I stay in bed as long as I can, but unfortunately, the following day is the start of my last college term. My college professors won’t care that I just got married. So I have to get up, get a bit of reading done, and get to class if I hope to graduate soon.
The good news is, my class is early, and I’m back before Me-Me is even up and ready for the day. Our breakfast this morning is Tartosan Fruit Tarts. I don’t know how they got there, but they are there when I arrive back at the venue. Me-Me comes down to join me.
Melisa: How was your class?
Kai: It was okay. I would have rather stayed here with you all morning.
Melisa: But at least you’re one step closer to finishing.
Me-Me sits down to eat. I’d never really had a fruit tart before, and these do not disappoint. They don’t seem to agree with Me-Me, though.
Kai: Are you okay?
Me-Me takes a moment before she answers.
Melisa: I don’t know. I feel strange all of a sudden. I think it might be the wedding cake from last night. It tasted slightly off to me. We may have left it out too long.
Kai: It’s possible, but I’m feeling fine. I hope no one else gets sick from it.
I can see her physically trying to keep her breakfast down.
Melisa: Uh – I’ll be right back.
Me-Me hurries to the bathroom as I stand by, concerned. She returns before too long, and I do everything to ensure she’s okay.
Melisa: I’m okay. It’s passed now. Let’s get started on opening these gifts.
Me-Me grabs a gift and starts shaking it.
Kai: *amused* I think the whole idea is to open it.
Melisa: I know, but I like to try and guess what it is first.
Me-Me eventually stops shaking gifts and begins to help me open them. We end up with many useful things, including a coffee pot from Jalin, a digital camera from Mr. Washington, and most interesting – some cooking lessons from Me-Me’s parents. Tired of eating instant oatmeal, microwave pastries, and cold in the middle breakfast burritos at home, we decide that we’ll get started on those cooking lessons today.
Kai: The lessons don’t start for a few hours, and we still have some time left on renting out this venue.
Melisa: What do you have in mind?
Kai: It’s not too late to extend our wedding night into this morning.
She gets what I mean right away. So we hurry upstairs for another round of woohoo before leaving the venue.
The cooking classes take place at the Culinary Skills Academy here in Tartosa. Our instructor is named Chef Hailey Romano. There are a couple of other people in our class, a woman named Aurore and a guy named Tyson.
Chef Hailey: Welcome to the CSA! Our first task will be learning how to chop up ingredients and make salads.
Chef Hailey instructs us to grab ingredients out of the refrigerator and then demonstrates the art of chopping up fruits and vegetables. She grabs two knives and goes to work until she has chopped perfect tomato slices. Then she sends us to our workstations to try it for ourselves.
Aurore and Me-Me attempt to strike up a conversation, but they don’t get to talk for long.
Chef Hailey: Less talking and more chopping, ladies!
I guess there won’t be much room for socializing in this class. Hailey means business. She takes a look at the tomatoes that Me-Me has chopped so far.
Chef Hailey: No one wants big chunky tomatoes in their salad. Grab another and try again.
Me-Me takes out another tomato and takes her time with slicing it.
Aurore attempts to toss her salad at her workstation but ends up toppling the bowl instead. Greens and tomatoes are all over the place. Hailey lets out a disapproving sigh, shakes her head, and steps away. I try my best to avoid drawing attention to myself, but it seems that Me-Me has captured it all. Hailey evaluates Me-Me’s chopped ingredients.
Chef Hailey: Not bad at all, but this is a salad, not soup. Grab another spoon and really mix it all up. There should be a perfect bite of all ingredients in a salad with every spoonful. No one wants a forkful of lettuce alone.
Me-Me’s salad is complete.
Chef Hailey: Perfecto! You have potential, Melisa.
Hailey steps away and watches Tyson (who seems to be a lot more advanced in his cooking skills than the rest of us) prepare breadsticks to go with his salad.
I take a moment to walk over to Me-Me after Hailey has turned away to congratulate her on her beautiful salad. At least now, we’ll have something other than just quick microwave meals to eat.
Kai: Nice work, Me-Me
Melisa: Thanks, Kaby!
Me-Me has reached a level 2 cooking skill. Hailey turns and sees me standing there.
Chef Hailey: Now you – what have you done so far?
I’ve done nothing but try to avoid the Chef’s criticism. Now all the focus is on me.
Chef Hailey: Grab some ingredients and let’s see those chopping skills.
Although I haven’t done much cooking, I have been paying close attention to everyone else, so I chop perfectly sliced tomatoes.
Chef Hailey: Not bad – now let’s get it all in a bowl.
I also learned how to do that from seeing what everyone else did wrong. So I grab two spoons and mix up my salad. Success! I have a level 2 cooking skill now as well.
Me-Me and I have succeeded in our first cooking lesson. However, Hailey has more to show us, so we follow her to the Culinary library for a small tour.
Chef Hailey: Here you everything you need to study and learn all skills related to the culinary field. We have books on mixology, baking, gourmet cooking, gardening, and fishing. I expect you both to study here and practice at home. Then, next week, when you return, you’ll be ready for more complex recipes. Lastly, let me show you a few websites that I recommend where you can find simple, easy-to-learn recipes.
We follow Hailey to a computer, and she shows us recipes that’ll help us improve our skills further to prepare for next week’s lesson.
(Generation 3 Chapter Summaries)
Thanks for reading! Please hit the “like” button if you’ve enjoyed what you read! Keep scrolling if you’d like to leave a comment. 🥰
