Reincarnated in Another World at the Age of 82!? - Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19

Variety of Cookies
Since Abe had returned, I explained how it came about that I was making cookies.

“””"………"”””

It wasn’t just Abe—Arthur, Annie, and Sarah, who had assumed I was baking cookies purely out of curiosity, were equally surprised. Nobody expected that these cookies would determine the course of my future.

"And so, Mr. Ben has become my master."

"Haha, uh, yeah, my bad."

Ben scratched his head, offering an apology without a shred of remorse.

"Well, Ben’s good at cooking, so that’s fine. But let’s get serious—what do you want to do after making these cookies, Young lady?"

"I don’t just want to make cookies. I want to use cooking to make everyone happy. I know being judged as having a Null attribute caused trouble for my family. That’s why I want to work hard at what I can do."

"Using cooking to make people happy, huh? That’s exactly how we feel about our craft. Alright, I get it. If the cookies you make now turn out well and the master approves, I’ll make sure you have the chance to become a proper cook."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Abe."

"Uhh... Young lady, could you drop the ‘Mr.’? It’s kind of weird coming from you."

"Then, since you’re my Master’s master, how about ‘Grandmaster’?"

"No, no, no! Absolutely not! ‘Mr.’ is fine."

"Alright then, Mr. Abe."

With that, everyone in the kitchen agreed to let me make the cookies. At last, I could begin.

"Alright, Young lady. Go ahead and start. Oh, and I’ll handle putting them in the oven."

"Okay, then let’s get started. First, cream the butter, then mix in the sugar. Now, divide it into three parts..."

"Wait, why three?"

"Oh, I thought I’d make three types of cookies?"

Oops, I forgot to mention that.

"Oh? And what kinds are you making?"

"Plain, tea-flavored, and salted cheese cookies."

"Tea and salted cheese? Never tried those before. You can keep going; don’t let me stop you."

"Alright. For the plain ones, I’ll just sift in the flour and mix it. For the tea ones, I’ll sift the tea with the flour before mixing. For the cheese ones, I’ll mince the cheese and..."

"Wait, can you handle a knife? Are you sure?"

"I’m fine."

Ugh, it’s distracting to have someone hovering over me with constant comments.

Well, I suppose it’s fair that they wouldn’t expect a five-year-old noble girl to know how to use a knife.

"Now, mix the cheese with the flour. Shape everything and let it chill in the refrigerator. Um, what should we do while it cools?"

"You’re surprisingly efficient, Young lady. It doesn’t seem like this is your first time."

Ben praised me.

Of course, I couldn’t exactly admit that I’d made cookies countless times for my kids and grandkids in my past life.

"But how will you add the salt for the salted cheese cookies?"

"Oh, I’ll roll the edges of the dough in salt after cutting it."

"Ah, I see~ That makes sense."

"Young lady~ how about taking a break? I’ve made some tea. You’re welcome to join, too, Mr. Ben."

Sarah called out to us.

Perfect timing, Sarah!

----------

Food Tasting
After chilling the cookie dough in the refrigerator, I began slicing it into rounds. For the salted cheese cookies, I coated the edges with coarse salt.

"Alright, time to bake~”

Ben placed the cookies in the oven.

"Master, please take care of them."

I felt like clapping my hands in prayer, hoping they would bake perfectly.

--- Twenty minutes later.

The kitchen was filled with a sweet aroma.

"They’re done~~~!!!"

"Yup, they’re baked perfectly. Now, it’s all about the taste."

"Yes. Mr. Abe, Master, please taste them."

Crunch.

"Yum!! These are amazing, Young lady! I’ve never had salted cheese cookies before, but the balance between the salt and cheese is just perfect!!"

"The tea cookies are great too. I never thought about eating tea leaves; I only ever drank tea. This is a unique idea..."

Gulp.

"Oh, Arthur, Annie—oh, sorry, Miss Annie, too."

"No, no, call me whatever you like."

"Alright, then, Annie too. Sarah, please give them a try."

Crunch.

"Delicious!"

"Th-these are really good!"

"Mmm~ they’re so tasty, Young lady~"

Everyone gave the cookies their stamp of approval.

I wonder if Father and the others will enjoy them as well?

Oh, right, there’s one more thing I wanted to make.

"Umm, Mr. Abe, Master. There’s something else I’d like to make..."

"What is it, Young lady?"

"I want to make dried fruits for my Mother."

