WEEK 3: DAY 1 & 2...

Week 3

Day 1...
Well it started just like the way I hoped...
With a bang...
Woke up early , did not go running, because now have an excuse, "it's getting cold , what if I fall ill ,blah ! Blah ! Blah!
So listened to music, whatsapp 'd my friends in Bombay and suddenly I was rushing to make it in time to class...
Me who can get ready with shower , blow-dry and make up in 15 minutes, now gets late to leave at 9am , even after waking up at 6,15 am...
I have not had so much of time to myself in a very long time...
First it was lack of sleep and early morning shoots with MTV...
Then cricket in Sri LAnka and South Africa with Sony..
And life was one big shoot , with wonderful moments thrown in...
Where all I wanted was a few extra hours in the day , just to be but it never happened...
So lived life in speed mode...
Well I throughly enjoyed every minuscule moment of it...and could not have asked for a better time... 
Then came Zeke and Zene...
And I love running after them ...
I love kids and would gladly have at least two more ...

And so , now all of a sudden , I wake up and have no one too run after, and nothing to do , except pander to my own needs...
And how delightful is that ...

Get to class, and get a new partner for the week ...
Joe...who is not in class....OUCH....
Bloody hell.. And we had lots to do ...
So I started with prepping the food and getting ready to cook alone , but thankfully was informed that he will be coming in later ...
Which Joe did, and we whizzed around like bees and finished all our food on time ...whew..
Have decided that at least for this week , I'm his alarm clock ...ha ha ha ...
Have not washed so many utensils in a very long time ...
The afternoon, was for baking with Nick, soft -spoken and absolutely lovely to learn from, he is always there to answer questions and help and encourage you , he just has a very calming demeanour , and its wonderful to cook with him ...
and all of us made the softest loveliest lemon cake...
And prepped for the mutton carbonnade ....which is mutton , onions , butter , ale etc cooked in the oven...for a long time..
We learnt the carbonnade from Ally, who is just one of the nicest teachers , I have, she Ooohs and Aaaahs when she talks about food and is never to shy to add an extra dollop of butter, and says " ummmmm deeeelicious " and makes the class salivate and extremely eager to make what she has demonstrated , a lovely smiling face and a fantastic teacher..
Day done...
Happy tummies and happy faces...
Came back and just sat and listened to music and did a bit of reading ,
Wrote a bit and slept like a baby...

Day 2
 This had to be a wonderful day , because woke up with the sound of my whatsapp beeper , buzzing in full frantic mode, so knew that ,Mini, Jaya and Sandy were all chatting...
Woke up and got into chatter mode..
Got ready for class...20 degrees..just perfect...
Class today was quizzing with excitement over lunch ..we were all waiting for our carbonnade..
Made lovely fluffy cheese cake ...
And broccoli and leek puree...that looked like something Shrek and Princess Fiona would feed their kids ...ha ha ha ...but it was really tasty....
We all sat and had a great lunch together with much laughter and camaraderie ...
Had a long break ...
 I shared with all my new cooking friends a glimpse of my life in Mumbai...
Think they had fun...
And introduced them to "Bollywood", though I can't stand the name , much prefer the Indian Film Industry ...well ..well..it's here to stay...
The afternoon session was fantastic...
We had Al doing a Breakfast demonstration ....
That was filled with eggs, pancakes, herrings, haddock, muesli, porridge, kippers, banana muffins , bacon et all ...
In the break Maya, Maja, Ryan, Georgia , Tom and me played cards...
I'm beginning to get the hang of it now...
Oh have I told you about Ryan from, my favourite city in the world New York..
Well he is really nice, sweet , shy , good looking and is going off to South freaking Africa to work as a ranger....I'm so so jealous...but in a good way...
Well he is your all American boy , who loves his foot-ball on weekends...and is good with making pan cakes too...

Al continued cooking post our little break, and it was a fun session..
Ryan helped making pancakes and so did Tom...
The class was filled with infectious energy...
And then Al taught us how to make "poached eggs"
Now this is truly an art form and he said, "I'm absolutely amazing at poaching eggs" ..I swear he did...
And right there in front of us, in a swirling dervish of vinegar water, he made beautiful poached eggs...
If I were the Queen of England , swear, I would Knight him, "Sir Master Poacher" ...
 Well on a more serious note, he is a very good chef and teacher,  the ease with which he talks and cooks and gives out information, answers us , makes it fun and lively and allows us to be ...makes for a very interesting class...
Food cooked..we all tasted everything..and with bellies full of various breakfast goodies at 4pm in the evening , we all sauntered out of Tante Marie , in the direction of our respective homes...
Missed having Amanda in class...she went of for an interview..well hope she does get the job, because she is really amazing ....
Must say that in these 2 weeks and 2 days , this has been the best day for me ,so far...
Had a blast , also because I made many more friends...
I'm a happy bunny...