"If I Knew the Way, I Would Take You Home"

Ah. Happy Friday.

Was it just me? I could not wait for class to be over, for the weekend to start.

I didn't correctly identify the bonus item on the product identification portion of the final exam — they looked just like shiny brown sesame seeds (as opposed to white and black ones). Don't they?


Flax. Now we all know.

We had a "practice session" in preparation for our class presentations next week, the opportunity to try out any of the dishes we'll be including in our special menus. I really didn't feel like making any African-hued vegan dishes. So I started a gigantic pot of vegetable stock and then worked on cleaning out the refrigerators, a job that happens a couple of times a week, and always on Fridays. Stuff that won't last the weekend gets used (the gigantic stockpot was handy) or tossed, as appropriate. Towards the end of the morning, I made a big spinach salad at Chef's request. "I'll feel a little better if I can see them eat something green today," she said. Jordan had opened a #10 tin of mandarin oranges, so some of them went into the salad, with some red onion and toasted walnuts. I warmed some cumin seeds in olive oil and used that as the basis for the dressing, and added some mandarin orange juice and raspberry vinegar.

Andy (our blond Minnesota boy, too young to buy marsala for the tiramisu he made for his girlfriend's class project on Italian style) was rinsing a mortar and pestle when I went into the dishroom mid-morning to grab a big bowl.

"Do you know the Grateful Dead?" he asked me. [Uh, do I look like a Deadhead to you?]

"Oh yes," I replied.

"I've got this song stuck in my head this morning.... 'If my words did flow da da da da da..."

"Ripple," I said, and then it was stuck in my head, too.