A/N: It's Tuesday, that means it is time to post another chapter of Crime Scene Kitchen. I was able to work on this chapter while my cat was in for her surgery. Once she was home it was slow typing with only one hand as she seemed to want to lay on one or both of my hands all day. I haven't been able to work too much on the next chapter but I am hoping to have it ready by next Tuesday. My cat is still wanting to be attached to me more than normal but I will try hard to have it ready. Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes for Kitty, she is doing great.
Crime Scene Kitchen
Chapter 5, Competition Continued Round 3
Friday Evening, Round Two Wrap Up Party at The Dirty Robber
All the teams had arrived at the Dirty Robber and were busy drinking. Sharon walked in at about twenty minutes before six. Gen immediately walked up to her and offered for her to sit at their table. Gen's husband, Steve, had come with her and was sitting at the table chatting with Gen's teammates. That way there was no way anybody could assume that she was playing favorites as Gen's team had just been eliminated. The Chief walked up and sat with Sharon and struck up a conversation. The Chief asked Sharon, "What would you like to drink?"
"A glass of wine would be great. Thank you, Matt." Sharon replied.
"Chief, let me get that for you. Dr. Rizzoli-Isles has the bottle of wine and glasses at her table." Gen said as she and her husband promptly got up and walked over to get a glass of wine from Maura. The Chief smiled at her and gladly accepted the glass of wine from her when she returned. The Chief then handed the glass to Sharon. Sensing that the Chief would like to talk to Sharon, Gen stepped over to Maura's table, where her husband was still chatting with Jane, Maura, Frost and Susie and joined their conversation.
"So, Maura, has Jane told you about when she first joined Vice and her undercover gig?" Gen asked as Jane shook her head and said, "No, don't tell my wife stories about that."
"No she hasn't, but I did bump into 'Tiffany' in the Division One Café. That is the very first time I ever saw her. I didn't know she was a police officer at the time." Maura explained to her.
"Oh 'Tiffany,' she was a piece of work. I was working with her at the time. I couldn't believe she went into the café in her get up. I heard she at least stayed in character while in there." Gen said as she smiled at Jane. Jane hated this story and didn't want to be at the table at this particular moment.
"Oh yes, she was quite in character." Maura said as she gave Jane a sideways hug. Jane was just shaking her head wanting this conversation to stop. Frost was just laughing, he wanted to hear more as he wasn't a detective when Jane was in Vice. He was still a patrol officer. "I didn't realize you two work together before." Maura added.
"Yes, I was her Sergeant. I was actually working with Korsak to get her over to Homicide where she belonged. Most detectives have to work in other departments before they go to Homicide and Jane wasn't in Vice long because Homicide was a better fit for her and the department, but her time as 'Tiffany' was quite memorable for all of us." Gen was laughing at the memories. Jane just lowered her head by this time and moved her head to snuggle into Maura's chest.
Gen turned her head over to watch the Chief with Sharon and said, "I think our Chief of Police might have a love interest."
Jane raised her head up so she could glance over towards the table where the Chief and Sharon were talking and said, "Well, they are both single. I would imagine it is hard for him to meet women. He is always working and his position scares a bunch of people."
Gen turned backed and asked her husband, "Ya, I guess. Steve, were you scared of me when you first found out I was a police officer?"
"Yes, if I am honest with myself. It was a little intimidating. But I got over it quickly the more time I spent with you. Now being married as long as we have and with a couple of kids under our belt, I am not as intimidated as I once was." Steve said as he smiled at everyone at the table.
"Ya, Maur intimidated me, she is wickedly smart and so beautiful. I had never met anyone like her. I had never dated a woman or even been attracted to a woman until I met her. There was just something about her that kept drawing me to her. She would open her mouth and start talking and I didn't have a clue what she was talking about, but I love to hear her talk. She has this way of getting me to talk about my feelings and I never did that with anyone." Jane admitted.
"See Steve, I told you they are adorable together." Gen said.
"They are." Frost chimed in. "I told Jane after she got married that I had known that she loved Maura from the first few weeks they met. She talked about her so much. I don't, let me rephrase that, I know she had no clue that she had fallen head over heals in love with Maura."
"Hey, how did this conversation turn into us again. We were the topic last week, so time for a change of topic." Jane insisted.
"Ya, ya, ya, you always want to change the subject when the subject is you and Maura." Frost rebutted and Susie nodded her head in agreement.
"Well, although she is my favorite topic. We can talk about other things." Jane said.
