arockysmith

Why Can't This Be? [arockysmith + tlstiffl]

Ezra shook his head as he put the knife down and grabbed a little flour. He rubbed his hands with it and began mixing with his fingers. "You're relying too much on the whisk now. Kneed it a little and get the rolling pin to flatten it a bit. Then you'll take a knife and cut little triangles so you're not making one giant mess of a cookie. You can decide yourself how big or how little you want the cookie to be just as long as it can hold the filling. You weren't messing up, you just weren't exploring other choices. I don't use the whisk often, I prefer to feel the dough in my grasp so I know when it's ready to be turned into whatever we're eating," he said as he let the dough go and poured a little flower on the table and coated the rolling pin with it.

He turned to her and held her hands out so he could coat those in flour also. When he was satisfied he placed his hands on both of her cheeks and gave her a small kiss. When he let his hands fall she had white prints on her face and he gave a small chuckle. He went over to the kitchen sink and rinsed his hands off so that she could focus on doing the rest herself. He would just finish with the filling and she would be left working herself.

"I'll heat up the oven so it's warmed by the time you've figured out what to do. No more help from me. You're a smart girl, you can do it. If you mess up I'll still pretend it like it through tears," he said trying to make a joke.

VK- BlackRose79/arockysmith

Vada suddenly felt a bit of a breeze that appeared to come out of nowhere. She looked around to see if anybody had left a window open, but they were all closed with heavy curtains over top of them. She frowned a moment as she went to ask Miki if she felt it also. That was when she noticed her new friend staring at Kaname. She cocked her head to side a bit sensing some tension between them. He was a good looking fellow, but completely out of Vada's league, although she did dream up fantasies about possibly getting him into her chambers. With a small laugh she turned her focus back to Miki who had just responded to her inquiry. The girl looked like her mind was elsewhere, but Vada decided not to question it just yet. They had only just officially met so she felt like it was too soon for her to be so invasive.

"I absolutely adore chocolate. I better get myself out there so I can more chocolate than you," Vada said with a laugh, "some friendly competition. Although I doubt I stand a chance. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." She gave Miki a little flirtatious wink and then erupted into laughter. Soon she had all eyes on the two of them. She put a delicate hand over her mouth as she realized she'd just stolen focus from Kaname and he didn't look particularly pleased.

Why Can't This Be? [arockysmith + tlstiffl]

Ezra watched in amusement as Marta attempted to make the cookies without his help. He stood with his hands crossed over his chest trying not to take over, which was something his father always scolded him for. He loved cooking too much that watching someone else do it was painful. She wasn't doing bad though for it being what appeared to be her first time in any sort of kitchen. Eventually he found himself leaning on the table resting his head on his arms figuring out when she would ask him for help or if she would continue working on her own. The excitement in her eyes kept him entertained. He was actually quiet impressed that she had figured out what to use to measure items and how much each thing was. The directions were merely just there, it seemed like she had memorized the recipe before she'd even started and Ezra wasn't sure really how she did it. He'd always had bad memory so having the recipes written out for him step by step had a life savor when he started cooking himself.

When she finally let out a sigh and looked at him his smile grew and he picked up a whisk, "this will make it fluff up. Be gentle though. You want some air pockets," he said placing it in her hand. He stood half behind her while placing his hand over top of hers to show her how to use it properly. "Many people mess up here because they do it too much or too fast or too rough. You want to take it nice and slow," he whispered like he was trying not to disturb the mixture.

His body pressed against her back as he let go of her hand, but stayed close enough in case she didn't feel like she was doing it right. Once he saw her get the hang out of it he moved away and began slicing the fruit to making the filling of the cookies. He'd never thought he'd be teaching a girl to bake. Normally all Jewish girls were naturals in the kitchen and his need to learn had usually been a hobby, but with Marta he was glad he had the skill because he was pretty sure she would start fire if she ever needed to use the stove.

