Confirmation with a twist!

Well, we have confirmation that they'd like us to come to JUC to cook.  The next step is buying a ticket, signing a volunteer form, and getting a volunteer visa.  That is all so official sounding it gets me excited!

Now for the twist....  We were originally told that we'd be cooking breakfast and lunch.  After trying that the last couple semesters, they've decided to switch it and now we'll be in charge of dinner!  The pressure is on.  This includes the Shabbat meal Friday night, a big deal on campus.  The tables and guests get a bit fancied up that night and the expectations are high.

But realizing that we sent him our resumes and there was nothing about being gourmet chefs, we trust that we'll be able to handle the responsibility.  A couple weeks ago Dan and I watched the movie Julie & Julia.  It was very enjoyable and has inspired me to work on actually learning how to cook.  So far I have learned mostly from watching and doing, which is the best way to learn most things.  But I thought taking a step back and actually doing some reading about cooking might be helpful.  There are three steps I'm planning to take (although step 2 will probably get mixed in with step 1 because I'm inspired and want to work on that now!)

1. Basic cooking skills. 
2. Mediterranean and Israeli cooking
3. Cooking for crowds

I have a couple of books out of the library for step 1:
How to Peel a Peach and 1001 other things every good cook needs to know by Perla Meyers and
Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook by Martha Stewart with Sarah Carey

We tend to tease Martha in my family, but the book is quite helpful and has lots of pictures (which helps keep my attention).  My plan is to write down anything I want to pass onto Dan - either teaching him myself (one of the best ways to learn is to teach) or having him read sections that I find. 

Last night I did make a dish that I enjoyed in Israel.  Mujaddara (Poor Man's Dish) which is made with rice, lentils and carmelized onions.  We topped it with Jerusalem Salad and hummus.  It turned out well.  I have to work on taking pictures to make this blog more interesting for you!