Emma smiled, "That's great," and wondered if Alec's need to do a good job overrode any tendency to troll, or if he was just being nicer at a game he almost certainly wasn't familiar with than some people would be.

Coniglio alla messinese would be easy, and they could roast the carrots and potatoes at the same time. She grabbed a colander. "You start by dicing the eggplant, and put it in here with some salt." Eying the amount of eggplant, she cupped one hand and used fingers of the other to show the diameter of about how much salt should be right, "About this much.

"I'll start on the rabbit." It had been dressed, but not butchered, and it would cook faster in pieces. From the past times he'd helped out in the kitchen she knew Alec could and probably would watch her doing that while dicing the eggplant, adding one more technique to his skill set.