Sometimes, those who CAN do, teach
My friend S is scared of her own kitchen. This is a darn shame, as she has a gorgeous, massive space that puts mine to shame. She’s eaten at my place a few times. Okay, so it’s true that at least half the times I invite people over I also feed them. What can I say? I love to cook.
I’m ridiculously flattered that after eating my lactose intolerant kosher food she asked me to give her cooking lessons at home. I’ve missed teaching - a lot. In fact, I’m thinking of applying with University of Phoenix just so I can get back into the groove. This was a great opportunity to find out whether I really enjoyed the process of teaching or if I’d idealized memories from back in the day.
Since S said she didn’t have a clue about how to feed herself, I insisted we start with a trip to her local grocery. I probably went a little overboard the first time around. “Here, let’s walk through your neighborhood Kroger and I’ll explain EVERY SINGLE ITEM IN DETAIL!” Heck, we picked up 3 kinds of oranges, 2 kinds of pears and a mango just so she could sample the differences between unfamiliar fruits. We also picked up everything needed for her very first recipe - faux “Asian” style chicken lettuce wraps.
Now I understand why my beloved Auntie stealthily conned me into learning how to cook. Watching someone who is a little intimidated by their knives go from “Er, how do I make sure I don’t cut myself,” to finely chopping 3 cups of multiple vegetables with good form using a chef’s knife is pretty darn cool. After making S chop away for nearly an hour, she says she still wants to try another lesson. Gosh.
Nah, it’s not just idealized memories.
Meanwhile, for anyone out there who wonders how long it takes to boil an egg, there’s a great YouTube based “Egg Timer” that’ll entertain you with a video while you wait for eggy goodness. I had no real excuse to throw this in. I just think it’s nifty.
Related posts:
