November 15, 2025- Bean gorditas, topped with Korean radish and cilantro, may not sound like much, in terms of preparation. Here, though, is what we had to do to keep up with a surprisingly heavy demand, over 1 1/2 hours: First, the dough had to be rolled into balls, then flattened into a thin cake, using my index and middle fingers. Then, the cakes were delivered, three or four at a time, to the grill cook. Second, I sliced radish pieces, thinly, using a slivering knife and cut the thin slices in small slivers, bringing to the sous chef as quickly as possible. The cilantro would have been sliced into slivers, as well, but we ran out, before time was up.

I am fair to middling, in terms of actual fine culinary skill. I can prepare well-liked lasagna or meatloaf, a fresh Caesar or fusion salad,tender steaks and so/so chili. My Thanksgiving dinners have gone over well, except for one near disaster, in 1998 ( a year that was full of disasters). This time, though, my hand was steady on the slivering knife’s top and I kept up with the demand. We ended with a bit left over, which went to the Farmers Market staff.

All in all, helping with food preparation, especially under the eye of an accomplished chef, is a fine way to gauge one’s mental and physical acuity. I kept up, and was able to monitor and adjust my work, according to chef’s critiquing. We have worked well together over twelve years, so today came as no surprise.