You certainly could! Although—now, you might be a fine cook already, but just between you and me, our dear Colonel has a bit farther to go yet.
[she looks around for him, and spots him a ways away in conversation with one of their guests, shoveling in the last few bites from his plate. She sighs and adds an aside:]
It is good to see him enjoying himself again. He's been absolutely miserable these past few days. Not that he would have settled for anything less, of course—poor fellow, he looked positively shattered when he realized the snow would keep us from retrieving our scourges in time.