Are they supposed to look charred?

I had my last cooking class last night and I'm going to miss it. I made a chocolate torte made with eggplant as opposed to pastry. It would have turned out lovely had my helper not burned the eggplant. All my nut crushing with a mortar and pestle for nothing. I could only taste brimstone.

I did enjoy describing the wine, as I always had through the month. Ugh, but we had one that was really gross. The initial smell I thought was chemical; the initial taste was like iodine. After I ate something, I swear it was like drinking blood. Maybe I'm not that big of a lush because I refused to finish it. "Find me another description," the teacher asked me. "Okay," I replied. "It is the Ishtar of wines."