Chapter 3077: Romantic

Pound cake, as the name suggests, one pound of sugar, one pound of flour, one pound of eggs, one pound of butter—a powerful representative of "how much sweets Westerners can eat."

One pound is approximately equal to 0.45 kilograms, which is close to one jin (500g). This cake requires one jin of granulated sugar.

And what's even more terrifying is that this cake doesn't actually taste very sweet because that pound of butter makes the finished cake more moist and soft. The oily, rich texture brought by the fat makes it easier to swallow, which makes the taste of the sugar less obvious. Many dessert shops even use one and a half jin of granulated sugar to make it sweeter.

This thing is completely a calorie bomb. A small piece is enough for an adult's daily calorie requirement. Besides being difficult to store, it's not even as useful as compressed biscuits in wilderness survival.

After finishing lunch, Wei En started to bake the cake. Except for Steve, who works out all year round, basically everyone loves desserts, and eating desserts helps relieve anxiety. Wei En's office also often has some sweet wafers and chocolates, which nurses will take to distribute to patients who behave well.

Carter's matter inevitably shrouded everyone in an anxious atmosphere, and delicious desserts are the best choice to dispel this atmosphere.

But unfortunately, the supplies Wei En had in stock were relatively basic, so those high-end desserts certainly couldn't be made. He decided to make the most classic, least failure-prone pound cake, combined with fruits and cream, which could help those who don't like to eat quickly replenish calories and delight their mood.

The men went to prepare the barbecue for the afternoon. Because there were two big eaters, Gray Mist and Venom, they didn't worry about not being able to finish no matter how much food there was. Wei En bought a cow directly from the neighboring farm.

Next door is a grain-fed farm, and one characteristic of American grain-fed beef is that it has more fat, making the taste more fragrant and smooth. For those who don't like to eat fat, it might be a disaster, but if you can accept beef rich in oil, the taste is quite good. In contrast, the lean meat of Australian grain-fed beef tastes better.

The neighboring farmer had already slaughtered the cow. Steve led the others to the farm gate to receive the beef. The beef was slaughtered well, and all parts were handled very cleanly. But because they were worried that the bloody smell might cause Carter discomfort, they took the beef directly to the warehouse next door to process it.

The ladies were responsible for processing the vegetables, mainly to cut the bell peppers to string beef skewers, and to shred lettuce and purple cabbage to mix salad.

There is a very famous barbecue in California called palm leaf barbecue, which is to roast fresh beef on palm leaves. There are also some areas where palm leaves are used to wrap the meat and throw it into a fire pit. The ladies were very interested in this dish, and Wanda proposed to go pick some palm leaves of suitable size.

Actually, she wanted to take Carter out for a walk. Although the ultraviolet rays are very strong now, when she was pregnant, as long as she stayed in a sunny place, her mood would be much better. She hoped Carter would be the same.

After the chattering ladies left the kitchen, Wei En truly started to prepare the afternoon's dishes. Mainly, he had to process seafood, and the fishy smell of seafood might also cause Carter discomfort. He had to finish processing the crabs and shrimp before the ladies came back.

California seafood is also very famous, especially the large Dungeness crabs. Wei En ordered a batch of good goods from the San Francisco wharf. Almost every one weighed more than two jin, with a beautiful orange-yellow shell, and some were still waving their claws.

Wei En opened the shells of two large crabs in a few strokes, took out the crab roe to make porridge. This kind of crab doesn't have much paste, but the crab roe is rich in oil, which is very suitable for making porridge.

Wei En boiled a pot of white porridge in a casserole. As soon as the crab roe was rolled in, a layer of golden oil floated on the surface of the porridge, and a kind of indescribable fresh fragrance of oil drifted out. Wei En tore some crab meat and put it in, added a tiny bit of ginger, and didn't boil it thoroughly, because there was still some time before dinner, and it could be rolled again by then.

The crab meat of these two crabs was made into garlic butter baked crab meat. This method is more in line with the taste of local Americans, but Wei En felt it was a bit greasy. He took two more whole crabs to steam. Steamed crab can be eaten by anyone, and it retains the original fragrance of seafood. The remaining one was made into spicy stir-fried crab according to his own taste. The key is to stir-fry with high heat to make it fragrant but not spicy, without losing the freshness of the seafood.

Of course, how can you not eat Mexican food when you come to California? Considering that the ladies' tastes are lighter, Wei En made Mexican vegetable burritos, Mexican corn thin crispy pizza with marinated chicken on top, and a bell pepper sour cream soup.

In addition, he made clam chowder, seafood medley, spicy beef fried rice, and the famous California roll.

After the ladies came back, they started to help clean up. Although they were going to barbecue, there were quite a few things to bring besides ingredients. Some bits and pieces were packed into their bags, and they also brought swimsuits.

Helen and the two mice had nothing else to do and had been inflating swimming rings and kayaks, only to be caught by the suddenly descending Black Baldy.

Nick had a Pikachu in his left hand and a Rocket Raccoon in his right. Just as he wanted to ask what they were doing here, he was hit by a 100,000-volt shock from Pikachu, making him even blacker from the electricity.

