The SpringFest Cookery Contest

[Silky Gooseness]

The Spring Cookery Contest

Within the Second Circle, at the Marketplace, there is a hustle and bustle: one of the largest halls has been cleared; despite the warmth of the day, a large fire pit and a stone oven have been laid and the delicious smells of baking fill the air.

It is the Spring Cookery Contest! To celebrate the end of Winter, the Stewards have announced that this will be a chance for the folk of Gondor - and beyond - to make the best of their fresh spring produce and make a dish worthy of celebrating.

All and sundry are invited: to participate by making a dish, or to taste and share in the communal meal!

Bowls and jugs and trays full of fresh ingredients are set out ready and waiting for the contestants, but they’re also able to bring some of their produce from home…

The ingredients include:

~ Flour ~ Milk ~ Eggs ~ Fresh herbs ~ Potatoes ~ Cream ~ Chicken ~ Lamb ~ Salmon ~ Garlic ~ Butter ~ Rabbit ~ Lettuce ~ Pork ribs~ Bacon ~ Beef sides ~ Turnips ~ Peas ~ Celery ~ Mint ~ Carrots ~ Leeks ~ Onions ~ Tomatoes ~ Blueberries ~ Cherries ~ Strawberries ~ Raspberries ~ Gooseberries ~ Rhubarb ~ Oils ~ Fruit juice ~ Honeycomb ~ White and red wines ~ Brandy

If you wish to be a contestant, please come up and give your name to Mistress Agnes, and the name of your dish (unless you haven’t thought of it yet!) You may begin mingling, or selecting your ingredients, as you wish.

Drinks are also being served while things get going: a light sparkling apple and mint cordial, milk, or water. The wine and brandy is really meant for cooking, but someone really nervous might be able to sneak some…

RULES: ~ Please mark all OOC clearly at the bottom of your post ~ Please no foo colours, if you’re unsure ask ~ Posts over 200 characters preferred ~ No godmoding allowed, GM may make gentle timing assumptions ~ Please indicate at the top of your post if you are a contestant or an observer (You can change your mind!) ~ Canon characters first come first served ~ Participating in any form will count towards Springfest Championship.

[Arnyn]

King Aragorn Elessar
Judge

Spring was upon Gondor indeed! The scent of newly budding flowers carried into the Tower of Ecthelion on a mild spring breeze, the rain smelled just that bit better, the increased hours of sunlight bathed the city in splendour, and the lady Queen Arwen's skin always looked extra dewy this particular season.

Needless to say, Aragorn was a fan.

It therefore took almost no effort for the Springfest Cookery Contest's organizer, lovingly nicknamed the Goose of Udun, to rope him into being a fellow judge of said affair. He had been assured that the nickname was entirely ont he up-and-up, of course.

"Greetings to you on this fine day, Mistress Agness," he greeted the woman with a bow of his head and a smile that was exuberant for a king. "Are we expecting many contestants?" Himself, he would expect more spectators - and thus more people willing to eat things - rather than cooks or people to actually make things. He would have preferred the latter, since he had intentionally not eaten anything the day before to have the appropriate amount of room in his stomach for the event!

Then again... Who said the dishes would be any good? Perhaps not too many contestants wouldn't be so bad, then...

[Fuin Elda]

Contestant

There was a cooking contest not that they were sure what exactly that meant but the three of them waddled in to the cookery contest area and saw the vast spread of ingredients and pots and pans. They marched their way up to someone that looked like they were in charge someone else was talking to her he looked rather fancy but not to much of the cooking sort. They debated on seeing if he had anything fancy to eat but the decided that it would be best if they just made their own food from the items that they had. Reginald was always talking about how good he could cook. So they stopped and sat down in front of this same lady that this other man was standing near.

There was of course a bit of a language barrier, since they were clearly raccoons and she was... well very clearly not. Poor thing didn't even a tail or cute fluffy ears or fur. They ignored the other fellow. They chittered at this woman and motioned to the ingredients letting her know that they wanted to bake. How they were going to explain they were going to make.... Hob and Bob looked at Reginald the third who was saying they were going to make Brandy and butter braised beef sides with garlic and rosemary, with a leek, carrot, egg and mushroom (that they'd not eaten on their journey here which was honestly quite impressive pie. It would be tasty and filling. Of course they had no idea if this woman understood their chittering but after a while they headed to the food station and began washing their paws with Reginald chittering at them telling them to get things. This was going to be... quite the show.

