After deciding the menu for appetizer and soup for the banquet tomorrow, the next thing to do is to decide the menu for the side dish, main dish, and dessert. One side dish already decides by me, it was the tempura dish. The other two dishes would be Tacos and another one which I haven't decided. I pick a paper and quill and start writing the recipes that I already teach to our castle cooks. I can't teach too many recipes at once because they need to practice to make it perfect, and time is what we don't have right now. So, I think the menu for banquet should come from recipes that already know by our cooks.
Hmm….let me think about all the food I've made during my time here. Crispy mushroom and Chai tea is the first food I make here for my sister, then frikadel before I leave the castle on the salt mission at the beach. In salt camp, I make fish tempura and fish head soup, noodle, and tortilla for tacos. After return to the castle, I start to make hamburger dish, teach the cooks here about noodle and tempura and also introduce bird nest soup and wakame salad. Other dishes are curry, gyoza, consommé soup, meat bun bread, corn soup, spaghetti, steak and the last one is Gyudon.
So, from all the food I've made here, I already pick these dishes:
Appetizer: frikadel, croquette, and Gyoza (this gyoza would be the new menu for Earl Stamfort)
Soup: Consommé soup, birds nest soup, and meatball soup (meatball soup also will be the new dish for Earl Stamfort) probably with some bread for accompanying the soup, garlic bread maybe.
Side dish: Tacos, hamburger, and tempura (new dish for Earl Stamfort is tempura)
Main dish: Spaghetti, curry, and steak
Dessert: wakame salad, meringue, and compote.
Beverages: Chai tea, ordinary tea, and wine.
That's all I've been thinking about the banquet menu. All dishes are the recipe that I already teach to the cooks in the castle except for meatball soup and compote.
Compote is fruit that's cooked in syrup. It's like jam, but you can make small batches and it's much easier. Compote is a little less sweet and a little less thick. This allows the flavor of the fruit to really shine through. It's great to serve in hot or cold, for breakfast or dessert.
Since medieval times, fruit cooked in syrup has been used as a dessert or spread and it's still popular today.
I still busy with my banquet arrangement when I hear my room's door knocked and the sound of key unlock the door. I know that must be Clara, who also had the key for my room.
"What's up, Clara? Is there something I can do for you?"
"Henry…you haven't slept yet?"
"Not yet. What if I already sleep? Are you going to assault me in my sleep?"
I want to tease her a little and Clara blushing from my question.
"Aaah! Henry, you teasing me….."
"I am. Why do you keep standing there? Come here…"
I ask Clara to get closer since she's only standing and leaning on the door she just closed again.
"Am I not disturbing your work? It seems you doing something there"
"Hmm… Only did some arrangements for tomorrow's banquet. Let me hear your opinion since you already here"
Clara's walking slowly toward my desk. This night she wearing one-piece thin nightgown with blue color which its length reaches her knee. She looks sexy with that outfit, which makes me pull her hand when she already closed enough to me.
"Aauuhh…Henry…Hmmmpp…"
I pull her to sit on my lap with a bit forceful and when she wants to complain, I close her mouth with my lips. Slowly, she reacting to my kiss and reply to my kiss. For a moment we doing a passionate kiss while caressing each other hairs.
"Mmm...Henry…you could ask me to sit on your lap rather than pull me like that"
Clara seems a bit sulking while pouting her lips when we finish kissing. I only chuckled when see she act like that
"I prefer using my mouth to kiss you than giving orders. And stop sulking like that…did you hurt somewhere?"
"I'm not hurt, just surprised…you must compensate me for that, Henry"
"Okay…okay…I give you another kiss for compensation, will you accept it?"
"Mmm….."
Clara didn't answer but she moves her face closer to me. I guess that means yes, right? So I give her another kiss and we kissing again for a while.
"Now help me take a look on this list, Clara"
I show her the menu list for banquet tomorrow. Clara take a look on the list and read it carefully
"Henry…this list…."
"Yes? What's in your mind?"
"Isn't this list….it's too many dishes already?"
"Ahaha…I guess it's a bit too many. But I want to make the banquet tomorrow becomes a grandeur banquet, so it can't be helped the menu becomes so many"
"A bit? Henry…that's too many! Three dishes for each course…well, maybe we can cook it, but do we have enough plates and bowls for it?"
"Hmm….you're smart, Clara. I like that side of yours. Don't worry, I already thought about that problem and have a solution for that too"
"You do? Ah, of course, it's you Henry…you should be aware of this problem because you're smart"
"Aren't you also smart too, Clara? That's what I like from you. You have a good body and brain too"
"Aahh…you praise me too much Henry…I just said what's in my mind….Umm, do you still working on this banquet arrangement or it's already almost finished?"
"Hmm…I guess I still need to work on it for a while? Why are you asking, Clara?"
"Well…umm…since tomorrow you will be very busy….can I get 'that' now?"
"Uh…You're right, I probably very busy tomorrow…but I want to work on this banquet arrangement while I still have ideas on my mind. If I must go to bed and continue later, I'm afraid those ideas already being forgotten"
"Umm…You just continue your work and I just do mine. You don't have to move to the bed, we do it here…just say yes or okay, Henry"
"Uh…okay…but how you're gonna do it?"
"Don't mind me…I'll do it from here"
After saying that, Clara get down from my lap and slip to beneath my desk while pulling my pants down. After adjusting my seating position, I continue to finish my work whilst Clara start doing her action. I do some drafts about tables and chairs placements in the great hall, guard's position and the stage position in the great hall which make the event flow can go smoothly. I make a couple of drafts to see which one is better before discussing it with my father, Mr. Nicholas and Mrs. Martina. I also should consider that not all of our guest will come with the carriage, some of them maybe come by riding horses. That would make me should prepare something to clean up, like wet towel, or water basin, or bathroom, or maybe even some room for them to changing clothes too.