Black Bean and Corn Salad With Thai Flavors

An avid cook since I was a teenager, and a retired First-Grade teacher, my students and I used to cook twice a month in the classroom, coordinating what we prepared with our curriculum. I always snuck in mini- lessons on nutrition and manners at the same time. :) The children loved it, taking home recipes they made in class and asking their parents to make them again at home. THESE were no boring lessons on liquid and dry measurement! If you think about it, cooking is largely a combination of math, chemistry, and artistry. Fond memories of my students play a role in my cooking-life today. A giant, framed, black chalkboard graces one dining room wall, replete with the menu-of-the-day in manuscript handwriting and simple chalk drawings. Special joys in my life these days, (besides two outstanding grown children :), family, friends, and cooking) include gardening/landscaping, writing a book about teaching, music, discovering watercolors by local artists, and exploring my new island home, where bald eagles and Dungeness crabs are among my neighbors.