The Girl in the Bubble

The deluge of rain did nothing to thwart my sense of adventure this week. More so, it heightened my senses as I went from Point Reyes to Novato teaching, cooking and finding magic along the way. Last Friday, I taught a cooking class at Fork in Point Reyes, a magnificent culinary center built by West Marin’s Giacomini family, founders of Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese. I learned as much as I taught others, especially about their stellar cheeses, the well known Point Reyes Blue, a seasonal fresh mozzarella and a new award winning cheese called Toma. I will share more about that and tips on artisan cheese platters next Tuesday just in time for your New Years’ entertaining!

Wine and Cheese tasting at The Fork at Point Reyes

I made it back safely through the wind whipped redwood forest and reveled in my gift pack that evening, a wedge of blue, a wedge of Toma and so much more, mmmmm. It’s not too late to order for someone you love, call it a New Years’ gift and send in the cheese!

On Sunday, I worked with an eager and enthusiastic group of 25 kids at the Fresh Starts Cooking School with the stellar support of staff Mitch, Barbara and Christina. This class is now a two year tradition for these young kitchen elves. Our cooking class was called “Round the World Foods, Celebrating Round Food from Italy, Sweden and France.” The kids not only cooked for themselves, but made plenty of food to share with homeless families. Hosts Ann and Bill conceptualized the class as a way to support our remarkable job training and family homeless programs at FSCS, a program of Homeward Bound of Marin. 

Our youth created buffet!

My youthful pastry team kicked out hundreds of cream puffs and fashioned them into large and small Croquembeuche, a traditional French holiday “Christmas Tree” made from stacked puffs, anchored with chocolate and caramel. 

Making a small Croquembeuche

They left happy and full, having learned first hand about how their work and class fees supported families in need. The parents and hosts really wanted our residents to share their stories with the kids of the realties of being homeless. They wanted the kids to be able to look beyond their own world, often refereed to as a ”bubble”, into the lives of those less fortunate. I had the honor of delivering huge catering-sized pans filled with hand made Swedish Meatballs with Noodles, Parmesan Chicken Bites and Dilled New Potatoes to Homeward Bound’s Family Resource Center in San Rafael. Santa-Chef!

 

While driving home, I was filled with gratitude; for cooking and giving. As I drove past a local park, I was suddenly taken aback. I pulled over and jumped from my car. A man was making 25 foot soap bubbles across a lake. Each bubble was eagerly leaping into existence to then slowly drift and shape-shift into ghostly forms, animal shapes and portals into another world. Every second the bubbles would break into smaller ones, at times landing and dancing on the water’s surface, reflecting the sky and landscape in wild Technicolor lenses, creating sculptures reminiscent of Andrew Goldsworthy. My heart filled and broke with each bubble, tears streaming down my cheeks. I lost all sense of time and place. Sometimes, if we can join others to step out of our usual worlds and reach beyond our own spheres, the world can bring you gifts beyond measure.