starfish

Today, the folks behind this project, including Ted Cheecharoan, made a special trip to campus to deliver Creative Kitchen to my eager hands. A personal trip, partly so they could meet me and thank me for supporting their endeavors.
Very nice - that meant a lot to me me and made me feel very appreciated.

The following is a transcript of what I had written earlier in my other blog.

I had tagged this project some time ago, then forgotten about it until the alert that funding for it was to soon end. I decided to opt in, for a variety of positive reasons. For starters, it's a local project, meaning the money stays here and helps HERE. It's also associated with the Starfish Cafe, a training ground for those serious about turning their life in a positive direction in addition to mastering the art of being a chef. I believe in the work they are doing and am already a supporter of them, having given two of their cookbooks to family members this Christmas.
Partly, though, my interest in the project is based on a dinner party I attended just a few weeks ago. That dinner party, hosted by the niece who could pass for my daughter and her husband, had at its center a game I had given them a couple of years ago, a game called Stir Crazy. In that game, two teams of would-be chefs are pitted against each other to create an appetizer, an entree, AND either a side dish or a dessert. All to be accomplished in ninety minutes and making use of all ingredients acquired by that team during the selection process. The thirteen ingredients for the team I was on included: tofu, bok choi, mandarin orange slices, ginger, pork. The opposing team (all guys) had to use bananas, kiwi, beef, green onions, noodles, and chicken.
Wow! I was impressed with our creations: spring rolls, stir-fried vegetables with pork strips, and a creamy dessert I myself concocted with the orange slices, ginger, and mashed tofu. Alas, as soon as the word spread that the dessert contained tofu, no one wanted to even try it. (My niece eventually did and said she was surprised but she liked it.) My dessert was even voted "dish you wouldn't feed the dog"!
Still, the point is that we all had dinner using ingredients we don't normally cook and we all learned to be more improvisational in our culinary efforts. I think this new game will add a bit more zest to future dinner parties and look forward to surprising my guests - and myself! - in this coming year. Bon appetit, y'all!

Bon appetit, indeed.
And we'll have these fun coasters for our drinks when we play the game.
Very nice!
Though I'll make sure all glasses are dry before they are set on the coasters.
Of course!
I think I'm going to like cooking creatively!