Rocket Raccoon, who was also held in his hand, was also hit. He was purely an innocent victim, so after Nick withdrew his hand, he couldn't wait to fight back. To protect the newly inflated swimming ring, Helen had to stand out to stop the two of them.

Nick spat out a mouthful of black smoke, coughed a few times, walked to the island counter, snapped his fingers and said, "Give me a Piña Colada..."

With a bang, a coconut hit his head. Nick rubbed his forehead and complained, "You are too impolite. At least open it for me."

Wei En threw him a coconut opener, but this thing was really hard to use. Nick fussed for a long time but still couldn't open it, and finally had to hand it to Helen.

He leaned one arm on the island counter and said, "How is Steve doing? I knew his child wouldn't be born smoothly..."

Wei En looked back at him, puzzled as to why he said that. Nick shook his head and said, "The best ending for modified humans like us is to die alone. Having offspring is a luxury."

"Even in this era, no one has developed a Super Soldier serum without side effects. In that era when science was not developed, those serums had long caused irreversible damage to our bodies. All we can do is not spread this damage."

"You are too pessimistic." Wei En brought him a glass of ice cubes and said, "We now have the ability to remedy many things. Steve already has a basic plan. I believe this child will be born smoothly."

"Being born is just the first step; the trouble is still ahead." Although he said so, there was some joy on Nick's face. If Captain America's child is a mutant, it could bring mutants closer to S. H. I. E. L. D. He had been coveting this group of human-shaped nuclear bombs for a long time.

Stark, who had finished processing the meat, walked in from the front door with his two hands held in disgust. He was surprised to see Nick, but couldn't help but mock him, "You came at a really good time, very much in the style of S. H. I. E. L. D. waiting until a year after the problem is solved to appear."

"Don't say that, Tony." Nick pouted and said, "How is little Morgan? Does she miss her Uncle Nick?"

"She is doing very well, but I must warn you, stay away from my daughter. I don't want her to become as insidious as you."

Nick was not ashamed but proud. He laughed loudly and said, "If she really has such talent, you should be happy. S. H. I. E. L. D. has successors."

Stark pursed his lips and revealed a speechless expression. You can never hurt a person who has no shame at all with words.

Steve and Reed followed behind. Reed looked a bit nervous, as if they had just discussed some plan and were now preparing to implement it.

Coincidentally, at this time, Susan came down from upstairs after getting things, and greeted them with a smile. Susan is a typical American blonde, beautiful and enthusiastic, and gets along with everyone. In such a short time, she had already become friends with Wanda who could secretly gossip, which is the exact opposite of Reed's popularity.

She changed into a beautiful tender green tight-fitting dress, the hem blooming like layers of lotus leaves, and wore two thin gold ear threads on her ears, exuding a mature and intellectual charm, different from all the women present.

Reed's eyes went straight on the spot. Steve and Stark pulled his sleeves from left and right. He was stunned for more than ten seconds before reacting, throwing a look of help at Steve, and said to Susan, "You are so beautiful today, uh, we plan to mix a few drinks to take over, do you have any ideas?"

Susan blinked gently and said, "I don't have any special preference for wine. If I have to say, maybe something sweeter would be nice? Is there any rum here?"

Reed looked at the bar. Wei En shook his head and said, "We have prepared liqueur, whiskey, rye beer, red wine, and ice wine, as well as some low-alcohol rice wine used for cooking. There is no rum or vodka."

"Ah, it doesn't matter. I can drink anything." Susan waved her hand and said, "I'm not used to drinking while eating. If I have to drink, how about some beer?"

Reed seemed not to have expected this answer at all. He turned his head to look at Steve. Steve made mouth shapes frantically at him.

But before Reed could speak, Susan smiled at him and said, "But actually, I'm quite interested in bartending too. What kind of wine can you mix? Can you do fancy bartending?"

"Don't joke, Miss." Reed said somewhat embarrassed, "I only know how to mix all the drinks together and shake them."

Susan covered her mouth and laughed, saying, "What a coincidence, me too. Once I mixed lemon juice and milk-containing drinks together and mixed out a thick unknown substance. I thought I had some new achievements in the field of liquid molecules."

Reed immediately said excitedly, "Citric acid and protein will indeed cause the liquid to clump and make a mess, but it can't be called a new achievement..."

Steve walked up and pulled him hard. Stark rolled his eyes in the back, thinking that this girl also has some interest in you, but if it were someone else, you would have no chance at all.

Then the two of them walked to the bar. Wei En very sensibly stepped aside.

But he had actually prepared most of the drinks, mainly some refreshing low-alcohol cocktails and refreshing coconut juice, which were put in beer barrels, filled with ice cubes, and taken to the door, ready to be put into the car. ===== CHAPTER 3078 =====

Then the two of them walked to the bar, and Shiler very tactfully made room for them.

But in fact, he had already prepared most of the drinks, mainly some refreshing low-alcohol cocktails and icy coconut juice, which were packed into beer barrels, filled with plenty of ice, and carried to the doorway, ready to be put into the car.