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It was a lovely July day in Smiling valley, and Dogday was making his way down south to the home of his red bear friend, to talk to her about something important, something that had to do with her expertise, love.
He happily walks up to the large beehive, knocking on the door and waiting.
A few moments later, the door opens, and there she is.
“Oh, Hi Dogday!”
She says, smiling. “What’s up?”
Dogday smiles back.
“Hi Bobby!”
He says. “Can I come in?”
He looks a bit nervous. “I wanna talk to you about something.”
Bobby nods. “Sure.”
She says, stepping aside and letting him in. “I'm always happy to help.”
Dogday smiles.
“Thanks Bobby, you’re a peach.”
A few moments later, they were both sitting on her soft couch.
“So, Dogday…”
Bobby says. “What do you wanna talk to me about?”
Dogday blushes a bit.
“Well, you know how Catnap and I are dating now?”
He asks.
Bobby giggles, nodding. “Yes.”
Dogday smiles softly.
“Well, I wanna do something romantic for him.”
He says. “Something sweet, to show how much I love him.”
Bobby’s eyes sparkle.
“Aww, that’s wonderful!”
She says. “What are you thinking of doing?”
Dogday looks nervous.
“That’s the thing…”
He says. “I’m not sure what I should do, so… I thought I'd ask you.”
He looks her in the eye. “You got any ideas?”
Bobby thinks for a minute.
“Hmm…”
Then she gets an idea, smiling.
“Maybe you could make him a nice romantic dinner.”
She suggests.
Dogday tilts his head. “A romantic dinner?”
Bobby nods. “Yeah, like, you could cook his favorite foods, and you two could eat together by candlelight.”
Dogday smiles a bit. “That does sound romantic…”
Then he looks down. “But I'm not that good at cooking…”
Bobby smiles. “Maybe you could ask Picky for help.”
She says.
Dogday lights up. “Oh yeah!”
He says. “She’s good with food.”
Bobby nods. “That she is.”
Dogday then gets up.
“Well, thanks for the advice.” He says.
Bobby smiles. “No problem!” She says. “I bet Catnap will love it.”
Dogday smiles.
“I sure hope so…”
After saying goodbye to Bobby and leaving the beehive, he makes his way northeast, to Picky’s red barn.
On the way, he passed by Catnap’s house, smiling softly.
“I hope you’ll like it, honey…”
He whispers into the wind.
When he arrives at the big red barn, he knocks on the large wooden door, waiting patiently.
A few minutes later, the pink pig opens it.
“Oh, Howdy there, Dogday.”
Picky says. “Whatcha doin here?”
Dogday smiles and waves.
“Hey Picky.”
He says. “I need your help with something.”
Picky lets him in.
“Oh? Whatcha need help with?”
Dogday smiles softly.
“Well, I want to make a romantic dinner for Catnap…”
He says. “But I'm not that good at cooking, so I need your help.”
Picky smiles. “Alright.” she says. “I’ll help ya.”
Dogday’s tail wags.
“Thanks, Picky!” He says. “I owe ya one!”
Picky swats the air.
“Aww, you don’t owe me nothin’.” She says. “I always like to help my friends with food.”
She says as she leads Dogday to the kitchen.
When they get to the kitchen, Picky leads him to the counter, smiling.
“So, what do you want to make for him?”
Dogday thinks, remembering Catnap’s favorite foods.
“Well, he loves sushi, fried shrimp, and more sushi.”
He says, giggling.
Picky thinks for a bit.
“Maybe you could make him a bento box.”
She says with a smile.
Dogday tilts his head. “What’s that?”
Picky smiles.
“Well, it’s a popular Japanese dish that varies in a lot of ways, but is typically a small wrapped box filled with sushi, fried shrimp and dipping sauce.”
She says.
Dogday’s eyes sparkle. “That sounds perfect!”
He says. “What do we have to do first?”
Picky walks over to the other counter.
“Well, I'll get the sushi rice started, and you can take some salmon, avocado and cucumber out of the fridge.”
Dogday nods, going to do so.
Opening up the fridge, there were many vegetables and fish, organized by color.
He gets an avocado, a cucumber, and a fillet of salmon, and brings them back over to the counter.
He notices Picky was rinsing some short grain rice in the sink.
“Why are you doing that?”
Dogday asks.
Picky giggles.
“Well, if we want the rice to be sticky, we have to rinse it first.” She says. “Otherwise it’ll just fall apart when we try to wrap it up.”
“I see.”
Dogday says.
“Get started slicing the veggies will you?” Picky says. “And slice the salmon into thin strips too.”
Dogday nods, going back over to the counter and getting the sharpest knife he could from the knife block.
“Be careful.”
