Last week I mentioned that blogging is my “learn something new” exercise. I believe learning is fun and important, and teaching others can be just as enjoyable!
A good friend once told me that at every age and stage, we should both mentor and be mentored. The word “mentor” makes me a little nervous, though. I picture stiff conversations with awkward questions and long silences. I honestly don't know what being a mentor looks like in everyday life.
But “learn something” and “teach something” feel much more comfortable to me. So let's go with those, okay?
Nothing shows this better than a video I watched a few weeks ago.
Isn't that amazing? No matter our age, each of us has learned something through life that we can pass on to others.
One of the best parts of living and working at a camp is the people. In the off-season (any time other than summer), a small group of young adults lives and works here. We call them Winter Interns, or “Winterns” for short.
Some of the “girls” (ages 19 to 22) told me that since this was their first time living away from home, they felt a bit lost figuring out how to shop for groceries and cook for themselves on a budget. That gave me an idea. I'm not exactly a cooking enthusiast, but I really love the whole speed-cooking-for-a-month approach. (You can read all about that here, here, & here.)
So we decided to host a cooking party!
Together we brainstormed recipe ideas, wrote up a grocery list, and got cooking as soon as they arrived (thanks to my husband, who did the grocery run that day). The girls only had an hour before they had to catch a ferry to their next appointments, so we cooked at full speed!
I gave each girl a recipe and its ingredients, and they got to work.
Brittney made a wonderful Beef Barley Soup (recipe to come),
Melissa chopped, diced, and stirred up some delicious
Sweet and Sour Sausage,
And Chelsea grated, simmered, and layered
some lasagnas.
When the hour was up, we had a whole stack of meals packed up and ready to go into their freezers.
As we cooked, laughed, browned, and chopped, one of the girls exclaimed, “Hey, we should call this the Housewives in Training Class!”
We're scheduling another one soon. :)
{There are 3 lucky boys out there somewhere…}
If you get the chance, I'd love to hear what kind of class you'd like to teach someone. {Remember, it doesn't have to be fancy at all!}