[Pele Alarion]

Pele, the Contestant

She was not quite sure why she had decided the cooking contest was something she should participate in: it didn't have anything to do with fighting or healing in which she could compete at a high level, and yet. She just needed some fun, and that was it - so Pele told herself eventually, as she arrived at the marketplace, carrying along a bag with some useful food items and equipment, should there be a need for more than was provided.

"My King," she greeted Aragorn who was conversing with Mistress Agnes - the person in charge of the whole thing, or so it was said. She offered a respectful nod first, followed soon after with a grin and a merry glint of blue in her eyes. Then she turned to Agnes to include her in a conversation. "Suppose I'll cook or bake or... well, something for the contest," Pele said and shrugged lightly as if she was very indecisive. Yet her gaze settled rather intently on the food items available for cooking, and - raccoons? Cooking? She found herself wondering for a moment whether it was really what she was seeing, but there seemed to be no other reason why raccoons would be allowed near food, right? Chuckling to herself with yet another shrug, she then turned her attention back to the conversation.

Shifting the bag to slip it off her shoulder and hold it in her hand to show readiness for action, she said: "Might have brought some dry rations from the barracks, but I doubt it would do any good for the contest. Might just have to do something more time-and-effort consuming instead."

[Silky Gooseness]

Mistress Agnes

She was humming absently to herself as she lined up the edges of two jars on the ingredients table when she was startled by a deep, pleasant voice behind her. Agnes whirled around, apron flying and floured hand to her breast, to burst into a smile when she saw the King.

“Ah, your graciousness!” she trilled, in a slightly higher pitch than normal, little creases of happiness crinkling into place around her eyes and mouth. “I’ve no idea, in truth: I did say it was an amateur event, and I do wonder if the presence of so many professionals in the city might make others shy…”

Her eye twitched slightly, despite the smile remaining fixed in place.

“As to that,” she continued, before she was interrupted by a noise. Was that Aragorn’s belly growling? Surely not?

No.

It was a … squeaking sound…

Agnes yelped in alarm and twitched her skirts sharply out of the way as she beheld… three raccoons, seated neatly and chirruping with great enthusiasm about the array of food set out on the table. “Ooh! What are you doing in here?” she accused, before falling helplessly silent as one of the raccoons - looking slightly chastened - got up and went to wash its paws in a bucket.

“Oh - I see,” she said, slightly nonplussed. Was this really sanitary? What kind of foods did raccoons even serve? Agnes shot a sidelong glance at the King. “As you see,” she continued, weakly, “even the animals operate excellent food standards here…”

With a grateful smile bordering on manic, Agnes greeted the next human contestant to enter. “How wonderful to see you, Pele,” she babbled, her voice higher than ever.

“Please would all the contestants put on their aprons and choose their ingredients, and then describe their meals?”

She shot another look at the raccoons and disappeared into a box of supplies for a moment before marching gamely forward.

“Here are some tea towels you can wrap around your waists,” she said, determined to act as if nothing were out of the ordinary, “and, er; some paper and crayons to draw or describe your menu.”

Some enchantment had been put on them, that must be it. Possibly something to do with that Radagast, who was known for both sorcery and his love of wildlife.

All new contestants, or judges to eat the food, or both- are welcome!

[Fuin Elda]

Three Brothers - Contestant

This lady was nice. So far she hadn't chased them with a broom or yelled at them she just let them wash their paws and they sat waiting not entirely sure what was going on. Of course they were handed some teatowels that they looked at and looked around they weren't entirely sure what to do with them and then saw that the human contestants were wrapping fabric around them. They let out a chitter and quickly worked on tying the towels about each others waists.

There was a lot of human talking and the three of them sat clasping their front paws together (mostly to keep themselves from putting their hands on the ground after washing them) and looking back and forth between all of the people talking that so far were not chasing them away when suddenly they were given something and they looked at the items in confusion, Bob chewed on one of the brightly coloured things having never seen the sort before. It was disgusting. He was a little mad about being given something gross to eat when Hob and Reginald figured out they were for writing. Bob felt a little silly and gave a small chittering apology and handed over the blue looking stick fortunately it was not one that the brothers needed as they realized they needed to share what they were wanting to cook. The three of them quickly gathered round and began quickly drawing out what they had in their mind....

Their steak and pie with peppercorns and garlic and rosemary and the little veggie and egg pie. It was going to be absolutely glorious with nice grill marks and just cooked carrots that still had a slight crunch to them and crisp flakey pie shell and a delicate grilled quail egg on top and the brandy would give the steak a fantastic taste yes It would be amazing.

