Cooking in Animal Parade

In my own first game, I had no trouble purchasing any Cooking Utensil from the General Store in the first week of Spring, and yet other players have emailed me asking why they are unable to buy Cooking Utensils. The option is 'locked' in their games.

In many Harvest Moon games, cooking or shipping Cooked Dishes can unlock some new options or bring rewards. As soon as Bo repaired the Garmon Mines District Bridge in my first game (Wednesday in the first week of Spring), I bought the Matches and began to use them rather lavishly. I bought Sardines from Ozzie as well as catching my own fish and grilled all of them, saving most of the Grilled Sardines for use as Recovery Items and shipping the rest.

I was not certain why one should purchase Recipes when you can experiment in your Kitchen to add the same Recipe to your Cookbook without paying anything at all, but to be on the safe siad, in case there was some hidden virtue to the actual purchases, I bought the inexpensive Herbal Tea Recipe from Irene, the Grilled Sardines Recipe from Ozzie and a Boiled Egg Recipe from Hanna in Flute Fields.

Furthermore, in the first week, I went from house to house, collecting all the Recipes from the various kitchens.

It is possible that any one who is unable to buy items that should be available at Level 1 at any of the Shops has failed to perform one of the above. I can't imagine what else could prevent the purchase.

Althought there is a link between the FORGES and the Red Bell, there was no impediment to me either with respect to purchasing or using any Kitchen Utensil before I completed the Red Bell Quest. That rather surprised me, I confess, as I initially assumed I'd only be able to use the Matches and Cutting Board before the power of Fire was restored, but that was not the case at all.

Incidentally, for those who may be interested, I will try to have a preliminary Animal Parade Cookbook Recipes Guide on IGN later today. If there is no real virtue to purchasing the Recipes from shops, then a Recipes Guide will be of significant benefit to players who haven't the time or inclination to experiment intensively in their kitchens.