Jack’s Wednesday guest blog isn’t what you are thinking – –

I’m a great fan of Indian curries and have attempted over many years to learn how to make them at home with mixed success.

But, about eight or nine years ago Wendy and I taught a week-long course of ballads and folktales at John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. In addition to being paid and getting bed and board, we were also able to sign up for free for any other week long courses within a year after the one we taught.

We surveyed the catalogue and Wendy saw a course on chair caning, something with which she had also had mixed success. (extra points for no preposition at the end of that sentence). I had a look and saw there was a course during the same week on Indian cooking!

My classes were taught by a lovely woman from India called Ruby, and it was a wonderful experience. She took about a dozen of us through everything from pakoras and samosas, and through a variety of curries, to delicious sweets and drinks.

I have to admit that I only remember some of the recipes, but I do remember her advice to taste as you go and to adjust things like vinegar, lemon juice and sugar to balance sweet and savory.

But, even so, I was still trying to recapture the taste of restaurant curries, while Ruby’s food was more domestic. That was when I discovered that the curry houses make a big batch of ‘base sauce’ and then they add whatever they need to that just beforehand to make anything from tikka masala to vindaloo.

So that’s what I do now and we have many Ziploc bags in our freezers and jars of canned sauce waiting for use. That’s just the start, though, because it’s fairly bland and still awaits all of the necessary spices, veggies and chicken or shrimp.

Despite that I remember Ruby’s lessons and check the taste carefully and often.

As for Wendy, she’s become known as a chair caner and done a roaring trade in barter and cash seats, of course. You can check out her Facebook albums for some of her favorite chairs. Ironically enough, we never seem to keep any of them….