The Snack Den

[?]

*yawns and relaxes today* 

[Firox]

(hopefully able to visit for about 5 or so replies) 



*as ? wakes from nap, I had been playing 'board games' on a laptop*


*Vay asks ?* "morning ?, how was the nap... reminds me, what would you like to eat? tell us and we will make it"
*Grace excited about eating tacos and burritos, before ? can even answer, Grace puts both paws around ? says out loud in that happy voice*
"can we make tacos and burritos, I'll help out"
*Vay smiles asks ?* "how about tacos and burritos this time, fun and simple to make, will let you choose next time"
*waits for the ?'s nod*


*Grace says excited, not noticing that fast wagging tail is hitting the kitchen counter with strong force on every 'left' wag, even ? can hear the hard 'whap' every time, even if smiling, Vay can tell Grace is trying not to give off that 'yelping' look*
*Vay* "Grace, best move an inch to the right sweetie"


*Grace moves, as we wait for ? to reply*



rest:
*Joseph is in the market, gets a call from Grace asking to get a few ingredients for tacos and burritos*

*Jyo is chatting with a Romanian friend on Discord, name is Iordănescu or Iordăn for short, invites him to visit*

*Arval for now is getting up from nap, stretching looking around*

*Linette and Zoran are drinking some hot chocolate by the window ledge, with the six young watching a cartoon movie on tablet*

*Sherrie is up and taking a shower*

[?]

*nods* tacos sound nice 

[Firox]

*Grace happy on ?'s decision to make tacos and burritos for the day, passes ? her three vanilla cream filled churros she was going to nom*


*I get up from playing on the laptop to help out with the cooking of meat, instead of ground beef, I am using flank steak, as I let it rest in a tasty taco sauce marinade*


*Grace learned how to make fresh tortillas from the Mexican restaurant owner, so she gets them going, I help out too, to also learn how to make fresh tortillas for tacos and burritos, and to make make sure we plenty for everyone*
 
*Vay stands back this time, passes ? some lemonade to drink while enjoying the churros, puts ? on my head tuft so it can watch meal be prepared*
*passes a churro to each of the six young, and explains to them what they are*
*all six love the taste*

[?]

*happily noms it and playfully tosses some cream around* ^^

[Firox]

*I giggle and lick off some of the cream that fell on dough, Grace smiles too*


(sorry, a bit long on this one and the next one - hopefully won't be too sad)   
 


*as ? can see, we have all the tortillas for the tacos, Grace sets aside 1/3rd for crunchy tacos, since she knows that ? loves those crunchy tacos*
*next up we roll out some more longer 'tortilla shells' to make for burritos, these are almost 2 times bigger*

*Joseph arrives with the ingredients, including shredded cheese, avocados, tomatoes, limes, cilantro, and couple of spices including very mild chili peppers for color and texture - along with more of his favorite cherry-coke, and also got ? a tasty sugar cookie so it can nom, while watching*


*den time, about an hour later*


*I get the meat cooking with Heat Wave, once its ready, I set in the oven at lowest temperature to keep the sauce simmering*
*as Grace is cutting veggies, excited from the smell of the taco meat, gets a bit distracted while cutting the last veggie, which was the tomato for salsa... made a prepping mistake, the tomato slipped and the sharp knife ended up cutting her right paw, with a deep cut, luckily for her it barely missed the vein by half inch*

*giving off a surprised yelp, wrapping a small cloth, not enough to control bleeding, looks around not seeing Sherrie anywhere, she was other side of the cat tree playing on a laptop with headphones on, didn't hear the yelp - limps over to where Sylvee is in the other den, quickly explains what happen, presents paw, Sylvee can see the deep cut - Grace had forgotten about the ache due to paw hurting a lot more, but Sylvee can also see the four or so bumps on left side near the tip of her tail from when it hit the counter couple times*   


*in den, Vay carefully cleans up and removes the stained cutting board, sanitizes the area and brings out a new cutting board*
*for safety reasons of everyone in the den, sadly tosses the tomato away that Grace was going to cut, luckily was the first tomato, so Vay had plenty to work with, she finishes cutting the rest for the salsa and taco/burrito topping, also slices up avocados into slices*

[?]

