Rock This Kitchen (ePub)

In 1988, I stayed at David Foster's studio in Malibu, California for about 4 months. During that time I kept a daily diary of my thoughts, feelings and the general goings on at the studio, the various stars and celebrities who came and went, and of David's comments and behavior. This book consists, in part, of some of the entries of that diary, and of some other episodes involving David, Ronnie Hawkins, Prince Charles, Pierre Trudeau, Jeff Porcaro,Vikki Gabereau and a host of other characters, including members of my band "e;Bearfoot"e;. This is not a "e;tell all' script. It is primarily a cookbook, containing nearly 50 original recipes, each of which is preceded by a retrospective anecdote involving me and some of the above-mentioned characters. Everything that happens in this book is true. Nothing contained herein could be characterized as fiction. During the late 1990's, I began a "e;pen pal"e; relationship with one of my cousins. Those correspondences were primarily done by email and I have included them here simply because they seemed funny and because the dialogue was centered around culinary themes. I left them basically unaltered but did clean up some of the formatting and in certain cases, the grammar and spelling unless the grammar and spelling were intended to be incorrect. This book also contains some essays; one dealing with global warming, another with the commercialization of Christmas. One essay deals with why very famous people sometimes become personally tainted by their success and how that corruption affects others. Near the end of this book there is a chapter that deals with suicide. In no way should it be taken seriously. It is an attempt at humor, irony and sarcasm. Throughout this book I document the beginning, middle and end of a very painful relationship I had with a woman I loved deeply. The depiction of this relationship provides a thin but very heartfelt thread of poignancy, which I'm sure most cookbooks lack. My relationships with the people mentioned in this book are genuine, and thanks to my daily diary, the events are accurate. All the recipes are original (although I did a lot of research on the internet) and I take full responsibility for the results, should you wish to try them. One disclaimer: I am not a professional chef. Even professional chefs sometimes make mistakes. I recently attempted a recipe from a very famous chef who appears regularly on a popular cooking program. The recipe failed because the directions were inaccurate. The oven temperatures in the recipe were wrong and resulted in a culinary failure. I have tested each of my recipes in real time in my own kitchen and can assure you they will bring very satisfactory results. However, each oven behaves differently, and there are other factors which may influence the outcome, such as how much booze you have consumed before attempting the recipe. I cannot accept responsibility for these and other random factors should they result in a less than satisfactory outcome. I express opinions about certain people in this book and those opinions should be held apart from the facts. As I said, everything in this book actually occurred. There are no fictitious renderings of an event. My opinions, on the other hand, are merely personal observations, to which I am entitled. Some of the dialogue may not be verbatim since it is nearly impossible to recall the exact conversations one may have had 30 or 40 years ago. I can assure you the spirit of those conversations is accurate. There is no "e;plot"e; in this book. While there is a timeline which jumps around a fair amount, it is helpful to remember that the stories or "e;anecdotes"e; are provided for entertainment value, if entertainment is the right word. Some recipes are imbedded in the narrative but most appear at the end of each chapter. An autobiographical cookbook may seem at first glance to be a rather unwieldy literary vehicle. After an exhaustive search I have concluded the 'genre' does exist but is somewhat limited. I tried to find the humor, if there was any, in most of these stories and I did my best to stay away from personal attacks. If anyone mentioned in these stories takes offense I sincerely apologize. It was not my intention to hurt anyone's feelings. Sometimes, the truth hurts.