cook

Doing cooking workshops, I learned, takes more than teaching how to cook.  There is so much advance preparation involved, especially since Akila is coming from Japan, and this is the first official workshop we are doing together.  Getting the word out there is the challenge when you are not a famous chef but we got some good publicity. Here and also here. Akila and I also came up with another idea.  How about my neighbors? Would they be interested in making soba, cooking Japanese food? Why not?

We made some flyers. Akila did the graphics. I found some old origami, cut them up into little squares, and used them as stickers. I like the Japanese touch. A flyer needs to stand out to grab people's attention. These are not bad. Akila's tag line, Yes, straight from Tokyo, just for you, makes me laugh.  I spent half the day folding and pasting paper. I was in charge of distributing them, door to door. If any of these people signed up, I will have more friends in my neighborhood.

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I figured I could work one block at a time.  I have never been a newspaper boy or a postman or fuller brush salesman or a missionary of  any type, so it took me a little courage to walk up to people's mailboxes at first, especially if you have to open the front gate and step into their property. It's hard work. You feel intrusive.  My dog Ana was with me so I looked like a neighbor walking her dog but still it took a little getting used to. I have lived in this neighborhood for more than 15 years but I have never paid more attention to people's gates and mailboxes, as I did today.  You get a whole new perspective about your neighbors. 

I even started guessing which houses have potential.  When I saw a tree trimmed like a bonsai, for example, I decided this person might be interested in Japanese food. But cooking? Let's hope. I skipped some houses that had weeds growing in front and mean dogs barking. I did three streets today.  I will work on the north side of these streets tomorrow.  I walked a lot today. So did my dog, Ana.