Pound Cake, as its name implies, one pound of sugar, one pound of flour, one pound of eggs, one pound of butter, "just how much sweet can Western people eat" is a strong representative of desserts.
One pound is approximately nine taels, which is close to one jin, and this cake requires one jin of sugar.
What's more terrifying is that the cake doesn't actually taste that sweet when you eat it, as that one pound of butter will make the finished product moister and the fat will provide a greasy texture that facilitates swallowing, which makes the sugar less pronounced. Many dessert shops even use one and a half jins of sugar to make it sweeter.
This thing is completely a calorie bomb, a small piece is enough for an adult's daily calorie needs. Besides not being easy to store, it is less practical to bring along than compressed biscuits in wilderness survival situations.
After finishing lunch, Shiller started to bake the cake. Except for Steve, who worked out all year round, hardly anyone disliked sweets, and eating sweets helps relieve anxiety. Shiller's office also often had sweet wafers and chocolates and such, which the nurses would take and give to well-behaved patients.
Carter's situation, of course, draped everyone in an anxious atmosphere, and delicious desserts were the best choice to dispel this mood.
However, unfortunately, the supplies Shiller had stored were quite basic. Those high-end desserts certainly couldn't be made. He decided to make the most classic and least likely to fail, Pound Cake. Paired with fruits and cream, it could help those who don't like to eat replenish calories quickly and brighten their mood.
The men went to prepare the barbecue for the afternoon. With Gray Mist and Venom, these two big eaters around, there was no worry about not being able to finish whatever amount of food there was. Shiller bought a whole cow directly from the neighboring ranch.
The neighboring ranch is a grain-fed ranch, and a characteristic of American grain-fed beef is that it has more fat, making it richer and smoother in taste. For those who do not like fatty meat, this might be a disaster, but if one can accept meat rich in oils, the taste is quite good. In comparison, the taste of lean meat in Australian grain-fed beef is better.
The ranch owner next door had already slaughtered the cow, and Steve led others to the farm's gate to receive the beef. The beef was well butchered, with each part processed cleanly. But as they were concerned that the smell of blood might trigger discomfort in Carter, they directly took the beef to the nearby warehouse for further handling.
The ladies were in charge of processing vegetables, mainly slicing bell peppers to skewer beef, and shredding lettuce and red cabbage for the salad.
On the California side, there is a very famous barbecue dish called palm leaf barbecue, which means grilling fresh beef on palm leaves. Some regions also wrap the meat in palm leaves and throw them into a fire pit. The ladies were very interested in this dish. Wanda proposed to pick some palm leaves of the right size.
Actually, she wanted to take Carter out for a walk. Even though the UV rays were strong now, during her own pregnancy, she felt much better as long as she stayed in sunny places. She hoped Carter would feel the same.
After the chattering ladies left the kitchen, Shiller really started to prepare the afternoon's dishes. Mainly, he needed to handle seafood because the fishy smell could also trigger Carter's discomfort. He needed to get the crab and shrimp prepared before the ladies returned.
California's seafood is also famous, especially the large-sized Dungeness crabs. Shiller ordered a batch of good stuff from the San Francisco pier, almost every one weighing over two jin, with beautiful orange-yellow shells, some still brandishing their claws.
Shiller cracked open the shells of two large crabs in the blink of an eye, removed the crab roe to make porridge. This kind of crab doesn't have much paste, but the roe is rich in fat, perfect for congee.
Shiller cooked a pot of white rice porridge in a sand pot. Once the crab roe was added in, a layer of golden oil floated on the surface of the porridge, emitting an indescribable fragrance of fat. Shiller also shredded some crab meat to put into it, adding just a bit of ginger. He didn't cook it thoroughly since dinner was still a while away, and it could be boiled again later.
The meat from the two crabs was made into garlic butter baked crab meat. This method catered more to the local American taste, but Shiller found it a bit greasy. He steamed two whole crabs remaining, steam cooked crab was suitable for everyone, and retained the original seafood flavor. The remaining one was made into spicy stir-fried crab according to his own taste. The key was to stir-fry it on high heat to make it fragrant but not overly spicy while preserving the seafood's freshness.
Of course, how could one be in California and not eat Mexican food? Considering the ladies preferred a lighter taste, Shiller made Mexican vegetable wraps, Mexican corn tostadas topped with marinated chicken, and a bell pepper sour cream soup.
In addition, he made clam chowder, seafood medley, spicy beef fried rice, and the famous California roll.
When the ladies returned, they began to help clean up. Although it was a barbecue they were preparing for, there were a lot of items to take besides the ingredients—an assortment of odds and ends were packed into their bags, and they also took along their swimwear.
Helen and two mice had nothing else to do and had been inflating swim rings and kayaks all along. They ended up being caught red-handed by a sudden arrival with a shaven head.
Nick was holding a Pikachu in his left hand and a Rocket Raccoon in his right, just about to ask what they were doing here when he got zapped with a hundred thousand volts from Pikachu, blackening him even more.
