Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 04:43:30 -0700
From: fritz@nehalemtel.net
Subject: I Love Corey, Chapter Eighty-one

	Another day, another disclaimer, when will they ever end?  Ah well,
whining and complaining won't help so here goes.

	Young people are protected from reading stories like the following
one.  Should they choose to disregard such protections, they have only
themselves to blame if they are shocked, learn something, or are offended.
There are many laws which are designed to protect young people, but if any
young person willfully ignores those laws, then they are responsible for
any bad things that might happen to them.  Who knows, reading stories like
this may give such youths a severe case of terminal bored-ness, or perhaps
just a milder case of boredom.  Maybe I'll get around to checking and
seeing if bored-ness is a word, but I doubt it.  I'm feeling somewhat
faineant today.  So your first task is to look that word up faineant and
see what I mean.  You can find it in Merriam-Webster, but don't just copy
and paste as the M-W site doesn't like that funny little mark over the "e."
Just type in the letters and M-W will find it for you, and not only that,
it will have that little mark over the "e."  It doesn't like it if you put
the mark over the "e," but maybe it likes doing so.  Sorry, but that part
is beyond me.  Anyhow, it is pronounced fey-knee-aw.

	Now adults should pay attention to this warning as it will help
them to keep from being offended.  I really don't know why I should be
concerned about that, but I am.  I would hate to think this story left a
string of angry and offended readers in its wake.  So for any adults who
have problems with the concept of gay sex, get your lazy backsides out of
here and leave the rest of us alone.

	I don't really know what to tell people who have the misfortune to
live in one of those oppressive areas in which everyone is prohibited from
reading stories such as the following.  I suppose be careful and don't tell
anyone is a start, but mainly I pity them.  That anyone would choose to
allow others to control what they read shows a lack of moral courage that
can only be pitied.  Instead they should rise up and smite the evil thought
police.  I really like the word "smite"; it is an excellent word which came
in my last order of words and it took me a while to figure out just where
to use it.

	Since I made the whole story up, it should come as no surprise that
none of the characters ever existed, and those non-existent characters
preformed none of the acts described.  All I can say is that as soon as I
can afford some medicine, perhaps they will go away and quit bothering us.

	Please be kind and remember to credit me for any material quoted
from this story, and also to share the great riches you receive from your
use of the story.  That way I could use the money to by the much needed
medicine.  The last time I checked Crown Royal was getting a mite expensive
so be sure to send lots of money.  Society will thank you.

	Once again I have burdened poor Don with the many errors he has to
point out.  In fact his pointer may be getting tired.  No, I don't know
about that pointer so don't ask me about it, ask him.  Anyhow, I receive no
complaints from him and can only thank him for his efforts.

	Emails with the usual complaints, questions, suggestions, or
comments should still be sent to the same old address of
fritz@nehalemtel.net Remember to put "I love Corey" in the subject line or
I swear I will delete you and you know you would hate to be deleted.  While
there are a few people in the world whom I think should be deleted, my
readers are not among that small group.  With that, I hope you enjoy the
following chapter.  Fritz
********************************************************************************


			I Love Corey, Chapter Eighty-one


	I had sort of planned on talking with Kath a little more about the
cooking situation, but when the Smellings showed up with Andrea, Judy said
she thought that I ought to talk to Andrea.  That sounded like a good idea
and it might have taken place, but first Judy was busy talking to me, then
Andrea was busy talking with JJ, then there was homework to check and help
with, then the two girls seemed to think it was my job to help them with
their homework just like I helped the boys, then I had to put a stop to JJ
showing Andrea the scars on his butt and her showing him hers, and then,
well I just never got it done.  Even after we chased the kids off to bed,
the Smellings and Kath wouldn't shut up and let me talk to anyone.  By the
time the Smellings headed for the trailer and Kath headed downstairs I was
just happy to slink off to my bedroom and cuddle up with Corey.  When I got
into bed, he sort of backed over to me and when I spooned up against him, I
heard a soft sigh and he seemed to kind of stretch out and form himself
against me.  A few minutes with the scent of his hair and I calmed down and
drifted off to sleep.  It had been a rather hectic day and I needed some
rest.  Somehow being nervous and upset always made me more tired than
usual, and I'd been in that state for most of the day.

	After a little playing around with Corey in the shower the next
morning, I thought I was ready to face the day.  I might have been ready to
face the day, but I wasn't quite ready to face the chaos I discovered in my
kitchen.  Outside of the normal sleepy boys wandering around and drinking
juice, there was Kath with a package of hotcake mix in her hand, and Judy
just about to put some bacon in the microwave.  I really don't know why she
wanted to start the bacon because they had just turned the griddle on and
it would take twenty minutes or so for it to be fully warmed up.  That left
me in the awkward position of trying to rescue breakfast without hurting
anyone's feelings.  I don't think I was completely successful at that.
Saving the bacon actually went a little better than I thought it would when
I pointed out how long it took for the griddle to warm up.  They both
conceded that there was plenty of time to cook the bacon in some manner
other than nuking it to death, and they even agreed that they really didn't
like nuked bacon.  I must say that I don't think I scored many points when
I took the package of hotcake mix and unceremoniously dumped it in the
garbage.  Something like expressions of disbelief mixed with shock appeared
on both their faces, but I was not about to put up with mix hotcakes in my
own house.  My morning lacked a lot of being off to the kind of start I had
hoped.  By the time I showed them how to make decent hotcake batter and we
had finally gotten breakfast cooked and eaten, I was way behind schedule
for me.  It wasn't that I would be late for the morning meeting, only that
I wouldn't have my usual amount of time to look over the contents of my
mail box and figure out just what it was I wanted to do with some of the
rather silly messages which were always appearing in it.  I swear that most
of the various governmental bodies are always sending out many inane
letters and forms regarding education, and it seemed like they were always
passed along and ended up in my box.  Most were quickly dropped in the
wastebasket and were nothing more than a waste of paper and time, but on
occasion there was something that needed a little thought, and there were
frequently forms of some kind that needed to be filled out for purposes I
never could fathom.  I dashed out of the house and headed for school,
grumbling to myself.

	There were a few raised eyebrows as I grabbed my mail and headed
for the meeting.  I was always about the first one there, so seeing me
running late surprised my colleagues and probably accounted for those
raised eyebrows.  Jerry was also a couple of minutes behind schedule and I
managed to throw most of the mail away before he got there.

	There wasn't much said at the meeting other than a reminder to
always be alert for anything that might be child abuse, so it didn't last
long.  By the time kids started pouring in I was back on schedule and ready
to face the day.

	The day went fine with only the fact it was raining causing any
problems.  I'm not really sure why the D.A. wanted to talk with me about
the bombing of my Gator because we really didn't cover much.  He just asked
me to tell him about it again and I told him the same things I had told him
just after it happened.  He had some documents there which I assumed were
notes that he was looking at, but they must not have contained anything he
really wanted to question me about.  Besides, since one of the defendants
was turning state's evidence, about all I had to do was tell about the
security system and the actual explosion.  I was in and out of his office
in almost nothing flat and got back to school in plenty of time for lunch.

