What's Cooking Read Free Page B

class how to properly lay out decorative meat, cheese, fruit, and vegetable trays. Next, she demonstrated how to make rosette radishes, carrot spirals and curls, then her specialty edible decoration, an onion blossom. Throughout the entire process, Mitchell alternately groaned and joked with both her and the rest of the class, questioning his ability to do the fine detail required. His protests were promptly met with sympathetic comments and encouragement all around.
    Carolyn smiled through gritted teeth. Very soon he would have every woman present eating out of his hand. She vowed to be different.
    She continued with the second project, cream cheese veggie puffs, and sent everyone to try their hand at carving the raw vegetables and assembling the puffs. This time the pastries would be filled with a spoon, and she was almost positive Mitchell could handle that.
    As everyone proceeded to their kitchenettes, she noticed that both Lorraine and Sarah had brought full-sized aprons and Mrs. Finkleman wore her canvas sneakers.
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    Mitchell dragged his feet all the way back to the mini kitchen in the back of the classroom. Fortunately for him, today’s projects looked easier, and he wouldn’t make a fool of himself again.
    After butchering the vegetables, he welcomed the chance to make the next project. He didn’t attempt to cut the onion—after all, he doubted anyone at his sister’s wedding would care if he set out onions that looked like flowers. After the mess he made with the carrot curls and radish rosettes, when he was asked if he’d rather chop the vegetables or do the mixing, he picked the mixing, even though he’d never operated an electric mixer before. This time he’d paid more attention to Carolyn’s demonstration, so he knew he could do it.
    Sarah smiled up at him with stars in her eyes, which bolstered his sagging confidence. He smiled back, then quickly turned away. While she seemed like a nice kid, he didn’t want to encourage her. What he really wanted was Carolyn’s attention.
    Mitchell caught himself grinning as he absently worked the beaters around the bowl. Carolyn’s calm manner enchanted him. She hadn’t made a big production out of his major disaster last week. Neither had she fawned all over him. She quite plainly expected him to clean up his own mess without embarrassing him about what he had done.
    Also, the tiny gold cross Carolyn wore again this week intrigued him, especially after she told him she’d recently been baptized. She hadn’t backed down and told him the cross was just a piece of nice jewelry or that it was simply a gift without an explanation. She’d had the guts to tell him in not so many words that she was a Christian.
    After thinking about it all week, he realized he hadn’t given her any indication of his own status in his relationship with the Lord, so, if he’d read her hint correctly, he couldn’t blame her for not so subtly telling him to get lost. He wouldn’t go out with a non-Christian, either.
    With all that to consider, he’d had the whole week to think and pray about it, and this was one relationship he wanted to pursue.
    â€œCan I add this now?” Sarah asked, holding a small bowl full of finely chopped green onions.
    He nodded and made one final circle with the whirring beaters, taking care that he didn’t bump the sides of the bowl. He raised the beaters and tilted the mixer to give Sarah room to dump in the onions when an onslaught of white projectiles flew out of the bowl, splattering everything in the near vicinity.
    Still holding the bowl of onions, Sarah spread her arms and lowered her chin to look down at the front of her bright blue apron and the sleeves of her red shirt, which were now enhanced by odd-sized white polka dots.
    â€œOops,” Mitchell mumbled as he turned off the mixer.
    â€œWhat happened here?”
    Mitchell cringed. Carolyn had abandoned whatever