Cooking Class at "Kitchen Kneads"

Dave and I had an adventure. We went to a real, live cooking class. It was like watching the cooking channel, but so much better because you could smell and taste all the foods! Plus, there were a bunch of ladies there who weren't afraid to ask all kind of questions- "Will this keep in the fridge?" "Could I use Swiss instead of Gruyere?", and -of course- "Where can I buy that [insert name of fancy cooking device/spice/product]?" -to which the answer was always, "Right here at Kitchen Kneads, of course!" Since the class is taught from a kitchen in the back of a cooking goods store, this is hardly surprising. (We did buy some super-nice, rust-proof mixing bowls while we were there.) I sat by a really cool older lady who kept whispering her "trade secrets" in my ear, and the resident chef there is actually the librarian at the school where I work, and she was characteristically free-flowing with her knowledge and opinions: "Only cook deep-fried food twice a year," "always toast your nuts, "always soak your onions in ice water", "store your garlic oil in the fridge or it could go rancid on you", and many other such gems of wisdom. It was fun -the theme was "everything but the turkey" and I did like her a-gratin potatoes with walnuts and sage, but nothing yet has topped Mom and Dad's cranberry sauce, candied yams, and stuffing. Can you tell I'm excited for Thanksgiving?