Of course they finished up their drawing and with a pride that was on par with a toddler showing a mother an absolute masterpiece presented their actual drawing to the lovely lady that had given them their towel aprons. They all sat back on their buts looking up at her grinning so proud with their hands clasped as they look at what they actually managed to draw with the crayons.

[Pele Alarion]

Contestant

Pele picked up an apron and secured it behind her back neatly so that it would not come undone while she cooked. As for the meal though - she evaluated the available ingredients, and snatched a couple of blueberries popping them in her mouth quickly. There was such a broad selection there that she could not make up her mind at first between making a hearty meat and vegetable meal of sorts and baking something sweet.

She took a step closer to the raccoons and looked at what their ingredients were: it looked like it would be something savoury and filling. After another moment of hesitation, Pele chose to go for the dessert to supplement whatever main dish would be made by the furry trio. And yet - could raccoons even cook? Apparently they could. With a ponderous shrug, the Gondorian took to collecting what she needed.

"I'll be making a honey cake then," she announced, and then wondered whether people who knew her supposed that she did not know how to make other kinds of food. A small grin played on her lips, as she found the needed things either from the ones provided or what she had brought: water, honey, eggs, butter, sugar, flour, sour cream, and a jar of cherry jam. She also chose two pots - one bigger and one smaller, a pan, and a few spoons and spatulas.

[Silky Gooseness]

Mistress Agnes

She could barely believe her eyes. She stretched the corners of them with her fingers, not daring to rub them lest she get flour and spices in them (a previous incident, best not dwelt upon) but still, the evidence they provided could not be denied. The … raccoons… had not eaten the crayons, but rather doodled a fetching little sketch and presented it to her with every semblance of pride.

Hesitantly, Agnes gazed at the sketch.

She turned it upside down.

She blinked a few times. Understanding did not coalesce in her round, oildrop pupils.

“All right,” she ventured, unnecessarily creasing the paper and storing it in her apron pocket. She attempted a smile, but it was more of a rictus which spread across her normally genial face. She would probably need the healing hands of the King by the end of this, if her heart - or mental capacities - didn’t give out entirely. “I guess.. we’ll see?”

With gratitude Agnes turned to her human contestant, who was enthusiastically suggesting a honey cake. “A honey cake! Of course! How marvellous!” Agnes babbled, in a totally normal pitch. “It sounds delightful!

Now that you’ve selected your ingredients, please begin preparing your meals! We will check in with you after the first hour! If anyone new wishes to join as contestant or spectator they’re not too late!”

@Fuin Elda @Pele Alarion @Arnyn

[Fuin Elda]

The Three Brothers - Contestants

They were confused. She turned their drawing upside down. What had she done that? It made no sense at all it was VERY clear what they were making. Humans were confusing. She still had not chased them with a stick or a broom so she was still in their good books. She said something and then to the other human... actually all of them were pretty good none of them had actually chased them so far.

After a moment of sitting the raccoons decided that they had waited long enough and decided it was time to get cooking. The first thing Reginald said they needed to do was to make the pastry for the pie. They gathered up flour and butter and a bit of salt and some cold water. They also found some ice (which was quite a feat given the time of the year) they put the butter onto the ice and began the task of mixing. It took all three of them to get the little ball of dough going and then they sliced up the butter in little squares kneaded it in and put the dough on the ice in a bowl to keep it cold.

They let it rest while they started in on slicing up the mushrooms and and carrots and leeks. Reginald for his part was pleased and debated on how he was going to finish baking the pie he needed some jus from the meat to put in the pie but the meat would be last.
"Grab me some beef bones. We'll braise them and get the jus from them so we don't over cook the good cut." The two brothers were confused about this but headed off while Reginald worked on stoking the fire so that it would be hot enough to get a good sear on the beef bones once his brothers returned with them. Once they were cooking they would start rolling out the dough.

[Pele Alarion]

Pele - Contestant

Pele was trying hard not to pay too much attention to the raccoons, else she'd not get anything done at all, so she turned back to the items she had laid out and thoughtfully looked at them for a few moments. She had to observe proper procedures to make the cake taste its best!

Whistling a merry tune, she got to work. First, she used a bowl for the four eggs she had chosen, and then made sure to whisk it until it looked nothing like egg - or several eggs for the matter. Setting the bowl aside, she then poured a little bit of water into a bigger pot she put over the fire, and into the smaller one she measured honey, sugar and butter. With due care she placed the smaller pot into the bigger one and proceeded to mix the ingredients until those were all melted and formed something like a yellowish (and sweet - she knew from experience) soup.

