Someone who just floats down with a glittery magic wand, a cute little pink pair of wings and a giggle that makes even the worse case scenario seem laughable? So if you’re standing in the kitchen just after burning your hand on a hot pan, and the smoke alarm is going off from the garlic bread under the broiler, and the doorbell rings with your dinner guests arriving early...you could say ‘hey FGM, need a little help here!!!’ and she would appear and make it all ok? She’d make lemonade so to speak.
I recently had some lemons in my fruit basket and I was eyeing them every day waiting for them to ripen so I could use them for my lemon chicken. These guys were particularly stubborn, so I picked them up and decided if I couldn’t use them in my recipe that night, I may as well use them to juggle. Sometimes I do this. I think something looks easy enough to master in 5 minutes, and I dive in only to find myself frustrated after an hour of failure. One at a time, those poor lemons fell to the floor with a thud, and I came to the sad realization that juggling is a lot harder than it looks. How could I not know how to juggle citrus, but I could juggle work, friends, family, recreation, social life, etc? So what did I do? I called in my circus expert and got a crash course. The basic principle in juggling my friends, is you have to not only stay one step ahead of the next move, but you really have to use both sides of your brain and focus on the rhythm. The flow of all the elements is the key to success. One must go up as another comes down. Another must be caught as one is let go. You ‘catch’ my drift?
After hours of practice...all in the kitchen...all with that poor unsuspecting, unripened citrus...I mastered the technique! I will post some video of me juggling so you can see! The moment I focused on the task at hand, I thought to myself, this is a lot like hosting a dinner party. You must juggle your way through all the steps it takes to execute it successfully...and successfully to me, means stress free.
Recently friends have been asking me to help them with dinner parties. They look at the menu planning and prep lists, like I did at those lemons on the ground. One-stop shopping and do-ahead steps provide juggable (that’s my new word) flow the night of the party. But getting to that spot where the rhythm seems natural takes practice.
While my friends practice this skill, I have decided to be their Fairy Food Mother in the interim. Their circus expert. I don’t want hands burnt and smoke alarms going off, only to scar them from ever wanting to entertain again! There’s no sense in having bruised lemons if you don’t have to, right? Can I get a “thank god, hallelujah?”
While I may not have a glittery wand and a pair of pink wings, I do have a Wusthof knife and a mean assortment of aprons. I discovered by helping friends do things ahead, it doesn't overwhelm them with all the steps involved. I saw how getting there early and walking them through the plating before the guests arrive, breeds confidence and smiles. I can easily hand them a glass of wine while they whisk and let’s be honest, wine makes everything fun...at least for me and all of my friends!
My first Fairy Food Mother trial run was the other night...I’ll let you be the judge of how it turned out.
Enjoy, Chef WOW
PS-please don’t abuse your fruit like I did. Use tennis balls when learning how to juggle.
Menu:
French Onion Soup
Arugula salad with pancetta, pomegranate and goat cheese
Roasted pork tenderloin with fig chutney and butternut squash puree
Spicy balsamic broccolini
Pot de creme au chocolat
No comments:
Post a Comment