Amber was surprised to see all the fruits and vegetables the beast men had gathered for her this time. They found some cucumbers, coconuts, onions, lettuce, and tomatoes. She thought of the roasted lamb kabobs and gyros she had in the past and decided to try and make some Greek food.
She wasn't sure how to make Greek yogurt, but her sister had shown her how to use coconut milk as a substitute for a lot of dairy ingredients. She already had some garlic and dill from her herb garden.
Nick was curious about what she would create this time. All of her previous creations had been delicious! The new food helped them spend the cold season without going hungry. They used to starve during the cold season.
Fred was excited that Amber liked the fruits and vegetables he had picked. He was great at foraging even though he couldn't climb as high as Oliver or the bird beast men.
The ripe coconuts had fallen to the ground, so he just had to pick them up and carry them back.
Amber asked Ray to help her grind up some flour. She told him she would use it to make thicker tortillas called Pita bread.
She asked Nick to roast a lamb with garlic and oregano. Nick was excited to try this new combination of flavors.
While the beast men started to work on their tasks she started to experiment with the Tzatziki sauce. She asked Tyler to help her open the coconuts. He used his razor-sharp talons to slice the top of a coconut.
The liquid inside was white and Tyler thought the juice had gone bad. "I will go get you a fresh coconut, this one is bad." Amber quickly stopped him. "It's not bad, it is supposed to be white. The brown coconuts have white coconut milk in them that can be used for a lot of recipes or it can be drunk as it is. It should be a little thicker than water."
Tyler looked skeptical, so he tasted it himself to see if it was good or not. He was a little surprised at how it was different from the coconut juice. It tasted thicker and a little sweeter.
Tyler handed the coconut to Amber and let her try it. After he found that it was not bad, it was safe for Amber to drink. Amber thanked him and poured the coconut milk into a stone bowl.
She added in some lemon juice, dill, garlic, and oil that they had extracted from plants. The mix was still a little watery. Amber asked If I'm to slice up the cucumber and squeeze the juice out of it. She then added the sliced cucumber and some flour into the mix to thicken it.
She tasted it and it needed salt and more dill. Amber added the ingredients until they tasted close to what she remembered.
She was proud of her new creation! Now she had a creamy sauce for her food. Tyler was about to throw away the coconut shells, but Amber stopped him. "We can still use the white pieces inside of the coconut. If you peel it away from the outside and cut it into strips we can bake them and turn them into powder as well."
Tyler was interested in her new method to make flour. He started to peel the coconut shells like Amber told him. He tried a piece of the coconut inside to taste it and was pleasantly surprised.
It had a slightly sweet nutty flavor. Amber saw him taste it and he tried to pretend he didn't eat it. He was so cute like a kid caught stealing a cookie.
That reminded Amber of cookies! Maybe she could use this new flour to make cookies. She had a limited supply of wheat until they harvested the next batch.
She knew of a few different types of flours but wasn't sure I'd they would be able to find the ingredients. For now, she could use coconut flour and coconut milk.
Next, she helped Ray make the pita bread dough from wheat flour. She made it similar to the tortillas but added some egg whites since she didn't have baking powder or yeast.
They rolled the dough into balls and then flattened them. Ray cooked them on a stone griddle. He was happy to help and quickly got the hang of flipping the pita bread once it puffed up.
Oliver, Barry, and Eli came come to a delicious-smelling meal. They looked around and saw everyone doing their tasks. Nick was roasting the meat, Ray was flipping the flatbreads. Tyler was peeling coconuts while Tom was slicing them and placing them on large flat rocks to bake.
Fred was slicing up some cucumber, tomatoes, and onions. They noticed the white mixture in the stone bowl. Oliver went closer and asked, "What is this?"
Amber explained, "This is a sauce made with coconut milk, lemon juice, cucumber, dill, oil, salt, and some flour. In my world, we call it Tzatziki sauce, but we don't have all the ingredients here so I had to improvise."
Oliver knew about Coconut Milk and he liked it. He tasted the sauce with his finger and was impressed with the combination of all the flavors.
Eli looked interested as well. Then Barry reminded him, "Don't you have a gift for your mother?" Eli remembered the snakeskin top from his first 2 kills.
He excitedly jumped up and down and brought the top to Amber as a gift. He extended his arms up to her with the snakeskin too in his hands. Amber looked down at her adorable little monkey and asked him, "What is this, baby?"
Oliver translated for the excited little monkey. "He had his first training and kept the skins for you." Amber picked up the top and blushed. It was so little even with 2 skins sewn together. It looked like a tube top.
Amber smiled at Eli and thanked him, "Mommy loved this very much because it is the first thing you gave me. I will wear it under my dress, close to my heart."
She picked up the excited little monkey and kissed his cheek. She hugged him and he hugged her back. He rested his cheek on her shoulder and looked at his father.
After his training, he had mixed feelings about his father. He was glad he learned a new survival skill from his Uncle Barry, but he was a little wary of his father's next training session.
He was thrilled that his mom loved his gift, but he remembered how cold his father was towards him when he threw him toward the wild animals.
He would have to keep an eye on his unpredictable father. Uncle Barry was his new favorite father figure. Oliver knew what his son was thinking and he didn't care.
He was more concerned with training his son's survival skills than his son's affection towards him. He wouldn't say it out loud so he didn't upset Amber. He knew how much Amber loved her son, but beast men had to learn early how to survive in their harsh world.
It would not be good for the baby monkey if he didn't know how to defend himself and got eaten or killed.
Amber would be heartbroken and Oliver would not allow that to happen if he could avoid it. Amber was oblivious to the internal monologue of her son and his father. She hugged the baby monkey and patted his back.
She was starting to get hungry when she smelled the meat was almost done. Nick sliced off some pieces of meat for Amber after he tried them himself.
It was delicious! He placed them on a leaf and gave them to Amber. Amber showed them how to make a gyro with pita bread, sauce, meat, and vegetables. They each made one and enjoyed the combination of flavors and textures.
The beast men didn't usually eat vegetables except for Fred and Oliver, so they preferred the meat and the sauce. Amber made a side salad with vegetables and sauce.
Eli tried it and his eyes widened in surprise! His mother was so good at making new foods! Eli enjoyed the food very much and didn't notice the big mess he was making.
Amber looked at the little messy monkey and smiled. He enjoyed the food, but she wasn't too happy about the mess.
Barry noticed the messy little monkey and after they finished eating he took Eli to the river to clean up. Eli was worried at first, but since it was his Uncle Barry and not his father, he relaxed.
Oliver just shook his head and helped clean up the mess inside the room from lunch. Amber decided to take a bath herself and went to her awesome indoor hot spring bathtub!
Ray noticed her leave and decided to take a chance at seducing her. He quietly followed Amber to the bathroom.