Chocolate Chip, Not Cranberry Errand Finished

Ileen watched the discussion between her best friend Dealla and Ms. Prince with growing amusement. The young brunette Slytherin had to bite her tongue to hold back the laughing attack that was throbbing painfully against her diaphragm and threatened to burst out of her at any moment. As she had got to know Dee over the past year at Hogwarts, she could only too well imagine why her mother was so reluctant to let the two girls have her precious kitchen – especially for some baking project.
In fact, Ileen had been very happy when she had received the letter from Mr. Dunaid, since baking was one of the few craftsmanship things she really liked and which she would almost let pass as a hobby. She really enjoyed her time with Dee’s family at Whitehaven and now, she was probably somehow able to give them something back for having her. Dee's parents were wonderful people who had welcomed her warmly without further question or suspicious looks and Ileen already felt somewhat at home here.

When Ms. Prince turned to her to make sure, she was okay with taking responsibility for her chaotic friend, Ileen gifted her with a warm smile before smirking at Dee. “No worries, Ms. Prince. Really. I missed baking a lot and I’m sure Dee and I will manage to get something delicious out of it.” She hesitated and a slight grin appeared on her lips. “Also, I never blew up a kitchen so far.” Excitedly she beamed up to the woman and her big brown eyes sparkled in excitement. She couldn't wait to get started and start bossing Dee around. She barely could stop herself from bouncing up and down. “We will hand the kitchen back unharmed and clean. I promise!”
But her words were not even necessary since Alexandra already had agreed to let them do it –Ileen just wanted to make sure that it was clear that she accepted the honorable task with pleasure. As soon as Alexandra would leave the kitchen, Ileen would finally burst out in laughter. “How can it be that you are such a complete loss in baking that your mum hardly ever leaves the kitchen to us? What did you even do? I mean” The young girl rowed helplessly with her arms and wiped a tear of laughter from the corner of her eye. “You are a genius in potions. It’s basically the same!”

With a half amused, half disbelieving shake of her head, she once turned around to get an idea of the kitchen, where she had not been active before, except when putting away the dishes. “I have an idea. We could bake my special Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies. They are not too difficult, and we can divide the work easily.” Ileen's cheeks were flushed with excitement and an ardent fire made her brown eyes glow. With a quick movement of her hand, she put her long hair into a ponytail and her tone became busier. “All we need are eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla sugar, white chocolate, butter, cranberries and a little salt. A bowl and a baking tray will do.”
The otherwise rather reserved twelve-year-old automatically took command. "And if we make double recipes, we can keep some for ourselves and still bring Mr. Dunaid lots of cookies.” She beamed at her friend and the enthusiasm was clearly written on her face. "What do you think?"

WC | 572

Reducio

Recipe for Ileen’s special Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

360 g flour
200 g butter
300 g sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
200 g chocolate, white, chopped
200 g cranberries, dried

Cream butter, sugar and the eggs. Add the baking powder mixed with flour and then stir in the white chocolate and dried cranberries.

The dough is enough for 9 large cookies or 18 small cookies. For the large cookies, place a tablespoonful of piles on a baking tray and for the small cookies, place a teaspoonful of piles on two baking trays.

Bake the cookies in a hot oven at 170°C for about 10-15 minutes until they are lightly golden brown.
It is important that you take them out of the oven while they are still soft, as they still harden when they cool down.

Get it here

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By SK

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Dee blushed, just a light streak of pink high on her cheeks, and coughed, for once in her life seeming somewhat abashed. "Let's just say that the 'blowing up the kitchen' wasn't a random phrase for dramatic effect." Clearing her throat, she shook that unfamiliar feeling off, and instead glared at Ileen. "And no it's not the same as brewing potions! Potions is... and this is just..." She waved her hands around helplessly, failing to put into words why the magic of potions was something entirely different from trying to bake a cake. She lacked the sense she had for potions, the instinct. "It's not the same!" For a moment, she stood there, staring into nothing, disgusted at her own inability to express what she meant, but then she just shook her head and turned around. "Alright, boss, what's to do?"

She automatically started moving towards the cabinets with Ileen's instructions, then stopped to narrow her eyes at her friend. Usually that automatic obedience was reserved for her mum's no-nonsense complain-and-you'll-be-in-serious-trouble voice. "Wow, you're bossy," she observed, and thought for a second before adding, "You're gonna make a good mum some day."