The pot with the sweet goodness was removed from the fire then, and she quickly added the eggs as she kept stirring everything with a wooden spoon. Unable to resist the temptation, Pele licked the spoon, and then exchanged it for another as she added flour into the mix. Exchanging the pot for a pan, she got to using the dough she had made to bake thin pancakes which would be used to form the layers of the cake. She was well aware that pancake-type layers might look less 'cool' than those baked in the oven, she chose the easiest option. She'd just have to make the filling and topping after...

[Arnyn]

King Aragorn Elessar
Judge

He let Mistress Agnes call him that somewhat cringeworthy appellation ("your graciousness") with a resigned countenance. He blinked, however, when a small band of raccoons started chittering at the woman and then started... washing their paws? After watching Theoden going through insane rejuvenation therapy, not to mention an Army of the Dead sweaping the Pelennor, Aragorn thought he had seen it all. And then something like this happened and he found himself once again setting new standards of what was 'normal'. To Mistress Agnes' words made him clear his throat. Highest standards... indeed. "Ah... yes. Clearly."

The Captain of his Rangers provided an opportune distraction then, he could tell by the very high tone of Mistress Agnss' voice. He gave Pele Alarion a friendly nod, and was pleased to hear she would be making a honey cake. "Aha! It seems you do not only buy them, then, Captain? How lucky that I should finally get a taste of these legendary honey cakes, which you seem to present to anyone except for your king." Yes - this sounded infinitely better to him than apples.

He looked over Agnes' shoulder to the sketch the raccoons had not-so-expertly drawn. Although, considering they were raccoons... he supposed they were actually rather close to Maiar artistry level. "That looks... excellent?" he said/asked as he gave the three brothers an encouraging smile - not that they were paying him any attention whatsoever. Yet Aragorn was king to all living things of the land, not just the humans, so he gave them a genuine twinkle of his grey eyes.

Captain Alarion was sadly playing second fiddle as the raccoons started on their dish. Aragorn couldn't believe his eyes. When the little creatures started mixing the dough among the three of them, he almost wondered if he was still asleep and some funny part of his mind was making it all up. "We are supposed to.. eat... all of what they make?" he asked Agnes quietly. Even though their paws had been washed, it still looked terribly bizarre and unsanitary. The King knew that wasn't fair of him, however, and he shook his head at his own words. "We still need to give them a fair shot," he decided in the same quiet tone, more for his own sake than for the contest's organiser. "And I have to admit they seem to be going about this very methodically." He might even walk away impressed by the cooking skills of these raccoons, he thought as he watched them kneading in the butter. He would have to ask them if this was a specific skill, or a racial one.

"You three are well on your way!" he complimented the brothers. Aragorn gave them a thumbs up, not really knowing whether they would even recognize the gesture. Hopefully it did not mean something entirely different in raccoon culture!

He looked over to Pele just as she was licking a spoon. Aragorn raised an eyebrow. Were the raccoons going to be more sanitary then his own Captain? No - she exchanged the spoon, he noted. Good. He watched her add in flour, and realized he had missed a big part of her earlier preparations. When she started baking thin pancakes, Aragorn narrowed his eyes, intrigued. "Are you making cake or pancakes?" he asked, rather curious.

[Pele Alarion]

Pele - Contestant

Pele did her best not to pay too much attention to the raccoons, though she was very curious on how they would go about their cooking. She had to make sure that her own food would turn out well, and it would not if her eyes and mind were elsewhere, yet - she could not help but glance the way of the three furry brothers now and then to admire their apparent skills.

When the King spoke to her, Pele looked at him, as she deposited yet another pancake on the plate. "Well... the pancake cake, so to say," she laughed quietly in response. "The ingredients are the same, just that the shape is round instead of square and made by different means. Doesn't change the taste much." Pouring the last of the dough onto the pan she set the last layer of the mentioned pancake cake to bake.

"I wonder if your guards would not become too suspicious if I were to bring cake to you, especially if it happened more than once," she said seriously, though her eyes glinted with amusement. "They might think that I'm trying to bribe you."

With the last one done, she left the pancakes to cool off and set about mixing the filling of the cake. She poured a plentiful amount of sour cream and sugar into a bowl and started mixing it with great vigour and resisting the urge to taste the results every so often.

