Chilled Ale And Ice Box
2043 Words
"Hahaha... This ale sure tastes more refreshing than the warm one that everyone is currently having. Wait a moment, it is not only for an ale but also to this, right?" I pointed out to Imelda the mug of strawberry milk that was prepared earlier as there's some balance inside the jug.
"Yes, Your Majesty, even to all kinds of liquid. But if it is impure, I mean with combined ingredients, it became a kind of sluiced ice. Especially to milk, it would not turn to ice but more like sleet, if you know what I mean, Your Majesty."
"Sleet and sluiced ice in a mug? Come, try it for this jug of strawberry milk. I would like to see it and by the way, how long does this last?" Heather was excited as she held the hug of strawberry milk before her and had that silly look on her face and lips with the tip of her tongue sticking out slightly at the corner of her mouth.
"It could last as long as it is, Your Majesty. Come, let me hold the jug for you." with that, Imelda shook the jug but instead of small cubes of ice, the strawberry milk became a thick sluice of ice and because there's milk inside it, it became creamy and nearly became a solid form.
Heather tried to shake the contents out but couldn't be managed to since it had turned solid cold. She took a spoon and managed to scoop out the icy and creamy strawberry flavoured milk from it. It doesn't look like jelly and it doesn't look like sluice as mentioned earlier.
With the composition of cream and also sugar and fruit, the contents became solid but soft enough to be scooped with a spoon. When Heather placed the icy creamy strawberry milk inside her mouth, she can't help but felt over the moon.
"Oooo... Oooo... Oooo... This icy creamy strawberry milk is much better than drinking it. Owh my head... I'm feeling a very sharp pain right now... Ouch..."
"Phew... It is clear already... Hehehe. Come, dear, it tastes wonderful you know. Come, have a try..." before I could even reject since there might be a reaction with the ale, later on, Heather had already stuffed a spoonful of that icy creamy strawberry milk solid into my mouth.
It tasted nicer, a bit chewy since there's a bit of strawberry in it and when I swallowed it, my head starts to have sharp intense pain. "Owh...this is not good...! Heather, for the love of God...! My head is prickling... My gosh... It comes and goes quickly. What is this...? Enough, maybe you could give me a smaller portion than the one you gave me. Hehe. Even though the pain is bearable, but I can't bear not to taste it further. Hehe."
The earlier portion that was stuffed into my mouth could fill the whole cavity and when a smaller portion was fed to me, there was no such pain anymore in my head.
"Hmm, you're Imelda, right? I think you had come up with a unique range of food today on your first day here being a citizen of Gracehaven. Congratulations...! Now, how are we are going to name this icy chewy strawberry milk... Candy? Icy chewy yummies?"
"Your Majesty, how about ice cream without the 'y' at every end of it? It sounds simple and it's catchy. It's ice and it's made of cream and can be flavoured and would be loved by all. I think this would be good only in summer, don't you think so, Your Majesty?"
Imelda suggested and we all threw our arms up in the air jubilantly. I did that after I placed my mug of ale in the table and Heather only hugged the jug and raised hers together with a spoon.
If one looks at her, she may even be the replica of the Statue of Liberty indeed. Instead of a torch, she held a spoon and on her bosom was a jug of ice cream. Hahahaha.
"Dear, take out your Gracehaven's Mighty Cookbook And Baking Recipe Book, you have a new recipe in it. It's called ice cream." I suggested and Heather refused to go up and retrieve the book because she thought that I would try to finish off her ice cream inside the jug.
Looking at Heather's antics, Imelda can't help but giggle to herself since I realised that both Heather and Imelda were both of the same age and also shared the birthday months together...!
"Finishhhhh....." Heather exclaimed as she finished the jug of ice cream and after she had finished her sentence, was overcome with chill and her teeth chattered incessantly. She ran upstairs and returns back with a thick blanket around her body and was all smiles when she returned.
"Imelda, I think you're right. This ice cream is only good for summer. This would help to cool off and chill oneself in the hot summer's day. But in autumn and spring, it is a big No-no since we could all be freezing inside."
"Crystal, just now you were mentioning about preventing spoilage, how does it go about it? " Heather asked Crystal since she was the one that brought up the subject and in the end, Imelda was the one that made chilled ale and frozen ice cream in a jug. Hahaha.
"Imelda, do you think you would be able to cool a storage barn just slightly above the freezing point? I mean to say is, that a storage barn that's filled with perishables, like milk, cheese and even fruits, vegetables and meats to be able to last all year round, regardless of the season?"
Crystal had some issues with keeping milk fresh and normally it would not be kept overnight unless it was turned into sour milk, yoghurt or even churned to become cheese or butter. The children had a fresh supply of milk every day and this was believed to contain an ingredient that makes bones and teeth stronger.
