On your mark. Get set. Go! 15 youth divided into pairs of 2 or 3 with a recipe or two in a kitchen that has few supplies. I told the youth group that I was two too tired to cook, so they were going to cook for me. Improvisation is the key word of the night - a cup for a bowl, a glass for a rolling pin. Several of the youth had not cooked before and many of these foods were considered "exotic". My name was called throughout the evening and food preparation techniques were given. Everyone had a choice - they could cook or be on sole cleanup duty. Everyone made the wise choice to cook.
It took a long time to prepare - much longer than I had anticipated. So between the long wait and the eagerness to try the dishes that we prepared, we were more than ready to sit down together. In the spirit of the Japanese who thank the earth for the food, we thanked God for the food, the friendship and the time that we had together to learn new things.
Then - for the first time in a few hours - there was complete silence followed by a chorus of "mmmmm"s.
Here are pictures from the evening's menu:
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| Spicy Edamames |
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| Beef and Pepper DIsh |
This salad was prepared by one young man who adamently proclaimed that he could not cook. So I gave him the salad that only required slicing tofu, tomatoes and avocadoes. I learned afterwards that I had successfully given him a dish to prepare with every ingredient he did not like! Poor guy didn't get to enjoy the fruits of his labour!
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| Tofu Salad |
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| Daikon Salad |
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| Bean Dish |
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| Avocado Dip |
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| Teryaki Chicken |
Well done youth for a delicious meal.
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