They continued having their conversation for about an hour before the party started to disperse. The Chief had been talking with Sharon the whole time. They were very engaged in their conversation and both smiling.
Monday Night
Team 5, the Drug Unit
Angela and Susie drove over to Riley's together so they could practice again. They talked on the way and decided they needed to talk to Riley about her attitude towards Jane. As soon as they arrived Riley welcomed them and then said, "I need to apologize to the two of you. I am so sorry for almost dropping our Carrot Cake. I will be more careful in the future."
They sat down at the dining room table and Angela said, "Riley, we are concerned about your behavior towards Jane. Can you forget about Jane and trying to beat her and just participate in the competition?"
"What?" Riley asked shocked. "I am just trying to win, it has nothing to do with her majesty, Jane."
"See that right there. Why couldn't you just say Jane?" Angela asked.
"Are we going to have a problem tonight?" Riley asked.
"Not sure, can we just not talk about Jane or any of the other contestants and just concentrate on our team and what we are doing in the competition?"
"Sure." Riley said with a little bit of attitude in her voice. "Shall we review recipes?"
"Yes, that would be great." Angela stated and Susie smiled. She was uncomfortable with this conversation and was hoping they could get through the rest of the evening without any further talking.
"Okay, what would you like to look up tonight?" Riley asked.
"How about unique cookies and treats, eclairs, cannoli, etc.?" Angela said.
"Oh, I love eclairs and cannoli." Susie said. They spent the next hour looking and printing recipes and then made eclairs. Angela figured the practice would be good. Tuesday and Wednesday's practice sessions went better and Riley hadn't made any other comments about Jane, so Susie and Angela were pleased. Susie had almost withdrawn from the competition, she was that uncomfortable, that is why she talked with Angela who set Riley straight, at least they hoped that she was set straight.
Thursday Night, BCU
Jane and Maura were running late, they arrived at 5:58 PM. Frost had driven himself as he had asked Susie to ride with him. He had asked her out on a date for Saturday evening and wanted to spend as much time as possible with her before then so he asked her to sit with him on Friday night at the Dirty Robber. She was so excited she said yes for everything, the date, the drive to BCU and spending time with him on Friday at the Dirty Robber.
Jane and Maura immediately walked to their seats. Angela glared at Jane and said, "You were almost late, young lady." Jane just shook her head and continued to walk with Maura to her seat. Maura knew they would be cutting it close but this was the best time for the appointment they needed to go to. They didn't want anybody knowing about the appointment so they took the afternoon off. The doctor was running late and that is what caused them to almost be late for the competition.
They had just missed the conversation about Penny and how her father was doing after his surgery earlier that morning. Penny told Matt to tell everybody hello and that she should be back next week provided they are still in the competition. Matt had laughed and said, "I guess she thinks I might blow this for my team."
As promised Matt had arrived early and Sharon took the time to run Matt through what happens in the Crime Scene Kitchen, as soon as they finished in the kitchen the students set the kitchen up for the competition.
At 5 PM sharp Sharon called the four teams to their kitchens. She then called Team 1, Major Crimes to the Crime Scene Kitchen. They very strategically looked over the kitchen for their allotted three-minutes and then went back to their kitchen to discuss their findings. The other three teams followed suit and viewed the Crime Scene Kitchen and then returned to the kitchens. At 5:21 The Crime Scene Kitchen was officially closed and all teams were working on their creations with their three-hour time limit. By 8:21 the judging would be taking place.
Crime Scene Kitchen hints that the teams might discover:
Ricotta cheese leftover in a strained cheesecloth
Chocolate on ends of parchment paper
Powdered sugar on the counter
Mini chocolate chips on the counter
Piping bag
Rolling pin
Greasy pot on the stove
Opened bottle of Sweet Marsala Wine
Circle cut-out device
Spider strainer next to the stove
Orange zest on counter – still on the grater/zester in the sink – to be cleaned
What Will We Be Cookin'
Team 1, Major Crimes
Mike, Sally and Cami carefully reviewed what they saw in the Crime Scene Kitchen and decided to make cannolis. None of them had ever made cannolis before so they read the instructions very carefully before Mike dished out the tasks. By this time, he knew the strengths and weaknesses of his coworkers. He asked each of them if they were comfortable with their tasks. They all remembered how Riley took on mixing the cake batter when she had no idea how to do it so they didn't want that to happen to them. They made sure they communicated with each other.