      The rain meant we once again had to hold baseball practice indoors
with the resulting lack of attention by some of the players.  It wasn't as
bad as the first time that had happened, and this time only a few of the
boys were distracted by the girl's team.  Even with that minor distraction
we had a pretty good practice, and it seemed like little time had passed
until we were finished and headed for Downie's to pick up something for
dinner.  Now if I could just come up with a way to get those last couple of
boys to pay attention to practice rather than ogling girls, things would go
even better.  I swear there were a couple of boys who were nothing more
than testosterone bombs waiting to go off.

	For all their bitching about Kath's cooking, the boys hadn't given
a thought as to what they wanted for dinner, so being faced with having to
decide presented them some problems.  That took some time as they proceeded
to argue about what we should buy and there was a real debate between pork
chops and chicken breasts.  It even carried over into what to have with
them and how to cook them.  When we got into that part of the discussion,
suddenly menu planning started looking a little different to them.  I also
informed them that I expected a little help from them and that only added
to their indecision.  The whole discussion might have gone on forever had I
not gotten tired of it and finally bought plenty of each so we could go
home.  Tonight we would have pork chops along with scalloped potatoes and
we could worry what to do with the chicken breasts tomorrow.  By the time
we were back in the Gator and headed home I think they were starting to
look upon meal planning a little differently because the conversation was
about what we could cook and should buy the next time we went grocery
shopping.

	By now the talk of food had made them hungry, well, more so than
usual, so I didn't get much flack over peeling and slicing the potatoes and
onions for the scalloped potatoes, and while they were doing that I mixed
up some brine for the chops.  A quarter cup of kosher salt and a couple
tablespoons of sugar per quart of water and I had brine for the chops, so
in they went.  They would have about forty-five minutes to soak while we
finished up making and then getting the scalloped potatoes partially
cooked.  The boys had decided on green beans fixed with bacon and onion so
that wouldn't take much time, and the salad was going to be a simple green
salad.  That only left the biscuits to make.  I was pleased to note that
Kath was paying attention to just what it was we were doing as I had the
boys layering slices of potatoes and onions in a couple of casserole dishes
and dotting them with a little butter and salting and peppering each layer.
Then they added the milk and cream, and topping before putting them in the
oven.  So much for that part.

	It didn't take them long to dice the bacon and render it down so
they could pour off part of the bacon grease, and they also made quick work
of washing and drying the salad greens.  I think one of the reasons they
were working so industriously was that Debbie and Andrea were now watching,
and they were trying to show off their cooking skills.  Should they succeed
at impressing the girls with those skills, I was going to have to consider
adding the two girls to the cooking class as it would be very apparent that
they were sadly lacking in such skills.  As it turned out the girls didn't
seem overly impressed with the boys' culinary talent, or so a few giggles
led me to believe.

	The boys had watched me make biscuits many times, so I just handed
them the recipe and told them to have at it.  They had to make two batches
for the number of people, but they really did pretty well as long as you
don't consider what the kitchen looked like when they had finished.
Hopefully they would remember to start the mixer on a slower speed next
time, and keep it there until the flour is at least slightly dampened. I
wasn't willing to bet on that based on past experiences.  They appeared to
have forgotten that lesson from the cookie making so it might take a few
more lessons for that one to sink in.  Ah well, at least they managed to
make some somewhat strangely shaped biscuits.  About the time the biscuits
were ready for the oven, it was time to dry the chops and start sauteing
them.

	The second the scalloped potatoes were finished cooking I started
sauteing the chops.  I had fairly thick chops and I wanted to brown them
and then finish them in the oven, and while it wouldn't take long in the
oven, only about six or so minutes, I did need a hot oven to finish them.
I could saute a thin chop without the oven, but thicker chops were hard to
get right without finishing them in the oven.  I had two frying pans busy
with the chops and the potatoes were cooling slightly while the biscuits
baked.  The green beans were done by this time and only needed to be kept
warm, and the salad was ready for some dressing.  I managed to fill one
broiler pan with the sauteed chops and put it in the oven while I browned
the rest of the chops.  They needed to rest a few minutes before eating and
they would be done when we sat down.  The first pan had enough chops for
each person to have one.

	Boys scurrying around soon had dinner on the table and I only had
to get up once and remove the rest of the chops from the oven.  While Kath
had looked surprised at the amount of salt and pepper I'd had the boys put
on each layer of the potatoes, she sure didn't complain about the way they
tasted.  She even looked a little sheepish when Danny commented on how good
they were.  He did that on about his third serving, and they weren't small
servings either.  The bread crumb and grated Swiss cheese topping was
browned just right and the dish had turned out well.  While the chops were
thicker than a lot you see, they were still only about an inch thick and
were quite small so I wasn't surprised to see all the kids eat two each.
While Andrea still was being somewhat careful about sitting down, that
didn't appear to affect her appetite and she did almost as well as the boys
with regards to the amount she ate.

	While the boys were picking up the dishes I finally got a chance to
talk with Andrea.  While I had known her mother had been killed in an auto
accident, I had never had any chance to talk with her father since he had
always had some reason for not being able to attend one of the dinners I
held to get acquainted with parents.  Since Corey started living with me,
and then the rest of the boys, I just couldn't find the time to get back to
those dinners.  I missed them because it was nice to have a good
relationship with a student's parents.  Such a relationship made it much
easier to solve any problems which might come up with a student.

           Andrea and I had quite a talk.  She was upset and depressed over
being removed from her father's care, and of course still loved him.  As
the conversation proceeded I could only wonder why.  It wasn't a pretty
picture she painted, and there wasn't much I could tell her which might
help.  Normally Children's Services has a bunch of things they do to try to
help improve the situation so they can return the child to the home, such
as counseling and parenting classes, and in some cases anger management
classes, but in this case I doubted that Mr. Jordan would be much of a
candidate for any of them.  What I heard made that seem unlikely because it
appeared that Mr. Jordan had frequently assaulted Andrea's mother, and only
her mother had saved Andrea from much more abuse than she had received.
With the death of her mother a couple of years ago, that layer of
protection was gone and so her father no longer had anything stopping him.
It appeared that the major problem was alcohol.  Her father rarely did
anything abusive unless he was drinking, and since he drank quite a bit
that meant she frequently was busy dodging him.  Some nights she had been
forced to hide outdoors until he passed out, but sometimes he managed to
catch her before she could get away.  The current episode had occurred
while she was quietly doing her homework and he had walked in and started
beating her for no explained reason other than she had angered him by
disagreeing with him and telling him that I did not assign more homework
than other teachers.  Actually, I wouldn't even have called it standing up
to him as she had only told him she was not doing math homework and he had
taken it wrong and accused her of lying about it by claming that I always
assigned more homework than other teachers and she had then replied that I
didn't.  According to Andrea, most times when he started one of those type
fights she could get away owing to his inebriation, but this time he had
not been so drunk that he couldn't catch her.  Yet even when sober I would
not have called him a loving father based on what I heard from her.  At
best he seemed to ignore her, and at worst beat her.  Yet strangely enough
he was generous enough with money, allowing her plenty to buy clothes and
have adequate spending money.  I found that whole things strange and sad.

