Cookie's Cub Scout den piled into the local storefront of Young Chef's Academy for a "Go See" event yesterday. The objective was to be introduced to the "Food Pyramid" -- the nutritional propaganda codified by the secular humanists who despised the grand traditions of the "Four Food Groups."

Anyway, the whole thing started with a cooking class. As luck would have it, the project would be to make spaghetti and red sauce. Both Cookie and Mojo sat there, listening to the two polite young women explain everything about making tomato sauce... well, their version of it at least (but hey, they made the spaghetti from scratch, and that was pretty cool for the boys).

The fathers sat along the back of the room watching the proceedings. We always look like such a disgruntled crowd. When they put the pot of canned tomatoes onto the stove I called to Cookie: "How long is that supposed to cook before it's done?" He was almost apologetic about his answer: "Eight hours," perhaps thinking we'd have to stay at the place until 10 p.m.

Once everything was prepared the lead instructor did a review, asking the group what is the main ingredient for the spaghetti. They called out "Flour." Then she asked what is the main ingredient for sauce and I called out "Veal!"

Which earned me confused stares. But I'm old enough to be quite used to that.

I thought I woke up early this morning but then I realized I didn't.