A small tasty excerpt from the third adventure...
Below decks smelled of polished wood with a hint of wet dog. A peculiar mix that was actually quite pleasant on the nose. At the bottom of the open timber stairs there was a corridor with several carved wooden doors leading off to either side. One door to starboard (the right side as Elannah remembered it) was open and inside was a long room that appeared to be the galley with a dining room attached to it. Of course at sea dining rooms were called mess rooms, according to her father, but he had never explained why. Maybe when the ship rolled too much it was a natural consequence of the moving meals.
Several hotplates were nestled in the counter along the back of the room, surrounded by bleached wooden worktops. Under the hotplates was a large oven with a glass door. Elannah could see some bread baking and a warm yeasty smell enveloped them. She loved the smell of fresh bread. It tasted good too, with a small smear of butter. Above the hotplates were all manner of copper pots and pans swung gently from hooks suspended from the ceiling (or the 'deck head' as her father would call it).
Fips was now wearing a chef's hat cocked to one side, covering his left ear. He was also wearing an apron on of crisp clean white. He looked every part of a cordon bleu chef in his immaculate kitchen.
"So what I suggest is that we each cook our favourite dishes. Let's have a feast." Fips's tongue licked the end of his doggie nose. Everyone else murmured their liking for the idea and there was a general lip smacking noise of agreement.
“I like sausages too.” Elannah shared, “Are you making the ones with the tasty herbs in them?” She asked Fips.
“Yes. Not too many herbs but enough to give them that extra subtle flavour. That ‘je ne c’est quoi’ as the French say.” He winked at her.
“I think some tasty raw carrot will go very well with my dinosaurs.” Sam told Tweezel. “Would you like some of my dinosaurs?”
“I have never eaten ‘dinosaurs’, but will give them a try.” Tweezel giggled in that high pitched way she had. “I am looking forward to the pancakes and maple syrup, I might even dip my carrots in the syrup too.” She licked her lips to stop any drips from her mouth which was watering from the thought of all the delicious flavours.”
“Maple syrup goes well with ice cream too.” Chish added, “Gives it an extra sweetness that compliments the creaminess.”
“Everyone can share any of the dishes. There will be plenty.” Fips assured them. "Right. We will need to make a portion of pancakes covered in rich and tasty maple syrup, some extra yummy chocolate chip mint ice cream, a batch of the best fresh raw peeled carrots, orange and not yellow or purple, a side plate stuffed with meaty chipolata sausages and finally a herd of deliciously dangerous dinosaurs."
"Sounds absolutely scrumptious." Elannah’s mouth was watering alarmingly in anticipation. “A real dream feast.”
"Okay everyone, let's set to it." With that, Fips began to organise them all. The galley quickly filled with the happy sounds of the friends laughing and joking. Pots, pans, and assorted other culinary tools rattled together as they prepared their favourite dishes. In no time at all the dream feast came together.
From the oven came the side of sausages. Calling it a side did it an injustice. Elannah thought, a chipolatas mountain was a much more accurate description. They smelled all herby and succulent. She couldn't wait to try one, or three, of them. Fips had made a very good choice for his favourite dish.
Sam grinned and bared his teeth in a roar as his herd of assorted dinosaurs trooped out of the oven. They were lined up on a plate in monstrous style. Lounging Stegosauruses with bladed backs lent against some two legged fierce looking T'rex, and a family of three horned Triceratops stood proudly beside the bunch of bulbous Brontosaurus. All the dinosaurs had golden breadcrumb coats that glistened with a light sheen of butter. They had that lightly crusty look that promised a real crunchy sensation. Delicious stuff. Sam's mouth filled with water too, which one will I eat first?
A bowl full of orange, sweetly smelling carrots had been peeled and cut into shapes. They lay side by side ready to be devoured by hungry mouths. Tweezel sniffed delightedly at the vegetables and sighed happily to herself.
The 'hand and paw' made Ice Cream was taken out of the freezer where it had been put to set. Now it had a wispy haze of minty mist rising from its vivid green surface. Dark brown clusters of sensational chocolate poked up from below, promising a mine full of delicious treats to those that took a mouthful of this dish. Chish licked her lips and panting in anticipation.
The pile of pancakes reached half way up to the ceiling (or deck head Elannah thought of the nautical word) and a large jug of sweet smelling maple syrup was ready to pour over every pancake. They looked simply fantastic, giving off an aroma of a wonderful Sunday morning breakfast. “Flantastical stuff”, Elannah quipped with a cheeky grin.
Once all the dishes were laid out on the mess room table (why seafarers had to change the names of everything, Elannah could not understand, a dining room is a dining room after all), everyone's thoughts turned to sampling the extraordinary banquet that lay before them.
Suddenly the boat seemed to lurch. Right before their eyes the most peculiar sights began to form. The side of sausages all stood upright and began to do a conga dance across the table top to the sound of "Let's all chipolata, let's all chipolata, dah-narh-narh-narh, dah-narh-narh-narh… " As the sausages passed the bowl of ice cream, it too came alive. Chocolate trees began to sprout up. The trees grew quickly and were soon covered in bright green mint leaves. The air became thick with the smell of wonderfully chocolaty minty freshness.
The carrots started to roll around in their bowl. Little orange and black honey bees appeared, flying around the room. Some of the bees headed for the mint trees looking for flowers, attracted by the sweet minty freshness. Another buzzed passed Tweezel's ear, she ducked quickly out of its way.
Then a "ROAR" from one of the T'rex split the air. A fight erupted from the plate full of dinosaurs. The T’rex and Stegosaurus attacked the Triceratops and Brontosaurus. In the mayhem and destruction that followed one surprised and frightened Brontosaurus ran full tilt into the jug full of maple syrup. It wobbled and started to bubble, spitting sticky sweet syrup all over everything in the room.
Not to be outdone, the tower of pancakes erupted like a giant volcano. The majority of them sticking to the ceiling. All in all, the room truly was soon a mess. Everyone just looked at each other in sheer and utter bemusement.
"What in … ?" Elannah began.
"Oh dear, I should have known!" Fips was agitated as he looked around at his normally sparkling clean and tidy galley. "This is a residual effect of the presence of the night-mares and night-stallions. At least we had both types of seahorse or things might be quite a lot worse." Fips looked even more alarmed about what would have happened if the night-stallions had not been there. "They always end up causing the wildest of dreams with their untamed, runaway imagination, especially in the Sea of Dreams. " He told himself quietly.
As suddenly as it had started the rampage of the feast stopped. The Dinosaurs all keeled over and lay still. The flying bees dropped out of the air, landing all over the galley. The pancakes drooped and the syrup jug stopped spitting stickiness everywhere.
Sam looked around the galley in astonishment. "What a complete mess. It's a disaster zone. Worse than after my last birthday party… just." Sam added after a moment’s consideration.
By Sean Noonan
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