Archer Pastry was invited again to Sweet Pop by the reform school but this time, to help out in the kitchen. He was nervous because he has no idea how to cook and something sad kinda made him remember something before. When he entered, he saw Poppy, Smidge, Cooper and the other employees in the kitchen, greeting him.
"Morning, Archer!" Poppy said.
"Oh, hi." Archer Pastry said shyly.
"Want to help out with some baking?" Poppy asked him.
"You want me to learn how to bake?" He asked her. "I haven't baked before."
"I could help you learn how to cook too." She added. "It's one of the things I love to do."
"Since when do you learn how to cook?" Archer asked curiously.
"It's my passion when I was little." Poppy answered. "My mom is an excellent cook and baker, though she became a housewife when she married dad."
"What was she like?" He asked her again.
"Dad told me that she is a kind and radiant person." Poppy continued. "When any neighbors and the tenants come to live in the apartment, she welcomes them with the food she bakes and cooks. She dreamt of opening a restaurant with me and share our passion with the world before I was born but I was eight months old when she died."
"Oh, I'm sorry." He sighed. "I lost my mother too."
"Is she a very kind woman?" Poppy asked him.
"She is very sweet and loving." Archer replied. "She loved me and Benito so much and she does her best to protect us from our father."
"What happened to her?" She asked him.
"She ran away from my alcoholic father when he went berserk." He said. "My brother and I ran away on the night it happened."
"Oh, I'm sorry it happened." Poppy comforted him.
"It was hard, I never had any talents to try out because my brother and I would steal to survive." He added.
"It wasn't too late to try new things." Poppy said. "You could try cooking."
"What will I do?" Archer asked her.
"We can practice cooking." She said as they went over to the kitchen.
"What simple recipe can I do first?" He asked again as he puts on an apron, rolls up his sleeves, and washes his hands.
"Cookies are a first start, I learned about it from my mother." Poppy said. "We'll make chocolate chip cookies."
The two started to prepare the ingredients needed to make cookies. During the session, Poppy taught him how to use the right tools, measure the ingredients and proper mixing. Then, they placed a ball of dough with chocolate chips on a tray with a baking sheet and waited for it to bake. When it's ready, they brought out the cookies to cool down and it's ready for order. An orc customer who asked for a box of cookies thanked them and went out happily.
"Wow, your place had so much customers." Archer complimented her.
"I worked so hard in following my passion that I have to perfect it over and over again." Poppy replied. "If you want to live a good life, you have to use these skills to a job you want. It takes a lot of hard work to reach your goals."
"How you do it in the kitchen, I somehow wish I could bake and cook like you." He sighed. "I wish you guys could have a cooking and baking workshop for everybody to attend in summer."
"That's a great idea but now, you're the first cooking student in my cooking class." She smiled.
"Wow, that means I could learn more." Archer added.
"Exactly." Poppy nodded.
"Ooh, can I make cakes today?" Archer asked.
"Not yet, you have to try other things around the place like cooking, making smoothies and preparing orders." She said. "You have to try other forms of making food for the customers."
"Oh, you mean try other forms of cooking?" He asked again
"Yeah." She nodded as they started preparing food for the customers.
The whole day is a very busy day. Archer Pastry would help out with the other employees in preparing the ingredients while learning new things from them. He learned how to fry, sautéed, boil and other methods of cooking from the employees but he also learned about preparing smoothies, salads, drinks, and arranging orders for the customers from Cooper, Smidge and, Fuzzbert. During break time, Poppy asked Archer about his experience in the kitchen.
"How was your day in the kitchen?" Poppy asked.
"I didn't know there are other roles I tried out here in the kitchen." He said. "I always want to try and bake cakes when we made the cookies."
"That would be a challenging task." She quipped.
"What does that mean?" He asked her.
"Cakes are very challenging." Poppy said. "It takes long for it to bake."
"Well, that's what we do here in the cafe." She replied. "My friends and I work together to serve the customers."
"Wow, you guys are one busy group here." He said with a shock. "Can I help out?"
"We got more orders to do so we have to do our best making
Still, there are a lot of work to do. Archer patiently waited for his opportunity to bake cakes because he wants to make one with excitement. He would cook good food, prepare smoothies, salads, drinks, and arrange orders for the customers while waiting for the opportunity. After many orders, he was given the opportunity to help out in baking cakes.
"Um, Poppy." He panted. "Now, can I help you bake..."
"Yeah!" She smiled.
"Really?" He grinned.
"Sure, you could help me with something, I'm making a surprise cake." She announced.
"Okay, what is it?" Archer asked her,
"My mom made up this recipe and it became a hit for the 's being ordered by an elf couple for their daughter's birthday." Poppy said.
"You want me to help out with the baking?" Archer asked. "I never got the chance to make cakes but I'll do it."
"Let's get cooking." Poppy smiled as they started baking.
In a minute, Archer Pastry and Poppy start preparing the ingredients. He took out a bag of flour, milk and a carton of eggs from the fridge while Poppy used her magic to take out some lemons and oranges. Now, with improved cooking skills, he does the orange cake while she works on the lemon cake. They put the cakes in the oven and she taught him how to set the timer. When the cakes are ready, Poppy instructed him to cut a hole in the lemon cake, place some orange slices, and smoosh up the orange cake, which Archer is able to do. When the cakes were placed together and flipped, the cakes went well. It was later passed to another employee, who covered the cake with icing and had it placed in a box for delivery. Archer was relieved that he got good with baking.
"Maybe I could try helping out in the reform school kitchen." Archer said.
"That is a good opportunity to hone your cooking and baking skills." Poppy nodded.
Suddenly, an explosion was heard nearby and a loud scream was heard that Poppy, Branch, Smidge, Cooper, Archer Pastry and Fuzzbert rush to the window and they were shocked with what they saw and Archer was heartbroken when he saw what is happening in front of him.