"Dried fruits?"

"Yes, it’s fruit that’s been dehydrated."

"Is it any good?"

"Yes! Drying them concentrates the flavor and nutrients, plus it makes them last longer."

"Young lady, where did you learn about that?"

"Uh, w-well, from a book."

"You sure are a studious one, Young lady~"

"Alright, well, it’s worth a try. Ben, go with the Young lady to the pantry and pick out some fruits."

"Got it~ Let’s go, Young lady! Roll out~"

"Ohh~~!"

I jogged along behind Ben.

---Tap, tap, tap...

In the kitchen, after Joan and I had left:

"I always thought the Young lady was more spoiled and, uh, a bit different... She’s really changed."

"Yeah, she has. She never used to come to the kitchen, and she wasn’t this polite or well-mannered..."

"I’ve never even spoken with her before. But today, she called me Annie and smiled at me... She was so adorable. I felt my heart skip a beat!"

"Yeah, yeah, these days, the Young lady is just so cute. She’s heart-meltingly sweet."

"Yeah, I kinda wanted to pat her on the head."

"Right? That smile of hers makes me want to hug her tightly."

"Arthur, you’d get in trouble for that."

The three kitchen staff chatted about how different Joan was compared to before, while the maid, Sarah, beamed with pride as if it were her own accomplishment.

---

"A-a-achoo!!"

"Ahaha! That’s a bold sneeze, Young lady~ Are you alright?"

"I’m fine. What was that? Maybe it’s dust?"

----------

Dried Fruits
In the pantry, we searched for fruits.

"So, can you make dried fruits with any kind of fruit?"

"Yes, I think so. But since it’s my first time... (Hmm, the fruit names here seem different from back home. Search. Ah, just as I thought.) Let’s go with these: brapes, milange, pluberry, nababa, and aprico. (That’s grapes, oranges, blueberries, bananas, and apricots, I suppose, but the names feel slightly off…)"

"Alright, I’ll carry them."

"Thank you, Master."

Once again, I jogged to keep up.

Tap, tap, tap... My legs are too short to keep up with his stride.

"We’re back!"

"Welcome back. So, did you find any fruits that will work?"

"Yes, we’re going to use these five for now."

I displayed the fruits.

"So, how do you make these dried fruits?"

"Umm, for the brapes, you remove them from the stems. Milange is sliced into rounds with the skin on. Pluberries are left whole. Nababa is peeled and sliced into rounds. As for apricos, they need to be soaked in syrup overnight, so we’ll just prepare them for now."

"Alright, everyone, let’s get to it! If we don’t hurry, we won’t make it in time for afternoon tea."

With that, everyone joined in the prep work.

"But, Young lady, if we need to dry these, there’s no way they’ll be ready for afternoon tea, right?"

"Normally, yes. But there’s something I’d like to try."

"What’s that?"

"Well, let me show you using the brapes."

I picked up a plate of grapes and...

"Dry."

“”””"!!!!!!!!!!!””””"

"How’s this? It’s done~"

"Wh-what the heck was that~~~~!?"

"Oh, it’s my skill, Dry. The skill description mentioned drying things, so I thought it might work."

"”””Skill~~~~!?”””"

"Young lady, no one uses skills for cooking, you know."

Abe placed a hand on his forehead, exasperated.

"Really? But it’s so convenient!"

"Well, yeah, but still…"

Wait, even Ben looks exasperated?

"Anyway, I’ll taste it first. Hmm? Mmm~!!"

"See? I knew it would taste ter—"

"Delicious! Oh, excuse me! It turned out very tasty. Please, everyone, try it."

Cautiously, everyone took a piece and tasted it.

"What is this? The flavor is so concentrated! Young lady, it’s amazing!"

"So good! It’s better than eating them fresh!"

"How is it so good, just from drying?"

"Oh, it’s delicious~"

"Young lady, I feel like I won’t be able to stop eating these."

It was a hit with everyone. I’m so glad!

Skills are really useful, aren’t they?

Afterward, I dried the milange and nababa in the same way.

The brapes, milange, and pluberries were left slightly moist, while the nababa was dried thoroughly until crispy.

As for the apricos, they’ll be left in syrup overnight and dried tomorrow.

I also found some rum and decided to soak some dried grapes in it. That should make a sort of mock rum raisin.

Now, all that’s left is to see how Father and the others feel about it.

I hope they’ll like it.

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