[imgright]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgright] Dishes Made: 1

Well. If she was no good with pelts, and she was no good with feathers, and she was a poor fighter, then she had to do something. Other kin had taken the time to gather herbs and mushrooms and return them to Bash, but no kin had yet taken the time to offer food to the buck-- and she understood that he was something of a gourmand... or something of a glutton, at least.

She was determined that this time, she'd do something good. If it took her thirty tries, so be it! But she'd offer him something of worth.

Her first dish to offer was made from the bird that she'd plucked haphazardly. While she was no expert at getting plumage that looked pleasing for aesthetic uses, she was a deft hoof at preparing meat, and once the thing had been plucked, she was able to take the time to gut the thing, remove its head and feet, and roll it in some fragrant grasses, before bringing the thing to Rise and Shine.

They were a kind and happy group, happy enough to let her use their salamander, as she'd done several times before-- but this time,  she took the time to also spread out some shelled chestnuts and mushrooms as well on the stone, making sure they were warm and fragrant before shoving them into the partially-cooked bird. She carefully moved the chicken, taking the time to make sure its skin was crispy and fire-licked before bringing it back for inspection.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 16, total 16[/blockquote]

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Dishes Made: 2

Well, the stuffed chicken had been successful, with juicy meat and crispy skin, and a stuffing that she'd always liked fairly well. Bash walked away pleased from her meal, but something about his reception failed to give her the satisfaction she'd craved. If he wasn't one for chicken, then, let her try something else! It took some doing to find a number of chestnuts, and a little bartering to exchange it for something of worth. A turtle shell of chestnuts traded for a mere couple eggs, but two eggs were enough for the doe-- she had them tucked away for her and started stalking out, starting to look around until she found what she needed.

A lizard! It would only be a scarce few mouthfuls of meat, but the bones were slender and crunched deliciously, and many kin found them to be some of the most pleasing of creatures to eat, especially when cooked. It had burrowed its way to hibernate as lizards did, and it was a simple matter of unearthing it then simply crushing its neck, leading it to a simple, painless demise-- and when she brought it back, she was able to take the time to spit it properly.

Crushed up remnants and crumbs of baked foods, as well as little extra bits of berries and other things cut up, were easy enough to gather, and by cracking a couple of eggs into it and rolling the lizard in the wet, then the dry, she was ale to batter it up. She brought it to Bash still sizzling, covered in fragments of nuts, seeds, berries and cured meats-- whatever crumbs she'd been able to beg or take advantage of.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 14, total 14[/blockquote]

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Dishes made: 3

Well. The lizard had also been pleasing to Bash, but it hadn't been pleasing enough. At least, not in Worthy's eye-- not to help absolve her of the past failures she'd suffered, nor to salve her pride. She'd feed this buck until he was stuffed, offering bite after bite of strange delicacies until something sparked joy in him, and she could then rest.

This time, she took the second egg she'd bartered for, and very carefully robed it in clay. She took the time to make the layer thick enough to hold in her mouth, carefully setting her teeth into it and starting to shake. She was very, very careful not to put too much pressure on the shell that it would break-- and the clay helped keep it sturdy, while she shook, and shook, and shook and shook the egg, until her neck was tired.

She took several moments to rest and stretch before she repeated the process, not just once, nor twice or thrice, but a full ten times in all, to make sure that the thick-shelled egg was ready to be boiled. When it was time, it was a simple matter of gently disrobing it from its clay, then she simply dropped it in water, carefully inspecting it while it boiled in a turtle shell, while the water bubbled around.

She brought the egg to bash, clearly pleased with herself. "A golden egg- you won't find a yolk in it, but the whole thing should be creamy and thick."

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 17, total 17[/blockquote]

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Dishes made: 4

The chicken was a hit, the grilled lizard had been well-received, and the golden egg had been deemed delicious-- but still, Worthy was doubtful. The doe wanted nothing more than to give something back to the guild-- they'd given her something to strive towards, and she craved nothing more now than the taste of victory! She'd given several meaty dishes a try, so this time, she opted for something different, walking down to the edge of the river and keeping an eye out. She'd take a fish if the opportunity made itself available, but her target were cattails, now too late in the season to really be enjoyed for the flour made from their heads, but boasting delicious roots nevertheless. Once she found a good cluster, she dragged and dug them up, then used the frigid water to rinse them clean, bringing them back to Rise and Shine to begin her task.

