And with that done, and after another taste test, he poured the contents into casserole dishes, topped them as per the recipe, and put them in the oven so he could move on to the next dish. They’d be ready not long before he’d have the rest of their meal done.
As Ken cooked, he let the odd occurrence drop from his mind while focusing on preparing the next dish. Tamsin’s and Malyah’s arrival also distracted him.
Badger and Duncan arrived not too long before they were ready to serve dinner. As everyone migrated over to Peyton and Gillian’s to eat, Ken wouldn’t deny that the comments about how good things smelled boosted his ego.
In this area, at least, he felt he could hold his own against anyone in the pack. He was feeling pretty damned good about himself, too, until Peyton, Trent, and Badger all froze when they took their first bites of the Crowdpleaser Casserole Ken had made in large quantities.
Badger laid down his fork and loudly blew his nose, his eye looking too bright.
“Is…it okay?” Ken asked, now worried. “I hope you don’t mind, but I made it from a recipe I found in the front of Chelsea’s cookbook in the cabinet.”
Now Peyton and Trent both blinked back tears. “It’s amazing, Ken,” Peyton said, sounding choked up.
Even Gillian and Asia wore odd expressions.
Dewi, sitting next to Ken, also appeared confused. “Then why are you all acting so damned weird?” Dewi asked. “It’s fricking delicious, and I’m not just saying that because I’m married to him.”
Trent sniffled. “It is delicious. It’s just that despite having the recipe and after countless attempts, for some reason no one’s ever been able to make it exactly the way Mom made it.”
“I’d swear Mom made this,” Peyton said, taking another bite. “This literally tastes just like she made it. Ken, what did you do?”
“I…” He swallowed hard. “I doubled the paprika and added nutmeg. I know it wasn’t in the recipe, but it just…felt right.”
He left out the fact that the “felt right” aspect was a woman’s voice in his head.
Maybe Chelsea’s talking to me, too.
Duncan snorted. “You should add a notation,” he said. “Louisa was the same way. She’d hit on a recipe everyone loved, and when they asked her for it, she’d happily give it to them.”
Badger chucked. “But leave out an ingredient.” He wistfully smiled. “Or change the amounts. Sneaky thing. She said it didn’t hurt the recipe, but it’d make sure only hers tasted like hers.”
“We never tried nutmeg, did we?” Gillian asked Asia.
She shook her head. “No. And I never tried doubling the paprika.” She looked at Ken. “Ken, this is amazing. You have no idea how many times Gillian and I have tried to replicate this recipe, and you literally nailed it the first time. We gave up years ago.”
“Mom was the only one in the pack compound who made it while she was alive,” Trent said. “It was her recipe. Not because she ordered it,” he quickly added, “but just out of general respect to her being the Pack Alpha’s mate.”
“No one’s ever been able to make it as good as Mom’s,” Peyton said. “And, believe me, plenty of people have tried throughout the years besides Gillian and Asia. It was always close, but…”
“Just not quite hers,” Badger said.
Duncan chuckled. “What about your aunts?” Duncan asked. “Didn’t you ask them if they knew what was different?”
“No,” Gillian said. “Because they all had different versions of the same casserole. Apparently, when Grandmother Louisa gave them the recipe, each one received a different version. I mean, each version was delicious, but they weren’t…” She shrugged.
Peyton smiled. “They weren’t Mom’s.” He sighed and held up his glass of iced tea in a toast. “Thank you, Ken. Again. I cannot tell you how blessed we are to have you in this family.”
Everyone echoed Peyton’s sentiment, toasting Ken and leaving him feeling slightly embarrassed.
Dewi leaned in and kissed him. “Look at you, Mr. Grazer, finding your way straight to the hearts of these wolves through their stomachs.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
But as he ate, Ken couldn’t help thinking he wasn’t the one who deserved the credit.
Thank you for the help, Chelsea.
Chapter Fourteen
