Icing, and Pepper

We had a wonderful teacher in cooking school, Paul Grimes, who spent summers with Simone “Simca” Beck and Julia Child, both of cookbook fame (check out cookbooks for Mastering the Art of French Cooking).

He was talking about cakes and buttercream and said it would always be somewhat yellow because of the butter content. I asked what supermarket cakes (that I did not buy) used and he said it was lard and confectioner’s sugar. That’s why every work birthday cake I had I asked for the smallest piece and ate a couple of forkfuls of cake.

Feeling more confident with Chef Grimes and our coterie, I asked one day how old the pepper was in those piano-leg sized pepper grinders at steak houses. Even he laughed. Since then I’ve been somewhat of a pepper grinder expert, as is my husband, the tech guy who always wants the best gadget.

At the end of our time there we had one last wine class and we opted to chip in for a tasting that included Chateau d’Yquem Sauterne. It was a lovely ending to a great experience at cooking school. It was the best time I ever had in school, except with Fr. John and Art History… don’t get me started.

I always did well in school but didn’t do much for the great grades I got. If I had a better life plan I’d have chosen the right field, aced everything and had the world at my command. I landed on my feet in a job that just wanted smart people who could learn a field of knowledge and thrived there but in the end was used because of my availability (single so can work overnight but can be paid less than the guy who just came in with less experience and two kids).

Cooking school was different. I was an adult and wanted to succeed. The fact I ended up as a consultant in another field doesn’t matter. We’re always at a crossroads, but the pepper is me now. The icing on the cake is husband Jim and dog Zoe. They’re my family now.

Hope you’ll stick with me. I’m depending on you! Cheers, Dee