[Silky Gooseness]

Mistress Agnes

Agnes was sweating. Perhaps it was the heat, or the stress of the organisation - or some sort of allergic reaction to raccoons. She flapped the linen of her apron quite uselessly in an attempt to fan herself, then discreetly mopped her brow with a tea towel as she inspected the contestants’ work.

Quite to her amazement, the raccoons had become a furry whirlwind of activity as they somehow whipped up a dough and set it to rest. Apparently their neat little fingers were well suited to the task, albeit some of the bowls were quite large. Agnes had not prepared for raccoon sized utensils. Something to consider for next time. Some chittering occurred before a couple of them went off: to fetch who knows what, whilst the other went to start turning the spit. The spit dogs would be quite alarmed. Or relieved?

Pele was already making pancakes with a casual competence, their fragrance filling the air as she made light conversation with the King. Neither of them seemed to be perturbed at all. Agnes plastered a smile on her face that was half genuine and half inane reflex as she wiped her hands on her apron for the dozenth time.

“What a lovely cake mix,” she trilled, “and…” she trailed off, unsure what the raccoons had named their concoction, due to their scribbles being completely indecipherable. “Well, the heat has been turned up, so get your creations on to boil, bake, stew or roast! And if it’s something that doesn’t require constantly watching, there are some jugs of iced lemonade as refreshment.”

Pop your things onto the heat! And if you can, take a break and enjoy a drink. But mind nothing burns or bubbles over! Newcomers are still welcome, to cook or to watch.

[Pele Alarion]

Pele - Contestant

Once she had started doing things, it did not seem to require overly much time. Pele had already managed to deal with all of her baking, and pancakes - or the pancake part of her cake - just needed resting and cooling. And the filling was all but done as well.

"Iced lemonade would be perfect," she responded happily to Agnes, wanting to set her a little bit at ease. She had noticed the woman's somewhat nervous movements and supposed that it came from the organisational burden of trying to make everything work, and not have the contestants burn the whole place down in the process, no doubt.

Pouring herself a glass of minty freshness, Pele turned back to Agnes, as she took a sip. "Mmmm! This is quite good and refreshing," she expressed her praise, and watched the raccoon activities for a bit - from a reasonable distance. First of all, it would not be good manners to get into their space and make work harder for them; secondly, who knew if they wouldn't bite if she did manage to annoy them.

[Fuin Elda]

The Three Brothers - Contestants

It was not long and there were were several tart shells made and then there was the issue of trying to get a pan. The heavy iron pan was quite problematic as it weighed almost as much as the raccoons they did but with the smiles and the kind sounding words (they sounded nice and not like yelling) the three brothers worked it out eventually putting the big unwieldy thing on Bobs back while Hob and Reginald balanced it as they climbed up on to the work surface and put it on top of the hot stove that was going. Bob let out a sigh and went to snatch some food but got his paw swatted at by Reginald who told him to go wash his paws again since he'd had to be on all fours in order to get the pan up there.

Hob found a knife. Something that should without a doubt terrify most living souls but he was focused today despite the sweet wafting scent of some sort of baked item. It was quite impressive he gave only a cursory glance before he began the task of slicing up the mushrooms and leeks and mushrooms into nice diced squares. How he managed to have that much control over the knife and the vegetables really aught to be a bigger cause for concern. With bobs return they put some beef bones into the pan to brown to give the stock they'd use with the tart a good bit more flavour as it browned up first the carrots were added so that they could soften up and cook a bit as were the leeks. The mushrooms were added last and everything very quickly browned up. With a splash of water they Reginald deglazed the pan and added the tasty vegetable goodness to the tart leaving Bob to pinch a top onto it.

Hob was looking around quite manically having run out of things to slice with the knife, and was only calmed down when Reginald gave him one of the cooked beef bones to gnaw the marrow out of. With that they slipped the tart into the oven to bake and turned to the lovely piece of steak that they'd procured.

Giving the iron pan a quick salt scrub so it was clean they filled the heavy thing with butter and rosemary and garlic and set it back on the stove settling the lively hunk of meat into it only once it had all melted with a very satisfying hiss.

They had a few moments. They sat back while the steak was cooking and looked about. They watched as the other cooker? Chef? Contestant? took a drink and they seemed very excited about that. After all they were in these kitchens in a full fur coat it was quite warm a drink would be lovely and Hob had blessedly forgotten all about the knife having chewed through one entire bones worth of marrow already. They jumped down from the counter and scampered over waving their little paws at the iced lemonade. The woman that had given them the aprons seemed quite high strung. Probably could use a good beer they thought and wondered if the dwarven pub that had served them would deliver?

