Fee Fi Fo Fum

It had been a busy day, but Khaat had wanted to spend some girl time with Jess because it had been entirely too long. She had left Abbey home with Angus and Brian and had left them to fend for themselves for dinner and had invited Jess to have dinner with her at Sparks. There was also an important reason for going to Sparks in particular. Angus had created a number of new recipes to add to the menu for fall, and Lizzie was excited about a couple of fall pastry ideas. Robert had also made a three or four fall flavors of tea that she needed to try. They wanted Khaat to stop in and do some sampling of the new menu ideas. Khaat was hoping Jess would go along for a second opinion. She'd sent her eagle, Arrow, to deliver a message to Jess's apartment to ask her if she'd like a girl's night out for a quick bite to eat.

"Jess," the note had read, "how would you like to be my guest for a special chef's table tasting of possible new fall menu ideas for Spark? I have to work until 8 tonight. I know it's late, but I can promise the food will be good, and besides, you and I need a girl's night out. What do you say? Are you in? K."

She had sent it from home before she left for St. Mungos and hoped Jess would say yes.

"Hi!" Khaat smiled, glad Jess could make it. Sparks was largely empty now, so she had arranged for a quiet table not all that far from the kitchen door, and she'd put out a couple of clipboards and pens so they could take some notes on what they liked or maybe didn't like. "Come sit. Lizzie's preparing some appetizers for us. Here's the ideas--apples with baked brie, pear salad with carmelized walnuts and gorgonzola dressing, deep fried butternut squash slices with a creamy pumpkin dip, and some gyro bites--they like little gyro sandwiches, but in little balls of puff pastry and with a tzatziki sauce. I think they all sound good. They need our votes for our top two favorites. I'll tell Lizzie we're ready."

She disappeared for a moment, told Lizzie they were ready and brought back two glasses of ice water so they could take a drink and clean their palates before moving on to taste a new dish. She set out some tea cups so they could sample Robert's tea ideas when they got to that point.

"Water for now is okay?" she asked. "It's traditional at a food tasting so that your tastebuds aren't affected by whatever you're drinking. "Or I could get you something else if you like. In the meantime, catch me up. What's happening with you and Jack?"

"Four days?" Khaat asked. "Well, that's not unusual. Sometimes Brian's assignments or Michael's can take several days at a time. I've learned not to panic. No news isn't bad news. No news is just no news, and usually means they're busy. Still, I do understand that when we don't hear anything, it gets worrying. I'm glad he cooks, though. That means you'll be able to share some of the chores, and that's good. And it sounds like he's a fair sight better than the last guy you dated. I mean, he seems like a decent guy."

Lizzie brought out two long wooden boards with four little sampler dishes on each board and set one of the boards in front of each of them and announced it was an appetizer flight and explained which dish was which. She then left them and went back to the kitchen.

"I like the looks of each of them," Khaat said. "They're beautiful. I think I'm going to be glad I came hungry tonight. Maybe that's what comes from eating later. I left Angus and Brian to manage to take care of Abbey with out me. That means they had to make sure she got dinner, gets her bath and gets into bed and, hopefully, asleep, all without me. They don't usually have to do that a lot because I'm usually home by bedtime."

"Dig in, Jess. We each need to try all four of them," she said.

She decided to try the pear salad first and was delighted. She made a note on the paper on the clipboard to have Angus make that at home.

"Yeah, well, you know anyone more interested in your money than in you is a loser, that's for sure," she said. "I'm glad you're happy. You certainly deserve it. Not to change the subject, but Angus definitely has to start serving this at home. This pear salad is a winner. You know what's going to happen, right? We're going to like them all, and we aren't going to be able to pick two favorites. Okay, I'm going to try the apples and brie. I like brie, but I"m wondering if perhaps it's going to be too simple. We'll see, I suppose."

She decided to taste the topping on the brie first and found it was a warm spiced plum compote and on top of that was a crunchy cinnamon crumble. That was going to certainly change it being too plain. She put some of the brie with the compote and the crumble on an apple slice and tasted it.

"That's nice. It's maybe a good thing for a group of people who want to share some appetizers at a table," she said. "Would be a good snack with a muggle movie too." Jess had asked her how things were with her and Brian, and it made her smile.

"He's amazing," she said. "Not every man would step in and parent another man's child, but he doesn't even seem to think about that. I think he bonded with her almost from the instant she was born. He doesn't shy away from diaper duty or temper tantrums or teething. None of it. He never says a word about how many shoes I buy, rarely complains, and is one of the hardest working men I've ever known. We have yet to have our first serious fight. I can't complain about one single thing. He's so completely different from Rob. I've decided I never really knew the real Rob. I was only allowed to see who he wanted me to see, not who he really was. I probably should regret that Daddy took every cent Rob had here in England, but I don't. Rob owes me and Abbey at least that."

Khaat laughed out loud at Jess's comment about Rob.

"I never really thought about it," she said. "But in every way that is important, Brian outscores him. Do you know he's asked me what I want for our anniversary? He's suggested I ought to decide where I'd like a vacation house, and he said I could pick anywhere in the world. I can't imagine just picking a country and saying, 'how about there?' I think we should just travel first and if we find someplace we really love, then that might be worth thinking about. You know, the next time my parents claim 'Grandparents' Rights' and want Abbey for a whole weekend, the four of us--you and Jack and Brian and me--should take a weekend trip someplace. I think Brian would certainly enjoy it. And if we plan on going on a weekend when it isn't the full moon, Jack wouldn't have to worry so much about transforming and all that nonsense. Okay, I think I'm going to try the butternut squash bites with the pumpkin dip." She dipped a slice of breaded and deep fried squash into the pumpkin dip.

"Nice crunch, just a little spice and a little heat. Some natural sweetness from the squash and the pumpkin, and some savory spices to balance. This would be another one worth sharing with a bunch of people. What do you think?"