Friday Follies

As we arranged our trays at the end of one long table, and began to clean up the kitchen, Andy said, "Just look at this stuff. We've only been doing this a week, and we're making such pretty food."

Tru dat. At the end of the day, our class had produced a large fruit tray, an exquisite tray of seafood canapés, and several large bowls of salad. We on the meat team contributed an antipasto tray, primarily of grilled vegetables (that was Silvia), won ton cups filled with Asian Duck Confit Salad (mostly Andrea), and Curried Turkey with Mango baguettes (I worked on those). Travis sliced, sliced, sliced, cutting the four trays of meat needed for student dining, as well as meats for the antipasto tray. All in all, it was a quiet, productive morning.

You know how one person can totally change the dynamic of a group? Well, Nadeen's back. If I told you she was the black sheep of our class, that might give you some idea as to her personality. She didn't show up for the entire last week of Butchery and by Wednesday of this week, we'd begun to refer to her in the past tense. But then who should waltz in about 10:45 yesterday morning? She's eager (when she's in class) and loud and inquisitive, which means she monopolizes the Chef's time as he repeats explanations and demonstrations that we all received days ago. She pushes the definition of "cigarette break," if you get my drift. She piles plates to overflowing with food and carries them home, covered with aluminum foil. Andy ("Bless his heart," my mother would say) is patient with her and shares his notes and tries to fill her in on what she's missed. There's some wild backstory there, no doubt about it.

This afternoon, I'll be practicing my canapé making and then most of the weekend will be food prep for Super Bowl, to be immediately followed by eating, drinking, and watching...