Why Can't This Be? [arockysmith + tlstiffl]

Ezra raised an eyebrow while he thought about it. Teaching her to bake would be difficult, she didn't seem like the type of girl who spent her free time in the kitchen, but he wouldn't deny her the request. He enjoyed the smell fresh pastries and cakes. Baking them calmed his nerves and he could usually forget about whatever was bothering him, even if it was just for a moment. He nodded slowly as he brought his hands up to his face and thought for a moment. He wanted to give her an easy recipe. Something that would be nearly impossible to mess up so that she wouldn't feel overwhelmed or get discouraged. Cookies. There was no way she could mess that up.

He quickly turned on his heel and began to shuffle through some papers inside of a metal box. He had his grandmothers recipe somewhere within these piles of documents that was so easy a mouse could do it. He finally found what he was looking for and brought it over to her. "Cookies. Not just any cookies, my Savta's cookies. Impossible for anyone to mess up. It was the first thing I learned to make, so it should be the first thing you learn. Everything is basic and common knowledge. If you plan on baking like me then you start here. If you plan on baking like my father I can give you a complicated pie recipe, but that usually ends in disaster even when I try. Something always goes wrong with the homemade filling," he said getting lost in his thoughts, "anyway, cookies. I'll read the directions to you and then you can read them to yourself. Memorize them."

He held the paper in front of him like he was ready to give a lecture to a bunch of students. "These are called Hamantaschen cookies. We usually only make them during Purim, which is a holiday, but I like them all year round. We need cream cheese, unsalted butter, sugar, vanilla, kosher salt, flower, apricots, raspberries, and egg whites. These are my favorite kind of cookies, so don't mess up," he said with a smile to show her he was only joking.

He took hold of her arm and led her to the kitchen so that they could started. He grabbed all the ingredients from various places around the kitchen and laid them out on the table before them. They would make the filling fresh just like his grandma taught him. He looked over at her to see if she was still up for it.

"If it's too much we can bake bread...I just thought you'd prefer something sweet..." He said a little anxious. Had he assumed wrong about her? Was she joking about wanting to bake? He bit his lip as he looked at all the items in front of him. This recipe suddenly felt like it was too complicated and he mentally kicked himself for picking it.

Reciepe from google for how much of each and what to do, obviously come of it will be done differently but typing it out would be too much

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1⁄4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup flour
2 tbsp. apricot preserves
2 tbsp. raspberry preserves
1 egg white, beaten
Instructions
In a bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt, and beat with a mixer until fluffy. Add flour; beat. Form dough into a thin disk. Wrap disk in plastic wrap; chill for 30 minutes.
Transfer dough to a floured surface; roll to a 3⁄16" thickness. Using a 2 1⁄2" round cookie cutter, cut dough into rounds. Reroll scraps; repeat. Transfer the rounds to 2 parchment paper–lined baking eets. Place about 1⁄2 tsp. apricot preserves in center of half the rounds; place about 1⁄2 tsp. raspberry preserves in the center of remaining rounds. Brush egg white around edges. Fold in edges to form a triangular package, leaving a small opening at the top. Refrigerate filled cookies for 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 350°. Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

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Look If You Dare

Why Can't This Be? [arockysmith + tlstiffl]

"I want to remember your face right now. I don't want to dwell tonight on the bad things that happened today. There will be so many other things in the weeks to come that will give us wrinkles and make me go gray. Right now I want to remember your smile and the way your laugh sounds. I don't want to think about Oscar or the necklace. I want to be you for a moment and just focus on the good things," Ezra said surprising himself the most.

He'd meant those words more than anything else. There would be plenty of time for him to cry over the things that would happen in his life and what was sure to come. In the morning she would go home and relive her life separate from him and he would do the same, but right now she was learning about his own and he was opening up more to the idea that maybe her changing religions wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe they could be happy. Hitler would lose his power over the people soon. The attention span of a human was like a dogs. They would go hard at first with the beliefs, but then they would go back to normal. He was stupid to worry about the future when his present was this lovely.

"Tomorrow we can go back to reality, but right now I need to escape it and I want to escape it with you, Marta," Ezra said reaching out his hand and taking hers.