	Her other problem was that she was scared because she had no idea
what was going to happen to her.  She knew that staying with Judy was only
a very temporary thing, and as soon as a place became available she would
be sent there.  It didn't sound as if there was much chance of any of her
family taking her in because the one set of grandparents was in poor
health, and the other had split up.  That divorce had her maternal
grandmother so depressed that she had tried to commit suicide, making it
unlikely that Judy would send her to live there.  I gathered that there
wasn't much love lost between various members of her extended family, but
Andrea didn't really know all the details and so I didn't know if there was
any chance of one of them stepping forward and offering to take her in.
Most of them lived in Massachusetts so she really didn't know them, and
even if they did agree to take her in she would have to move to an area she
knew nothing about which she didn't want to do.  Instead she wanted to
remain in the area and continue to attend school with her friends.

	As she poured out her heart and troubles, I really couldn't offer
much help.  About all I could do was tell her I wished she would have let
me know sooner so I might have helped her avoid some of it.  That and
promising to do anything I could to help her was about the limit of what I
could offer.

	Andrea and I talked for about an hour.  The second she finally
finished and joined the boys, Judy took her place.  Talk about a third
degree examination, Judy wanted to know everything we had talked about.
According to Judy, Andrea had been reluctant to tell her much so she was
hoping that I had learned more.  Judy told me she needed to know a lot more
in order to figure out how bad it really was so she could decide what she
should do about the situation.
	That required that I go have a quick talk with Andrea so I could
find out if it was acceptable to repeat what she had told me.  It didn't
take much to convince Andrea that Judy needed to know everything so she
could help her.  Once Andrea understood and recognized that, she gave me
permission to share with Judy everything she had told me.

	One of the things I learned while talking with Judy was that the
group home shortage was the result of one being closed because the people
operating it had been turning in false claims for expenses.  When that had
been discovered the home was no longer allowed to operate which created a
shortage of beds.  The others were filled to the brim, leaving no room in
the area until another was set up.  Judy seemed almost resigned to the lack
of resources which I found appalling.  I just couldn't believe that there
were not more people willing to get involved and help.  When I made a
comment to that effect, boy did I ever get filled in quickly.

	There were plenty of people applying so that wasn't the problem.
The problem was that many of those doing so were not doing it for the kids,
only for the money.  For the next few minutes I heard a real rant about
people not caring about kids and just using them to try to get some money.
One other thing clicked into place when she tossed it out in the middle of
a lot of other things, and that was that one of the reasons she had been
intrigued about me was she knew I wasn't in it for the money.  That was why
she had been willing to sit back and study the situation a little longer
than normal.  I didn't have much time to think about that as Judy continued
her rant.  Judy finally ran down and we got back on the subject.
Unfortunately none of our talk solved anything as it now looked even more
likely that Andrea would not be allowed to return to her father, at least
in the near term, and the problem of where to put her was still there.

	I swear that sometimes I engage my mouth in gear long before I
engage my brain in gear.  Only something like that can account for my
ridiculous statement that maybe I ought to quit teaching and start up a
group home.  As it left my lips I realized just how stupid it was because
as much as I was enjoying raising some kids, I would never be happy unless
I was teaching.  Fortunately Judy didn't like the idea either, but for
different reasons, and those reasons shocked me.  She thought it was a poor
idea because, as she explained to me, group homes are forced to take any
kid and she didn't think that was the best way to make use of me.  When my
mouth fell open, she explained that statement more fully.

	What I had never thought about were the boys she had picked for me
to take care of.  Hearing her explain that the only ones she sent to me
were ones she thought I would be able to help the most, and that there were
many who no matter how hard I tried I would fail with, simply boggled my
mind.  There was sadness in her as she explained that there were kids whose
lives had been so brutal that nothing could save them.  They had been so
abused that they were incapable of trusting anyone.  That was something I
had never thought about.  While I kept trying to think of ways to prove her
wrong and that all kids can be saved, she brought up case after case which
seemed to prove otherwise.  She had my computer online and was accessing
documents from case studies that refuted everything I had ever thought
about troubled children.  Yet through it all I could sense she liked it no
better than I did, and had only been forced to agree with that viewpoint
through the experiences of her job.  My mind just refused to accept that
idea and we talked, and talked, and talked.  Along about midnight we were
both yawning and I was no closer to understanding it than when we had
started.  My mind simply would not accept the fact that there are kids who
cannot be saved.  I was also left with a greater appreciation of Judy.  She
did the best she could for all the kids she worked with and had accepted
that some were going to result in what would be termed failures.  That
didn't mean that she liked it, or didn't try to help them, only that she
recognized reality and did the best she could to deal with it.  I also
learned that LT and JJ were somewhat of a package deal in her mind.  She
wanted JJ with me because she was afraid that he would be prone to
committing suicide as gay kids have a much higher incidence of doing so,
and she had hoped I could help him.  That meant that LT was part of the
package since the system failed gay kids even worse than straight kids and
she didn't want to take a chance that having something bad happen to LT
which might drive JJ even further into depression.  That also accounted for
Kyle, and now I somewhat understood why Mark had slipped out of her mind.
He didn't appear to be someone who would do such a thing so she simply had
not really considered him for placement with me.  Danny had worried her for
that same reason and so I had both he and Kath because she hoped I would be
able to help him.  She snickered when she told me that it was a way to kill
two birds with one stone.  She thought both Danny and Kath needed help and
thought I could provide it.  She also assured me that the housekeeper idea
really would improve the chances of adoption, but she would not have
brought it up without the thought that Kath would likely accept it.

	As Judy headed for the trailer and I for bed, my mind was spinning.
My whole foundation had been rocked.  Sure there had been a few students I
couldn't get through to, but I had never considered that maybe no one could
get through to them.  Yet I knew with a sickening certainty she was right
on that.  I had just never been willing to face it before now.  While there
were a few I had failed with, only a smaller percentage of those had
everyone failed with, and according to Judy those were the ones who not
only would I fail with, but those were the ones which would keep me from
helping the others to the best of my ability by occupying too much of my
time and thoughts at the expense of the others; that was her reason for not
liking the idea of me running a group home.

	So I got the gay boys she thought I could help the most by doing
such things as accepting them as they were, boosting their self-confidence,
and teaching them that they were just as good as anyone else.  Others would
have to try to help the rest as there was only so much I could do, at least
according to her.  She flatly told me that I did not have the time to help
all kids and was going to have to accept that fact even if I disagreed with
her on the point of whether or not every kid could be saved.

