Tuesday, July 1, 2008

On My Mind: People Are Fascinating

Today was Day 2 of my cooking class at the Institute of Culinary Education. After four hours of cooking on my feet, I'm beat when I come home. I don't know how professional chefs do it. I'm not learning as much as I did when I took Techniques of Fine Cooking I, but I'm still enjoying the class. You get to eat everything you cook and take home leftovers--which means I haven't had to cook dinner for the last two nights.

But the best thing so far has been the fascinating women I've been cooking with for the last couple days. This class reminds me of jury duty--you get to meet people from walks of life and backgrounds you would otherwise never encounter.

Without giving away any identifying details, I'll just say they're well-read, well-traveled, articulate, healthy, smart, curious, career-oriented and married to men who are interesting and successful in their own right. Two of the girls were saying they work out every day, and I thought, wow--if they can do it, so can I. I've been impressed. New Yorkers are smart, driven and dynamic. Instead of being intimidated or jealous, I'm going to try stepping up my game!

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