Everything is Food
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“Tangerine” is not only a fantastic Led Zeppelin song, but also one of the ingredients present in a salad that I learned how to create today in day 1 of a 4-Saturday basic cooking course.
Oh yes, in the course of a mere three hours, I have graduated from a culinary capability rivaling the utter mathematical ineptitude with which many of my students are entering class this year, to being able to cook both soups and salads with speed, dexterity, and creativity! Well, that may exaggerate the state of things a bit, but suffice it to say that in three hours I’ve learned some of the basics, including how to properly use a knife to cut, chop, slice, dice, and mince anything vegetable, as well as the motivation to do so!
At first, I had my doubts about this “cooking class”, especially after 90 minutes of simply sitting and listening to the instructor talk about knife use, and walk us through eight or so recipes without actually getting to do anything hands-on yet. However, my fears were quickly allayed when she partnered us up with another student. The crowd consisted of about 14 adults most of whom seemed to fit nicely within the 30-35 year old age bracket (with a few exceptions, older and younger). My partner and I quickly got to creating a Spinach and White Bean soup, which is literally exactly what it sounds like with the addition of several key flavorful ingredients like basil, parmesan cheese, and sauteed onions and garlic. After this creation, the class sat down to a family-style meal with all of the soups and salads that we students had cooked. Actually, the dishes were delicious (When the instructor asked me which of the dishes I liked, I explained to her that quite frankly, all of them were about 5 to 10 times as good as what I usually eat)!
Next week, we’ll learn how to do fish, but I have my doubts. What could I possibly improve upon that my good friend Long John Silver can’t do already?
Themocracy
Wow, a cooking class with a partner? Is my SGD cheating on me? LOL. I expect being treated to a great dinner at least ;-)