On occasion at Smith’s School of English Hashimoto, (スミス英会話 橋本) I open a few extra lessons at unusual times in order to give busy students more of an opportunity to take make-up lessons. Two weeks ago I was coaching “Miss M,” one of my “star students,” and we were on the topic of cooking. She found it hard to believe that I enjoy cooking. I repeated that I love cooking, especially when I have plenty of time, which I often do on Saturday evenings. She found it even harder to believe when I said “I am a good cook!” She asked me what my best dish was, and I said “many, but last night I made a fantastic simple marinated salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and baby corn.” “Men are not good cooks,” she said, and I responded with “then why are most chefs men?” She had to think about that, and I interrupted her thought process by excusing myself from the classroom. I went to the kitchen, pulled out the salad, two bowls, and a couple of forks, reentered the classroom and offered her “the best salad you have ever tasted.”
Her face lit up, and we carried on with the lesson while taking occasional bites. She said she wasn’t hungry, but for some reason the salad was gone by the end of the lesson. Upon leaving, she asked for the recipe, left with a smile, saying she was going to stop by the supermarket to pick up the ingredients so that she could delight her husband with the same thing! It was nice to share that with her, and I will surely do it again with others! If anyone else is interested in the recipe, just leave a comment, and I will be happy to share!
Jim
Leave a Reply