It had been over two months since our busy family schedules had allowed me to spend time with my Grandson, Alex. In fact, I don’t think I’d seen him since he graduated from middle school last May! He’d gone to Mexico and then to Mountain Camp. I’d begun my annual UCLA residency along with visiting our other programs across the country. He’d started football practice which didn’t allow him any time to attend one of our digital film camp workshops where we usually catch up with one another in the summer. Before we knew it the summer was over and school is starting Wednesday for him. So after dinner last night his grandfather and I invited ourselves over for a visit vowing that we wouldn’t stay long and that I wouldn’t talk business. Alex’s dad is my business partner.
Alex and his Dad had finished eating but his mom had only just returned home so Craig was putting the finishing touches on a pasta concoction when we arrived that smelled delicious. Our family has a fascination with food (both cooking and eating) that came long before the novel and movie Julie and Julia. Everybody cooks, invents, samples, stands around the kitchen island kibitzing and enjoys!
We sat with Toni as she ate talking about Alex’s day and catching me up on the past couple of months. We talked about football, starting high school, classes and expectations. It was warm and friendly. And then Toni announced she was going to make a peach cobbler. An old fashioned peach cobbler from the very ripe peaches she bought at the farmer’s market. Since it was already 8:00 p.m. and it was clear that there would be no eatable results until well after 9:00 we tried to take our leave but Toni was having none of it. She cajoled us into staying…and I’m so happy she did!
Alex asked if he could make the cobbler and to my surprise his mother acquiesced. My surprise was not that Toni would not be interested in a mother/son bonding moment but more in the fact that she must have been exhausted after a long day and steering a teenager through a recipe is no mean task.
The tenaciousness of mother and son was a sight to behold in itself. Out came the recipe that had been garnered from the internet. Easy Peach Cobbler the title screamed from the page. As it turned out it was anything but easy. First up was the fact that no butter could be found in the refrigerator. It later turned out that there was plenty of butter in the freezer but that’s another story. A quick discussion ensued and it was decided to call a neighbor who was caught at the threshold of departure for a night out. Before leaving the kind neighbors appeared at the front door, butter in hand. A catastrophe diverted, Alex returned to his task of making the cobbler.
There were wonderful teaching moment discussions going on between pastry chef and sous-chef. I’m still not quite sure who played which role but I do know that Craig, Chuck and I felt very free to chime in when we felt we were needed. Alex it turns out is very methodical which though not a necessary trait in cooking is usually a good thing in baking. The recipe, as it turns out, was very confusing and poorly written. One of the problems with the internet I guess. No testers and cookbook editor looking over your shoulder.
After a few false starts, another trip to the neighbors for vanilla, a trip to the store for ice cream to top off the fresh from the oven cobbler, and many misgivings about the recipe and how it might or might not turn out, the steaming dish was finally taken from the oven. It was a sight to behold. Lightly browned on top, bubbling syrupy juices from the over-ripe peaches and sugar oozing from the center. Alex proudly stood guardian over the parceling out of the “goods” and everyone took their first bite.
It didn’t even matter what it tasted like, although Toni kept exclaiming it was the best cobbler she’d ever eaten. It didn’t matter whether that particular recipe would be made for guests or even made again. What tasted so sweet and will remain on our tongues forever was the love that was shared in the kitchen that night!
