Peanut Butter Sandwiches
& Banoffee Pie
Hey guys, I meant to post this almost a year ago, guess I got sidetracked.Anyway, just a piece of Charlie&Claire fluff based around the time people found out about the hatch, also inspired by a conversation from Confidence Man which brought us the first Lost reference to peanut butter & as you can probably guess by the title, reference to one of the most fantastical desserts of banoffee pie. Anyway, enough of my dessert related babbling here's the random ficlet & may I bribe you with various forms of cake to review.
Disclaimer - I may not own Lost but I would however love to own Josh Holloway & Dominic Monaghan
"Here we have Miss Littleton, real peanut butter sandwiches" Charlie grinned, presenting on his makeshift tray (otherwise known as a slate of cleaned plastic from the plane wreckage) his culinary surprise.
"Wow, thank you Charlie" the blonde Australian placed her complacent son back into his cradle. Claire stood to take the tray off Charlie and place it down on their crate made table before putting her arms around him in a hug. "Are you sure there're enough supplies in the hatch for this?" she asked still very much aware that she was one of the few who hadn't trekked down to the latest addition to the island. Taking care of Aaron took up time enough without new adventures just yet.
"Enough? You haven't seen the storeroom yet, have you?" he replied, bending his knees to sit comfortably in the warm sand. "Plus, more food was dropped off last night. God knows where from but I'm not about to complain". She couldn't believe that after weeks on the island suddenly they had food, good food, like shop-bought food, and if Kate was to go by they had a shower too. It was also hard to believe that she had someone like Charlie who was first willing to find her imaginary peanut butter and now the real stuff, in sandwich form. Claire was somehow under the illusion that once the pregnancy stomach faded she'd suddenly be able to be as useful as everyone else, but between caring for baby Aaron and those few occasional hours of sleep, not to mention the occasional wash or meal, Claire had found herself to be of even less use than before. Charlie managed to look after her and the baby, help out Jack and whoever else had a mission, and still have time to write music and play the occasional game of golf with Hurley. She envied him, or his freedom more to the point. He didn't have to make Aaron nappies, or prepare baby carriers or bring her peanut butter sandwiches; he could leave at anytime. But he didn't. He didn't have any obligation to her or her son yet here he was, with sandwiches no less.
"D'you want one?" she offered her tray out towards him
"No thanks love" he pushed himself back onto his feet "I promised Sun I'd help work with Jin on his English, we might go fishing after so I may be bringing back supper with any luck". And with that he kissed her on the cheek, pulled a face at the easily entertained baby and set off on his day.
&&&&&
"I had to bite my lip to not laugh" Sun recalled to her friend whilst fussing with Aaron.
"Charlie Pace: rock star and mime artist" Claire couldn't help but laugh at Charlie and Jin's latest attempt at conversation. "Sun, did you ever bake before we landed here?" she asked slightly out of the blue.
"Sometimes yes, but only biscuits really. Why?" Sun could almost see the look of horror her mother would have to see her daughter handling ingredients like a mere cook, she found it amusing.
"Don't suppose you've ever made Banoffee pie?"
"I haven't heard of it, Charlie's mentioned it before though, he might know?"
"Actually, could you do me a massive favour and mind Aaron for bit, I promise I won't be too long" Claire pleaded, looking in the direction of the jungle path her fellow islanders had taken to get to the hatch.
"No problem" Sun smiled, more than happy to get more practice at mothering before her own child was born. "Are you going to try to get some rest?"
"Actually, I thought I might see what all this fuss about the hatch is"
&&&&&
"Ahh, this is more like it" Claire grinned with relief. Upon finding the tall book shelf she'd set out to find a cook book. She'd until now succeeded in finding ones on Italian dishes, sea food and what appeared to be noodles, now she'd found, a dusty albeit, desserts book.
"Talking to yourself Claire?" asked Hurley, passing the doorway having finished his shift of 108 minutes and swapped with another of the islanders.
"Hurley? D'you know where the storeroom is?" she asked, her finger marking the page of the recipe she'd looked for.
"Yeah sure, come on I'll take you"
"Right, butter, 250 grams of plain biscuits, tinned toffee, bananas, and whipped cream" she recited, checking with the ingredients list.
"Can I ask what you plan on making with those ingredients?"
"Banoffee pie"
"You can't make pie out of biscuits, you need like eggs and flour and stuff" Hurley replied looking at the strange gather of foods.
"Not this one" and she set to work.
"Does that look crumbly enough to you?" Claire asked her friend who was still watching curiously at how she intended to make 'pie' from biscuits and banana.
"Umm, yeah. I mean without having seen it before, well it looks like a pretty crumbly base to me" Hurley stumbled on his words. Having mixed 100 grams of butter and the now well crumbled biscuits together over the cooker, Claire had now spread the mixture over a baking tin to make a golden-brown base. It appeared to look as the book described.
"Ok then. Now for the toffee. I still can't believe there was actual real tinned toffee there" Claire spoke whilst pouring the toffee into the base.
"Guess the dudes here before us liked pancakes" Hurley offered. "So what's all this for?" he asked, watching as Claire now added sliced banana on top of the toffee.
"Could you pass me the whipped cream?"
"Claire?"
"Look I'm just doing something nice for Charlie ok? I wanted peanut butter he found me peanut butter of both the imaginary and real variety. I needed nappies for Aaron he made them. This is just my way of returning the favour" she explained whilst sprinkling leftover banana upon the cream topping.
"Well he's a strange guy who I'm sure will appreciate strange pie"
"Thanks Hurley"
&&&&&
"Evening" Claire smiled upon returning to her tent to see it already occupied.
"Evening, Sun thought a certain someone was getting sleepy" Charlie spoke quietly whilst soundly placing Aaron into his cot. "And I must agree with her, I am quite tired. So what did you think of the hatch?"
"Useful"
"Yes, but its music selective leaves much to be desired" He grinned and then noticed the cloth covered tray barely concealed behind her back. "And what might that be?"
"Ahh I was wondering when you might ask" she replied with a mysterious smile, the same smile he'd already fallen in love with. "This would be…" she placed the covered tray down on the crate table "Homemade Banoffee pie" she finished tugging the cloth away quickly. "I'm not sure if it's any-" Before Claire could finish the sentence she found herself almost knocked off her feet in a hug from the happy Mancurian.
"You made Banoffee pie, you bloody well made Banoffee pie" he exclaimed undeniably surprised and pleased.
"See, told you: Strange guy would like the strange pie" Hurley said stopping by their tent to look in on how his bestmate had taken the surprise.
"Man you knew about this?"
"I showed her where the storeroom was, the rest Martha Steward there managed all by herself"
"Thank you Hurley" Claire laughed
&&&&&
"That was fantastic" Charlie put the spoon back into the now empty container.
"It wasn't too bad" Claire agreed "Even though I've never tried it before"
"Haven't tried it before? What has Australia been doing to you? Well that's decided, when we get off this island you can't go back there" he said as a joke but with the last sentence a glint of serious appeared in his brilliant sky blue eyes.
"Is that right?" she replied with a smile
"Defiantly, must get you and the little one somewhere with more civilised food…you have had a Mars bar right?"