Before she and Artorias started their family and she began to find where she could be the most helpful around The Hallows, she never would have imagined herself as much of a chef or a baker, but she had certainly had enough practice at it over the last few years. It was something she had come to enjoy even though she mostly just enjoyed the outcome rather than the process. Being able to care for and provide for her children and family was more important to her than pretty much anything else and this was just a small way for her to do that. It did mean that she ended up spending quite a bit of time throughout the day in the castle's kitchens, but that didn't mean she wasn't able to spend time with her children at the same time. Now that their first litter was a little older she occasionally had them help her with the prep and some of the cooking, but today it was one of her youngest daughters that was accompanying her into the kitchen as she got ready to cook dinner for their large family.

"Okay, Ember! What do you think everyone would want to eat tonight?" she questioned her daughter as she led the way down the stairs to the cellar where most of their food stuffs were stored. She gestured to a few hanging, larger pieces of meat from deer, boars, and the like and also to a selection of salted fish and smaller prey like rabbits. The prep for the bonfire was in full swing so they were spoiled for choice right now. "We can make whatever you'd like! That's one of the perks of being the chef, you can always make things you like," she joked with a little wink to her daughter. Of course she always made sure to make a variety of foods to make sure everyone got their favorite things from time to time, but since Ember was in the kitchen and working with her today she wanted her girl to feel special and pick her favorite things this time.

"Briar Carpathius"

Ember relished any and all time she got to spend with her parents, but there was something a bit extra special about the time she spent with her mother. The little Carpathian lady looked up to Briar as her role model. Her mom was beautiful and strong, confident and elegant, everything Ember also wanted to be when she became a grown up! Plus as she got older and her tail fur began to take on a longer, silkier complexion, it became evident that sooner or later she would be needing to ask her mom for her grooming routines as they shared more in common than was first apparent. Today, Briar had promised her some cooking lessons, and Ember was all in on the chance to learn a new skill with her mother! The meals Briar prepared for them were always the tastiest, much better than Dad's! It must have been that magical mom touch that made everything good!

Following behind Briar with a little spring in her step, Ember bounced down the cellar stairs and followed her tawny dam into the larders, but couldn't resist taking a peek at the locked off area where the wines were kept. By now, Ember was keenly aware of the special drinks the adults all had, and being as curious as she was, was chomping at the bit to see what all the fuss was about. Her attention was pulled away from the illicit libations at the moment when Briar asked what she thought everyone would want to eat tonight, giving her the run of the larders to decide what they made for supper. One of the perks of being the chef, as Briar put it. Ember shot a giddy grin back up at her mother, then perused down the rows of hanging meats, her puppy eyes wide with awe. She didn't realize their pack had so much food!

"Whoa, there's so many options...!" Ember exclaimed in amazement. There were many dishes that the Carpathian pup enjoyed, but some of her most favorite were the seafood options their hunters pulled from the nearby sea and streams and the venison that came from their own plains. Pursing her lips in a pensive little pout, Ember glanced between the fresh fishes and the hanging loins of venison. "IIIIIII wanna maaaaake... venison!" she declared after a moment of thought, her tail wagging excitedly behind her. Her mother's roasted venison was one of her all time favorite meals!

"Ember"

Briar gave an amused chuckle as she watched her daughter begin to stalk up and down the rows of the various meats and supplies that they kept on hand down here, her awe at the vast array of options obvious on her adorable face. "There are!" she agreed at Ember's exclamation about how many options there were. Eventually the midnight-colored girl landed on a nice piece of venison as her choice and Briar nodded approvingly as she came over to pick up the large piece of meat. "Good choice!" Venison was always a crowd pleaser and she did know how much Ember in particular liked that meal. Glancing over to a section of shelving that had baskets and trays of vegetables and such that had been pulled from the garden, she hummed with thought and added, "Why don't you grab that bunch of carrots and a head of lettuce to go with it? There's a couple baskets to the side over there to carry them in." Gathering up the centerpiece of their dinner, she began to head back up the stairs while Ember gathered their sides.

