Cooking Early

[Zach Doyle]

Zach came early to school to work on his current Home Ec class project. He was supposed to design a family menu with a certain budget and he would have to prepare it for his class, but he was sure he would run out of time, so he got their early to start everything. Things were starting to smell pretty good and it caused several students to stick their heads in wanting to know if he was handing out samples.

Peeling Granny Smith apples, he was head banging to music from Glee on his mp3 player. He had earbuds on because he always got teased when people realized that he liked the TV show. He didn’t like to be teased, so lately he had gotten to the point of hiding things that brought it on. Luckily word had gotten around that his cooking was very good and so people didn’t tease him about it so they wouldn’t be crossed off the list of people he would share with.

Zach was rather average looking. Medium height, dirty blonde hair with lighter streaks and dark brown eyes, he rarely dressed in anything that would make him stick out. Today he was wearing tan cargo pants, a black tee shirt and a fatigue coat that had been his father’s in the 60s and was a bit ragged.

His family couldn’t be termed wealthy, but they did well for themselves. His dad’s books had a steady reader base that meant they would never starve and his mother took in sewing for extra money for the few luxuries they wanted. Zach wanted to go to culinary school after he graduated and had the money for it in a trust fund from his grandfather’s estate.

[Natalie Webb]

Natalie pushed some curls behind her ear as she shut her locker. Dressed in a long ruffled tunic with a metallic trim, a pair of leggings and ballet flats, Natalie headed down the hall to her first period Home Ec class. It wasn't her favorite class but she didn't mind it really because it involved a lot of hands on stuff that was more interesting that just sitting through a lecture.

She was still getting used to it all. She'd been in school over a month now and while she'd met some cool people, she was still struggling a bit to find her place here. It was just so different from Texas where even though she'd grown up in the city, it still had more of a small town mentality. There she'd been really popular, always the center of everything. And while that wasn't a requirement for her happiness, it would have been nice to have an actual group of people to surround her all the time. She was also still dealing with her breakup. She felt more stupid as each day passed, thinking back to how she thought the whole long distance thing would work. Yeah right. They were 15, she should have known better.

Reaching the classroom, she pushed the door open seeing that the room was mostly deserted. One boy was there though, cooking, probably working on the project they'd been assigned. Natalie hadn't started it. She was about to say hello when she realized he had headphones on so she just flashed a smile before quietly heading to her seat.

[Zach Doyle]

Zach smiled back and waved his vegetable peeler back at... now what was her name. Oh yes, Natalie. As soon as he finished the current apple, he took off his ear buds and put away his mp3 player. "Hi Natalie," he said in his usual friendly manner. "What are you going to be cooking today? I was sure I wouldn't have enough time, so I took her advice to do some advance preparation." He could have done it at home, but wasn't sure how he would have transported things back and forth on his bike. His mom was doing some curtains for a lady up in Malibu so she needed the van all week.

Zach had worked all day on the neighbor's yard the day before, so he was whipped. His back hadn't ached this much since last summer when he was mowing lawns daily. But it was good, it all went to his vehicle fund. He continued peeling, this was the one thing that took the longest amount of prep work in his menu. But he thought the tarte tatin was worth the extra work. "I am almost done with this, do you need any help before class starts?" he asked, always willing to help out when he could.

[Natalie Webb]

"Hi, Zach," she said with another smile when he took out his ear buds. She sort of felt bad, as if she was disturbing him. He'd seemed really concentrated on whatever he was cooking. She bit down on her lower lip - a nervous habit - when he asked what she was cooking today. "I don't really have anything prepared," Natalie admitted. Usually she was really good about school. While she'd never been a top 10 in the class sort of student, she'd still always gotten good grades and always done her homework on time and all that. But she'd been under a lot of stress lately, which was why she'd forgotten to prepare.

"What are you making?" she asked, glancing over at his meticulous work. Although Zach was always good at the cooking stuff. She didn't even have to pay attention to know that, it was clear to everyone in the class that Zach was a good cook. He was always getting praised for it by their teacher.

"Preparing..." Natalie said shaking her head, "thanks but not really. Unless you have an idea of something I can make," she said. "Like I said I'm a little unprepared today," she said with a frown wishing she would have thought of something in advance. At the very least she should have thought about it on her way to school but her mind had been elsewhere. In fact, she'd completely forgotten today was a cooking day until she saw Zach working on it.

[Zach Doyle]

Zach bit the inside of his cheek and then smiled. "She said we could partner up, you can be my partner, if you want. How are you at coring apples and then slicing them thinly? "I could start on the main dish then. Natalie was nice for a girl. She always waved or said hi. Most girls ignored him as if they knew he wasn't interested in dating anyone and so he wasn't worth bothering with.

"The menu I chose is pastry covered brie with crackers, beef borguignon with buttered noodles, Aligot which is just cheesy mashed potatoes, fresh green beans and tarte tatin which is a topless apple pie with apricot jelly. It sounds complicated, but each recipe is easier than you would think and not so expensive," he explained, running his fingers through his thick streaked hair. The price was part of the assignment and he had the receipts with him to prove he hadn't cheated or gone over budget.

"I really don't mind, sometime you can help me with sewing, I am not as good with that," Zach said, letting her know that she wouldn't be imposing. Zach wasn't big into the ego games. He just wanted to pass with a good grade so he could get into the prestigious culinary school he wanted to go to.

