Day 3 - Cooking Class

I slept in this morning and Michelle had strong Brazilian coffee waiting for me when I awoke. I worked on a project for the retreat this weekend and then we had lunch.

After lunch, we walked to the butcher's shop to buy chicken and then to Morini, a little market store to buy some lemons. We also bought some mangos to eat.

We started doing some of the prep work before the girls arrived for the cooking class. For example: you can't buy chicken broth in a can so you have to make your own. I boiled chicken and we made enough for our recipe and to freeze some so Michelle would have it later to cook with in recipes requiring it. The girls in the cooking class called it chicken water. It made me laugh so I referred to it as chicken water while we cooked.

10 girls came to the cooking class and it was so much fun. I really enjoyed getting to know them.

We learned some cutting techniques for mincing garlic, finely chopping shallot, slicing mushrooms, cutting potatoes into cubes, cutting up broccoli and cutting chicken breasts crosswise to make cutlets. Everyone had a turn cutting something. We then went into the kitchen in two different teams because the kitchen is small and cooked Chicken Marsala, mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Then the twelve of us squeezed around Michelle's square table and enjoyed our dinner. It was such a fun night with all these girls.

While we were cooking, I showed them a list of the foods my friend, Marlene, said I had to try while I was in Brazil. They made Brigadeiro for me for dessert. It was delicious!! It was chocolate; need I say more.

The night ended again at 11:00 and I was going to sleep about 12:30.

Sorry, I haven't posted pictures yet. I'll try to soon.