*sylvee looks over the paw and quickly cleans then wraps it up for them*  " aww, you be more careful dear. you will be fine"


*Watches as all happens*

[Firox]

*Grace still with a slight achy voice gives thanks, and does apologize for rushing in without knocking – limps slowly back to den*
*to make her not feel bad we make her be in charge, in restaurant terms "expediter" making sure all is done right*






*Vay using a blender mixes the chilies, spices, and tomato, blends them into a nice thin paste, pours into a bowl, passing Grace a taste with a spoon*
"ohh, that is so good, nice salsa flavor, but no heat at all, no worries, I have also chili flakes if anyone wants it spicy, all they have to is is pour some in a bowl for themselves and mix in the flakes for heat"


*I tells all* "lets get to forming and eating, just let me know how the tortillas are made"
*Grace explains to me the texture, I use Heat Wave to make one, once its right, I use Heat Wave  to bake the soft tortillas for tacos and burritos all at oonce*


*Joseph makes the tacos, I make the burritos, and Vay finishes them*
*Sherrie gets up from playing games*
"oh my, what happened Grace?"
*Grace to Sherrie* "cut myself while cutting veggies, for now does hurt a bit, food almost ready"
*Sherrie* "I'll help out too"


*forming*
*I first pass Joseph half the meat for the tacos*
*Joseph adds a nice portion of meat to each soft taco, passes them to Vay*


*I do same with burritos, pass them to Vay - Sherrie offered to help too, so she tops the tacos, Vay tops the burritos*


*Sherrie adds some lettuce ad diced tomato, cheese and sour cream to each taco*
*Vay does same to the burritos, she carefully rolls up the burrito*


*for ?'s favorite, while Sherrie and Vay are finishing up the tacos and burritos, I'm using some olive oil on some tortillas, which a cone-like aid in the middle, I use Heat Wave to crispy up some tortillas so they keep that crunchy taco shape*
*as before, I fill them with steak meat, Vay adds the lettuce, tomato, cheese, and sour cream*

[?]

*watches as all cook*

[Firox]

*? can see with both tacos and burritos, its not a 'thin layer' of meat, its nice thick so each bite has a bit of everything*
*Sherrie goes over and calls on everyone that the food is ready – other's playing on laptop, close it and go for food*




*we let everyone pick what they like*
*the salsa isn't spicy at all, so Grace lets everyone know that, reason spicy chili flakes are in a separate bowl*
*next to is the 'pico de gallo' which are bigger veggies diced and flavored with lime juice, it's a little spicy, so mild to low-medium*




*I pass ? a plate with four big crunchy tacos, a soft taco, and a burrito so it can start nomming*



*Grace invites ? to* "try some of the mild salsa, its super mild, mainly for taste, not heat"
(best way to kind of explain it: if you ever had the mild salsa from Taco Bell, the salsa has color, texture, and taste of real taco sauce, but its milder than that, no spicy heat at all)


*spicy salsa chili flakes?  Joseph, Arval, and herself.. well with Joseph's help are the only ones that grab the spicy flakes*
*all of us except for the young ones grab lots of the 'pico de gallo'*




*Grace of course after resting and eating, and trying to relax, when the slightly 'stronger aching pain' returns to paw*

[?]

thanks and happily starts to enjoy* ^^

[Firox]

*after a bit of eating, Vay invites everyone juice*
*Joseph invites ?* “would you like some cherry-coke?”


*the six young happy with apple juice*


*with my help, I add 8 crunchy tacos, 4 soft tacos,, and 4 burritos on another plate, some salsa in a separate pourable container*
*Grace and I go visit Sylvee and !, this time knocking*
*Grace at door* "its us, we brought you some tacos and burritos, may we come in?" 

[?]

*happily drinks then playfully paws some taco on Joseph's nose*

* sylvee happily opens the door and thanks for the tacos* ^^

[Firox]

*I pass Sylvee the plate with the food, the small 'salt shaker' like container filled with the mild salsa*
*Grace* "thanks again, enjoy it"
*Grace and I go back to den - Sylvee can tell, Grace walking slower, probably aching for a couple of days*




*Joseph lets a small shock into the paw* "enjoy the meal"
*Leafyz and the younger ones enjoying the meal while watching the movie on the tablet*




*in den, Grace finds a place to relax*


*I sneak up from behind as ? and Joseph having fun, I start to tap the ?'s ears with vanilla cream filled churros*

[?]

eep *shakes paws then flicks ear n noms the churro*     *throws some taco at each face*