Party Time

Just before our guests arrived:We used fresh bell peppers as the containers for our salsa trios, and of course the lovely tortilla bowls as inspired by Chef Alex.
I made one round flan for decorative purposes. The rest was cooked in hotel pans and we cut out individual servings with circular cutters.And the cookies came out well. Sometimes, third time's the charm.The mid-day class also had their event today: an off-premise "job" where they provided lunch to a couple of firehouses. (Several of the girls in our class were bummed that our project didn't involve interaction with firefighters.) The mid class planned to deliver big cookie platters but only their chocolate chip cookies were acceptable. Their lemon bars didn't solidify properly, so we helped them out by "loaning" them some Mexican wedding cakes.... and they cut the "trim" ends of our chocolate cake into bite-sized pieces. "We saved your ass, man," Andy proclaimed.

Interesting how people perform under pressure. Some people get hot. Others cool down. Alex got a bunch of people (including Peter, our instructor) all worked up by saying that the beans hadn't been cooked, while in fact they were simmering quietly on the back of the stove. And he told somebody else that the rice was all gone, when there was another chafing dish full, warming in the oven. On the other hand, his grilling skills are top-notch.

After take-down (nibbling while cleaning, with the help of two stewards today to do dishes, thank goodness), Andrea and I made a plan to unload our gear in our cars and meet at the Mexican diner kitty-cornered from campus. They only have a beer and wine license, but they make a faux margarita, just the ticket after our eventful day. I asked Peter if it was against the rules for him to join us for a drink. "Oh my God," he said, "It is so against the rules!"