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| Could this be the end of a wonderful dinner party? |
Sage advice says to post happy and pretty pictures on a
food and travel blog, but my blog is about making food and travel accessible to
all and sometimes that means fessing up to mistakes and sharing recovery
strategies. Things happen in real life and I write for real people who need
real life solutions. Dinner a few nights ago offered me the perfect opportunity
to strategize real solutions real fast about what happens when everything (at
least the main course) goes up in smoke.
When people come to eat at my house it is always an
event. I love cooking for others, I enjoy creating an event, using themes,
experimenting with new foods and recipes and then offering a playful
presentation or some interactive eating experience. Sometimes that means
creatively elevating bratwurst and burgers by changing it up and having a South
African Braii, or an Argentinian Asado or perhaps taking common foods and
putting them in fancy bowl or presenting them on an elegant platter...something
that makes my guests feel special.
For me the fun begins
with the invitation, knowing who will attend helps me plan the meal, knowing
how far I can push their taste buds, or what they don’t like, I enjoy making
certain that at least one thing that I know that they love is served at some
point in the evening, and it may not be food – it could be playing a favorite
game or a having a special coffee, or their favorite music, something that
makes my guests feel special.
So how special do you think my guests felt when I pulled
this chicken off the grill? Everything was ready, caramelized brussel sprouts
in bacon, sweet potato rosemary chips, and the cornbread was warm enough to
melt butter and cool enough to not burn your mouth. All that was missing was
the chicken which was going to be served hot off the grill. I am still not sure
what happened but when I went to take the chicken off the grill it was on fire
and burned for several minutes after I turned off the gas…this is when I moved
into salvage mode.
In a split second twenty options went through my mind and
my guests added a few more, all of which included NOT ingesting more than the
lifetime amount of charcoal, here are some of the choices:
·
Serve what was ready, there was bacon in the
brussel sprouts, so we had a protein and
the meal would have been plenty – had I gone with that option, I would have
pulled a few pickles out of the fridge and added a little pickle tray in a
pretty bowl;
·
A chips and salsa plate would have been a nice
compliment to the meal;
·
I had some leftover chili which would have added
a nice balance with tomato and spice;
·
Adding some extras to elevate the cornbread;
cutting up jalapenos, shredding some cheese, offering maple syrup and a fig
jelly so that there would be several different ways to enjoy the cornbread in
addition to the grape jelly and honey already on the table;
·
Slicing up an apple and cheddar cheese and
serving on a cutting board;
·
A small meat and cheese platter with salami and monterey
jack cheese;
·
Serving the dessert (homemade turtles) with
dinner to distract the diners…
After checking with my guests, we had all been in the
mood for something grilled, although there was some trepidation about letting
me back out on the grill again, so I opened my freezer and found enough
bratwursts to cook. While they defrosted
in the microwave, I boiled a mixture of 1 cup of beer to 1 cup of water, sliced
up 2 onions and dropped the brats and onions into the boiling mixture until
they were cooked (about 8 minutes). I placed them on a hot griddle on my stove
to create a “grilled” taste and voila, dinner was finally ready! The entire recovery effort took 15 minutes,
and we used that time to catch up with our friends.
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A good attitude can really turn around a bad situation
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What I realized within minutes after the discovery of the
disaster on the grill was that my reaction to the disaster would be the
difference between salvaging the evening or not. While the brats cooked, we put
fun mustards and condiments on the table to dress up the “plan b” option, and
had some fun with it. My guests were more important than my ego. Having a fun
time together was far more important than having a “perfect” time together. And
while I like being known as a good cook, I much rather love having a home where
people feel special. That is all in the attitude…burnt chicken, perfect chicken…it
does not matter…it is about creating opportunities for people to feel special.
While I hope that all of your meals are perfect, don’t
sweat if they are not, there are always options – I had 8 easy options, but it
all began with a choice to have a good attitude, and you can make that choice too. Things are going to happen and you get to choose how to respond. Now we were certainly all disappointed and I learned that my guests grilled chicken the following night but we still had a great evening. From my table to yours…Mama
Caruso