Most ingredients were quickly found, as were the requested bowl. Only one thing proved elusive, even after extensive search in the baking drawer, the pantry, and even their sweets stash: There were no cranberries to be found. Dee stared down at the assorted gummy slugs, chocolate frogs, and candy in thought for a second in deep thought, then turned towards Ileen, her eyes half questioning, half mischievous.

"So... I don't think we have any cranberries. We can either go the boring, predictable way, go to the market and try to find some there, or..." With a quick movement, she grabbed a small box from between the chocolate frogs, and brandished it at Ileen, a wide grin on her face. "Or we use these instead." The market really wasn't all that far down the street, but, well, Dee was lazy, and eager to get baking, and also very excited about her idea for a replacement.

There was an almost full box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans in her hands, now hovering about twenty centimeters in front of Ileen's nose. "Wouldn't that be fun? You'd get the surprise you have with Bertie Bott's Beans, but like, in cookie form!" Her eyes were sparkling, taken with the brilliance of the idea. Surely Ileen had to see it, too. "Doesn't that sound interesting?"

WC | 554 + 411 = 965
Errand completed~

„A good mum? Why so?“ A soft chuckle escaped the young Slytherin as she followed Dee towards the cabinets to take the things they needed when Dee was ready to hand them over. It was surprisingly satisfying seeing Dee following her instructions as this was rather a rarity - not least because Ileen rarely gave instructions in the first place, but here she was in her element and if you could believe Dee's mother, she should rather be the leading force here.
Thoughtfully she placed the ingredients side by side on the worktop and put the bowl on the scale. “At home,” she started slowly and glanced out of the window, caught in her thoughts. “My Dad is the bossy one. He’s also the much better cook- he taught me most of the things I know like baking, a little dancing, yoga and climbing.” A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed to get rid of it. That was the first time she had talked about her parents since she had left the summer camp and she was very uncomfortable with it since they haven’t even send he an owl yet and she missed them – she was hurt but not surprised.

When they finally had collected most of the stuff they needed and Dee came up with the glorious idea of using Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, Ileen caught the look in her best friends eyes and automatically started to join in the mischievous grin. That was a great idea –and also a confirmation that you really should keep an eye on Dee as soon as she entered a kitchen. With a giggle she snatched the box from her friends’ hand and looked at it to anticipate how many cookies they could do with it. “Hahah. I really like the idea. It’s creative and gives the whole eating experience a little thrill.” She tapped her chin with a finger and looked back at the bowl and the scale. “How about that? Let’s make half of them with this explosive extra and keep the other half just as chocolate chip cookies?” She wanted to make sure that at least a few of them were delicious after all.

If Dee would agree to follow that plan, Ileen would show her how to chop the chocolate while she herself would weight the other ingredients for the dough in the bowl. As soon as everything was piled in there, she would give her best friend a crooked smile and extend the bowl to her. “Would you like to knead the dough? It's terribly sticky, but it's also fun. And the best thing is that you can eat the dough from your fingers afterwards. Then I would divide it into two portions and we would knead the Bertie Bott’s beans into it.”

WC | 572 + 464 = 1.036
Errand completed

Reducio

Recipe for Ileen’s special Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

360 g flour
200 g butter
300 g sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
200 g chocolate, white, chopped
200 g cranberries, dried

Cream butter, sugar and the eggs. Add the baking powder mixed with flour and then stir in the white chocolate and dried cranberries.

The dough is enough for 9 large cookies or 18 small cookies. For the large cookies, place a tablespoonful of piles on a baking tray and for the small cookies, place a teaspoonful of piles on two baking trays.

Bake the cookies in a hot oven at 170°C for about 10-15 minutes until they are lightly golden brown.
It is important that you take them out of the oven while they are still soft, as they still harden when they cool down.

Get it here

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By SK

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"You've got that no-nonsense, follow-my-orders-or-you-won't-get-sweets-for-a-week voice down," Dee explained. "Also, you're nice. And good at taking care of other people - if you want to be." She shrugged. "You might not make the most fun mum - I'd be more fun for sure - but you'd make a good one. Right, boring grandma Ileen?" She flashed her friend a teasing grin at the reference to their very first conversation, almost a year ago now.

When Ileen brought up her father, Dee threw her a sidelong glance. "You miss your dad, don't you," she observed. There wasn't really... pity in her voice, although she did feel bad for Ileen. It was more of an observation. "Have you heard from them lately? After you told them you were going to stay here for the break?" Not for the first time, Dee tried to put herself in Ileen's shoes. What must it feel like to have suspicions like that about her parents - and then be told that they didn't want her to come home, as they had not just once this past year? What would it be like to have such doubts? She shied away from the thought, also not for the first time. Tried to push away the memory of a letter, one she hadn't told anyone about. Tried to tell herself that she had absolutely no reason to feel the way Ileen did about the past her parents refused to tell her about, that she couldn't even imagine feeling like that. And moved back to the present.