He wasn't sure if all the trauma had finally gotten to him or if he was slowly descending into madness. If his mother had heard him say those words she'd have smacked him back into the reality quicker than ever. She was never one to be a dreamer the way his father was. He had dreamed of owning his own bakery and he made it happen while he was Ezra's age. His dad and his mom had just gotten married and before kids they penned the whole idea down. It wasn't until after Ezra had turned 5 that his father started to grey and the dream seemed more like a burden.

Why Can't This Be? [arockysmith + tlstiffl]

"You're not intruding. You'd be keeping me company. I'd like it if you stayed the night. But anyway...my father made it this batch. I overslept and when I finally came down he had finished most of the baking. All I did today was stand around and wait for customers...and then..." Ezra paused a moment putting his food down and pushing it away from him. Suddenly he wasn't hungry as he reached for his throat. Still bare. He pursed his lips, "I can't believe I let them leave with my great grandfathers necklace. My dads face was so saddened when he saw I didn't have it anymore. He looked all over trying to figure out where I could have misplaced it. I didn't have the guts to tell him it was stolen right off my neck. That it was either my life or the necklace. I should have lost my life instead of let them take it from."

He shook his head and pushed his food towards her. She seemed to enjoy it more than he was. His family wasn't big on wasting anything so if it could go somewhere besides the trash than he was satisfied. He rested his head on his hands as he looked over at her and motioned with his eyes for her to eat some more.

"It was passed down from son to son. Once you turned 13 you were granted ownership of the necklace. If you didn't have a son and instead you were father to a daughter than you kept the necklace for your grandson. The girls in our family got other ones. I'm not sure where my grandmothers went to. My parents never wanted more than one. I think she gave it to my mother for safe keeping. We are very traditional when it comes to family. If my parents saw us though I don't think they'd mind that we differed in beliefs. I think they'd just fear for my life even more than they already do. I swear they'll die young because of me," he said closing his eyes a moment. He found it hard to open up to people.

He had friends, but not many. After his attack people began to distance themselves. He was too much of a liability. He had originally thought his attackers were sent after him as a warning to his father and all the debt he owed to keep their shop up and running. But after today he knew it was purely his religion. He shrugged a bit to get out of his own head and turned his attention back to her. She always listened to every word he said like it would save the world. Like there was some deeper meaning behind every syllable. He found himself smiling at her, flashing his teeth a little, a smile that reached his eyes and felt deep inside. It was warm and inviting. She waited to see if she had any more questions.

Why Can't This Be? [arockysmith + tlstiffl]

He put his sandwich on the counter and nodded, "Okay," was all he said before he took a small step and pulled her to him, making sure to be gentle so he didn't cause her any unnecessary pain. He tilted her chin up and parted her lips with his own taking everything in from the way his arms around around her frame, to the softness of her lips, to the way their noses brushed together as it intensified. She was like a flower blooming and he was the gardener. His hands moved into her hair, his fingers getting tangled inside the blonde locks and he wasn't sure how long they'd been kissing, but he didn't want to stop. He lifted her up and sat her on the counter so that she was more his height never breaking his lips from hers. When he finally pulled away he was out of breath and his heart was racing.

"A kiss is never just a kiss," Ezra whispered as he kissed the tip of her nose and detached himself from her.

He wasn't sure if he'd over stepped a boundary. That was kind of kiss you did in private with the person you were married to, not a stranger in a bakery. He'd wanted to keep going, to see what was under her clothes, but he kept those thoughts to himself knowing they were wrong. He picked up his sandwich and took another bite, motioning for her to eat with him.

"Those pills will make you sick on an empty stomach. If you're still in pain I can walk you to a hospital, but the closest one without Jewish doctors is about a town or two over. You can stay here for the night. My parents won't mind if you sleep on our sofa. My mom is more doctor than she'll ever admit, so if you want her to look you over than I can bring her down. You just can't tell anyone she looked at you. Women doctors, especially jewish ones are very taboo. My family is already on thin ice with the authorities," he said keeping everything in a casual tone of voice like they were talking about the weather.

he didn't want her to worry about him anymore. One day she'd come to this bakery and he'd probably be gone. She'd have no idea where he was and until that moment came he would give her his full attention and all the love he had inside of him. He would be remembered by her. He would live for something.

