To an observer, it's a lot of science for a bunch of roughage, but Jane Kane and Veronica Muscat, cooking enthusiasts who have signed up for the day's operations, appear undaunted. Ward describes the geography of a chef's knife, lectures on how to peel a carrot, and scares the skin off a garlic clove by smacking it under the blade. In this case, lunch includes the garlicky vegetable soup plus a pain de campagne and an earthy poulet basquaise , all produced under Ward's tutelage. Then it's back to business for the afternoon session, and a serious business it is, constructing tiny swans, baskets and tarts out of prodigious amounts of butter, eggs, sugar and cream. Joining the group are Janay Taylor, owner of the Koinonia Coffee House in nearby Muskegon, and Sharon Martin-House, a local writer.
Cooking is part of it.
Still, the students, most of whom have tried this recipe at home, progress smoothly from bowl to stove top to mixer to pastry bag, where swan making suddenly becomes treacherous. Muscat surveys her efforts, which look like ugly ducklings alongside Ward's swirls and S-shapes. The students take fluted cream puffs and halve them horizontally. They fill the bottom halves with pastry cream. They take the top pieces and halve them vertically to create two wings.