With Thanksgiving approaching, Washtenaw Literacy supporter Beth Dugdale took it upon herself to organize a cooking class for her husband’s ESL group.  In an earlier field trip to Meijer and during husband Marty Friedburg’s ESL lessons that focused on American vegetables and fruit, the students had expressed interest in learning  how to cook American food.  Likewise, Beth is interested in learning to cook the foods of other cultures, so a deal was made to trade cooking lessons.

(Picture, left to right) ; Misa Terada, Yukie Yang, Kako Hattori, Sophie Kwon and Beth Dugdale making Korean dumplings

The first session was led by Sophie Kwon, a Korean student, who taught Beth and three other students how to make Korean dumplings.  All five of the would-be chefs went home that day with a large supply of dumplings to serve for dinner.

The second session focused on preparing a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner, including roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, roasted carrots and parsnips, and pumpkin pie.  The class enjoyed samples of all for lunch and took the rest home for the evening dinner. 

On Sunday, November 7, each of the students prepared one of the above dishes to enjoy as part of a Thanksgiving potluck for the students, their spouses, and Beth and Marty. 

The group looked forward to one remaining class that will include making  sushi and other dishes that represent the Japanese and Korean cultures.   The other students are Misa Terada, Kako Hattori and Yukie Yang.

Submitted by Marty Friedburg & Beth Dugdale