She took a simple cutting rock, scraping the skins off of the root and cutting off the undesirable ends, leaving her with only the delicious, tender centers-- and she rolled these in crushed salt, then enrobed them in a thick leaf, before tucking them gently into clay and getting help luring the cooking salamander to lay on top of it with some fresh wood to burn.

It took some time for them to cook, given they were being heated from above instead of below, but when she eventually plucked the clay parcel and brought it back, the roots inside were tender, hot, and flavourful.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 11, total 11[/blockquote]

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Dishes made: 5

Well, there was no accounting for taste. The shoots had been accepted genially, but when she'd pressed for a response, Worthy was left less than warmed by the praise she was given. She'd have to try again! She returned to the river she'd been at, looking for some of the places she'd mentally earmarked, before finding a spot in the mud. She shoved a leg down there, pulling it back when she felt the promising bite- a rather large catfish came up with a struggle, but she flung it on the ground, away from the water, before retreating, shivering, as it gasped out its last.

Once she was sure it was well and truly done for, she brought it back to the water, cleaning it-- and herself, before retreating to the safety of the cooking tribe.

It was an ugly thing, but easy enough to spear through with some help-- and she was able to put the spit onto a couple of sturdily-branched pieces of wood. A good spit had a bend at the thick end, leaving an easy way to nudge it in rotation, ensuring that the animal's flesh cooked evenly, all the way through to the very center.

This time, her catch was big enough that she needed help to get it back to Bash. "How about whole-roasted catfish?" she offered to him. "Try a bite-- it's one of my favourite things in the world." Maybe sweet words would help with his reception-- or maybe the honey she'd gotten help brushing onto its crispy skin near the end of the cooking would. Either way!

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

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Dishes made: 6

Goodness gracious. She'd offered samples of all type of dishes so far-- and a feast certainly wouldn't be a feast without so much food that one could gorge onesself silly just by taking a few bites here or there. Worthy was going to make a feast happen, one way or another, and by the end of it, she'd have something worthy of Bash's praise-- possibly even a compliment of such a high order he'd beg her for the secret of making it! This time, she took her time to think of what she'd do next while she made even more of the golden eggs and soft, wrapped cattail roots while she considered her angle of attack.

This time, she found her way to a stand of bamboo, making certain to dig around to find several dormant shoots, and digging up some of the smaller stalks as well. She brought them back, stripping them down, then put them in salted water to boil-- but she didn't stop here. Mushrooms were added to the turtle shell she'd been given, then some softened nuts. She let them boil for a time, until the broth began to cloud up and the scent was too delicious to ignore.

She put another shell on top of this one, using culinary clay to seal the whole thing before getting help with someone to bring the giant container back. "Bamboo shoot soup, with mushrooms and pine nuts," she proudly declared. Would this one be the one? She hoped.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 18, total 18[/blockquote]

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Dishes made: 7

Well. While it hadn't been the roaring success she'd hoped for, every feast required a soup, so her pride was salved by the knowing. Worthy took the time to walk the second turtle shell back to Rise and Shine, humming thoughtfully at what she'd offered so far. She'd offered roasted chicken, stuffed with roasted mushrooms and chestnut. She'd given him a lizard breaded with the crumbles of extra food, tasty and crispy. She'd shook eggs such that the yolk and white ran together, pale golden and scrambled, before boiling them for him. She'd given him shoots, and catfish, and a bamboo soup... but what this feast needed now was something fermented.

She was in a fix. Most things that required fermentation took quite some time to do their thing-- but she'd heard tell of strong, pungent flavours made by overbrewing alcohol-- an acidic taste especially common to the over-proofing of grapes. Vinegar! She could offer something pickled! Perhaps-- again-- bamboo? She didn't know many other things she could forage for, but the bamboo grove offered more tender stem and shoot that she was able to dig up, clean, and cut into small pieces, suitable to be dipped in a pickling brine. This went into a shell, and was immediately sealed up, to be brought back and tucked away for some time. "This one will be best if we wait until the feast to try it," she said, "but I brought a small sample in this clamshell, just so you could taste it. It's pickled bamboo, and someone offered a little ginger to help enhance the taste."

