Text 21484, 127 rader
Skriven 2012-02-19 21:29:53 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
  Kommentar till text 21411 av Carol Shenkenberger (37226.cooks)
Ärende: Charlotte  was: back to normal? 99
==========================================
Hi Carol,

This is the first major catch up with you in a while.

 >  > Glad to hear it. Doin' okay? How about Charlotte?

 >  CS> Getting ready to graduate HS this year and planning to join the
 >  CS> Military.

 > How time flies!  So, she's following in her parents' footsteps, is she?
 > Navy? or some other branch...?

 CS> Navy likely!

She's that old already? Still a meat ball lover? I'd put a plug in for
the Army--advancement is pretty fast thru the early ranks but once you
hit the senior NCO status, it can slow down. Our younger daughter made
her Sergeant First Class (E7) after not quite 10 years in the National
Guard; Steve made it at about 10 in the Regular Army. Both of them
started at the PFC (E3) level.

 >  CS> She's also in cooking class at last and rather enjoying it.
 >  CS> Straight A's there as the teacher likes her creative attitude.
 CS>  >
 > Good for both of them... :)

 CS> Yes.  The Teacher is delighted with her.

She's a kid that knows the basics of real cooking--a rarity among kids
of her age, and even older. I'd be delighted to have her in a cooking
class too.


 >  CS> One challange in class was to try to make a soufflee (sp?).  Now, I;ve
 >  CS> never tried that but she grinned, grabbed a recipe and 'tried'.  I
 >  CS> gather it ws the sorriest little thing you've ever seen but that didnt
 >  CS> matter. She got an A for *trying*.

 > Good for her, for sure... :)   She'll likely make one that works
 > perfectly, eventually... at least once... ;)

 CS> Maybe but she did make a decent flan apparently.  It broke she said
 CS> when she had to decant it but overall it was good.

Doing some pretty fancy basic cooking there. Good going!


 >  CS> Every 3-4 weeks they have a 'challange' where you look around the
 >  CS> class kitchen and devise something.  The teacher, NOT aware the first
 >  CS> time of her background had lots of asian stuff. Snicker, she glommed
 >  CS> the bannana sauce, oyster sauce, dried udon sticks, a can of tomato
 >  CS> soup and a broccoli head.  She got an A+ for steaming the spear after
 >  CS> cutting to bitesize and using it to garnish the dish with the
 >  CS> flowerets.

 > Sounds yummy...  :)

Her time in Japan came thru with flying colors!


 CS> Yup.  Email from teacher 'Carol, what food can I throw at Charlotte
 CS> that she's never tried?'  Answer: 'Humm, try Granola, wheat bran or
 CS> liver?'
 CS> Return: 'You gotta be kidding. I threw sticks at her from the asian
 CS> grocery and she made a side meal'.  Me back: 'That would be gobo,
 CS> otherwise known as burdock root.  She grew up on it'.  Return: 'OMG'.
 CS> Me back: 'try making sweets, we dont do that much other than rice
 CS> balls'.


German food? Real Italian? Wouldn't be surprised if she did well in
those too. A simple liver recipe would be to dredge it in flour, brown
in olive oil, remove, saute some bell pepper, onion & mushroom, add
liver back in. Add tomato sauce (1 8oz can, half a can of water) and
Italian seasonings (basil, oregano, parsley, garlic, black pepper),
simmer until sauce has thickened a bit. Serve over pasta or rice. This
was one of the ways I made liver when I was pregnant with Rachel &
anemic.

 CS> Next challange was a cake she made sitting in my fridge.  Its dang
 CS> good! Lacks the presentation we might have in the icing but it was all
 CS> from scratch and the taste is excellent.

Taste beats a box mix, hands down!

 >  CS> Yesterday, she finished the making of a rotisserrie chicken for us
 >  CS> all.  Don got the machine setup and had it in there and helped her mash

 > A cook in the making... :)   I'm sure you are quite proud of your young
 > lady... :)

 CS> Oh yes!  She's not fancy yet, but that will come in time.  As her
 CS> teacher can see, she's been silently absorbing the basics all her life
 CS> and just needed approval of a simpler level to start to flower.

 CS> Grin, the teachers one note on what she doesnt know?  Microwave meals.
 CS>  She laughed as most of her starter students *only* know that.
 CS> Charlotte's level there is mine which means rewarming leftovers at
 CS> best.  Apparently when the food comes out the other kids start to
 CS> glommer the microwaves while Charlotte grabs a frying pan then sees
 CS> what the project is.


A career in food services might be good post military--get the GI Bill
to send her to culinary school. Military cooking--well, you've tasted
enough of that to know what it's like. (G)

Steve will finish up his GI Bill benefits with the fall semester. He
needs 9 more hours beyond this spring to finish his M.Div. program so he
will graduate in December. I'll finish class work for my diploma in
Women's Studies in April, graduating in May. This is a more relaxed
semester for both of us so I'm getting some fun sewing (for grandkids,
myself) done and pulling out new recipies to try. Also, trying to eat
down the freezer so it'll be ready come moving time (where, when still
unknown).


---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... If you think you are confused now, wait until I explain it!

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