Why Can't This Be? [arockysmith + tlstiffl]

Ezra saw her wincing in pain and reached under the counter for a couple pills. He slid the bottle between them and let her do what she wished. The medicine wasn't something you'd find in a store and they weren't given by doctors. It was a little illegal, but it was all they had and his mother swore by the stuff. He repeated her question in his head before responding.

"What makes food Kosher...hmm...well I could rattle off a bunch of information. When it comes to meat it must come from an animal that chews its cud and has split hooves such as cows, sheep, and goats. For birds they have to be domesticated creatures such as chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, cornish hens. That kind of stuff. They also must be killed with precision and examined by a skill shochet, which is a person trained in kosher slaughtering. The meat also has to be soaked and removed of all traces of blood before it can be cooked and anything used to slaughter the animals must also be kosher," Ezra paused a moment and went to the kitchen to pull out some meat for their sandwiches and vegetables. When he came back he continued, "for dariy all our items have to come from a kosher animal. They must be free of any meat derivatives. They have to be produced, processed and packaged on kosher equipment. The foods that aren't meat or dairy are considered pareve, which includes eggs, fish, fruit, vegetables, grains, pasta, coffee, candies, and other snacks. Pareve items however lose their status if they're processed on meat or dairy equipment. The chocolate we use and cookies we bake all have to be certified pareve. We also have to make sure our fruits, vegetables, and grains don't have any small insects or larvae because those aren't kosher. Our eggs must looked at for any blood spots or else we can't eat them."

He looked over and saw the cap off the pill bottle and smiled a bit. She trusted him still. "I hope that wasn't too much information. You usually learn all this stuff while you're a child so by the time you're our age it's drilled in your mind and you can repeat it like a machine," he finished their sandwiches and passed one over to her.

He could see she was struggling and it made him a little irritated that she wasn't telling him exactly what happened. He knew something was wrong, but he didn't think she'd hide it. He was basically flashing his body to her, at least from the waist up, and she could see his markings. Why was she struggling to let him know what was wrong. He began to think he'd been too harsh when he told her to stop crying. She had every right to cry over what happened. Everything he predicted was coming true. Maybe she was struggling to realize the truth again.

"I know they hurt you. You don't have to act tough. I'm not going to shoo you away. You need comfort and you need to know I'm here for you the same way you were for me. I know I've been hot and cold, but I'll stop. I know you don't need that and after today...well people already seem to know. So there's really no point in pretending that I don't want to kiss you," Ezra said taking a bite of his food.

Why Can't This Be? [arockysmith + tlstiffl]

Ezra glanced over at her as he gripped the counter so tight his knuckles turned white. She was taking the blame, but he hadn't placed any on her, not verbally at least. He knew now why they came back. She'd said too much without meaning to and he'd had to relive that day again. He wasn't angry with her. It was the whole situation that bothered him the most. The way she cut herself previously. They'd caught her and they'd told her she had to be scared for his life. That's why she was stupid enough to come back. She had to see if they made good on their threat. He refused to fall apart in front of her the way he did last night. He would hold himself together even if it hurt.

"Stop crying. I don't need or want your tears here tonight. Tonight you will eat with me and we will talk about other things. We will discuss why the sun rises and why it sets. We can talk about whatever you're learning in school. Tonight we won't talk about our religions or blame one another for things out of our control. We won't talk about the bad. We will talk about our childhoods and we will talk about whatever keeps you from crying. I'll make you a sandwich, okay? It'll be kosher, but like I said you need to get used to it," He said letting a smile creep up to his lips as he looked over at her.

Watching her react the way she was pained him and he knew if he let his real emotions show then she would suffer even more than she was already. He couldn't have this girl falling to pieces. If she cried too loud his mother might come down or a neighbor might hear. He had to keep her quiet and calm. He went to the case and pulled out a loaf of bread and began slicing it in half.

"If things we're easy then this wouldn't be love," he whispered to her.