Her grin returned as Ileen seemed just as excited by the idea with the beans as Dee was - but then, of course she was, the idea was brilliant - and nodded, taking up the knife to chop the chocolate without hesitation. "Let's do it." That was something she was confident in, they had to handle knives in Potions all the time. Although, obviously, brewing potions was completely different from baking. No comparison at all.

She took to kneading the dough with all the enthusiasm of a child digging around in mud, a bright grin on her face. "This is fun. And really not very hard. Maybe I am good at baking after all." Of course, Ileen had been doing most of the work so far, but Dee didn't acknowledge that with a word or gesture. She was helping. And nothing had exploded yet. That counted for something.

"Here you go," she said, presenting the kneaded dough to Ileen proudly. Had she eaten a not insignificant amount of dough while kneading? Yes, obviously. But could anyone really fault her for it?

”Pff!” Ileen teasingly stuck out her tongue to her best friend and rolled her eyes meaningfully. “I am not boring only because my kitchen would not go down in flames as yours apparently would.” With a twinkle in the eye, she poked Dee between the ribs and hurried to jump out of her range of reach right afterwards to escape any possible counterattack.

As Dee asked about her father, the lump in Ileen’s throat widened and she heavily swallowed again to get rid of it – without success. Her dark brown eyes remained fixed on the neatly lined up ingredients and she restlessly moved the sugar back and forth. As always, when she felt uncomfortable, her fingers went off on their own. Yes. She missed him a lot, but she wasn’t ready to admit that – especially not to herself. “I—No. I haven’t heard from them. There was a short note to my birthday with some money for a present.” Her voice had become quieter and quieter towards the end and to her annoyance her eyes began to burn. She shook her head decisively and turned to Dee with a grin. "Never mind. It's much more fun here anyway. Now don't just stand there, help me." If Ileen had been a little more attentive, she might have noticed that Dee was worried about something as well. But she didn't.

While they weighed and cut the ingredients together, Ileen felt safer and safer. Her movements were automated, and she felt at home in the kitchen in no time. While Dee was kneading the dough, the young Slytherin prepared the baking tray and soon figured out how to preheat the oven. “Yes, maybe I am just a good teacher,” she teased and inspected the dough Dee presented to her. “This looks excellent, Miss Prince.” With an exaggerated nod of recognition, Ileen took the bowl and cut the semi-solid dough into two halves with a knife. Then she ladled one half into a second bowl and handed the beans to Dee. "Since it was your idea, you deserve the honor. Mix them in here." She grinned and looked back at her best friend. It really looked like she was having fun and in that very moment Ileen felt deeply connected to the young brunette Raven.
With Dee, everything was good. Always. No matter if they were climbing the roof, escaping awful situations like the fight club, practicing spells together or even baking silly cookies. With Dee, her life had become brighter.

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By SK

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After Ileen's confirmation that she hadn't heard from her parents, there was a short moment of silence before the Slytherin picked the conversation back up and Dee took the opportunity with some amount of relief. It wasn't actually a topic she wanted to talk about. At Ileen's order, Dee snorted and picked a Bertie Bott's Bean from the open package which she threw at her best friend, aiming for the forehead. Apparently she hadn't aimed very well though, since Ileen didn't even have to try very hard to dodge for it to sail past her ear and skid across the floor of the kitchen instead. "Fine," Dee agreed, sounding slightly disgruntled at her failure of attacking her friend with candy, and turned back to the work at hand.

Which turned out rather well. The dough was delicious, and Dee started kneading the Every Flavour Beans into it with an enthusiasm that could only be inspired by colourful sugar. She grinned as she watched the colour from the beans slowly bleed into the surrounding dough, until the entire chunk was sprinkled with colourful stains.

Under Ileen's instruction and supervision, she carefully formed the dough into small balls that they then slightly flattened on the baking tray, and soon after, a tray filled half with chocolate chip and half with Bertie Bott's cookies was slowly baking in the oven. They used the time to prepare a second tray, and soon, the delicious smell of fresh cookies rose from the oven, and Dee's stomach growled in response.