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 10, total 10[/blockquote]

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Dishes made: 7

Several meats, a root dish, a soup, and now something pickled. While Worthy couldn't ferment something by herself, she could make something _out_ of a fermented dish, especially something that was strong and clear. It took some time, seeking and sampling, to get someone willing to give her not one, but two full, sloshing stumps of something strong-- and when she uncasked the things, the doe practically choked. It was strong stuff, not foul but also not full, so the two wax-capped logs had clearly lost some of their volume to the water leaching out. Still, it was more than enough to put into a larger container, then to mash some late-season berries into, and some slices of apple.

She took sips as she went, sweetening it with honey here, and using boiled spice-juice made with apples there until the fruity concoction came together, sweet and heady. She hiccoughed proudly at herself, proud, perhaps, at last.

When it came time to transport it, however, she was at a loss--until, of course, someone asked if she needed help. An agreement was reached- she'd have two strong kin help tote it in exchange for what was left over in her sampling shell, and perhaps a taste of this feast she kept returning to them to work on.

When she made it back, she called out to Bash. "I made a fruit bowl!" she said proudly, when she brought it forward. "A... special fruit bowl. Very tasty-- not for the foals, though, if you know what I mean." She winked for emphasis, oblivious to the fact that her eye-guard scale meant nobody would be able to tell she'd done so.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 7, total 7[/blockquote]

(ffff, that last was the 8th, not the 7th)

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Dishes made: 9

After nursing a short hangover, Worthy was back to it. Either she'd find something to win, or she'd run out of time to try-- eventually, they'd want to start feasting on her offered prizes, and the doe certainly wouldn't want to miss that.

She took the time to go to a late cherry grove, taking the time to pluck every single reddened berry she could find. She'd offered several things cooked and fancy, but sometimes simplicity was best-- a couple bags full of cherries would be a pleasant treat for just about anyone, after all-- and they'd likely provide a delicate break from all of the heavier or cooked foods she'd offered.

Certainly, it would be easier to not worry about heating and cooking everything-- but as soon as she was done with the cherries, she found a berry bush to add some things to, taking the time to add a generous amount before continuing onto an apple tree which still had small, sour apples ready to be plucked. They went into her bags, too, before she continued her way towards the guild, stopping here and there as she found more delicious foraged fruits to add to her saddle bags.

"I was thinking--" she explained to Bash as she carefully sidled her way out of the bags she'd had astride her back-- "every good feast needs something easy and light to eat, right? So I got fruits-- as fresh as I could. Lots of them!" She smiled brightly. "Please, try some."

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]

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Dishes made: 10

Meats, fruits, cooked dishes, soup, some roasted roots, and seeds. There was a growing bounty in the feast that Worthy had put together, and the doe was pleased by the selection she'd made available to the guild and their affiliates. Maybe, if this battle thing turned out not to work for her, she could retire to being a cook. Certainly, the crew at Rise and Shine were happy enough to let her do her thing, and they had a feast of their own planned, too.... Perish the thought! She banished the idea of giving up, turning to look at what was available, before turning to continue.

She settled on trying once again to forage, this time for plentiful nuts and seeds. Some kin preferred sweeter treats, after all, and others enjoyed the fatty savoury flavour of meat, whereas others found that seeds and nuts had a richness no other foods could compare to. Once she had enough, and once she'd dispensed with their shells, she gave the assortment she'd gathered a quick roast, a bit of salt, and then she got to work. She cleaned off a hoof, then began to crush the nuts, carefully working them down into meal, then grinding the meal into paste, until the nuts were a rich, decadently chunky butter of all manner of seed available.

This material was then carefully doled out into the more intact shells of the nuts she'd cracked, until she had a bunch of sturdy shells with a delicious paste to lick out. She offered one to Bash as she returned. "It's Seed and nut butter," she said. "It can be enjoyed alone as a treat, or used to make other food tasty."

