter churner, since I would have to clean it afterwards, and I wasn't planning on using a lot of butter.

Before I started with the butter, I tried to get all the other ingredients all set up. I separated egg yolks and egg whites into two different bowls and mixed all my dry ingredients together.

Finally, I lifted up my jar and started shaking it up and down as fast and as hard as I possibly could. After just 30 seconds, I was already breathing hard.

At this rate, it will take me a whole hour to finish making some butter!

I kept persevering, taking short breaks whenever my arms felt like they would fall off and trying not to die of boredom. As I was continuing to shake the jar up and down, the door to the kitchen suddenly opened up.

I flinched, and turned around startled.

What is he doing here!?

Lionel was standing in the doorway, arms crossed and glaring at me.

"Ummmm... hello?" I said, confused as to why he was here.

Should I be worried that he's going to beat me up or something. I did embarrass him pretty hard earlier today... Surely if I apologize, he'll leave me alone?

"Sorry about what happened during the tea party," I said, while trying to casually place the jar down on the counter. "I didn't mean to force feed you my bread."

That's such a terrible excuse.

"That's a terrible excuse!" He yelled at me. "What do you mean you 'didn't mean to', you shoved the bread into my mouth!"

Can he read minds or something? How did he say exactly what I was thinking?

"I was going to make you something as an apology," I improvised on the spot, "That's why I'm in the kitchen at this time."

Lionel walked towards me and stopped to look at everything on the counter.

"What are you doing with that jar?" he asked.

"I'm trying to make butter," I answered. Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck me.

"Why don't you help me with my baking?" I gave my best innocent look that I could muster, trying to appeal to Lionel.

"Why should I help you?" he scoffed. "Isn't this your apology?"

"If you help me with this, I'll let you taste everything I make first, in the future," I tried to barter. "You'll be the first person to try out all of my new foods!"

"Who said I wanted to eat anything you made anyways! Your bread was disgusting." He said, ears and cheeks turning red again. 

He has to be lying! There's no way my bread tastes bad, compared to all the other foods he's had to eat his whole life.

"Then I guess I don't have to bake you anything as an apology, if what I made tastes so gross," I picked up the jar again, preparing to put my arms through another workout.

Lionel snatched the jar out of my hands before I could begin, and asked, "What do you need me to do anyways?"

"Uhhh, just shake the jar up and down until the butter forms,"

"That's it?" Lionel asked, sounding incredulous. "That's so easy! How weak must you be to have been struggling so hard earlier?"

"What do you mean by that!?" I asked, eyes wide, "Were you watching me earlier?"

That is so embarrassing...

He ignored me, and proceeded to start shaking the jar up and down, as hard as he could, as I watched him.

He noticed me staring, and his face went red again.

"Stop looking at me!" he yelled again.

"Okay, okay! Sorry!"

He needs to stop yelling, or else we're going to get caught...