UMass Magazine Online

Spring 2005

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Features

There Goes the Neighborhood

Fab Four

The Gravest Danger

The Wonderful World of Disney

Cooking Lessons

Feature

Just Enough Cooks in the Kitchen

—Linda Smith




	Cooks reunite: friends Ruth Baylis, left, and Sue Flicop, both Class of 1986, proudly display the fruits of their labors, little warm chocolate almond cakes with soft centers. (photo by Jean Gary)

WHAT BETTER PLACE FOR AN unplanned UMass Amherst reunion than a cooking class in Napa Valley? This past November, Ruth Baylis and Sue Flicop experienced just that when they participated in Joanne Weir’s cooking class.

“I had wanted to take a culinary vacation for a long time and decided to do so as a birthday gift to myself,” Ruth explained. She searched the web and found Joanne’s classes. Napa sounded perfect since she thought she’d be traveling alone. Ruth says she was unaware of Joanne’s UMass Amherst connection, “but once I found out, it made the trip a little more special.” When Ruth mentioned the trip to Sue, she decided to come along, “and that made it even better,” says Ruth.

Friends since their senior year at UMass Amherst, the two women have remained close despite lives that have taken divergent paths. Ruth, director of human resources for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, is still single. (“Do you want stats on what I’m looking for in a man?” she joked.) Sue (“I’m not in the market anymore!”) is a stay-at-home mom to children ages eight, six, and three, and has been married for almost 12 years.

The ladies’ back-and-forth sounded more like that of siblings than of friends. Their camaraderie and the entire group’s light-hearted banter helped make all six of us students feel more like friends than strangers coming together for the first time.

For instance, at the beginning of our first cooking class we were reviewing the recipes for that day and Ruth announced, “I hate baking.”

“Good, we’ll put you all over the baking,” Joanne responded.

“And I hate seafood,” Sue chimed in; “I won’t even try it.” Joanne shot her a mischievous look; we knew where that was headed. “Sue can be the first to learn how to shuck oysters,” declared Joanne.

After laughing and cooking together all day, sitting down to enjoy our textbook-perfect food and sample the Phelps Vineyard wines was the perfect reward. “Everyone in Napa knows wine. I was learning things from the cab driver,” quipped Sue.

Learning was what this trip was about—learning about food, learning about wine, and learning that reunions can take place in the unlikeliest of places, with people you barely know.

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Cooking Lessons

Cooking Lessons: more images

Just enough

Just Enough Cooks in the Kitchen

Just Enough Cooks in the Kitchen: larger image