Assignment:
Write a scene with two people in a kitchen. Describe the cookery, the food being prepared, and SHOW (not tell) us how all of this helps us to understand their relationship.
Response:
     The kitchen smells of garlic and tomato, the smell penetrates the air and is the first thing noticed upon entering the house. The sauce has been cooking all day, Jon has been preparing for this dinner since he woke.

     Jon stood silently at the stove. He was stirring his sauce with a wood spoon in his large black metal pot. Light streams of steam poured out of the pot as he stirred. The doorbell rang, and before he could turn from his pot, his little brother Eric stormed in. Eric goes directly to the kitchen, passing his brother, nudging him out of the way to gain access to the pot containing the bright red sauce. Eric liked Jon’s sauce at this state better than any other, pure red sauce, with some basil, oregano and garlic. Eric grabbed a small steel spoon from the drawer beside him. He dipped the spoon into the sauce and tasted it, satisfied with the taste, he turned to his brother and said “hello”. Jon laughed at his little brother’s behavior and grabbed two heavily worn wood cutting boards from the wall behind the stove. Eric grabbed two knives from the wooden block on the island, placing one on each of the cutting boards. The knife placed on Jon’s cutting board was very old, with some light rusting on the rivets keeping the heavy steel blade firmly attached to the cracking dry wood handle. It was Jon’s favorite knife. The knife in Eric’s hand was much newer, the handle and body of the knife both made of steel, the blade shining from its recent honing, and the handle coated in a thin plastic for comfort. Eric grabbed a bell pepper from the basket in the corner. He picked one that was dark green with firm skin and a glossy appearance. The ridges were deep and perfectly curved. Jon selected an onion from the same basket. The onion he placed on his cutting board had a dull yellow skin, and a few brown hairs of root still left on the bottom.

     Jon and Eric started preparing their vegetables. Jon peeled the onion, and then sliced it into 4 wide disks. Eric cut the bell pepper in half and used his hand to clean out the seeds. Jon lined up his disks of onion, then chopped them into several rows, and then turned the knife the other way and cut the columns. Eric mirrored the same behavior with the pepper, slicing it into strips, and then into small cubes. They finish at nearly the same time, and scrape the contents of their cutting boards into the pot with the back of their knives. The vegetables began to sink by themselves, but were quickly assisted by Eric using the wood spoon to stir them in completely. While Jon was slicing mushrooms very thin, Eric was watching him, looking as though he wanted to say something. After many moments of fidgeting and appearing anxious, Eric spoke up and asked “Jon, you ever thought of making meatballs to go with your sauce?”