Her stomach wasn't the only thing reacting to the scent in the air, however: It attracted other predators, too, among them Jonathan Creek, also known as Dealla's father. He stuck his head through the door just as they removed the first tray of cookies from the oven, his dark hair slightly tousled, and his just as dark eyes curious. "Something smells very nice," he observed. "And not burnt, so it can't be Dee's work. What are you making for us, Ileen?"

Dee squawked in outrage and put her hands on her hips. Luckily she'd already licked her fingers clean. "Excuse me, I had just as much part in this as Ileen did!" Although she likely would have forgotten to take them out of the oven on time, so his accusation wasn't entirely baseless. "I'm not giving you any of the cookies if you don't trust in my abilities!"

Jonathan grinned and stepped into the kitchen, easily reaching over Dee's head to pick a warm cookie off the tray despite her attempts to push away his hand - one of the adventurous ones. Suddenly Dee stopped her attempts at stealing the cookie back in favour of watching him, barely concealed excitement in her face - which her father didn't notice.

He regarded the colourful spots curiously, then shrugged, took a big bite, started chewing - and stopped, his eyes widening. He swallowed, grimacing, and shivered exaggeratedly in disgust. "Okay, this I believe was your doing. What in the world did you put in there? It tastes like old socks."

Dee burst out laughing in delight, and turned to Ileen, a hand raised in anticipation of a high five. "Bertie Bott's Beans!!" she declared to her dad, grinning widely. "Aren't they great? Also, why do you know what old socks taste like?"

Jonathan's face smoothed over, and Dee knew that this was the right moment to run like hell. Which she tried, but wasn't fast enough, and soon after, she was shaking with laughter as her father lifted her up to swing her around, holding her by the ankles until she hung headfirst over the kitchen floor, her hair brushing on the kitchen tiles. "Let me down!" she yelled, still giggling so hard she could barely draw the breath to form the words. "For your information, Ileen loved the idea, too!"

"Is that so?" Jonathan replied, his eyes twinkling as he looked over to their visitor. It was rather obvious that he'd taken the girl to his heart in the few weeks she'd been living with them, and he treated her with obvious affection. She was a sweet girl, and likely a good influence on his high-spirited daughter - not that Jon was any better in that regard than Dee was. "Hands up," he instructed and let Dee down carefully, after she had stretched her hands out to the floor to keep from falling on her head.

Still sitting on the floor, Dee watched as her father stepped to the oven, next to Ileen, and poked her in the side before he put an arm around the Slytherin's shoulders - if she let him - and pulled her into his side. "I don't believe you," he announced. "Ileen wouldn't trick me into eating something sock-flavoured." He picked another cookie from the tray - a chocolate chip one, this time - and with a wink, disappeared from the kitchen.

Dee had watched the exchange with cheeks puffed up in mock-indignation, but had a hard time suppressing a smile. She'd known her parents would love Ileen, and vice versa. Why wouldn't they? Of course the people she loved most in the world had to get along.

Ileen made one sidestep and watched the bean passing her by an arm length from her head. “Wow. You really have terrible aim. Good thing you are not into quidditch after all.” With a warm and teasing sparkle in her brown eyes she stuck her finger in the dough and snacked on the raw dough. Whenever she baked something, she had to stop herself from eating the dough already raw before - a hard task for the young girl because she enjoyed it as much as in its final cookie form.
However, it did not degenerate into a food slat, but the two of them formed the cookies in a very civilized way and waited patiently while they were baking in the oven to their final shape. A nice smell spreaded in the kitchen and also immediately attracted interested parties.

”I would never do such a thing!” Ileen giggled as Dee’s dad poked her in the side and tried to dodge his hand, but he was fast enough to catch her and placed his arm on her shoulder. The young Slytherin made a face at Dee before innocently looking up to Jonathan. She adored the parents of her best friend and the affection that was shown to her made it even more easy to feel at home here.
Her brown eyes sparkled in excitement and he would notice that the influence the girls had on each other was flowing both ways. Plus, she was a bad liar - even from that little joke she already blushed. “Okay. Dee is right, I loved the idea. It’s funny, isn’t it? Dangerous prank cookies!”

The smile was still on her face as she watched Jonathan leaving with one of the ‘good’ cookies and her facial expression softened. He reminded her a lot of her own dad when he wasn’t worried or stressed - maybe that was also why she had connected to them so easily. “Your parents are great,” she announced and reached out to help Dee back up. “I really am glad you invited me to stay here!”
She snatched one of the harmless cookies from the tray and put in her mouth. Mhhhm. It really was delicious. “So, what do you think? Should we send a mixture of both back to Hogwarts or only the lame ones?”