What I learned from cooking class

Sooo...there was the cooking class last saturday...we were 9 people, some new faces to me, and some not....and the day was sunny and warm.

Can't begin to tell U how much I've learn just only by watching Eric cutting the veggies...

The recipes were from their cookbook, and when I read them I thought:"Oh,yeah,I can make this...easy!!"

...sure, but being in a live class is a complete different experience....

So many things a book cannot tell U, like why U R washing the rice in a certain way, or if U cannot have some kind of food or herbs or condiments, how U can subtitute it and, most important, WHY... A cookbook, even if it is a very good one, doesn't say that, even if , of course, the recipe means a lot, but it's not everything.

Most of the time when we cook we just follow whatever the recipe says, without questioning why we do this or that.

A book is useful, but doesn't answer your questions ...all those things U can get out of a class like this.

Making the food "cute and pretty" is also important to be able to fully enjoy it...

In Italy we say "The eye wants its part", not sure if there's a similar expression in the Usa, but I think U understand what I mean... and I've always thought that this was useless, spending a lot of time to cut the food in different shapes and forms, and, at the end, it all goes in the same place anyway, so why bother??? Well, I couldn't be more wrong... when I ate the food today I noticed how my mood was different , more cheerful, probably made so from the rainbow mix of vivid colors and shapes all the veggies had...

Personal Note: I see the whole macrobiotic thing like a LIFESTYLE and not just merely food...food nourishes us, sure, it's our fuel, but if U R eating it in front of the tv or pc while U R checking your emails, or lying on the couch in a sleeping position, without paying any attention to relax your stomach muscles by deep breathing and not chewing each bite very well...the nutrients in the food will just not be absorbed from your body, causing all kinds of troubles in it...mental and physical.... I did it...I tried it....

When I started macrobiotic the TV was a must, phone ringing all the time, sometimes reading, and a lot of times eating standing, in 5 minutes or less (La style...so sad...)....I felt almost no difference in my body since I started changin'my lifestyle too...that's when I started seeing the real difference, both in my mind and body.

Anyway.....just wanted to say how enthusiastic I was about the class...the simplest foods were cooked by Eric and Sanae in the most delicious way ever...

We started with a melon soup, refreshing and very summertime (Eric showed us it could have been served in a glass just as a cocktail!)....NOTE: for example, because it's fruit, I'd have consider it as a dessert...but Sanae explained me that , actually, that kind of soup it's very good to prepare your stomach before the meal...and, again, here's one of the many advantages of taking a live cooking class.

A simple salad (actually, my favorite dish of the day: quinoa, baby greens and kale with lemon and olive oil dressing) felt just like heaven in my mouth...going to the fancy gourmet veggie pancake (with tofu sour cream...yummy yummy yummy) that has nothin'to envy to IHOP...

Other dishes were brown rice and corn (simpy delicious as well, I want to try it tomorrow for lunch:-)), and Sanae made some fresh gomashio and served some carrot pickles...

I was delighted, and feeling very fortunate I have the luck to be part of all this...

I really encourage everybody taking live cooking classes...their value is just without price (I hope it's the right English...but I'm sure U know what I'm talkin'about :-)))...ciao!@!