Once they were both back in the kitchen, she sat the venison roast on the counter that took up the middle of the room. Once Ember's vegetables were placed beside it she turned back to Ember with a smile. "Okay! Now that we know we'll be roasting a big piece of meat, we need to get the oven prepped for it." Walking over to the large, brick oven, she began gathering some logs from the pile near by and placing them inside. "Since it's a larger roast, we want to get it nice and browned on the outside so we'll need one side of the oven to get really hot for the searing and we'll want the other side to be a little less hot so it can warm through without getting burned," she explained, passing Ember a couple of the logs and letting her nudge them into place. "See how they're stacked on one side like that? That'll help us get the effect we want. The fire will be really hot regardless, but even a little bit of separation makes a big difference!"

She slid a blackened, metal grate into place over the logs then before going to get a smaller twig of wood and once she had lit it on a near by fireplace she used that to ignite the wood they had placed in the oven. After giving it a few good blows of air the fire began to crackle in earnest and began to spread through their stack of firewood. "There we go! Now while that heats up we can get our ingredients ready." Stepping back over to the counter where the food was waiting, she asked, "What do you think we need to do to them first? Chop or season?"

"Briar Carpathius"

Ember was especially pleased that her mother agreed with her choice for their dinner that evening, her tiny tail wagging a mile a minute as she watched Briar fetch the large slab of fresh meat. Briar instructed her to gather up some vegetables to accompany their meal and the little girl wasted no time doing as she was told, prancing over to the wicker baskets and picking up one she could manage. Swift paws began to gather up a head of lettuce and a bunch of long, bright orange carrots. When she was pleased with the amount of vegetables she had selected, Ember hefted up the basket in her jaws and followed after her mother, keeping close behind her every step of the way back upstairs to the kitchen. She was so excited for the actual cooking part!

Back in the kitchen, Ember stayed close to her mother's side, watching closely at everything Briar did to prepare their meal. She set the basket of vegetables down on the counter beside the venison and tipped it over to send the produce scattering out across the work surface. The girl followed her mother over to the giant stone oven at the other end of the kitchen, observing as her mother tossed a few logs in and where she positioned them. Listening closely to each instruction, Ember would nod her head to show she was understanding. Keep the oven hotter on one side for searing and the other cooler for slow roasting. That made sense in Ember's mind. Burning such a lovely piece of meat would be a borderline crime. She was overjoyed when Briar gave her the chance to push some of the logs in herself! Even though she was still quite small, the little girl took every opportunity she could to feel more grown up like her bigger siblings. With both tiny paws, Ember pushed the logs into the pile on one side of the oven, inspecting her work with a proud nod.

"Okay, I think I'm getting it, Mama!" said Ember, her tail wagging excitedly behind her. She was going to be the best chef in the Hallows at this rate! Well, maybe second only to her mother. Nothing could beat mom's cooking! Ember watched as close as she safely could while Briar lit the logs on fire, stoking the flames inside the oven until they were crackling and roaring and an intense heat came washing out of the opening. Next step: prepping the ingredients. "Okay!" Ember exclaimed with zeal, bouncing her way with her mother back over to the counters. The question Briar posed made Ember pause to consider their food and options. "Uh... maybe chop them first? That way we don't have to try to cut them when they're all covered in oils and herbs?" She looked up to Briar for confirmation of her logic, blue-turquoise eyes wide as she drank in everything she was being taught by her super smart mom.