	I was tired, but when I got into bed I couldn't fall asleep.
Thoughts kept running through my mind about the whole situation.  The worst
part was that just when I thought I was starting to get a handle on things,
other thoughts would jump in and once again leave me confused.  Those
thoughts jumping in were things like where do truly evil people come from?
I mean I knew there were some really bad people out there, and since that
is a given, where did they come from?  Were they good kids who turned into
bad adults, or were they bad all along and we only came to notice them when
they managed to do evil?  Was there truly such thing as "bad kids," or was
it always a question of how they were raised?  Yet she had shown me case
studies which seemed to show that some of the kids who had gone astray had
been raised in loving families and there seemed no reason for their
behavior.  I kept thinking and trying to figure the whole thing out.

	There was also the question of was Judy doing her job properly?
When she acknowledged that some of the kids going through her office were
irredeemable, was that incompetence or realism?  I kept chasing such
thoughts around with no good answers.  As I was about to fall asleep I
finally came to look upon her more as a general with limited troops,
choosing her battles carefully and expecting some losses while trying not
to lose the war.  Much like a general she grieved her losses, but saw no
way to avoid them.  She was frustrated by the lack of resources supplied by
the state, but she was angry over the fact that society would allow such a
situation to exist.  When I had questioned some of the things she said, she
had told me she sometimes felt like the little boy with his finger in the
dike trying to hold back the flood until help came.  She had thrown out
figures about there being over a half a million kids in foster care in the
U.S. with almost half in non-relative type homes, roughly a fifth in group
homes, a quarter in relative's homes, and the rest in other situations.
She claimed that most of society didn't realize that there was a problem
while she knew better.  In a more perfect world that figure of almost half
in non-relative homes would have been far lower.  I had four such
youngsters in my home, five if you counted Corey although he was not in the
foster care system.  That simple fact alone convinced me she was right on
that part of it.  She told me that California alone had somewhere between
85,000 and 90,000 kids in the system at any one time which it looked after
through fostered care.  Some would be adopted or return to their families
or grow old enough to no longer be eligible, and others would come into the
system and replace them.  The numbers were simply staggering, yet you never
heard much about it on the news.  The only time foster care ever made the
news was when something bad happened to someone in the system and that
meant it certainly wasn't a hot topic of any conversations that I had ever
heard.  Much like most government programs the kids were out of sight and
most people seemed to think that solved the problem.

	When it came to the foster care system, there were always the
problems that went with any bureaucracy, such as backstabbing, turf wars,
and the usual number of just plain incompetents.  I was well aware of such
things in the school system and saw no reason to think that it might be
better in Children's Services, and in fact might be worse because more
citizens came in contact with the schools where most never came in contact
with Children's Services.  That closer contact and scrutiny meant that the
schools likely had fewer problems than foster care did.  I finally fell
asleep wondering just what it would take to get people to demand better
systems to handle those children who needed help.  Only when enough people
started complaining and started voting some of the incompetents out of
office would the rest be forced to do their jobs and make sure the system
worked.  In the meantime I was stuck, trying to come to grips with some
ugly truths that I had never been willing to face.

	One of those truths was that a few kids that can really make it bad
for everyone.  They can make it bad in the schools, and according to Judy,
even worse in group homes.  While there aren't very many of them, they have
an effect far greater than their numbers might suggest.  I knew from
experience that one bully can make life miserable for a bunch of kids and
that was one of the reasons I tried so hard to spot and stop such things in
school.  Jerry always stressed that we all needed to be on the lookout for
and to try to stop any bullying, and I thought we had been pretty
successful at accomplishing that goal.  Even so it happened occasionally,
and from what Judy said it was even harder to stop or do anything about in
group homes.

	The alarm clock woke me, which was somewhat unusual as I normally
woke up a few minutes early.  The fact that it was far later than usual
when I had gotten to sleep probably accounted for that.  Corey seemed to
sense that there was something on my mind and our shower was nothing more
than scrubbing each other's backs.  As usual he didn't say much and let me
get my mind working.

	Somewhere along the way Kath must have found out that our normal
breakfast was hot cereal, toast, and juice since that is what she prepared.
She still hadn't learned that I needed a few minutes to drink a little
coffee and glare at the paper before I could get myself going so she had
gotten up early enough to have breakfast ready by the time I came out of my
room.  That meant that the rest of the boys had to get out of bed about
thirty minutes before their usual times which produced some whining, but
she seemed to ignore it.  I ignored the whining also as I was still trying
to come to grips with what Judy had told me.  That meant there really
wasn't much conversation during breakfast and the only thing I actually
talked about was what to do about dinner tonight.  This afternoon was our
league opener and I knew that if we won it was Mickey D's for us, so there
wasn't much I could say.  I left it with the understanding that we would
eat out, either hamburgers if we won or a restaurant if we lost.  The
timing of when the game might end made it a little difficult to plan when
to have dinner.  While there were things which could be prepared and held,
so far I wasn't willing to trust Kath's cooking far enough for that.

	I was kind of distracted all day as I kept worrying about could all
kids be saved if only someone could find the right approach.  Fortunately I
was so used to my material that I got through it pretty well and I hope
none of the students noticed.  This was one of those days when my mind
really wasn't on my classes, and I was in a sort of automatic mode where I
went through the usual motions without much conscious thought.

	I still hadn't come to any firm conclusions about what Judy had
said when game time rolled around, but I now had to quit thinking about it
and concentrate on the game.  The kids all got into their uniforms and soon
we were out doing our warm-up stretches and exercises.  Shortly thereafter
I turned in the lineup card and it was game time.

	Carl Foley did a great job of pitching the first three innings.
Not a runner made it past second base.  I wasn't that thrilled as we didn't
do all that well at scoring either and we were only ahead two to nothing as
we headed for the fourth.  The only reason we had two runs was because of a
walk followed by JJ's home run.  Carl gave up one run in the top of the
fourth so we were only ahead by one run as we came up to bat in the bottom
of the inning.  Unlike our last game, this time the fourth went our way.  I
started to feel sorry for our opponent's pitching staff as our team
delivered hit after hit, which mixed in with the walks their pitchers kept
giving up meant that the runs just kept crossing the plate.  We scored nine
runs and still had the bases loaded, which meant we had sent fifteen kids
to bat, and it gave us a ten run lead.  Actually the last out was never
made as the umpires finally remembered that a nine run lead after four
innings was enough to stop the game because of the mercy rule, so since we
were the last ones to bat in the fourth, it should have been stopped one
run earlier.  That amounted to taking away the last walk which had forced
in the ninth run, and calling the score ten to one.  The team was ecstatic
over their win and I was pretty happy too.  The downside was I would now
have to eat at McDonald's.  The sudden ending of the game made me think
about the mercy rule and I wasn't sure that I liked it.  While it sounded
good on paper, what was to say our opponents couldn't have scored even more
runs in the fifth and sixth innings and won the game?  After all, we had
just proved that one team could score a lot of runs in one inning and there
was no reason to think we were the only ones who could do so.  Sometimes I
think people try too hard to fix things that are not really broken.  I
didn't have much time to think about that as we had a team to get cleaned
up and headed for McDonald's.

