39

LEARN TO COOK

 My friend Kate announced to me a few months ago that she had an amazing chicken curry dish to teach me before I turned 30- she even called it “Curry before 30″…isn’t she clever? I thought so. Well, such as life it took us months to actually make it happen. In her defense, she did just get married and all and in my defense I drove across the country, so we’ve been a little busy.

 I have known Kate since kindergarten!! Yes, kindergarten. I still can’t believe I have people in my life today that I have known since I was five years old (and I really still like them too, honest!) It’s such a sweet and comforting feeling to know somebody for most of your life. We have so many memories together…play-dates, sleepovers, ballet classes, the craziness of Jr. High…first boyfriends, tears, triumphs and we even have France. When we were 13 Kate came with me to the south of France for a few weeks to visit my grandparents. It was one of the best memories form my childhood. I think we only argued once. We skipped through olive orchards, got crushes on French boys, ate nutella crepes by the truck load and pretended to practice our French. My grandfather Matt named us the “Dupli-Kate’s” and my grandmother Cass made us amazing French toast every morning.

I have always known Kate to be an extremely smart, funny, creative, honest and direct soul. For all those reasons I have always been a fan of hers (alright maybe the time she got a better role in our ballet recital I felt differently, but other than that I am a fan). Sadly, after high school graduation we lost touch. But then, viola!, with the power of facebook and this crazy blog, she’s back in my life and I could not be happier about it. Her funny sense of humor has become even funnier (borderline raunchy) over the years and her direct and honest attitude towards life is refreshing- she’s just fun to be with.

What’s that, you say? Why aren’t I talking about curry? Sorry, I got a little sidetracked but I wanted you to know the back story. So, back to curry before 20 (a typo I have decided to let stay- wishful thinking maybe?)- last week Kate invited me over to her house and we made curry, drank wine and laughed a lot.

My first lesson about curry…it’s a bit of a needy dish. It does not like to be left alone for too long and wants constant attention (again, I am reminded of my early 20’s). But don’t be scared off, all your hard work will pay off in the end…in a very delicious way.

We spent 2 hours adding ingredients or, as Kate called it, “layering” and stirring the pot of goodies. The aroma that filled the kitchen was amazing but the dish was even better. It was spicy, sweet, tender and comforting.  I was in curry heaven.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Recipe and finished dish up next!

365til30: instagram  @kate365, twitter, facebook

Tags: 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, adventure, chicken curry, Cooking, curry, dinner parties, happy, Inspiration, inspirations, Joy, Kate McClafferty, Kitchen, Laughter, Learn to Cook, turning 30, universe