Tonight was the Silicon Valley Storytellers anniversary meeting and Story Slam; our theme was “The Great Outdoors” and I was enticed into becoming one of the storytellers competing for three Amazon gift cards.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to use to build my story; I’ve never gone camping or pitched a tent. I finally decided to tell the story of my most recent outdoor experience – walking along the beach in Santa Cruz and wine tasting on the deck at Burrell School Winery, pretty much as I’d blogged it on Saturday.

We had six storytellers, telling stories ranging from camping in the Sahara Desert to nearly losing a tourist while seeing the Northern Lights in Fairbanks. There were tales of fires in the outback, car crashes in India, and what happens when young children are driven too fast on curvy roads in California.

I was surprised when my name was called as one of the winners; there wasn’t any real drama in my story, so I tried to make it funny, and I guess it worked!

I made one of our pandemic favorites tonight, Slow Cooker Spiced Lentils with Veggies. It’s easy, tasty, and doesn’t heat up the kitchen too much.

The first step on the stovetop calls for heating vegetable oil (or ghee) on medium heat, then putting in black mustard seeds and waiting until they pop, 1–2 minutes.

My seeds don’t pop. I heat the pan on the induction cooktop at slightly over half power, wait until water dances, put in the oil, wait another minute for the oil to heat up. Then I put in the mustard seeds and cover the pan.

Two minutes later, nothing has happened; the oil is visibly hot and shaking, but there was no popping, and the lid of the pan is completely clean.

Could my seeds be stale? Do I need to heat my oil longer, or at a higher setting?

We like the finished product, even with unpopped seeds, but I’d like to do it the right way, at least once.

Any suggestions?