	Now don't get me wrong, McDonald's is fine as far as fast food
restaurants go.  It's just that I'm not all that fond of fast food.  At
least there wouldn't be the crowd that there had been towards the tail end
of the football season, so I figured it wouldn't be that hard to get
everyone served.  Anyhow, the team finally quit chattering and
congratulating each other long enough to take showers and get dressed so we
were off for Mickey D's.  Kath and Danny had attended the game and knew
where we would be eating, so when I finally got there I found them waiting
for us.  Vern was driving the activities bus that evening and I didn't even
have to tell him to stop there as he had it all figured out.  I had even
remembered to call and warn the manager, after we won, that we were coming
so things went really well.  The kids were soon all scarfing down their
burgers and milkshakes and whatever else they could get their hands on that
might resemble food.  The manager had a bunch of extra fries served and
soon even the bottomless pits ran out of room so Vern herded them back on
the bus to take them home while I settled the bill and then finally headed
home myself.  I was really happy because there were only a couple of kids I
hadn't managed to get in the game and that was only because I was saving
them for later in the game.  Unlike Little League, getting every player in
each game wasn't a requirement.  Both were pitchers and they had already
appeared in previous games so I hoped they wouldn't feel left out.

	Poor Dog, all he got besides his dog food were some fries one of
the boys had snagged for him.  Still he got his usual belly rubs and didn't
seem to mind too much or even hold a grudge.  The boys were still
chattering about the game as I herded them off to do their homework and
soon I was checking homework and trying to catch-up on grading papers.
When that was done, I looked around and discovered that Corey was in his
room working on his painting which reminded me that Bob would be over for
dinner tomorrow night.  That got me to thinking about what to do with the
chicken breasts so I wandered out to the kitchen to check and see what was
in the fridge that I might fix with them.  After a little looking I decided
to fix them somewhat like Chicken Malibu or Cordon Blue.  Some rice pilaf
and a salad ought to take care of dinner.  A little more thought and I
changed that a little.  I really needed a vegetable so I decided to braise
some vegetables and add to the rice rather than a traditional pilaf.  Since
that would have to be cooked tomorrow I could do nothing about it now so I
started getting the breasts ready.  Having them partially prepared would
make it a lot easier tomorrow.

	I had just taken them out of the fridge and was starting in on them
when Kath came in and started talking.  We talked as I took a knife and
carefully cut into each breast, making a pocket in which to put goodies.  I
was trying to be careful as I didn't want anything to leak out, and when
they were cooking the cheese would run out if I poked any holes clear
through.  It didn't take long until I had a nice pocket in each breast for
the goodies.  Then I sliced up some mushrooms and sauteed them in a little
butter and when they were done I set them aside to cool.  The goodies would
consist of some mozzarella cheese, some prosciutto, and some of the sauteed
mushrooms.  That sounded like a good combination and should make a pretty
decent meal.  All the time I was doing this Kath and I kept talking.
Suddenly I realized just what it was we were talking about.  While I wasn't
sure Kath had gotten that far in her thoughts, it sounded to me like she
was worried about Andrea almost to the point of fostering her.  I wasn't
quite sure what I thought of that.  I continued thinking about that as I
worked with my dinner prep.  I julienned the prosciutto, then sauteed it
until just nicely crisped, and grated the mozzarella.  By the time
everything was completed, the mushrooms and prosciutto were cool enough.
Kath and I continued to talk about Andrea while I took each breast and put
some of the grated cheese, some of the prosciutto, and some of the
mushrooms followed by a last little bit of cheese.  I would flour them, dip
them in an egg wash, and then roll them in seasoned browned bread crumbs
before baking them.  When they were all stuffed, I took some bamboo skewers
that had been soaking and closed the slit up as best I could.  When they
were ready for the oven I would stick another skewer through them at an
angle so I could keep the slit upright as they cooked.  A simple sauce of
heavy cream, a splash of wine, some Dijon mustard, and a little blue cheese
ought to finish them off.  They could bake for forty-five minutes or so
while I fixed the rice and the sauce.

	I wasn't quite sure what to make of Kath's interest in Andrea.
There was the problem of Corey's and my relationship, and there was also
how well she would integrate into the mob of boys.  I was left wondering
just how it might all work and I still didn't have a good idea on what to
do about a place for Kath and Danny.  There were so many reasons to say no,
but there was one real good reason to say yes, and that reason was what was
best for Andrea.  I wasn't sure that Kath would be the ideal solution for
Andrea, but it would keep her among her friends.  Fortunately I didn't have
to make a decision tonight and Kath didn't appear to have talked herself
into it yet, so mostly we just talked about how tough it was for Andrea and
things like that.  In the meantime I decided to fix the bread crumbs for
the chicken.  I started much like making croutons by dicing some French
bread into cubes.  A little olive oil in the skillet in which I put some
diced garlic and soon I was ready.  The bread cubes were tossed in the now
garlic flavored olive oil and then onto a cookie sheet and into the oven
they went.  Actually I made two batches, one for salads with the oil at
full strength from the garlic, and a smaller one where I cut the garlic
flavored oil with a like amount of plain olive oil.  I didn't want the
garlic to overpower the chicken.  The ones for the salad also got some
seasoned salt which the crumb ones didn't.  Fourteen minutes at three-fifty
and they were just right, nice and crunchy but not so hard you couldn't
chew them.  It normally took about fifteen minutes to bake them, but I'd
found the time could vary a minute or two either way depending on the
amount of oil used and the freshness of the bread.

	Removing the croutons from the oven put an end to Kath's and my
conversation.  Suddenly I was fending off hungry boys, and there were even
a couple of girls there also.  Debbie and Andrea must have come in the
patio door and watched the tube with the boys.  Fortunately the way the
kitchen was shaped made it pretty much impossible for any of the kids to
hear what Kath and I had been talking about.  We hadn't been talking very
loudly and the dinning area was between the family room and the kitchen.  I
didn't have time to worry about that as I was busy fending off boy arms
snaking out, trying to get past me and grab handfuls of the still warm
croutons.  I couldn't really complain because they sure smelled good, but
then anything involving garlic always smelled good to me.  I finally
succeeded in saving my croutons by fixing a batch of chili nuts which was
nothing more than nuts, butter, and a package of chili seasoning.  I melted
the butter in a pan, added the package of seasoning, and after mixing the
two together dumped in a couple of large jars of dry-roasted peanuts.  I
stirred and sort of tossed it and in just a few minutes the mob of kids
were eating the still hot nuts.  I didn't bother to throw in any extra
spices like I sometimes did, but the boys and two girls didn't complain.  I
must admit that Dog surprised me when after LT tossed him a couple, he
spent the rest of the time begging for more.  I might have to make a batch
of chili and try him on that.  Normally I spiced the nuts up a little more,
but I was afraid my croutons would disappear before I had time to get the
spices out of the cupboard.  I was left wondering if Dog would still like
them if I had them spiced up the way I liked them.

	Kath headed off to bed complaining that she still wasn't used to
being on her feet so much and the game had worn her out and that left me
with a mob of kids.  The girls soon left, I suppose because all the nuts
were now gone, and that left my boys and Danny still trying to find
something more to snack on.  I was glad to see Danny was once again bright
and bubbly.  He was still pretty shy, but at least he now was giggling and
interacting with the boys again.  A few more threats to lop off hands
seemed to assure that the croutons would remain safe, and soon Danny
decided it was time for bed since he wasn't willing to risk his hand for a
crouton.

