#brightwindsbarony

"Beltaine, the good news is you'd have access to help and supplies"

"And.... this new Baroness, supposed to be the widow of Baron Harkson, wants -native- foods?" polite disbelief.

"She was raised Fiona, while she's Liam, that means she's not afraid of trying new things" A brow "if you're worried they might find it not to their liking, maybe a few cross over plates?"

He nods. "How about I come up with a menu and you get it approved? No sense in wasting time and money."

"A fair point, let me show you our supplies to show you what we have to work with now?"

He nods agreement, and rises when she does to go with her.

She leads him and shows him the supplies. The selection is more elective than he thought. they got a lot of squash "That's from a Farm hold in Iowa" She says "I said we'd take some and they sent a truck load"

He touches one with a feather-light touch. "Could do something with it. There are limits, of course."

There are also several types of peppers, flour by the ton, and even bison meat!

That last item he examines more carefully.

Looks fresh

"What's the forecast? The head count?"

"We're looking at anywhere from 18 to 30 people"

"Beltaine's pretty fancy. Native foods aren't, usually."

"Leave the facy to the decoraions and music then" She says

A soft grunt, considering.

"I am open to suggestions if you like"

"Thinking things over. Can I have some ingredients to experiment with?"

"Certainly, " She nods "got a particular list?"

"What proteins do you have? I'll take some of the bison."

"We also have pork, regular beef and... oh, mutton. Mutton is getting a bit aged I fear"

"Good. Age it." he nods "Lamb?"

"No lamb but I might be able to get some from a store... how many pounds are you hoping for?"

"You can get lamb, cheaper in the Spring but still pricey, comparatively. No need for it. Mutton is more common; lamb is opportunistic. Bison is good. Venison?"

"Venison might cost me I.. oh wait, I know a fellow from another hold. The Rovers might hook me up for rapid transit of it"

"I have some stock of rabbit and other proteins that I can work with, too. Squash. Corn and beans are easy to get and not expensive." thoughtfully, and then a soft grunt. "I can think of some options. You want just local area native cuisine?"

"I think a few further afield would be fine if you prefer."

Another soft grunt. "So.... just thinking aloud. I'll get you a written menu. But.... shots of three sisters soup; Mini fry bread tacos topped with guacamole; refried bean and corn enchiladas with salsa fresca - those could be tricky to serve; blue corn bread and bison chili, maybe somehow baked in; and I'd suggest an agua fresca to go with it all, and whatever spirits you want to serve."

"I'm thinking small plates, nothing to weigh people down but enough so no one goes hungry. Maybe a berry-chia pudding for sweet. And I can do skewers of fried proteins to supplement it all."

"Could also do a strictly vegetarian salad including some of that squash; it would also be in the soup-shots."

"And the pudding!"

She nods at this... considering... then blinks "And the pudding"

Piskies might not be as good as sluagh or clurichain at popping up unexpected, but they rank.

Agile enough to sneak

"And yes, at least one vegatarian salad would be a good idea in case we get one" She turns "Irene how are you dear?"

Cliff the cook nods to the piskie in greeting.

"Good! I'm on duty, see?" She points at her tabard - new heraldry for the sluagh, and possibly offensively cheerful with its rainbow and vol of silver wings.

He doesn't seem impressed, no.

"I see." She nods, then says "Irene is a page, one of our best"

"I can deliver messages, and fetch things, and find people."

"She also saved Nessa, which was very brave but better left to wilders and grumps"

"But lost Spring Flower." A sigh. Childling tragedy.

A reassuring boggan hand on her tiny shoulder

"I thought, like Hansel & Gretl, right? If we got really REALLY lost, somebody would find Spring Flower, and then she could describe the satyr and the truck to willow whisper and then we'd be saved!"

"The centaur?" Cliff seems in-the-know "Sounds like it was good work."

"Oh you've met Nessa? Yes. She and her folks are centaurs"

Nod nod nod. "Nessa is good at plants, and Miss Rose is an archer, and Mr Ross is a wizard!"

"Very true" A nod

"I hear Miss Rose is, as you would say, on the warpath?"

"Oh yeah!"