They'd have to get back to the steak soon but they had a few minutes at least as it was quite a thick steak so it would survive a few minutes unattended.

[Silky Gooseness]

Mistress Agnes

A moment of blessed peace! Everyone had settled down for a brief breather - Agnes herself cradled her drink gratefully in her hands, occasionally pressing the glass against her forehead. Given that she hadn’t been competing, she was uncommonly flustered. It had been getting warmer and warmer, even if the commingled scents wafting about were becoming even more toothsome. It couldn’t be long now before everything was ready!

“All right, time to move towards finishing up,” she suggested. “I’ll give you another ten to fifteen minutes to do anything else you need to do - and then we can move to plating and tasting!”

Unsure if the raccoons understood Westron - one of them was looking distinctly fatter and smugger than before; had the critter really eaten all that marrow himself?! she made a little gesture back towards the cooking station before shooting a smile at Aragorn (@Arnyn). Really, despite all her doubts, they had been startlingly well behaved, although of course, there was still time for any number of things to go wrong…

[Pele Alarion]

Pele - Contestant

Pele stood around, sipping her lemonade, when the raccoons rushed over too and waved around. The Gondorian looked at them for a few moments, and then it dawned on her: "Ohhh. You must be thirsty! Yes?" She chose a bowl instead of a cup and poured lemonade in it before placing it down for raccoons to reach.

"Aye! Finishing up it is!" she then responded to Agnes' urging and returned to her work station. The pancakes had cooled enough, so she began putting the cake together, adding plentiful layers of cream and some cherry jam in between until it formed a rather high cake with many layers. She then took great care to cover the whole cake with a coating of left-over cream and then set about decorating the top with fresh strawberries, blueberries and cherries that she found to be available. With a thin trickle of honey she created weaving lines in between berries to form an intricate drawing.

Taking a step back from her work, Pele looked it over, and then nodded. "This should do," she said, mostly to herself.

[Arnyn]

King Aragorn Elessar
Judge

He had seen no shortage of unbelievable things - the raccoons cooking tarts and steak was just the last one. They seemed rather skilled, and part of Aragorn wondered whether his own human cook shouldn't be upping their game.

Meanwhile, mistress Agnes was looking more and more flustered. Her face seemed perpetually red and while he didn't spot any actual drops of sweat running down her forehead, there may as well have been.

He had taken a glass of the lemonade as well, and gave the contest's organizer an encouraging smile. "Mistress Agnes, are you quite alright? Do you need something to eat? Another drink? Some space, perhaps?" He was somewhat concerned that the woman might faint.

[Silky Gooseness]

Mistress Agnes

“Thank you, my King! In fact, I’ll have something to eat directly, as the contestants are just finishing up!” said Agnes brightly, taking a sip from her drink, which had really refreshed her. “Contestants, please bring forth your plates for the FINAL JUDGMENT! King Aragorn, please stand ready to taste and judge!”

Finishing up now!! One more day to get any last posts in @Pele Alarion @Fuin Elda then @Arnyn and I will be judging!

[Pele Alarion]

Pele - Contestant

It seemed that the cake she had so carefully formed would not last long in one piece - surely she could not just bring the whole thing and let the King figure out how to eat it. So Pele proceeded to cut the cake neatly into eight smaller pieces, making sure each had at least a few various berries on top, and then adding more berries as she placed each piece on a plate to hand out. The King and Agnes would surely get one piece each, and she made sure to present some to the raccoons, leave one for herself, supposing that extra pieces would probably go to judges either way.

"Here you go!" she said happily, bringing the two plates with cake over to Aragorn and Agnes. "Though perhaps you would prefer to eat the main dish first?" she glanced over at the raccoons and what looked like a masterfully created food item.

[Arnyn]

King Aragorn Elessar
Judge

It was a relief to hear that mistress Agnes was feeling better than she had looked just a moment ago. Indeed, the lemonade seemed to have perked her right up. With a curious glance, he eyes his own glass. There was nothing... peculiar in this, was there?

You never knew these days who spiked what!

Yet, he tasted nothing out of the ordinary, and the warmth of the cooking around him made him down his serving of lemonade rather happily - with only the tiniest bit of concern nipping at the edges of his mind.