"Ember"

Briar looked expectantly to her daughter as she gave her a little quiz for what their next steps should be. Technically either choice would have worked, but there was one option that was notably more reasonable and she just wanted to see if her daughter would use a bit of critical thinking to come to that conclusion. Of course her bright little girl passed with flying colors and she grinned with a nod to confirm that she was on the right track. "Very good! We could season it first and then slice it so if you do ever think you're going to cook it as one whole piece and end up changing your mind it's very easy to make that adjustment, but this way will be a little easier and less messy." With that decision made, she reached for one of the knives they kept in the kitchen for just such a purpose and started slicing the meat into individual portions. She pointed out a few places where the fat and sinew were a little too thick to cook off and she cut those off as well, showing her daughter how to butcher the meat before they got to more fun stuff.

With that done she reached for a bottle of oil and passed it to Ember, helping her daughter to make sure she had a good hold on it. "Okay, now we need to drizzle a bit of oil on all the pieces. This will help it brown up on the outside and help our seasonings stick to them!" After Ember had poured a bit of oil on each steak, she began to rub the oil across each side of the meat and had Ember do the same. Between the two of them it took no time at all and then they were onto seasoning–adding some crushed salt and herbs to the surface of each steak. This was quite an extravagant meal for a random day of the week, but she was having so much fun cooking with her little girl and she wouldn't dream of turning down Ember when she was so excited to cook this for everyone so here they were.

"Perfect! Good job, Ember," she said with a grin as she grabbed a towel to clean the oil from her paws before reaching for Ember's paws and cleaning them off as well. "Now we just need to cut down our carrots into chunks so we can get them roasting. The steaks can marinade and soak up all those flavors. Believe it or not, the carrots will actually take longer to cook than the steaks will!" While she began to cut the carrots into smaller pieces, she asked, "Would you like the carrots to be more savory with some herbs and spices or do you want to go sweet with some honey?"

"Briar Carpathius"

Ember shifted her weight happily back and forth on dancing paws as Briar praised her correct response. Her thinking had been right on the money as her mother pointed out the less messy way to go about preparing their meal. Sure, there wasn't really a right or wrong way to go about it, but some ways were definitely more beneficial or simpler than others. The Carpathian pup watched as her mother handled one of the sharp kitchen knives and began to cut up their meat and vegetables. She was always amazed by her parents' abilities to handle blades, especially her father. Would she one day be as good at it as they were? Ember watched attentively while Briar butchered the meat, showing her where the fat and gristle would need to be trimmed away and what parts to keep to cook down. Wow, cooking was an art all its own!

Next came the seasoning of the food. Briar handed her the oil bottle and Ember was nearly beside herself with enthusiasm that she could do this part! Taking the neck of the bottle carefully between her tiny jaws (which admittedly needed some assistance from her mother) she began to give a healthy drizzle over all the food until it was glistening. Together, the two faes then went about rubbing the oil across the surfaces of the steaks, Ember giggling as she lifted her oil-slicked paws up and wiggling her toes in dramatic fashion. She knew her mother hated her and her siblings getting messy, and bugging Mom with the everyday messes was a small bit of fun the girl liked to have. A wipe of their paws on a kitchen towel and then came the seasonings. Ember helped sprinkle the crushed up sea salt over the meat and vegetables, careful with how much she added at her mother's direction. Everything was so careful and precise!

"Thanks, Mama!" Ember replied with a proud smile back to her dam. Briar explained how the cooking process would go moving forward, including that the steaks would need time to marinade and the carrots would take longer to cook than the meat. Ember tipped her head curiously to the side as she stared at the hardy orange vegetables. "How come the carrots take so much longer?" Briar posed another decision to Ember then—did she want sweet or savory carrots to go with their meal? Well, as a girl with a sweet tooth inherited from her sire, there was really only one option in Ember's mind. "Sweet! Honey carrots sound amazing!" she squealed in delight, bounding over to the pantry to go retrieve the honey. Unfortunately, the honeypot was kept on a shelf much too high for the pup to reach on her own. So, with only one option left, Ember plonked her rump down on the stone floor and turned her head back to the kitchen door and hollered, "Moooooom! The honey's too high up!"

"Ember"