Team 3, Homicide
Maura, Jane and Frost knew right away when they discussed what they saw in the Crime Scene Kitchen that they would be making cannolis. Luckily Jane and Maura had made cannolis before. Frost love to eat them but had never made them except the one time that they practiced them for this competition. Maura had selected cannolis to practice because it required frying and piping. Maura knew Jane's family recipes that Angela had been teaching her so she knew Angela's tricks to make them taste differently.
Team 4, Headquarters
Matt, Shea and Lisa worked well together in the Crime Scene Kitchen. Matt was a little nervous as this was his first time going through the kitchen. He went through it with Sharon quickly earlier but there were not any hints out for him to observe. He let Shea and Lisa lead as they had a few more run throughs under their belt.
Matt loved cannolis and felt that all the clues told them it was cannolis. Shea and Lisa agreed and they told their lead student that they would like to bake cannolis. She quickly passed them three recipes for them to choose from. They picked a recipe and then gave a list of ingredients to their lead student.
Team 5, Drug Unit
Angela, Riley and Susie were excited when they walked out of the Crime Scene Kitchen. Everything they saw led them to think that they would be making cannolis. Angela didn't need a recipe but she knew the student leader had to give her one, so she just picked one and then added a few items on the ingredients list and gave it to the student leader so that the students could gather their supplies. She realized Maura knew her recipe for cannolis so she wanted to add one of her secret ingredients.
Judgement Time
Mike brought up Team 1, Major Crimes' cannolis. Sharon cut into one of the cannolis and took a bite. She was pleased with the taste and presentation. They were textbook cannolis.
Jane carried up Team 3, Homicide's cannolis. Sharon smiled as Jane gracefully sat the platter down. She loved cannolis and was looking forward to tasting these cannolis. She had been told that Maura and Angela had been cooking together for years and knew there might be a surprise ingredient in these cannolis. She was not disappointed when she bit into one of the cannolis and tasted honey in the shell and filling. It was absolutely delicious. Her mouth was watering for more. When the competition was over she would have to make sure to grab another one or two.
Matt very carefully carried up Team 4, Headquarters' platter of cannolis. He had been told about Riley almost tripping so he wanted to make sure the platter made it safely to the judging table. Sharon bit into the cannoli and was pleased, they tasted really good.
Susie was given the honor of carrying up Team 5, Drug Unit's platter of cannolis. After Riley had almost dropped their carrot cake she stated. "I'm not carrying up our dessert ever again." Angela and Susie had agreed. Angela asked Susie, "Can you take on the responsibility of carrying our desserts up to the judging table?" Susie replied 'yes.'
Sharon smiled again, she was looking forward to finding out what Angela added to give their cannolis a little extra taste. When Sharon cut into the cannoli, she cut a large bite for her to taste. She immediately tasted a hint of pistachio. They had finely chopped up the pistachios and had placed them in both the shell and filling. The filling also contained some small pieces of pistachios. Sharon was very pleased, she would have to grab another one or two of these cannolis also.
The students retreated to their table and tallied their scoresheets while Sharon called up her assistant to reveal the mystery dessert. "Tonight's mystery dessert is Cannoli," Sharon said as she raised the cover from the mystery dessert. "Tonight's winner won by only one point and I am pleased to announce that Team 5, the Drug Unit is tonight's winner. I must admit that both Team 3 and Team 5's cannolis are to die for. I would like extra of both to take home tonight." Everybody laughed and Jane and Angela both got up immediately and grabbed a few of their cannolis for Sharon. They knew that the students helped themselves to the desserts as soon as the judging was over and they wanted to make sure that Sharon received some.
After Sharon secured her treats, she continued, "I must now announce which team will be leaving the competition. All of the cannolis were great tonight but one team scored one point lower than the third-place team and therefore they will be eliminated. I am very sorry to say that Team 1, Major Crimes you came in last place tonight and are therefore eliminated. You are encouraged to continue to come and support your colleagues as the competition continues next week with the three remaining teams. This concludes our program for tonight. Thank you for coming and participating."
Everybody gathered their belongings and left the building. Matt walked Sharon to her car. They had been enjoying each other's company and Sharon was happy that he was no longer a member of one of the teams. She wanted to be able to enjoy his company without anybody thinking she was playing favorites.
Frost and Susie were finally able to speak to each other, being on different teams was hard for them, but they acknowledged that they were just competing for the fun of it and that they would not discuss what each of their teams were doing. They were looking forward to meeting at the Dirty Robber on Friday night and having some fun with their coworkers and then of course their date on Saturday night.