There was a little cool breeze as I started up the hill for the cooking class, the only class they offer outdoors. It’s held under a huge tent. The instructors (Sandy and his wife…Marilyn) started the demonstration…while the breeze picked up a little. My neighbor said “It’s getting a little nippy.”
The menu consisted of marinated bar-b-QED chicken, jalapena cornbread, fresh fruit relish, tossed green salad with pecans and blue cheese dressing, stirred fried rice with vegetables, angel food cake with pineapple pieces, sauce, and nuts, and fudge!! And they prepared every bit of us in front of us…as the, now, WIND, picked up! My neighbor said “This is getting down right chilly”.
The foil wrap began to blow off the top of some of the dishes. Our noses began to run, hands went under armpits, bodies began to shiver. My neighbor said “I don’t know about you but “I’m FREEZING MY BUTT OFF!” The instructors finally stopped long enough to give us a break and we all hiked back to our respective RV’s and put on coats, hats, ear muffs…and returned. With amazing grace, Sandy and Marilyn finished the lesson, amid flying papers, soaring napkins, and a flapping tent! The result was marvelous! The marinade alone…was worth risking life and limb in a windstorm just to learn the recipe! We ate and ate and ATE…that wonderful meal. Everyone laughed their way through it all…and had great fun. I’m sure Marilyn felt like gritting her teeth instead of smiling!
In the now perfect weather of the afternoon…I trotted over to the main campus and took a class on ‘Grandparenting at a Distance’. Got some great ideas.
The hills are as green as manicured lawns, interspersed with wheat fields ready for harvest. I photographed hillsides with rape seed flowers…yellow and waving as far as the eye could see.