	The next thing I knew I was dragged into the family room where the
television was still blaring and the boys wanted to talk to me.  Wondering
what this might be all about I let them start.

	I was getting it from both sides tonight.  While Kath might not
have thought far enough to decide what to do about Andrea, the boys had
leaped way past her in that respect.  I suppose I should have seen it
coming because they had all experienced some abuse and had learned that I
wouldn't do that to them, but I really hadn't expected them to take it to
the level of trying to figure out a way to help Andrea, at least not this
quickly.  First they whined when I told them that there was no way she
could stay as one of my foster kids because I already had all I was
permitted to have, namely four.  I wasn't sure if that was law or just
policy, but Judy had mentioned that number and so I simply repeated it.
That deflated their sails for a few seconds until JJ suddenly remember
Kath.  When he came up with that idea, as far as they were concerned that
solved the problem.  They really weren't interested in listening to me rain
on their idea by saying that wasn't my decision to make, and besides, Kath
didn't have a house and I wasn't sure just how Judy would take the whole
idea.  I did get them to think a little when I brought up that would also
require telling her some things we had all agreed to keep secret.  To say I
about went into a panic attack when they told me she had already figured
that out would pretty well describe my reaction to learning that little bit
of information.  I did learn that she didn't actually know anything but
only had suspicions.

	That got me to wondering, actually really worrying, about just how
much the kids at school had figured out and what they thought about it, so
I started in trying to find out what the boys thought the other students
might know.  I didn't get any really good answers and was sort of
frustrated by the situation.  About the most I learned was that it had been
mentioned a few times, but the boys told me they just grinned and told
those saying such things not to believe everything they heard.  Still I was
shocked by the thoughts that any of the kids might even be thinking about
such subjects.  The whole thing came into focus when I figured out they
were not talking about sex, only that I loved Corey.  The boys were shocked
over what my guilty conscience had led me to think, but even figuring out
what they had been talking about only relieved some of my worries.  It also
made my original objection something to again be considered.  We really
didn't get anywhere, but the boys did convince me that they wouldn't have a
problem with it.  It also helped calm me to know that most of the students
thought it was great that I loved Corey and was able to act as his father,
especially now that his mother was dead.  Jeez, I wasn't sure my heart
would stand many more such shocks even though it had been brought on by a
simple misunderstanding.  I also figured out that I needed to be a little
more direct with the boys and quit thinking they would understand such
things as my innuendos about what other kids might learn or think.  If I
had just used the word sex there would have been no misunderstanding and my
heart would not have about jumped clear out of my body.

	We were once again right where we started with the boys wanting me
to figure out a way to help, and me having no ideas on how to do that.  I
did tell them not to bring the subject up with Mrs. Graves or Danny because
I didn't think they had the right to do so.  As I saw it, Kath and Danny
had a right to live their own lives and my little busybodies had no right
to stick their noses in it.  That produced more discussion with JJ wanting
to know why they shouldn't since Kath was working for me.

	It was surprisingly easy to explain the difference between personal
life and employment, and JJ quickly got the message when I equated it to
her saying that he and LT couldn't sleep in the same room.  That would be
her infringing on his personal life, and she wasn't allowed to do so just
as he wasn't allowed do the same to her.  After that I got no more
arguments about interfering in her personal life.  I was worried about them
as we headed off to bed as I knew their little brains were still mulling
over the problem and I had no idea what they would come up with next.  It
was hard enough to keep up with them under normal circumstances, but when
all their minds were set on same thing it was almost impossible.  Adult may
be smarter, or maybe have more experience, but there was only one of me and
five of them.  I was badly outnumbered.  I could keep up with a couple of
them, sometimes even three, but when all five were working on me it was a
real struggle to try to stay ahead of them.

	Once in bed Corey brought up something I hadn't thought of and that
was why didn't I just have a house built for Kath and Danny somewhere on
the property?  I suppose I hadn't thought of it because I wanted a quick
solution and knew that would take several months even after all the permits
were obtained.  I finally fell asleep thinking that what I really needed
was a duplex and the few with which I was familiar were not nearly big
enough to hold my bunch and all the hobby rooms I had.  I would have never
bought the house I now had if it hadn't been such a good buy and about the
only thing available at the time I needed a house.  It had been way too big
for me, but I did like having plenty of room for the darkroom and reloading
room, not to mention the spa with hot tube.  Another reason that I had gone
ahead and bought it was the idea that there was plenty of room for Uncle
Matt and his family to visit.  In fact I had thought of selling it several
times because it took more work to keep clean than it seemed to be worth,
but every time I got to thinking about that Uncle Matt and his family would
show up for a weekend or a holiday and so I had kept it.

	I really don't know why but I woke up about an hour before normal.
Corey was still down for the count so I quietly showered and dressed and
headed out to make coffee and read the paper.  I had retrieved the paper
and the coffee was perking when Mark came wandering out in his boxers and
peered in the fridge.  Not seeing anything he liked the looks of, he came
over and stood by me.  I just reached out and pulled him onto my lap and he
just sort of melted against me.  We didn't talk much, mainly he just seemed
to want to be held and I think I was enjoying it just as much as he was.
For all the problems with his early life he was still such a cheerful and
active kid that I rarely got more than a quick hug, and this morning was
making up for it.  We heard the downstairs shower start and then shut off a
few minutes later, and I figured that had to be Kath getting going, but
Mark seemed in no hurry to move.  When we heard her start up the stairs he
gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and headed for his and Kyle's room to get
ready for the day.  Somehow that little kiss really brightened my morning
and I didn't even grumble to myself when my leg didn't work well from
having fallen asleep from his weight.  He was pretty good sized for his age
and somewhat more than a lapful, but this morning that hadn't made any
difference.  My leg was working pretty well again by the time I got my
coffee and was once again looking at the paper, but my face was now stuck
in a grin.

	Kath and I chatted idly about the cooking class I was going to make
the boys take.  It would have been nice if there were any actual chefs to
teach it because I really didn't know that much about cooking, only that I
liked good food and that had forced me to experiment enough to where I had
mastered some of the basics.  Mom had been a good cook and I'd picked up a
little there, and when I went off to college I soon realized just how good
she really was.  One time I'd asked her where she learned and she told me
she had loved watching the French Chef on television when she was growing
up.  That had meant she had not only Julia's cookbooks, but a lot of
others, and while she rarely actually cooked from them, she used them for
inspiration.  Mom would read recipes and then come up with her own version
based on what was in the house at the time.  When the folks had been
killed, she'd had a big pile of cookbooks and I'd kept them all.  The one
thing Mom had always stressed was to make it so you liked it and that meant
that you didn't have to use things you didn't like.  You can substitute
spices in a lot of places and while the dish will not be exactly like the
recipe, you may like it better.  Anyhow, it was now time to get the show on
the road.  I could hear a couple of showers running and I knew that soon
hungry boys would be appearing and it was time to start fixing breakfast.
Kath now seemed more comfortable with the hot cereal for breakfast on
weekdays so I continued to read the paper and left her alone.  Soon Corey
sort of straggled out, his hair still damp, and started squeezing oranges
and soon the rest of the boys followed and this turned out to be about as
normal a breakfast as we'd had since Kath had come.  I think it was the
raisins and a little brown sugar in the oatmeal that made me feel that way.
Yesterday it had just been plain hot cereal but today was more like I
normally fixed it.  There were even some sliced bananas to go on top.  By
now the boys were pretty used to that type of breakfast during the week and
dove right in, as did I.  Funny, but I tried to keep the diet somewhat
healthy and by watching breakfast that allowed somewhat richer foods in the
evening, at least that was the way I looked at it.

