Baking Day 3 (somewhat)

A/N: Sorry about not writing a Baking Day story in a while! I haven't been doing much baking since I went on a diet… *Sigh* it's the price I gotta pay for cosplay…

I do not own Blue Exorcist.

Yukio entered the dorm late after a long mission to be greeted by the strong smell of Thyme permeating the downstairs of the dorm.

"Nii-san, what are you doing up this late, and why does the dorm smell like thyme?" Yukio asked, entering the kitchen area.

"Oh, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to make some lemonade. It's going to be hot the next few days, so I thought I'd make a treat for everyone to enjoy." Rin replied, stirring something on the stove.

"So…. You are boiling something? And why does it smell like thyme? You didn't really answer my question, Rin." Yukio asked again, approaching the stove.

"I am making old thyme lemonade!" Rin replied cheerfully, stirring the concoction on the stove.

"Old time lemonade? What does that have to do with the thyme?"

"Old thyme lemonade? A play on words, Yukio! The lemonade has thyme in it!" Rin replied, laughing.

"But why are you boiling thyme in … is that sugar water?" Yukio asked.

"Yeah. You boil the thyme in the sugar water because it is kinda like tea… you don't just pour hot water on a tea bag and then pull the bag out… you'd just have slightly discolored water with an off taste. Like tea, you have to sorta steep the thyme in the boiling water for two minutes, and then you add two cups fresh lemon juice, and six cups of water. Hey, since you are there, could you hold the pitcher while I pour?" Rin was talking a mile a minute.

"Yeah, sure." Yukio replied, trying to process all the information.

"Hey, I got like, ten more lemons, do you want to help me make a second batch?" Rin asked, holding up another bag of lemons.

"Why do you have so many lemons, Rin?" Yukio asked, slightly worried about the answer.

"Oh… um…. The last time I tried to make this… I kinda sorta… poured the lemon juice down the drain as I was straining it… I forgot to put a bowl under the strainer…" Rin replied sheepishly.
"I bought an extra bag so that in case it happened again, I wouldn't have to go to the store again…. And if I didn't, well, double batch!" Rin perked up.

"So, how exactly do I help?" Yukio asked.

"Okay, cut the lemon in half, squeeze it. Now do that with all ten lemons." Rin replied.

Sighing, Yukio got to work on the lemons.

"Squeeze the life out of those lemons, you need every drop you can get!" Rin emphasized.

"My hands are slippery…" Yukio grumbled.

"Okay, I will start on the thyme and sugar water. Can you pass the sugar and the measuring cups?" Rin asked.

Wordlessly, Yukio passed them over.

"One and a half cups sugar… one cup water… fistful of thyme…. Bring to boil…. Timer two minutes… and now we wait~!" Rin muttered to himself.

"…you do know you said all of that out loud, right?" Yukio asked, glancing at his brother.

"It helps me remember!" Rin defended, pouting.

A/N: The pouring the lemon juice down the drain happened to my older sister when she was making it for a family get-together… we had to go to the store to get more lemons. I revealed all of the instructions in the story, but for those of you who want to try it, here's the recipe~!

A fistful of thyme on the stalks

1 ½ cups of sugar

Two cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about ten lemons)

And for those of you over the age of 21, for an extra kick, a cup of Bombay Blue Sapphire Gin.

First, squeeze the lemons.

Then, in a medium size sauce pan, add the sugar, a cup of water, and the thyme. Bring to a boil, and boil for two minutes. Then, add six cups of cold water, and the lemon juice. Use a fork to remove the thyme stalks. Then chill and enjoy. (for the alcoholic one, add the gin before chilling.)