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“Good movie.”
“Right?”
“I think I’ll need to watch that again to really catch all the details…”
“I wouldn’t be mad about watching this masterpiece again.”
The credits continued to roll as Kara and Lena sat and marinated in their thoughts.
They had spontaneously decided to watch Parasite and Everything Everywhere All At Once back-to-back. Watching two excellent, cerebral films might have been a little too much to handle for one morning, but Kara and Lena were never ones to be conventional. If they both got a day off, then they were going to do all the things they had been wanting to do, damn it.
“So, what should we do next?” Right as she said that, her stomach grumbled.
Lena laughed. “Well, it sounds like we should make some lunch.”
They rose from the couch in unison and headed to the kitchen, their tiny black cat Finn trailing behind them.
“We should do something with the pumpkin.”
“Yes, we should. How do you feel about fresh, homemade pumpkin soup?”
“I’ve never had it, but it sounds good. I’ll hack up the pumpkin?”
“Yes, please.” Lena rolled up the sleeves of her green flannel and washed her hands. Next, she pulled out a large pot and put it on the stove.
Kara set down two wooden cutting boards and took their cleaver off the magnetic strip. After washing the large pumpkin they had bought with 3 others from a local pumpkin patch, she deposited it on one of the cutting boards. Cutting off the top and bottom, she halved the pumpkin and scooped the seeds and pumpkin guts with an ice cream scoop into a bowl.
“I really like this sound,” she remarked, scraping the scoop across the inside of the pumpkin.
“It’s really nice. Can you do it again, closer to my ear?” Lena stopped cutting the shallots and took a deep breath.
Scraaaape, scraaaape, scrape-scrape. Slow strokes, fast strokes. They kept going until Finn jumped onto the counter and tilted his head, his yellow eyes blinking at them. “Mrow?”
“Hey, baby. Do you want to join us in the relaxing ASMR session?” Kara brought the pumpkin close to the cat’s ear, slowly scraping the scoop against the curved fruit. Finn swayed, then yawned, then curled up into a little black furry ball.
“I guess the sounds are just too relaxing to resist!” Lena chuckled as she snapped a photo. “He’s so cute.”
Lightly booping the pink nose, Kara grinned and cooed. “I’m glad we got him. He reminds me of Streaky. So, what’s next?”
Turning back to her task, she followed Lena’s instructions. She brushed the flesh of the pumpkin with olive oil and then put the halves flesh-side-down on a sheet of parchment paper in a large baking pan. Putting it in the oven, she stood up and stepped back. Her work was done for now.
At this point, Lena had finished cutting up shallots and garlic and was now cooking them with olive oil in the large pot she had taken out. When they were caramelized, she took them off the heat.
The oven beeped, letting them know that the pumpkin was done. Kara pulled it out with her bare hands, nearly giving Lena a conniption.
“God, Kar, you have got to stop doing that. The oven mitts are literally right in that drawer!”
“But I don’t need an oven mitt!”
“Well, if you ever lose your powers and you try to bake or cook, you would! It’s about making it a habit. You’re not invulnerable all the time!”
“But I am most of the time.” She grinned and pushed her glasses up with a finger. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”
She could see that Lena was trying to hide a smile. “You’re incorrigible.”
“And you love it.”
“Whatever. Shut up and peel the pumpkins, make yourself useful.”
Sticking out her tongue, she picked up the steaming hot pieces and separated the skin from the flesh. Soon, all the skins were discarded and she was left with the peeled pumpkin. Cutting the halves into large, rough, cubes, she turned to Lena.
“Do you want me to put these in the pot now?”
“Yes, go ahead. And can you pass the olive oil?”
“Yes, Chef!” Kara saluted and gave Lena the bottle of olive oil, who rolled her eyes lovingly.
Vegetable broth, coconut milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt and pepper were added to the pot. Lena mixed the concoction with a careful eye as she brought the pot to a simmer.
While she did that, Kara cast an eye on the pumpkin seeds and goop she had taken out. It seemed a waste to throw it away, so she decided to make some roasted pumpkin seeds as dessert.
Washing the seeds and separating them from the strings, she laid them out flat on a baking pan. Sprinkling some of the olive oil, maple syrup, nutmeg, and cinnamon on the seeds, she popped them in the oven and set a timer.
When the mixture in the large pot started to bubble, Lena shut off the gas. “Kara, dear, could you pour this into the blender? I’m going to cut the bread.”
The other day, Lena had made some Irish soda bread. It was great with butter.
Food was how she connected with her Irish roots. She had broken down and finally listened to Kara, doing the genetic testing to find her ancestors. Getting in touch with her grandparents, she learned several recipes when they traveled to Ireland last year.
The Walshes had welcomed Lena with open arms, treating her like their grandchild the moment they met her. Mr. Walsh had clapped her on the shoulder and congratulated her on her success. Mrs. Walsh had cupped her cheek and kissed her forehead, clucking her tongue and fixing her collar. They were the complete opposite of the Luthors.
The blender growled as it devoured the chunks of pumpkin and shallot, turning the mixture into a smooth thick liquid. Finn hissed at the machine and jumped down from the counter with an annoyed huff. Once the texture was uniform, she shut the blender off and poured the soup into a bowl. Then, she repeated the process with the other half of the hot pumpkin mixture in the pot.
Soon, there were two bowls of creamy, mouthwatering pumpkin soup. Next to the bowls was a plate of thick slices of soda bread and a platter of the roasted pumpkin seeds.
“This looks good. Shall we eat?” Licking her lips, she looked at the younger woman for permission.
“Let’s eat!”
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