She's honestly not trying to be pedantic, however much she might be succeeding. She just tends to be a bit more literal in the middle of lab work.

"Oh. Nothing as exciting as I'd like to do if I had access to more complicated equipment, but it's pretty easy to get some plant-based dyes going. I'm working on some extracts of some medicinal plants."

A stir of one of the pots reminds her of the other bit. "Oh, I stumbled into a weird patch of Brassica relatives, so I snagged some cauliflower, sliced it into slabs, and baked it with herbs, oil, and spice. Wasn't terrible, all considered."