[Natalie Webb]

"Oh thanks," Natalie said. She picked up her bag and moved over to his table. Still being relatively new to the school, Natalie honestly hadn't noticed that most the girls didn't bother with Zach. Natalie always had been the type of person to talk to anyone. Even at her old school when she'd been one of the popular kids, she still never had been mean or ignored anyone. Plus, up until recently Natalie had had a boyfriend, and she was still getting over it so dating was the last thing on her mind anyway. "Well, I can't say I've ever cored apples before but I'm sure I can figure it out. The slicing thinly is not a problem," she said with a smile.

"Wow, that is quite ambitious," Natalie said, her blue eyes wide. She really felt bad, not having done any of the work. It was really nice that he was going to help her so she would just have to make up for her lack of preparation with lots of cooking. She wasn't a brilliant chef but she wasn't bad either. She could follow directions and that was one of the most important parts. "It sounds good though," she said with a nod. "Whats borgui..guignon anyway?" she asked, stumbling over the word as she picked up a knife and started slicing one of the apples. "Thanks again," she said, offering another smile. "I guess I've just been kind of out of it lately and I really appreciate that help," she said.

She smiled again when he mentioned the sewing. "Yeah, I can definitely help with that. I learned how to sew when I was pretty young and while I never really got into it, I still know it all so I promise I'll help you whenever we have our next sewing project," she offered, feeling slightly better about the deal. Natalie hated imposing on people. She really was too nice for her own good sometimes really, which was why she so often got screwed over or taken advantage of people. And while she didn't really know Zach well, he always seemed pretty friendly so she figured it couldn't hurt helping each other out a bit.

[Zach Doyle]

Zach felt good helping Natalie out. Every went through bad times and he felt like people should lend a hand to get them back into step with life. "Just make sure you get the seeds and the seed casings out cause they are kinda hard and gross. Bourguignon is kinda like a French stew with beef, mushrooms, onions and carrots. It has wine in it, which adds flavor, but the alcohol evaporates in the cooking. I chose French cooking because everyone seems to think it all is heavy sauces, but it doesn't have to be that way," he said smiling as he grabbed a garlic head out of his bag of goodies and began first to separate it into cloves and then smash the chosen cloves with the flat of his blade and the heel of his hand. After he discarded the husks, he minced the pungent herb finely and divided it into three piles for he needed it for three of the recipes.

"Did you cook at all down in Texas?" Zach asked, for he loved Tex Mex food but he hadn't spent much time making it. He was planning on going to France for school so he concentrated on their cuisine. He pulled out the beef and cut it in bite-sized chunks. He also diced some bacon for flavor.

[Natalie Webb]

"Okay," Natalie said nodding as she noted about the seeds. "Ah, stew. Sounds good though. I love mushrooms," she said with a smile. "Oh is it?" she asked, "to be honest I'm not too familiar with French food," she admitted. "But I'm excited to see how this turns out."

As she continued to slice the apples she kept an eye on what he was doing to. She was indeed very fortunate for the help because he seemed to really know what he was doing. Natalie could follow a recipe but he seemed to not only had thought it all out but he wasn't checking a recipe over and over again like she would have been doing.

"Yeah, a little bit," she said about cooking in Texas, smiling as she thought about it. "But we're not much for French food down there. We do a lot of barbecue...a lot of steak," she said, "and we have some great Mexican food too. Most places don't have sauca like we do," she said. "But I would mostly just help out though." She had done some grilling on her own, adding seasonings to the meat and grilling them up in the yard, but most of the cooking she'd done had been more assisting her parents than anything else.

[Zach Doyle]

"I like the practical days. It is fun trying out other peoples cooking. I usually only take a tiny bit of Bitsy Sanders food though and then quietly rid myself of it. I have a feeling she thinks she was taking Preparing Toxins 101 instead of Home Ec," he said with a grin. Bitsy really was a tiny little thing, probably cause she had to feed herself. She was nice enough though and never really got upset when teased about her lack of culinary skills. She was a gifted student and probably would get a free ride to any science oriented school she wanted.

The only genius Zach had a claim to was in the kitchen. He liked sports, but Baseball players were not currently in deep demand by the schools. He was just average in academics. "What are you going to make for the next sewing project?" he asked. He could get help from his mother, but that just seemed too weird. They had to make something that had to have a casing and elastic. He knew a lot of the kids were making pajama bottoms or shorts. He hated to follow the crowd though.

"Maybe next time we have to do a practical you can take the lead and show me more about Texas regional specialties. I would enjoy that," Zach said, perfectly willing to be second in command if it meant he would learn something new.

[Natalie Webb]

Natalie laughed about what he said about Bitsy's cooking. "I know what you mean," she said. "But it is good to try other people's recipes and whatnot," she agreed. Natalie's stuff usually turned out okay. She could follow recipes and make them come out but it was coming up with the recipe that was difficult for her.

"I haven't decided completely about the sewing project but I was thinking about doing yet but I was thinking about maybe doing dress with front pockets. I thought I could put the elastic on the top of the pockets to create sort of a ruching effect," she explained. "But I could probably help you with something you could wear...perhaps a jacket. We could put elastic in the cuffs," she suggested.

She nodded when he mentioned doing a Texas specialty, "Well, we can't really bbq here but we could probably do some mad ribs using the oven," she suggested. "I'd have to get the recipe from my dad but he has one for a really good dry rub," she said, "and we could probably even figure out some sort of homemade bbq sauce." The only thing about Texas was that they liked their meat with a side of meat, sometimes potatoes, but usually just a big old plate of meat. It wasn't something that Natalie could eat all the time but she certainly could appreciate it.