	My little snuggle with Mark had me in such a good mood that I don't
think anything could have upset me, and since nothing bad happened, the day
went really well.  Practice was about the worst as the team was still so
busy congratulating each other over their first win that it was hard to get
them calmed down enough to pay attention.  I was finally forced to tell
them that if they didn't pay attention they would spend the rest of
practice running laps and it was amazing just how effective that turned out
to be.  I won't say I had their undivided attention, but I had a lot more
of it than I had before saying that.

	When things were cleaned up and we were headed home I suddenly
remembered I was out of chicken stock to cook the rice in.  I almost
stopped and bought some but finally decided to just change the plans a
little.  Instead I would just use some saffron in the rice.  That ought to
make up for the lack of chicken stock.

	Wouldn't you know it; the contractor encountered a few problems so
Judy's and Art's house wasn't quite ready to be slept in.  He apologized to
them, but that didn't help and they were once again stuck with using the
trailer for another night.  He was going to have his crew work on Saturday
to finish that part up so the Smellings would be able to go home Saturday
evening.  That really presented no problem for me as they were going to eat
in a restaurant.  If I'd had a few more chicken breasts I would have
invited them to dinner, but there was just no way I could do that without
going to the store and buying more.  Not being a magician I simply could
not turn ten chicken breasts into fourteen.

	Bob showed up about the time I got started cooking and I stopped
long enough to fix us all a drink, then he and Kath sat in the kitchen and
we all visited while I cooked.  It was now staying light late enough that
the boys were all out shooting hoops, and it was warm enough that the door
was open and we could hear the basketball bouncing and hear them laughing
and shouting at each other as they played.

	I started by salting and peppering the breasts, rolling them in a
little flour, then into a wash of a couple of eggs beaten with a little
water, and then rolled in the mild croutons which I'd run through the food
processor to make crumbs.  I'd left some bamboo skewers soaking all day and
when the breasts were all coated with crumbs, I took each one and tilting
it at a slight angle, ran a skewer through it and far enough to keep it
from tipping on over.  Soon they were in the oven and baking.  About
forty-five minutes at three-fifty should be about right.  Knowing
approximately how long it would take to cook them allowed me to time the
rest of the meal.

	As for the rice, since I'd never really decided quite how to fix it
I just started in.  A scant teaspoon of saffron threads were put to soak in
a half cup of almost boiling water.  I wanted more vegetables so I decided
to just make a vegetable rice dish instead of serving both a rice and a
vegetable dish.  Besides, it cut down on dishes that way.  I started by
dicing up a couple of large onions, some celery, and then I julienned some
carrots.  To that I added some broccoli and a package of frozen peas.  I
also had some water heating and I was ready to begin.  I braised the
vegetables much like for a stir fry, and even added some mushrooms to the
mix, however I cooked the mushrooms separately.  In the water which was
heating I put a little turmeric, a few bay leaves, a few cloves, part of a
cinnamon stick, and a little cardamom.  When the vegetables were braised I
put them in a bowl.  I then lightly sauteed the rice in a little butter and
when it just started to get a sort of translucent look to the surface, I
added the liquid after straining the bay leaves and other spices out.
Normally my usual formula for rice was two cups of water per cup of rice,
but I figured that the vegetables would add a little liquid so I put four
cups of rice and about seven cups of liquid in the dutch oven.  Then it was
bring it up to a boil, put the lid on and turn the heat down to where it
would barely simmer.  I knew I would have to give it a stir or two and I
could also check to see if it needed a little more liquid when I did
that. I wasn't sure just how it would turn out, but it should be edible.
Some chicken stock would have improved it, but since I had neglected to
make any I was forced to improvise.  Just before the rice was completely
done I stirred the vegetables into it, added part of a cup more water, and
let it cook for a couple more minutes to bring everything back up to
temperature and finish cooking the rice.

	While I was fixing the salad I started the cream heating for the
sauce.  I minced a shallot and sauteed it.  To that I added a pint of
cream, about a quarter cup of Dijon mustard, and the same of white wine,
along with some salt and pepper.  When it cooked down a little and slightly
thickened I would add about a quarter cup of mild blue cheese and stir it
in.  It needed to cook slowly until it thickened to a nice consistency,
like just a little thicker than heavy whipping cream.

	All the time I'd been cooking, Kath was paying close attention.
Maybe getting her to do a little better on the cooking would be easier than
I'd thought.  In the meantime Bob and I had been commiserating with each
other about putting up with all the paperwork required in our jobs.  I
could only imagine how great it would be to only keep track of grades and
not have all those stupid forms to fill out for some government agency.
Even though the office help filled out a lot of them, there were still all
the ones teachers had to fill out, and in many cases I could see no reason
for them.  I wondered if the world would stop spinning if all teachers just
said phooey on it and quit filling them out.  Filling out those forms went
with the job, so like many other things we just bitched about it and
continued filling them out.

	There is something about boys which makes them seem to have an
uncanny knack for knowing just when food will be served.  Suddenly there
were boys washing their hands just about the time I was ready to finish up
dinner.  I took the breasts and removed the skewer holding them closed and
put them on a serving platter and then spooned a little of the sauce on
each of them.  The rest of the dinner went into large serving bowls and it
was time to eat.

	All in all, it wasn't bad.  The rice would have been a lot better
had I had some good chicken stock, but it turned out pretty decent.  The
chicken breasts turned out well and the salad, while nothing to write home
about, was fine.  Next time I try to fix rice this way I will make sure to
have chicken stock and maybe even add a few almonds or cashews to it.  It
was a lot more flavorful than the normal rice pilaf that you usually get in
restaurants.  I must say the broccoli and the peas looked nice against the
yellow rice.  The boys had quit bitching about broccoli as long as I served
it in some kind of mixed vegetables and never said a word about it as they
ate their rice.  Poor Dog had a problem with his rice.  He first made a
frightful mess, scattering rice all over, but then he proceeded to lick
most of it up.  He didn't complain about the broccoli either, but just
gobbled it down.  I swear that Dog would eat anything if it came off the
table.  Not only that, sometimes I think he had better manners than the
boys.

