from the cook’s perspective
this is a long blog entry – no way to describe an experience like this any other way.
On the Tuesday before a long-weekend holiday, my son, Michael called to ask for the recipe for my relatively famous Warm Wild Rice Salad. It was a simple enough request. Out of curiosi
ty, I asked what he wanted it for. The rest will become family history.I knew he was a part of the American Tall Ship Institute (www.americantallship.com), a non profit created for the purpose of getting inner-city, at-risk kids aboard tall ships – not just to teach them sailing, but to give them a different perspective of life and adventure. Go to the above website link to see photos and to learn lots more about these special programs.
The Warm Wild Rice Salad was to be served as part of a luncheon aboard the Bill of
Rights, a 146 foot schooner, currently harbored in San Pedro, California. The American Tall Ship Institute wants to buy it as part of its program development. Since Michael is one of the key characters of the group, and its primary fundraiser, he was quickly putting together a madcap adventure in the San Pedro harbor to raise funds to buy the Bill of Rights. They have to move fast. Another interested group is also close to the purchase of this beautiful ship, and, if they buy it, will haul it off to France.So, before our phone call was over, Michael had moved right through the recipe request to, “Wait – would you just come with me to San Pedro and cook for this event? I mean, you make the salad… and the rest of lunch for 60 people… oh, and cook for the crew for the weekend as well.”
It’s hard for a mother to deny her kid anything, if it is in her power, even if her “kid” is 42 years old. As it happened, I was free that weekend and… agreed to go. I called my friends in LA, Gordon and Reparata, and said, get down there and bring your friends! It’ll be a hoot!
It certainly wasn’t as outrageous as the leap from an airplane at 13,500 feet with Dylan, as I described in a previous blog entry, but, for a non-sailor, well-known for, shall we say, a delicate tummy, it was certainly an out-of-the-box experience for me. The operative and convincing words were “the ship doesn’t leave the harbor,” which helped a lot. The story has a very happy ending. Follow the link just below to read the rest . . .
