Like a lot of Canadians, I’ll spend much of this weekend in the kitchen, putting together a kick-ass Thanksgiving dinner.
Not to toot my own horn too loudly, but I’m a pretty darn good cook. And it wasn’t a skill I picked up from Mom or special classes or concentrated effort. I learned from watching TV.
When I was a kid, there was a British guy on Canadian TV named Graham Kerr aka “The Galloping Gourmet”. Kerr’s shtick was cooking a complicated gourmet meal in 30 minutes while simultaneously polishing off a bottle or two of fine wine.
He was funny and enthusiastic and given to breaking the rules of what passed for TV decorum back then, so I made a point of watching his show. And I soon realized what he was doing wasn’t all that difficult.
Meaning –- it was incredibly difficult, but he made it look far less daunting and something you could have a good time doing.
So one afternoon, while I was home with a cold, I copied down his recipe of the day and tried to recreate it.
Maybe I got lucky. Maybe my house mates were incredibly forgiving -– or just happy somebody else had done the cooking. But dinner was a hit. I never looked back.
If you ask me, the secret to cooking is not taking it too seriously. I mean, unless you’re cooking Fugu, how bad can you really fuck up?
And unlike the modern TV meme, you don’t have Gordon Ramsay or some douchey Iron Chef judge waiting to take you apart.
So, just have fun. And if having fun includes a couple of beverages, even better. As the following exemplifies…
Happy Thanksgiving! And Enjoy your Sunday…
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