The rice smelled amazing as Amy stirred it, letting the contents of the steaming pot slowly absorb the apple cider it was cooking in. It was supposed to be an apple walnut rice recipe that we had found on the internet but, due to majority rule, we wound up omitting the nuts. That didn’t matter when it came time to eat though because the rice had a great unique flavor without them. Beyond the side dish the broiler, oven, and remaining burners were all hard at work on tuna steaks, cheese sauce, broccoli, and a delicious little sweet treat entitled Earthquake Cookies.

All of this came with my first experience in cooking group. Its a group run by Talia every Tuesday at lunch time and we have to be on level 3 and at a certain percentage of our ideal body weights to participate. This time there were 4 of us aside from the staff, Talia and Carly. Besides me our little posse was made up of Laura, Amy, and Diane with Laura being the only veteran. The main objective of the group is what one might expect from the name. We get together and choose our menu, those who are available trek to the grocery store down the street, and we all reconvene before lunch to get our slick cooking skills on.

I was in charge of the cookies which have now turned into one of my favorite recipes due to their simplicity and deliciousness. They called for our choice of boxed cake mix, all of us agreeing on spice cake, 2 eggs, shortening, a tablespoon of water and a dusting of confectioners sugar. Believe you me, I will have this recipe memorized in no time just from sheer repetition. Talia got the fish ready and we each seasoned our fillet with what we wanted before it went into the broiler. Through that Diane and Amy prepared and made the rice and Laura, with her energetic personality, was checking on multiple things during breaks from stirring the cheese sauce.

Finally, after about 45 minutes of mouth-watering aromas barraging our noses, it was time to sit down and eat. Earlier in the day Talia had e-mailed Sally, the dietitian, about the correct portion sizes for this meal so we could each meet our caloric needs and thats where a bit of a problem arose. It just a little shoddy planning on our part but a good lesson of the various things that need to be taken into consideration when balancing a meal. The portions were all acceptable except for the whole cup and a half of rice we each had to consume. Got it. Lesson learned. That was indeed a lot of rice. It would have been a better idea to add in a glass of milk or a sauce to the fish, either of which would have reduced the rice to just one cup, but now we know for next time, I guess.

Full and happy we cleared our plates after the meal and then sat back down at the table for processing. Mostly everyone had done well and felt okay about the experience as a whole. Amy was concerned about the apple rice allotment but, once the reasoning behind it was explained, she understood. The cooking group experience had been a happy success. Not everyone who comes in here has such an easy time with it. We all have different phobias surrounding food including, but certainly not limited to, consumption, cooking, prep work, growing, etc., so that cooking group can become a freakishly intimidating experience. I think, though, that this time we persevered achieving our goal, and, I for one, am proud of it.

It looks like next time the general consensus has fallen on a dinner of quesadillas…yum!