Molasses Cookies
Quirin was working in the fields, leaving Vivienne at home with their infant son. That meant that today Varian was going to learn something.
"Varian, would you like to help me bake?" Vivienne asked sweetly.
"Gugga ba!" Varian replied, arms outstretched, ready to be picked up. Vivienne scooped him up, and placed him in the high chair next to her.
"First, we gather our ingredients. Butter, sugar, molasses, eggs, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, clove, and ginger." Vivienne listed them all.
"Bah bah!" Varian squealed.
"That's right, just like the barn cat. She's pregnant now, I bet you can't wait to meet her kittens." Vivienne said.
"Gug!" Varian added.
"I guess Ol' Smoke is still your favorite, though." Vivienne smiled. Ol' Smoke was normally a very reserved, almost stand-offish tom, but something about Varian fascinated him and led him to approach. Varian, in turn, loved the venerable old tomcat. Perhaps it had something to do with his coat color, Varian had a strong preference for grey animals.
"We have the stove going and it's hot! You don't touch the stove, it's for big people to use." Vivienne instructed. "But you can watch as I whisk together the dry ingredients."
In a bowl, Vivienne mixed up the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, clove, and salt. Varian's eyes lit up as she grabbed the baking soda, recognizing a common ingredient in their (secret) alchemy lessons. In a separate bowl, Vivienne poured the molasses, butter and sugar. "This is our hand crank mixer. Mommy uses it to cream together the butter and sugar, until it's a fluffy yellow color." Vivienne explained.
Varian watched intently, even as the mixing took several minutes, and no one would blame a child for getting bored during that way. But Varian gazed with rapt attention, taking in every detail.
"Now we mix the wet and dry ingredients together! See how the dry ingredients change texture now that we've added the cream? Wet + dry = wet. Now we crack the eggs, this is a little tricky. We don't want the shells to fall into the mixture." Vivienne expertly cracked the eggs.
"Goo." Varian said.
"Well, they are kind of gooey." Vivienne laughed. "Next we shape the dough into small balls and roll it in this small bowl of sugar. You can help with this part." She guided Varian's hands so he could grip the very gooey dough and shape it. Together, they rolled 2 dozen dough balls and placed them on a baking tray.
"Now we bake it. This is a fast recipe, it will only take 10 minutes or so. We can pass the time by listing known elements. Antimony, arsenic, carbon, copper, gold, iron, lead, mercury, phosphorus, silver, sulfur, tin, and zinc. But you know what?" Vivienne lowered her voice to a whisper. "I think there are more elements out there, just waiting to be discovered by someone like you." she said.
"Bee guh." Varian nodded solemnly. He was no stranger to discovery, just last week he'd discovered that Quirin's work boots were tougher to chew on than his stuffed raccoon and leather had a funny taste he didn't like.
Vivienne cleaned up the kitchen, humming quietly. With a mischievous smirk, she dipped her finger in some flour, and touched Varian's nose. The baby laughed out loud.
"You're the best baby ever, Varian. Don't you forget it." Vivienne said proudly. Varian continued to smile and wave his arms about.
Vivienne pulled the tray of cookies out. "Remember Varian, it's hot. We don't touch anything that's been in a stove without wearing gloves." she told him.
"Guh ba." Varian said.
Vivienne placed the cookies on the counter, and picked up Varian. "Daddy will be home soon to eat these cookies. But until he comes, I'm going to bounce you up and down and hum." Vivienne hummed a lovely melody that made Varian feel drowsy. He'd almost nodded off when they heard a sound at the door.
"Vivienne! Varian! I'm home!" Quirin announced.
"Hi sweetie. We made cookies while you were gone." Vivienne said, running up and kissing him. Quirin kissed her back, and wrapped his arms around his wife and baby son, hugging them both.
"I knew I smelled something good." Quirin noted.
"You take Varian and have a seat, I'll bring the cookies in." Vivienne offered.
"Just be careful you don't burn yourself." Quirin cautioned.
"I won't." Vivienne said assuredly.
"We're in for a treat today, son. Your mother's cookies are legendary." Quirin told him. Varian didn't know what legendary meant, but he could smell the cookies and they seemed tasty. Certainly better than shoe leather!
"Here we are, boys." Vivienne presented the cookies. Quirin broke one in half, and handed a piece of chewy molasses cookie to Varian. Like he did with most things, Varian put it in his mouth. It was so good!
"Om nom." Varian chewed his cookie with delight. Quirin handed him the other half, then grabbed a cookie for himself. Vivienne grabbed one, too. Soon the whole family was smiling, enjoying a lovely snack with good company.
As he got older, Varian's memories of his mother would fade, but he never forgot the taste of her cookies, or the smile it had brought to Quirin's face. That was why, 16 years later, he would share the recipe with Kiera and Catalina, so they could make something special for their dad, Lance.
The End
I love Varian's family. Quirin is so loving and proud, and Vivienne is a total science nerd, just like Varian is. XD