Flintkote
Copyright© 2020 by Old Man with a Pen
Chapter 2
When they returned, Tyke had brownie mouth and Krys had a tray and glasses ... and a baggie with a wet washcloth, Cora Jo, the doctorate, had a pitcher of iced sweet tea ... the engine room crew carrying French press coffee, homemade cream of mushroom and potato soup and roasted chicken sandwiches.
Krys said, “Is a simple Ukrainian meal, best I could do on such a short notice.” She looked at the pile of journal sheets, “What did you find out?”
“We need a certain sized sapphire ring to work the portal.” Zoe said, then she sipped a sup of soup. “Oooh. This is marvelous.”
“What size sapphire?” Krys asked.
“It doesn’t say,” Cynthia said. It was her turn at the soup. “Wow, who made it?” She nodded at the spoon in her hand.
Women are easily sidetracked by cooking ... genetic? Krys explained about starting the soup the day before.
Krys said, “I cook ... Ukrainian women do. Is not like American ... we make ... not open cans.” That was a trifle accusatory.
Things progressed as things do, “Recipe?”
Krys said, “4 to 5 medium potatoes, peeled and diced, 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced, 1 cup heavy cream, 2 large carrots, sliced, ½ cup chopped fresh green onion, 6 cups chicken bone broth...”
“Wait. Canned broth?” asked Cynthia.
“No,” Krys said, “I made it last week. You were at the beach.”
She launched into the remainder, but Zoe stopped her, “You made it? How?”
“In the pressure cooker,” Krys said.
“What?”
“Chicken bones from 2 chickens,” Krys said. She nodded at the chicken sandwiches. “Roasted ... What?”
“Cynthia? Pen?”
Instruments were found and writing ensued. Zoe used the back of the journal. Caught up, the hand with the pen made the ‘tell me more’ motion.
Krys resumed, “Roasted.”
“How?”
“Bones ... cracked ... on a lipped oven pan. Roast in the oven. Pour the bones and juice in the cooker. Add a splash of cider vinegar, some salt, a medium onion, peeled and halved, 2 sticks of celery, including the leaves. 2 medium carrots, peeled and halved, 2 smashed garlic cloves. 1 bay leaf, filtered Water 10-11 cups. Bring up to a boil and pressurize it. Simmer for hours. No peeking. You’ll know by the smell. Strain and discard the solids. Pour into glass jars, chill, toss away the fat and cap the jars, refrigerate. Makes a good base for most soups and stews. You can mix the fat with bread dough and use that as fish bait.”
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