When Captain Alarion brought him her cake, topped with different kinds of berries and smelling and looking rather delicious, Aragorn had to exercise some self-control to graciously accept the serving instead of eagerly snatching it from her hands. "Thank you, Pele," he managed in a very kingly manner. At her suggestion that he might eat the raccoon's creation first, he looked over at their station. "Are you fellows done, or do you need a few more minutes?" In such a case, he would rather not let the cake get cold.

[Fuin Elda]

The Three Brothers - Contestants (Late I know but I wanted to finish up)

They scrambled back to their station flipped the steak one holding the pan the other basting it with the butter while Reginald headed for the tart pulling it out of the oven. The pastery was flakey and golden and it was beautiful looking. He gently settled it onto the plate and went to fetch the quail egg to fry and put on top of it. As he was doing that Hob and Bob finished with the steak and set it aside to give it a chance to rest before the began deglazing the pan with some brandy and pepper corns. By the time that had thickened they could hear one of the people that had been standing around asking them a question. To which Reginald looked over at him and realized that everyone else was finished. He took a quick glance at what was left let out a few impatient squeaks at his brothers and held up a clawed finger asking for a moment more.

"Get the steak on the plate beside the tart and glaze it don't get any of that glaze on my tart though!" With that he found a very small cast iron pan and put it on the heat, fortunately quail eggs cook fast and as he was cooking the tiny delicate egg his brothers were able to put the juicy grilled steak onto the plate sprinkle a few crushed red and white peppercorns on it and garnish it with a sprig of fresh rosemary. All right before Reginald rushed over with the tiny sunny side up quail egg which slid onto the tart making a rather stunning dish.

The three brothers let out a sigh and all three of them pushed the plate forward to King Aragorn and the highly stressed lady and clasped their little paws before them if anything looking exceptionally pleased with themselves (mostly for not having eaten the food they had been making and secondly for being mostly on time with the cooking of it). They were quite certain it would be well enjoyed even if it did not win.

[Silky Gooseness]

Mistress Agnes

It was quite incredible. The contest was almost over - and nothing had caught fire - even though 75% of the contestants were raccoons. A well-organised team of raccoons, in fact, who were burbling hastily away to each other as they hasted to deliver their dish. And what a miraculous dish it was: a golden egg perched neatly on top of a crisp tart waiting next to a steak swimming in a rich pepper sauce. Apparently, tiny raccoon hands made for neat pastry work as well as mischief. Not to be outdone, their human contestant Pele had produced a most heavenly-smelling cake, topped with fresh berries, cream and honey and still gloriously warm from the oven. Agnes’ mouth started watering - she patted delicately at her lips with her handkerchief before beaming and setting down her lemonade. Now came the best part - the tasting!

Nodding to the King to dig in, she delicately cut a tiny piece of everything from the raccoons’ main course plate and first took a forkful of the steak. It had rested just long enough and was rich with flavour, if slightly bluer than to Agnes’ liking (in many respects she was a very boring woman). Still, she could barely stop herself from cutting another piece before she moved hastily onto the tart, before the delicious juices from the steak threatened to make the pastry soggy.

The quails eggs were surprisingly perfect. “I would’ve thought raccoons would prefer them raw” she said to nobody in particular before savouring the completely exquisite pastry. They could probably start some sort of cafe, assuming the King created a bylaw to allow raccoons to own shopfronts. “Completely delicious”. Managing some self control, she set down the plate before diving fork-first into a slice of Pele’s cake. It was absolutely wonderful - the tart berries were a perfect sharpness against the rich cream and the light sweetness of the honey, whilst the sponge itself was light and somehow filling. “Mmmf, thmfd immfff imcreggible,” she managed to sigh around her mouthful. She beckoned to the king and the contestants to taste each others’ food.

[Arnyn]

King Aragorn Elessar
Judge

The end result brought forward by the raccoons... well. It looked better than some of the food he got at the citadel! Definitely better than what he'd been able to make for himself during his many years as a wanderer, Aragorn thought.

He followed Agnes' suggestion and started with the steak. It all but melted in his mouth and it was difficult not to let his eyes roll back - though he managed to keep a kingly countenance instead. The King had as second bite, combining it with a bit of egg, and then a third bite, before trying the tart. Well, I'll be... he thought, eying the raccoons with a newfound wonder.

With a muted grin in response to Mistress Agnes' fumbled words, he moved on to Pele's creation. She had given them each a separate plate, so there was no need to fuss over eating too much. And Aragorn rather gladly finished his own plate, without any need for encouragement.

The contestants may have been few, but by Varda - were they SKILLED!

