Dinner For Anything, BUT Shumucks

This evening, we were invited to dinner at, The Viking Cooking School in South Salt Lake.  We were there to met the folks we are going to Cuba with next month.  Typical NPR listeners.  And John Greene who runs the station was there.  We went to Cuba with him in 2003.

Steve Williams, the night time Jazz guy for the station and his wife were there.

I heard people talk about being former actresses.  One guy got his Undergrad degree from Berkley, his graduate one from UCLA.

YES!  These are people I want to hang out with!

There was wine and beer and good conversation.  And a twist to the meal.

We had to cook it.

The lady in charge, Shaun Heaslet according to her card, and her staff gave us all recipes, and had prepared trays with everything we would need.  They broke us off into teams, and walked us through preparing an awesome, Cuban meal.  I stayed with Danny and Deb.  I love to mingle, but I kind of felt an obligation to try to keep all the fingers on my blind wife, and my 16 year old son.

We started chopping garlic and vegetables.  My hands still smell like garlic and onions. 

My son was impressed with how quickly I could cut up veggies.  He said, "Why don't you cook?".  I told him, "I CAN cook. I don't want to!  I like your mother's cooking.  Is it OK if I just cut up the veggies?"  He was OK with that.

The other thing that was OK with him?  The staff.  All these beautiful, young girls who can cook!  When he found out the Instructor who was helping us was also the pastry chef for the school?  Oh, he was in love.  She's that pretty and can make goodies?  It doesn't get any better than that!

Of course, she was probably 25.  But I think he's thinking of signing up for their summer teenager cooking camps, just to hang around her again!

He didn't want to help at first, but after he checked out the staff, he jumped right up.  He learned to, "roll cut" a pepper tonight as well as some other skills.  He did very well at kneeding bread, too.

I told him when he shows up for work tomorrow at Culver's burger place, he should demand a raise.  I'm not dogging Culvers, I love the place.  But I'm betting he's the only guy in THAT kitchen that's ever had a class at, The Viking Cooking School!  Just sayin...

Dinner was fantastic.  Chicken, veggies, blackeyed peas, bread we all made.  And to top it all off, a rice pudding with cinnimon, topped with chopped Mango!  It was out of this world.

I don't care if my hands DO still smell like garlic and onion.  I kind of hope they smell that way tomorrow, too!

So it looks like an interesting group of folks we will be spending some time with.  The last group was all that, too.  I'm begining to think I would like to make this trip every ten years or so!

I'm sure it will attract a different kind of folks who want to go there when they are sure they can shop at Walmart, and eat at McDonalds when they get to Havana.  And I don't want to travel with those folks.