	Bob and Corey headed to Corey's room for his lesson while the rest
of the boys cleaned up the kitchen.  That left Kath and me with nothing to
do so I brought up the idea of having a house built for her.

	That didn't go over very well.  She was aghast at the thought of me
spending that much money.  I also learned that she had been spending some
time looking for an apartment somewhat nicer and closer than her old one.
The problem with that was that to my knowledge such an apartment didn't
exist.  Certainly there were nicer ones, but they were on the other side of
town and most of the dwellings on my side were single family houses.  We
kicked it around some and I got her thinking about the idea.  I also had
one ace in the hole she didn't know about.  There was a hunk of land just
behind my house that had been for sale for a long time and while I had
considered buying it, I hadn't done so because I hadn't really needed it
and I thought the price was too high.  It had been on the market for about
a year and maybe the owners would now come down a little.  It had an old
double wide trailer that hadn't been in too bad a shape when I had looked
at it late last spring, but was certainly nothing worth thinking about.
Her arguments about another house on my property crowding things would then
no longer apply if I bought that property.  Still it would take some time
to convince her that building a house might be a good idea.  We were still
discussing the idea when the art lesson was finished.

	Corey was all bubbly because Bob had managed to show him how to do
something he had been struggling with and just couldn't make come out the
way he wanted.  They were talking way over my head so I just let him babble
on.  It had something to do with adding a depth perspective by making some
of the colors more muted, but it was beyond me.  As it was I could tell he
was improving, but could not explain why, only that his paintings looked
better to me.

	The boys didn't have much homework but you would have thought I was
killing them judging by the amount of whining that took place when I
suggested they do it tonight rather then later in the weekend.  Even Danny
was joining in the act and had figured out just about how far he could
crowd me, but they finally gave up, amid much bitching and complaining, and
finished just before bedtime.  Maybe I was different, but I just couldn't
remember whining about homework that much.  Then again, maybe I wasn't
willing to remember.  I do recall that it was always interfering with
things I wanted to do.  Oh well, it hadn't taken any more than the usual
nagging to get them working on it, and at least there would be no panic
Sunday night when they didn't have it done.  I only had to point out a few
spelling errors and one place where the math was wrong on all their
homework so with that we headed off for bed.  Corey was disgusted with
himself for the math mistake and Danny spent a couple of minutes with the
dictionary looking up how to spell a couple of words.  All in all, the day
had gone pretty well.


			To be continued...

	Cooking class isn't going to cover much because most of it is well
enough described in the chapter to where it shouldn't need much
explanation.

	Brining is a technique to make meats moister.  Now beef rarely
needs it but pork chops and chicken breasts sometimes do depending on how
you cook them.  A standard brine is a quarter cup of salt, a quarter cup of
sugar, and a quart cold water.  If you are going to cook them on a barbecue
or some other method using very high heat, cut the sugar in half.  Basic
frying is not considered very high heat.  You can also put spices in the
brine.  I frequently put some garlic in with the pork chops or a pork
roast.  If your pork chops are thin, like ¾ inch or less, it doesn't really
help much, but for thicker ones it makes quite a difference.  You should
brine for one hour per pound but not less than twenty minutes, nor over
eight hours total.  That is the weight of each piece, not the total weight
of all pieces.  That would mean that a four pound pork roast should soak
for about four hours.  However things like chops and chicken breasts weigh
less than a pound each so I generally try for about forty-five minutes with
them but have been known to cut it short when I was pressed for time.
About the shortest I'll go on things like pork chops is thirty minutes, and
whole chicken breasts need at least forty-five minutes in my opinion.  I
don't think of brining as the same as marinating as mostly it is about
adding moisture.  Anyhow, just mix up your brine and put the chops or
whatever in it and stick them in the fridge for the amount of time called
for.  In most cases I put the meat and brine in a zip lock type bag and
just seal it up.  With multiple pieces of meat, such as chop, you need to
move them around in the bag a least once so the brine can make contact with
all sides.  For a roast or something like a whole chicken, just turn the
package over about every hour or so.

	One last thing on brining.  For a long time turkeys have been
injected with similar solutions to make the turkey more moist.  In the last
few years it has spread to pork.  If your chops say something like enhanced
they are already the equivalent of a brined chops and further brining will
not help.

	Chicken breasts can be stuffed with a lot of things.  Just take a
knife and start on the thin edge and make a pocket for what you want to
use.  I try to stop about a half inch from the opposite edge and from each
end, and also try to keep the pocket as close to the center of the
thickness as possible.  Now I know that Chicken Cordon Blue or Malibu are
normally done by butter-flying the breasts and then pounding them flat, but
since I'm lazy that seems like a lot of work so I just make a pocket and
put the goodies in.  A mild cheese works best, something like mozzarella,
Swiss, jack, feta, or any other mild cheese you like.  You can also use
more than one cheese, like maybe adding some parmesan.  I always saute
things like bacon, ham, or prosciutto before using them as I don't want all
the fat from the bacon or prosciutto left in my chicken breast.  Besides,
ham just seems to taste better if it has been sauteed a little, and the
others are better when they are slightly crisp.  You don't have to roll the
breasts in bread crumbs, or as the story did in crushed croutons.  I
sometimes make a flavored butter and just smear a little on the outside and
then bake.  You should keep some of that butter melted and brush a little
more on a couple of times while baking if you decide to do it that way, and
I would also be sure to brine them if I was going to bake them without
breading.  Now don't get carried away with the amount of stuffing.  You
need to be able to hold the edges closed if you are going to flour and roll
in bread crumbs.  Also too much stuffing overpowers the flavor of the
chicken.  Bake until about 155 degrees internally and let stand for five to
ten minutes under a foil tent to allow the juice to be reabsorbed by the
chicken.  If you cut into them without letting them stand a few minutes,
the juices of the meat will run out.  That holds true for all meats.

	As for the bamboo skewers, a few minutes in boiling water and they
become quite flexible and can be used to hold the two edges of the opening
closed so the goodies don't fall out when flouring or rolling in the bread
crumbs.  Just start at one end of the slit and sort of weave it back and
forth along the slit catching both edges.  Also, as a cheap skate, I
normally cut the skewers in half for such tasks since half a skewer is
plenty long for either task.  To keep the whole thing more upright when
baking, hold the breast so the slit for the pocket is at about eleven
o'clock and insert the skewer from about a one to two o'clock angle,
starting just below the top edge and sticking it through far enough to
contact the pan and keep the breast from falling over.  Failing to do that
will allow them to fall over and the melted cheese will run out.

	As for the rice, there is no recipe, just throw together what you
like.  Be a little careful with saffron as it has a distinct flavor and a
little goes a long way.  Since it is expensive, that's a good thing.  Some
people like to crumble the threads into what they are cooking but I
normally put it in a little hot water and let it steep for a few minutes
and then add saffron flavored water to the dish.  Saffron is quite popular
in the Middle East and India so using it will give the dish that kind of an
influence.  What I made in the story could be called a fried rice dish in
an Indian style owing to the seasonings.  Don't forget to add some salt and
pepper or it will be very flat.