A couple of months back, after a knife skills demo at MIT, an observer approached me and asked if he could volunteer in the kitchen.  His name was Tony. He said he liked good food and enjoyed his visits to Clover MIT.  Tony told me that he cooks at home, but wanted to get better in the kitchen. He and his wife live in San Francisco, but she was working in Boston for a few months and Tony was tagging along. He mentioned that he had some time on his hands and wanted to make good use of it. He worked in our kitchen for about 6

weeks and he said the time flew. When he started, he washed lettuce and roasted sweet potatoes. When he finished he was producing hummus and hot sauce (ask anyone who’s done prep for us, these aren’t the easiest items to make). We enjoyed having him in the kitchen and he learned tons. He would often compare ingredients between Boston and San Fran (in particular, Asian ingredients).  He introduced me to coconut milk powder (he even brought me in some).

I wanted to thank him for his time and effort, so on his last day, I decided to make him cupcakes (actually Joe, our kitchen manager made them).  Learning that he was fond of sailing, I chose to use Rum as a flavoring.  I paired it with the coconut ingredient, from our discussions and we ended up with chocolate cupcake with coconut~rum frosting.  Thanks Tony and see you someday soon by the bay.