He looked pensively at the raccoons, Pele, and then at Mistress Agnes. "Do we deliberate in private, Mistress Agnes? Or do we render our verdict separately, in front of our contestants?"

[Pele Alarion]

Pele, the Contestant

"I think there is an additional piece or two left over, if anyone wants," Pele said, watching the humans eat the cake contentedly and having provided raccoons with their share for tasting. Then she carefully picked a little bit of everything from what the furry contestants had made and found it incredibly delicious.

She took the time to enjoy the small morsel she had dared to snatch, and then said to the King: "Perhaps you should consider hiring the raccoons as your cooks, m'lord? I am sure they'd spoil you with the best foods!"

[Silky Gooseness]

Mistress Agnes

“Let’s just have a little walk and a ponder together,” Agnes suggested thoughtfully, licking her fingers unashamedly before dusting them on her apron before strolling over to the King, one eye still on the plates. She felt she still had room for maybe just a little more?

Aragorn and Agnes went into a small huddle for a while, involving some whispering and waving of forks. “Sorry, milord,” mumbled Agnes, managing narrowly not to tangle the tines in her King’s beard. It was rather tempting to imagine that she would need to eat both of the plates entirely in order to decide… but finally…

“We have reached a decision,” she announced, smiling through a haze of fat and sugar induced endorphins. “My dear lord Aragorn, would you care to announce our winner?”

Whether or not this would lead to a job opportunity for raccoons was an entirely different and rather startling supposition. Then again, everyone’s expectations had been rather confounded recently.

@Arnyn

[Arnyn]

King Aragorn Elessar
Judge

A dance of forks was indeed executed, with far less precision than Aragorn would have deemed preferable, and he was relieved that the utensils involved were forks rather than knives - although spoons would have been better still as they would have presented less of a threat to his beard. Yet no disaster took place, and it was therefore easy to accept Mistress Agness' mumbled apology.

"Indeed, we have!" Aragorn agreed with the woman in charge. "And indeed I would."

"May I present, the win of this cookery contest goes to..."

"The Three Raccoons!"

He wondered whether he should employ them in the kitchens of the citadel for a day a week, so they could teach the cooks a thing or two.

[Pele Alarion]

Pele, the Contestant

While Agnes and Aragorn went off to discuss the matter of winners, Pele decided to snatch another bit of the meal prepared by the raccoons while there was still any available. She assumed it would be gone soon enough since it was tasty. When the judges of the competition were ready to announce the results, Pele took a few steps away from any food items and stood with her hands clasped behind her back, still holding on to a fork, as she listened.

"Ah, well deserved!" she called out her approval and raised her fork in the air to salute the raccoons. It was no wonder that they had won - the food was delicious; besides... it was the most unusual occurrence to see the nimble animals cook in this way - or in any way at all. And, should the King decide to employ them, Pele wondered if she could use her own position to somehow get a hold on the delicious meals prepared.

[Fuin Elda]

The Three Raccoons

They had sat waiting as patiently as three raccoons could sitting on their back haunches their front paws clasped together as the two humans that had not been cooking dug into their food. They were saying things, what they were saying they couldn't entirely understand but from the looks on their faces it was good. Hob, Bob and Reginald the Third were absolutely certain that there were good things being said there was a plate of cake as well and they were even offered a few slices and they blinked a bit confused before realizing that they were in fact being given food by a human! By the Valar these were weird times, they did their best to eat neatly while the judges were about though they were not so skilled at forks and after one stab in the nose while Reginald was trying to show off he joined Hob and Bob in eating with his hands.

For a bit the two judges disapeared and they glanced around gobbling down the offered cake from Pele happy to eat something that they'd not needed to make themselves! They didn't want it to be taken away because they'd lost and were being shooed out of the city it was a very very tasty cake. 'Excellent' They chittered in raccoon speach towards Pele as their little faces very quickly became covered in berry juice and cream when suddenly the judges came back. 'QUICK clean up!' And soon they were scrubbing their faces with their tiny impromptu aprons that they'd been given by Mistress Agnes and tried to sit politely waiting for the winner though it was a lot harder now that there was a good helping of sugar in them.

"The Three Raccoons." This meant nothing to them until the other contestant raised a fork towards them and they seemed to realize what had happened they bounced around happily chittering running over and hugging and play fighting with each other in celebration before calming down enough to thank Pele for the wonderful cake that she had been an excellent opponent in raccoon chittering.

Perhaps now they'd be able to stay in the city and cook more? Wouldn't that be a sight.