Cooking with Audi

You may already know that I am not a cook. I hate to cook and will eat cereal for supper rather than cook when Ted is gone.  Ted is a very good cook who isn’t fond of cleaning up, so we work well together.

The International Exchange Society hosted a cooking class at a local community center this weekend.  I attended and participated, and I didn’t have to eat cereal.  The cooking teacher was Audi San, with the help of his lovely wife Yasuko San.

 

As with other International Exchange Society events, there was an international group of all ages.

 

There were five cooking stations set out with ingredients and recipes in English and Japanese.  The featured menu was Eggplant Curry, Cucumber Yogurt Salad, and Apple Cake.

 

In my group were three sisters and their mother, Kyoko San.

Notice the proper onion chopping technique – fingers curled under to prevent any cutting mishaps.

 

The chopped onions were cooked with a little oil, then the cubed eggplant added, followed by ground meat and curry. Spaghetti sauce was added slowly, then the mixture simmered.

 

I peeled and chopped the apples and cut up the cucumber, trying to use the proper technique.  I didn’t cut any fingers off, so I think I did okay.

 

There was time to chat while the food was cooking and I wandered around taking pictures when I wasn’t chopping.

 

The yogurt cucumber salad was delicious – yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, and chopped fresh mint.

 

This big kitchen had real ovens, but I think this flat cake might fit in my little fish oven.

 

These two little cooks look like they’ve had some experience in the kitchen.

 

There was a huge community sized rice cooker in the back of the kitchen where everyone could serve themselves.

 

When the food was ready, we all sat down together and the meal was great. (I didn’t try the curry with meat, but everyone said it was very good).

 

At the end of every meal is the cleanup, which went remarkably fast after this meal with so many people helping.

 

Ted’s sorry he missed the cooking class, he was on a field trip this weekend.  I’m hoping he will try out the recipes I brought home.

Great job, Audi!