Rain most of last night and this morning. Sloppy day. Cool temps also. But a promise of dry and warm for later and the next couple of days. While Tina went shopping I decided to re-install the GFI outlet in the bathroom. Since the walls in a motorcoach are thin, the coach manufacturer uses an "outlet skirt" which allows the outlet to stick out of the wall half way but still look like a regular installation.
Along with very stiff 12 gage wires, attaching the outlet to the wires with the skirt loose was a real challenge. Oh yes, there was one other complication... for some reason, even with the 50 amp circuit breakers at both the coach and the outside power pole turned off, I still had 120 v electricity powering through the coach. Something is very strange here because this can only be coming through the inverter. Yet, the inverter is supposed to be disconnected from the system. I even unplugged the outside power cord just in case.
So that meant I had to be very carefully disconnecting the outlet, wrapping each if the wire ends with electricians tape as I unscrewed it, then one by one re-connecting the wires one by one removing the tape as I went. Eventually the GFI outlet was re-connected and I was able to put everything back the way it started. Annnndd, I managed to not get bit.
Around 4:00 PM we got ready to drive to Dunedin for a cooking class at La Maisson Gourmet (http://www.lamaisongourmet.com/). We had signed up for the class when we were in Tarpon Springs which is only ten miles north of Dunedin. Since we are now in Bushnell, we're closer to 65 miles away and having to get there during rush hour traffic. I drove down so Tina could make the drive back in the dark. With Tina navigating we actually made it by 6:10 PM and went inside to meet Chef John and our classmates for the evening. We were going to learn THE ART OF COOKING SEAFOOD (6:30 PM to 9:00 PM) where we would participate in cooking seven different recipes using five different methods of preparation. The menu tonight is: Oven Baked Basa or Cod with Roasted Tomato Sauce; Grilled Grouper with Avocado Coulis; Sauteed Snapper with Tomato, Shallot, White Wine and Capers; Poached Salmon with Basil Pesto Hollandaise; Broiled Snapper with Flavored Butters; Blackened Catfish with Mango Mustard Salsa; and Salmon en Papillote with Hoisin and Scallions. Eat all the food, and receive the recipes.
As the class was arriving we had a young couple join us at our table. They lived in town and were there because his wife had bought the class as a birthday present for her husband. At 6:30 Chef John introduced himself and his assistants and went around the room asking why we were there. After introductions he divided the eighteen of us into six teams of three and assigned each team a recipe. Next he covered the basics of how the class would work and asked each team to pre-prepare all the ingredients for their recipe before cooking started. Tina and I had a young lady named Debbie on our team and we were given the Grilled Grouper with Avocado Coulis. Each team, after getting all the ingredients ready would prepare their recipe with assistance and instruction from Chef John as we went along. As one team was cooking the rest of the class watched and learned. After the item was cooked, it was placed on plates for everyone to taste. Usually there was enough for several fork fulls.
Our team was fortunate in that we also got to prepare the Poached Salmon as well as the grouper, so each of us got to be involved with preparing, cooking and presenting two different dishes. And I have to say ours turned out rather better than most as we didn't overcook the fish. We had a wonderful time and met some really nice people. By 9:30 PM we were on our way home getting back to the coach in a little over an hour, just in time to let the dogs out before they burst - heheheh.
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