"I have never tried it before, but it could be worth a try. A storage barn, temperature-controlled throughout the year to keep food chilled and fresh, am I right? It's a splendid idea, Ma'am."
"I guess I could do it. It is just a simple casting and the whole barn would be sort of frozen solid and the coolness would slowly permeate from those walls and preserve the food." retorted Imelda as Crystal excused herself and went to take a small empty wicker basket with a lid from her room.
"Come, let's experiment on this wicker basket first. You don't have to make the outside icy, but just the insides only. Then I would put a whole live chicken in it and see how long it would survive."
"Fowls have feathers so they could resist cold much longer. If this experiment fails, then, either way, we have chilled chicken meat in the future. We have spring, summer and autumn outside but we have winter inside a box."
Crystal excused herself and went out to grab a fat hen and after feeling it around, she discovered that she won't be laying eggs for some time. She held the fowl by the wings and locked it down so the hen would not make too much of noise then.
The wicker basket was placed on the table and as Imelda held it in her hands, a thin layer of ice seemed to form a kind of insulation inside the wicker baskets and it filled the sides and bottom as well as under the lid too. It was done under 2 breaths and Crystal gingerly took a string from her hair and tied the chicken legs together. She then placed the fowl inside the wicker basket and slammed the lid shut.
"Done... We now shall wait. I'm going to put the basket at that corner so it won't be so noticeable. The effects won't be very quick right, Imelda?" Crystal inquired as she carried the wicker basket off the table and places it out of the way.
She discovered that the wicker basket weighs a tad heavier, with the insulation of ice as well as the fat hen inside. From a distance, she could hear the cackling of the hen as it was trapped inside a cool dark place.
"Alright, Your Majesty. I will return Imelda to the group. I don't want them I think that she was kidnapped or something. Hahaha." Crystal excused herself as she brought Imelda back.
I can't help to wonder that there is all sort of use of these special abilities that the Priests and Priestesses possessed. I wondered why these talented bunch of people was shunned from society as they were regarded as evil and doing Satan's work or even considered as minions themselves.
But to our eyes, these Priests and Priestess were considered as resourceful and would serve the community for a very long time...!
Since the term Witches and Sorcerers were dropped and had adopted a new term, this brought a sense of confidence to the Priests and Priestesses.
The community had a different approach towards them since they were not shunned anymore by the public. Most probably they were highly favoured by their King and Queen after all, so they dare not perform any actions that would jeopardise the harmonious living of the community.
Heather and I sat down as we discussed with the usefulness of these special abilities. Since it was hard to describe each individual strengths, we noted down what we would do for the community if we were gifted with such special abilities that would be of great help for Gracehaven.
=*=
"These 4 houses here belongs to you now. Please remove your shoes and wash your feet before entering the house. There's a pair of flip-flops for each of you and the smaller ones could be returned back to the Gracehaven's General Store."
"Before you ask anything, I would explain to you why these houses were on stilts and on bamboo skids. This is to prevent moisture being absorbed from underground and these skids allow us to move the house around during winter so 4 houses could share a common hearth."
"There's also some potties and need to be cleared every morning into the latrine pits at the end of the residential lots there and there. Someone would burn the contents inside and it would be decomposed easily."
"Alright... The ladies can take the first two houses and the men, the following two." Frank explained the first few rules and then watched the ladies as they flitted around the houses.
It was made from green and yellow bamboo as its main structures. Then thatched walls were tied against those mainframes. The houses don't have any windows and the elevated roof that was also thatched allows ample ventilation.
A simple doorway made up the front of the house and the insides of the house were clean and spacious. The floor was laid with the 6 feet by 8 feet woven mats that were cooling and also act as a protection against the hard, bamboo floor. There was no mattress and bed but there were 4 pillows, originally meant for a household of 4.
The ladies and men quickly removed their boots and washed their feet as mentioned earlier and clambered onto the house. Imelda and Farah shared a house and they were simply rolling around the floor and laughing gleefully.
They acted just like children who had just discovered the simplest of joy. A lady soon arrived there, carrying a wicker basket cradled in the book of her arm as she took the flip-flops and exchanged them for the appropriate sizes. It didn't take long before the men got their appropriate sizes on their feet.
"Come, let me show you where the latrine pits are and then we can head down to the quicksand areas I was mentioning about earlier," Frank suggested as the men and ladies wore their flip-flops and left their boots behind.
It seemed ages since they had left their boots and walked barefoot. Furthermore, these flip-flops were so light and comfortable and it felt like they were not wearing anything under their feet...!
- Writer
