Field Notes - Dispatch 4 – Palm
Desert
Hello Fellow Adventurers!
I have just returned to the old desert
rancho from a cooking class which I attended with MR and Carole S.
Folks, there I was on the front row watching a real live French chef
whipping up Si Bon Chocolate Mousse (see attached recipe) and
thinking how far I had come from believing Jello Instant Pudding a
real treat. Well, actually I still think Jello pudding is a marvel
of the free world and I don't care who knows it. Anyway, this old
boy sounded like he had just gotten off the boat from gay Paree and,
man, he really knew his stuff. There were egg whites flying,
spatulas somersaulting, and whippers whipping. Lots of action--as
you can well imagine.
Now the thing you need to know is that
down here all the high-end hash slingers wear a white double breasted
jacket with a pocket on the sleeve about where the Sargent strips go
on an army uniform. In the pocket you will observe two objects, a
thermometer and a pen. I reckon all these fellows are celebrities
and expect to sign autographs at any moment. I have no idea what the
thermometer is for. Maybe they share their jackets with EMTs.
So this rascal I am observing whips up
his dessert with the care most doctors give brain surgery and, boy,
the results were good. The old boy may not talk English very well
but he knows his way around a stove. Everyone there got to lap up
the mousse (not spelled moose as you would expect) and I went back
for seconds. That is when the trouble started. Do not ask a
fancy-pants celebrity chef for a dollop of Cool Whip to put on the
his signature chocolate mousse. You will get a wooden spoon broken
over you head quicker than you can say Bob's your uncle and I can
tell you it hurts. It still hurts.. I bet my head is hurting in the
morning; that camp cook really let me have it. He also used some
Frenchie words on me that would not bear repeating even if I could.
So that is how my afternoon went. I
have not even had my first G&T of the evening and I already have
a headache. I had better just go out on the patio, lie down, and
have a nap.
Hope you are are doing better than I
am. Stay in touch, and send a cold cloth for my head.
