audrey (bidabble) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-12-18 20:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, audrey, john reid (lone ranger) |
Who: Audrey and John Reid
When: Early December
Where: Baxter Bakery
What: Samples!
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete!
Audrey was trying out all sorts of new recipes at the bakery, and she’d picked out a few of her valued customers to force samples upon. She saw that there was one of her customers sitting alone at a table, and she brought out a tray and slipped into the chair across from him, without asking permission. She figured the offer of free pastry items would make up for any rudeness associated with her presumption?
She set the tray down in front of him. There were samples of maybe a half dozen new creations on there, and she waited for him to look up at her with a grin on her face.
John had been instantly fond of Baxter Bakery. The atmosphere was great, and the staff were top notch. So he had grown accustomed to taking some of his paperwork there on weekends to do while he sipped a latte and ate a pastry or two. He almost didn’t notice the company he had until his eyes caught the tray. When he glanced up, it was with an amused laugh, and he set down his pen.
“Are these all for me?”
“Of course! You think I’d tempt you with some amazing, delicious pastries and then pull them away? I’m not that much of a tease.” She said, tossed him a wink, and slid the tray forward--careful not to mess up his papers.
“I need some help with these new creations. You’re not allergic to anything, are you?”
“Thankfully, the lord saw fit to make me able to eat anything,” John teased. He moved his papers to make a bit of extra room, glancing over his selection. “So many choices. Do you have any favourites?”
“Welllllll,” Audrey said, stretching out the word playfully. “I love anything chocolate, but I’m not sure this chocolate-and-cinnamon muffin does what I want it to. Do you want to try that one first?” She said, motioning toward a mini muffin on the tray. It was a dark chocolate cake color, with chocolate chips, and red sugar sprinkles on top.
“Chocolate cinnamon,” he repeated, going for that one first. He popped the sample in his mouth and then made a face, like someone who just put too many cinnamon hearts on their tongue. “No, I can see what you mean,” John said, laughing. “Maybe not that one.”
Audrey beamed. She made a mental note on her mental clipboard. “Okay, no to that one. I’ll tweak it again. Maybe I can… I don’t know… break up some altoids in the frosting. You know… the cinnamon kind? Anyway, next…? Wait, I should get you some palette cleansing water, or something.”
“Nah, I’ll be okay.” John lifted up his latte and took a sip. “There, much better.” As he surveyed his choices, he went with one that maybe looked like it had cranberries in it. “Mm, this one’s good,” he said. “A bit sweeter than I was expecting, but good.”
Audrey was smiling. She was always smiling lately, really, but introducing new foods into the menu at the bakery? That made her especially happy. She nodded, and motioned to it with her fingertip. “The cranberry orange clove scone. I was worried about the cloves making it too spicy, or even… too gamey? I’m not sure. There’s a bit of bitterness that comes with the clove, I was trying to cancel it out. Is it too sweet?”
“No, it’s good,” he assured her. “The clove is a nice touch, I think. I really like it, actually. I’d buy it.” Which John figured was probably about as good a compliment as one could get, at least when it came to sampling product.
“Good! That’s a keeper, then!” Audrey said. There were still a couple of things to try on the tray. “Here, it’s a sugar cookie with white chocolate icing. I used the good white chocolate, so I’m not sure on the price point, but I think it’s a winner, even if I have to charge a little more. I figured I could make snowmen.” She turned the tray so the small cookie was in front of him. It was simply round, with white colored icing on it in a thin layer.
“You had me at sugar cookie.” John grinned. They were probably his favourite, really, and how could anyone go wrong with white chocolate icing? He picked it up and took a bite, instantly giving Audrey a thumbs-up. “This one’s a winner, for sure.”
“Perfect!” Audrey nearly clapped her hands with excitement. “Okay, the next and last one… the inspiration for this one is taken from the new Disney movie… Frozen?” She turned the tray again. There was a puff pastry there that had what looked like blue icicles sticking out of it, and sugary snow sprinkled on top. It was all done with sugar, and the icicles were actually quite crunchy. Sweet and crunchy. The pastry itself was flaky and light, and tasted very similar to a plain, butter croissant.
“Looks interesting.” Which John meant, because he didn’t know how else to describe it. And interesting wasn’t even a bad thing. Admittedly, he was curious, and that alone was enough to make him want to try it. He picked it up and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. It had a sort of salty-sweet quality to it that wasn’t all that bad, actually. “Definitely interesting. In a good way.”
“Good like… you’d buy it? Or good like… it’s interesting but you’re not interested?” Audrey asked. “I’ve been thinking about expanding the back room to include a media center. Put a projector in the ceiling and paint one of the walls white? Then we can show movies one night a week. And have themed snacks.” She grinned.
“Good like I’d probably buy it,” John assured her. He was about to tell her that the movie night actually sounded like a fun idea, but his phone rang and he glanced at it, then gave Audrey an apologetic smile. “Sorry. Work. I should take this. But thanks for letting me sample. The sugar cookies were definitely my favourite.” He laughed and stood up, heading outside where it was quieter so he could take the call.