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 15, total 15[/blockquote]

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Dishes made: 11

There was a winter crop, known for its pungent taste. She had been given instructions on where to find some-- they had long, ruffly leaves, hairless and unlobed, and produced a root with a flavour known to be strong and unique. A paste of this 'horseradish' was popularly offered as an accompanyment for roasted meat and fish, and could be added to the feast to offer an unforgettable flavour. The leaves, too, were edible, so when the doe finally found the plant, she would be able to reserve those, and use them for another dish entirely. Her labous would be worth twice as much, then!

It took her some time to dig up the white, tapered roots, and she only took a few-- three plants and their leaves, as well as several leaves from a number of the other plants in this natural, growing larder someone had taken the time to create. Once she had what she need, she returned to that bend in the river to wash her prizes, then chopped and mashed the radish with a little ginger and some more pilfered vinegar until she had a paste that would spread handily.

She put this into a half a husked coconut shell, cleared of its meat, and added another fragment of shell so small amounts could be carefully doled out onto the meats offered to her, before returning to the Guild's questing booth.

"I've gotten another garnish-- this one's to eat with the meat. It's a spicy root called horseradish! Try just a tiny bit at first-- it's potent."

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 13, total 13[/blockquote]

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Dishes made: 12

There was soup, there were fruits, garnishes and meat and something sweet to drink. But what the spread for the feast was presently lacking was a salad-- an offering of various mixed greens all pleasant to eat. Worthy had gathered one species of leaf, naturally a little bitter and peppery, but a little foraging would surely provide more to add to the winter spread-- she just needed to keep her eyes out.

Even in the cool of winter, there were some sturdier, harder plants sprouting, and it was possible to steal a bud here, an inner leaf there, to continually work to stuff her bag fuller as she went. It was a soothing enough task, and the forage would provide something lighter to those eating at the feast... and something lighter to sample after all of the rich and heavy things she'd offered Bash already.

The trick to a good salad was making sure there was enough variety... and Worthy had one trick she particularly enjoyed employing for her salads. She took the time to retrace her steps to a honey hive she'd seen in the past, breaking in to make out with some honey and- more importantly-- some grubs-- before fleeing the bees that inevitably grumbled their way into activity even in winter to chase her off.

When she was safe, she began extracting the goodness from the combs, dropping honey and grubs alike into the mix, and using a stick to give it all a good stir. She moved to drag it back to the quest, stopping here or there when she noticed a choice grub to add to the sweetened, sticky leaves- they'd stick and also provide a delicious, meaty pop!

"Bug salad," she explained to Bash when she scraped the stuff from its bag onto a large slab of bark. "It's better than it looks."

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 15, total 15[/blockquote]

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Dishes made: 13

Hmm. Something was still missing. Something sweet, for certain, and then... probably some more sumptuous meats, for later. But to start off, it was time for a dessert. Fresh fruits were a good start, and a sweet salad was another nice idea, but something cooked and wonderful was important to try. It wasn't that difficult to retrace her steps back to the beehive she'd found, and from there it was easy enough to pilfer another large section of comb. After that, it was a quick trip to Rise and Shine to start draining the comb, marking her bowl with a circle dragged around it and an X to indicate that it was not to be touched.

After that, she wandered back to the grove of fruit-bearing trees, until she found her way to the larger apple trees. There were many on the ground, spoiled and soft, but the top of the tree was still fairly laden....

She cleared the ground quickly enough, then gently propped her hind legs against the tree, and started to shove backwards, shaking the sturdy trunk enough to start to knock the ripest apples off. They clattered down around her, easily picked back up and dropped into a sack, then dragged back to be washed, cleaned, cored and have their centers filled with honey before corking them with a rather large nut. She put these into a turtle shell and cooked them until they were soft, then gently put them back in their sack, bringing them to Bash with a smile.

"Sweet roasted apples?" she offered.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 7, total 7[/blockquote]

[imgright]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgright] Well. That was... most of a feast finished off, at least. But before she could continue, she needed some mushrooms. A lot of mushrooms.

[blockquote]Rolled 6d6 : 2, 4, 3, 2, 3, 6, total 20[/blockquote]