Picky says.
“I am.”
Dogday replies, slicing the avocado and taking the pit out, then slicing the flesh into thin strips, setting them aside for later. He then peels the cucumber and does the same, then finishes by slicing up the salmon.
He smiles softly.
‘Catnap’s gonna love this.’
He thinks to himself.
Once all the ingredients are sliced, he sets them aside for later, and watches as Picky moves the rice to the stove, bringing it to a gentle boil and letting it simmer. While the rice was cooking, she placed some rice vinegar, sugar and salt into a saucepan and brought it to a simmer.
“Is that the sauce?”
Dogday asks.
Picky shakes her head. “It’s a mixture that will help the rice stick together.”
She says.
Dogday nods. “Gotcha.”
Picky smiles.
“Alright, while that’s cooking, we can get started on the fried shrimp.”
She says. “Go fetch some out of the freezer.”
Dogday nods, going to get some shrimp, while Picky prepares the batter and gets the breadcrumbs ready.
Once they have all the ingredients, Picky starts heating up some fry oil in a pan while Dogday gets started shelling and preparing the shrimp.
After coating the shrimps in batter and covering them in breadcrumbs, Dogday places them in the hot oil using tongs.
“Be careful, don’t splash yourself.”
Picky says.
“I won’t.”
Dogday replies, waiting for the shrimps to fry.
Meanwhile, Picky transfers the cooked rice to a large bowl, pouring the vinegar mixture over it. She uses a spatula to gently fold the rice, then covers it with a clean dish towel, leaving it to cool down.
Once all the shrimp were fried, Dogday places them on a plate, then goes to prepare the Nori(Flat sheet of seaweed), spreading it over the sushi mat Picky had prepared, shiny side down.
“Alright, ready to roll?”
Picky says, bringing the rice over with a giggle.
Dogday laughs and nods as she sets the rice bowl on the counter.
Getting his spatula, he carefully spreads the sticky rice over the seaweed sheet, making sure it was a nice even layer, then places the sliced avocado, salmon and cucumber strips on it.
“Now you gotta wrap it really tightly, so it doesn’t fall apart.”
Picky says, observing.
Dogday nods, rolling up the mat as tightly as he could without crushing it, then unwrapping it to reveal a perfect sushi roll.
“Wow, you’re a natural at this.”
Picky says, smiling.
Dogday giggles, picking up his knife again.
“Thanks.”
He says as he slices the roll into 8 bite size pieces.
Picky then goes to get a bento style box she could let him borrow, as well as sauces for the dipping.
Dogday smiles as he carefully arranges the sushi bites and fried shrimps in the box, while Picky puts the soy sauce and wasabi in little containers, to which Dogday carefully places them in the box, along with a set of chopsticks.
When the box is complete, he puts the lid on, then wraps it in a lavender handkerchief to make it look authentic.
“All done!”
He says once the knot is tied.
“Wow!”
Picky says. “You did great!”
“Thanks!”
Dogday says. “You think Catnap will like it?”
Picky nods. “Oh yeah!” She says. “I know he’s gonna love it!”
Dogday smiles.
“I sure hope so…”
~That evening~
Dogday walks up to Catnap’s tall house, knocking on the door.
A few seconds later, the rope ladder comes down.
Dogday smiles, climbing up it and ringing the doorbell, to which the pretty purple cat answers it.
‘Oh hi sweetie.’
Catnap signs, smiling. ‘What a nice surprise.’
Dogday’s tail wags happily. “Hey honey.” He says.
“Can I come in?”
Catnap nods, stepping aside and letting him in.
“I uh… made something for you!”
Dogday says once Catnap closes the door.
Catnap smiles. “Oh? What is it?”
Dogday takes a deep breath, presenting the box.
“I-I made you dinner!”
Catna looks confused, taking the box.
“Uh, what is it?”
Dogday giggles.
“It’s a bento box.” He says, “Open it!”
Catnap does, untying the knot and unwrapping the box, then opening it.
His eyes sparkle when he sees the fish-based meal inside.
“Oh wow, Dogday!”
He says, looking up to him with a bright smile. “These are my favorites! How did you know?”
Dogday giggles.
“Well, I just wanted to make something nice for my sweet boyfriend.”
Catnap sets the box on the table, then gives Dogday a big hug.
“I absolutely love it.”
Catnap says, burying his face in his shoulder. “Thank you, my love.”
Dogday hugs back, giving Catnap a kiss on the cheek. “Anything for you, hun!”
After pulling back, they both sit down on the couch, deciding to share the bento box together.
So they spent the rest of the night cuddling together, sharing the delicious sushi, watching Catnap’s favorite movies, and occasionally kissing, as couples are known to do.