Work Text:
Since Cordelia had proven herself a better cook than everyone had assumed, other than Charlotte who had known her girlfriend was a marvelous cook at everything other than Jewish cuisine, and learned how to make edible Jewish cuisine, Trina asked her to help her prepare meals for the holidays. With Hanukkah fast approaching, Trina asked her to make a few dishes for the meals on each of the eight days.
Cinnamon wafted through the apartment, a remnant of the apple pies she made for a client before. Sunlight shown through the windows that sat on the wall furthest from the door and facing the street outside. The sunlight cast a warm glow in the room. Despite the sunlight, the overhead light was on in the kitchen area. Flour covered the counter, a little dusting in some parts, but other parts had thick white streaks of flour on them. Two empty pots sat on the stovetop. Batter was splattered across the light blue wall nearest the counter, the only remnant of a cake she made and a mix up with the electric mixer. The fridge was nestled in the corner of the wall that jutted out and led to the hallway.
After finishing her work-related catering duties for the day, she set out to make a cheese latkes and sugar cookies. Both would take about ten minutes, respectively, excluding some prep work and decorating the sugar cookies. She planned to make blue and white icing for cookies and already brought gold icing for the cookies.
She decided to make the latkes first. First, she filled a pot with water. She placed it on the stove top and turned the burner on. After grabbing four potatoes, she walked to the counter and began to peel the potatoes. Then, she moved on to cubing the potatoes.
As she finished cubing the potatoes, she heard the door open and the click of heels against the hardwood flooring. Turning around, a smile spread across her face when she saw Charlotte. She placed the potato and the peeler on the counter. She walked over to Charlotte and she pressed a kiss to her lips. She continued to pepper kisses to Charlotte’s lips.
“How was work?” She asked in between kisses.
Charlotte pulled away to answer, despite the pouting frown that spread across Cordelia’s face when she did so. “No one died, so better than most days.” Despite her words, tension made her posture rigid . “A little girl is sick. I’m not sure if she’s going to make it.”
Frowning, Cordelia placed her hands on Charlotte’s shoulders and massaged her. “Anything I can do to help you feel better?” She tilted her head to the side and offered Charlotte a small, sad smile.
Before Charlotte had the chance to answer, the sound of water boiling stole Cordelia attention away from her.
Cordelia took Charlotte’s hand in her own, and she pulled her behind her as she walked over the pot. She turned the brunner's heat down one setting, before once again turning to face Charlotte again.
“I have an idea.” She smiled. “Want to help me cook?” Although, the question was less of a question and more of a suggestion that bordered on being a demand.
Despite Charlotte’s rather limited experience in the kitchen (before meeting Cordelia she lived off of Ramen noodles and grilled cheese), the two made an excellent team. Between the kissing and flirting, they took longer than Cordelia expected to make everything. Not that she was complaining.
Finishing the latkes didn’t take long. Charlotte mashed the potatoes and Cordelia added the cheese and fried them in the skillet.
Cordelia placed them in the tupperware container once they were browned. She pressed a long kiss to Charlotte’s lips before continuing to cook. She wrapped her arms around her waist. Her hands slid lower as the kiss deepened. Much to her own dismay and Charlotte’s, she broke the kiss.
As she walked over to the sink to wash her hands again, she gestured for Charlotte to do the same and she said, “I also promised I would make some sugar cookies. Decorating them is always the best part.”
After she finished washing her hands, she gathered the ingredients needed for the sugar cookies—butter, sugar, vanilla extract, flour, eggs, and baking powder. She placed them on the counter. Next, she pulled out a large mixing bowl and set it on the counter along with the ingredients. After that, she grabbed her glass prep bowls and set them in a row on the counter. Then, she grabbed an assortment of measuring cups and measuring spoons. She handed them to Charlotte.
“Can you please measure five cups of flour for me? And put it in a prep bowl?” Cordelia asked. She pushed the flour down the counter towards the prep bowls without waiting for Charlotte to answer. “Maybe the two cups of flour, too?” She offered her girlfriend an incandescent smile.
Charlotte accepted the measuring instruments and the flour. She moved down to the prep bowls. Carefully, she measured the flour. It was reminiscent of high school chemistry classes spent measuring volatile chemicals in perfect proportion to avoid an unsavory reaction between the chemicals.
She never minded making. It was much closer to a science than cooking. Baking was a matter of chemistry, unlike cooking which, in her experience, was much closer to a guessing game than a science. Baking clicked easier in her head than cooking.
While Charlotte measured the flour and sugar, Cordelia put three sticks of softened butter into the mixing bowl. Then, she grabbed a prep bowl and cracked four eggs into them. She added a teaspoon of vanilla extract in with the eggs. “Have you measured the sugar, babe?”
Charlotte handed her the prep bowl with the sugar and Cordelia dumped it into the bowl. She mixed the butter and the sugar before adding the eggs and vanilla to the mixture. Then she added the salt and the baking powder. She mixed them into the mixture. Turning around, she turned the oven and set to 400 degrees to preheat it.
Next, she spread flour onto the counter and then rolled the dough out. She grabbed the dreidel cookie cutters and handed one to Charlotte. Then they cut out the cookies and placed them on the greased baking sheets. Cordelia balanced two sheets in her hands while Charlotte opened the oven for her. She placed them in the oven and set the timer for ten minutes.
While they waited for the cookies to bake, Cordelia made the icing for the cookies. She dyed some of it blue and left some of it white. She grabbed the rest of the decorating materials she bought for the cookies: blue, gold, and white sprinkles, metallic gold icing, tubes of icing for her to add better details.
After Cordelia got the cookies out and let them cool, the two lesbians started to decorate the cookies. It proved to be the task that took the longest time, and after she decorated the last cookie, Cordelia kissed Charlotte once again. She wrapped an arm around Charlotte’s waist, while she used her other hand to scoop some of the leftover icing. Then, she broke the kiss. Offering Charlotte a cheeky smile, she wiped the icing on Charlotte’s face.
Playfulness glinting in her dark brown eyes, Charlotte scooped some icing onto her hand. “I think it’s my turn.”
A high-pitch noise escaped Cordelia’s lips, and attempted to run away. It was for not as Charlotte smeared the icing on her cheek, before she kissed Cordelia.