50th Recipe [Text, Goldenrod City]

[cyan_maid]

So, first of all, I want to emphasize how grateful I am to be back in a time and place with hot showers, and wish everyone luck in that upcoming tournament thing - it looks intriguing, but it's a bit too close to the baking busy season for me to give it
a serious entry. Yes, there is a baking busy season, it is a real thing and I take it very seriously, and if I'm going to be selling at the Goldenrod Market this year, I need to plan accordingly.

But in preparing for that, I came to think about the prevalent flavors of the encroaching season...namely, pumpkin spice. I don't dislike it myself, but I don't know if it really deserves all the hype it gets? You know, the...very oddly dedicated fanbase who line up at Starmiebucks from the moment the menu updates for the largest drink sizes of pumpkin spice whatever they can obtain? Or when Christmas comes around, everything gets flooded with peppermint - again, it isn't something I dislike, but why is it the prime holiday flavor when there's so many others?

I suppose I'm just wondering if there are flavors people like that come out around autumn and winter that don't get as much appreciation that people would want to see more of. There's apples, of course, and caramel, but what else? I'd love to hear your opinions.

Comments

[text]

[soupguy]

Oh! Baking, that's nice. I've always thought nuts like almonds and pecans are good flavors for colder months, and they're great in baked goods. Especially pecans... Very cozy.

What's the Goldenrod Market, though?

[Text]

[cyan_maid]

Oh, they have a holiday market in the winter! You can visit and buy things that aren't usually available during the rest of the year, and find a lot of handmade things and unique things to give as gifts for whatever holiday you might be celebrating in the wintertime.
It's probably my favorite thing about living in Goldenrod, is going to that market every year, and last year they started letting folks like us rent out stalls to sell things.
I couldn't do it last year, but I want to definitely do it this year.

But nuts! Pecans for sure are homey and cozy. Maybe almonds as well? I'm going to write that down.

[soupguy]

That sounds like a good time! I hope my groupa nd I can be there for it, too. And I'm glad I could help. For the almonds, if you make a cream with them and put it in some kind of pastry... That's something I've had a lot of success with.

[cyan_maid]

Almond cream really is quite lovely, especially in croissants or croissant-adjacent pastries. Do you make things like that a lot?

[soupguy]

Yeah, sort of a lot. I try not to make sweet things too often, you know, to keep everyone healthy. But my friends really like their desserts.

[cyan_maid]

They are very tempting, it's true. But I admire that you take the initiative to know the proper limits to just how many sweets someone ought to eat in a short span of time.
At the very least there are many, many different items you can bake that can also be healthy, or at least more nutritious than sugary treats, or else I'd be sorely limited in my choice of hobbies.

[soupguy]

Well, someone's got to look out for my friends about this stuff. They're not the kind of people who'd learn about it on the their own, they just like what tastes good.

But you're right! There's so many things you can bake. Do you have any recipes that you've made here to recommend?

[cyan_maid]

Oh! I have a veritable repertoire of recipes I could share - what kind of things specifically are you thinking of baking? Are there any flavors or ingredients you especially want to work with?

[soupguy]

Well, I like to cook with fresh vegetables. Fruits are good, too! But I think the most important thing is that the food be filling. I cook for the people I'm traveling with, and they work hard. It builds up their appetites.

Oh! And foods that aren't too messy would be great. Things you can eat with your hands without it getting everywhere?

[cyan_maid]

Oh, then maybe you'd like to make some hand pies? You can make them with meat and vegetables inside and they're quite filling!

[soupguy]

I think that would be perfect, thank you. I'd love to try making some vegetable ones. They sound great for traveling.

[cyan_maid]

Then I best break out the cookbooks and make note of potential candidates! It shouldn't be hard to go get them scanned or take pictures as needed and send them over once I've collected enough, or I could just type them out - is that alright with you?

[soupguy]

Yeah, that's good, thank you! If you want, I can let you know how the recipes come out, too?

[cyan_maid]

I would like that very much actually, thank you!