The Rocket Raccoon he was holding also got zapped, purely a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So when Nick retracted his hand, he couldn't wait to retaliate. To protect the newly inflated swim ring, Helen had to step in to stop them.
Nick exhaled a puff of black smoke, coughed a few times, walked over to the island platform and, with a snap of his finger, said, "Make me a 'Coconut Paradise...'"
Bam—a coconut hit him on the head. Nick rubbed his forehead, complaining, "That's really impolite, at least open it for me."
Shiller threw him a coconut opener, but that thing really was not easy to use. Nick fiddled with it for a long time but still couldn't open it, so he finally had to hand it over to Helen.
He leaned one arm on the island platform and said, "How's Steve doing? I knew this kid wouldn't have it easy..."
Shiller turned to look at him, puzzled as to why he would say that, and Nick shook his head, "The best ending for us cyborgs is to die alone; procreating is but a luxury."
"Even in this era, no one has developed a Super Soldier Potion without side effects. Back in those less scientifically advanced times, those potions had already done irreversible damage to our bodies. What we can do is simply not to spread that damage further."
"You're being too pessimistic," Shiller said as he passed him a glass of ice cubes, then added, "We now have the ability to remedy many things. Steve already has a basic plan, and I believe the child will be born smoothly."
"Being born is just the first step; the trouble is yet to come." Even though he said this, there was also a hint of pleasure on Nick's face. If Captain America's child was a mutant, it could bring the mutants closer to S.H.I.E.L.D., and he had been coveting this group of human-formed nuclear bombs for a long time.
After dealing with the meat, Stark entered through the front door with a look of disdain, holding his own hands. He was surprised to see Nick but couldn't help sneering, "You sure have perfect timing, in keeping with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s style of showing up a year after the problem's solved."
"Don't say that, Tony," Nick retorted with a pout, "Is Little Morgan doing well? Does she miss her Uncle Nick?"
"She's doing great, but I must warn you to keep your distance from my daughter; I don't want her turning out as cunning as you."
Nick took it not as a disgrace but as a point of pride; he laughed heartily and said, "If she really has such a talent, you should be happy. S.H.I.E.L.D. has its future secured."
Stark pursed his lips, showing an expression that said you could never hurt a man who simply didn't care about face-saving.
Steve and Reed followed behind, with Reed looking a bit nervous as though they had just discussed some plan and were about to implement it.
At this time, Susan came down from upstairs with things in hand and greeted them with a smile. Susan was a typical American blonde, pretty and warm, getting along with everyone. In such a short time, she had already become close enough with Wanda to gossip in secret, a stark contrast to Reed's social skills.
She had changed into a beautiful light green figure-hugging dress, with layers at the hem blooming like lotus leaves, and wore thin gold chains in her ears, exuding a mature and intellectual charm unlike any other woman present.
Reed's eyes went wide on the spot, with Steve and Stark pulling at his sleeves from either side. It took him more than ten seconds to snap out of it and, giving Steve a plea for help with his eyes.
The seasoned player Stark immediately cheered, and Wanda and Pepper, who had followed him out, also began to tease. Susan showed a playful smile, tossed her hair back, and waved like a Hollywood star.
Reed felt a firm push from behind, glared back at Stark, but still nervously approached Susan and said, clenching his hands, "You look beautiful today, uh, we were thinking of mixing some drinks to bring over. Do you have any preferences?"
Susan blinked lightly and said, "I'm not particularly picky about drinks. Maybe something sweet? Do you have rum here?"
Reed looked towards the bar, and Shiller shook his head, "We have Liqueur, whiskey, rye beer, red wine, and ice wine, as well as some low-proof rice wine for cooking, but no rum or vodka."
"Ah, that's alright, I'm fine with anything," Susan said with a wave of her hand. "I'm not accustomed to drinking during meals, but if I were to have one, maybe a beer?"
Reed was caught off guard by her response, looking to Steve who frantically mouthed something to him.
But before Reed could speak, Susan smiled at him, "Though actually, I'm quite interested in mixing drinks too. What kind of drinks can you make? Any flair bartending?"
"Don't joke, miss," Reed replied somewhat embarrassed. "The only kind of mixing I do is shaking together all kinds of drinks."
Susan burst into laughter, covering her mouth, "That's so coincidental, I'm the same. I once mixed lemon juice and a dairy drink and got a thick substance. I thought I had discovered something new in liquid molecules."
Reed immediately became enthusiastic, "Citric acid causing protein to curdle does create a mess but can hardly be called a discovery..."
Steve stepped forward and yanked him, while Stark rolled his eyes from behind, thinking to himself that if this girl wasn't interested in you too, you wouldn't stand a chance.
They both then made their way to the bar, with Shiller smartly stepping aside.
But he had already prepared most of the drinks – mainly refreshing low-proof cocktails and cool coconut juice, stored in beer kegs filled with ice, ready to be taken to the door and placed into the car.