Cooking And Eating....“Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es”

                               TEA FOR THREE TIME.....WITHIN EACH OF THESE MINIATURE APPLE TURNOVERS IS ONE OF THREE  MINIATURE PLASTIC PLAYING CARDS.....A ' TEN OF DIAMONDS ', A ' KING OF SPADES ' AND A ' FIVE OF HEARTS '.....THREE TEATIME GUESTS ARE REQUESTED TO SELECT A PASTRY WITH A SILVER SPEAR, THEN REVEAL THE CARD THAT WAS WITHIN; AFTER WHICH, THE TRADITIONAL TAROT MEANINGS OF THEIR SELECTIONS ARE REVEALED....SOME HUMOROUS HOCUS-POCUS, OF COURSE..... IS THAT A 'RABBIT'S FOOT' ON YOUR KEYCHAIN, MR. 1?  DID YOU 'KNOCK ON WOOD' BEFORE MAKING YOUR SELECTION, MR. 2?  AND, MS. 3, DO YOU THINK YOU 'HAD NO CHOICE'?  UNSCREWUP YOUR FACE.... YOU DID GET ' THE KING OF HEARTS ', AFTER ALL,  AFTER SLIPPING IT FROM THE DECK, YOU SUBSTITUTIONAL   CHEATER!    

                          A PRECURSOR TO A 4 COURSE  SALADLESS MEAL,  TO BE SERVED AT 8......

I think it's 'restaurant' or 'take out' time, after dropping a huge crockery bottle of truffle oil, which ran under the stove....then slipping in the oil slick, dropping a bowl of biscuit dough onto the stove's hot burner, instinctively reaching to remove that mess, and pulling a stack of papers from the counter...into the oil........then, of course, having to clean all this up!     The Parmesan baked truffle fries with Charleston style beaten biscuits and apple butter are 'off' the table for this evening......and I had 'plans' for that gorgeous bottle, now in pieces on the kitchen floor.......I was tempted, [having watched a National Geographic program about 'Water'.....wherein women walked miles to a mud hole, soaked rags in the water, then...walked miles back 'home', where they wrung the water from the cloth into large gourds].....to soak up the oil with an old T-shirt, wring the oil out into a bowl and cook with it anyway........

A rolling wheel of Spicy Salmon Tartare with blackberries and avocado,  a crescent of Steak Tartare upon an herb oil with a black caviar  tuille,  &  a Pan-Roasted Beef Fillet, Dauphine Potato, Charred Asparagus & Red Wine Jus A beautifully cooked beef fillet, blushing pink and tender, paired with silky piped potato, smoky charred asparagus, earthy mushrooms, and a rich, glossy red wine jus.

.....WAS MORE INSTANTLY REWARDING THAN THE COMPLICATED BREAKFAST THAT I DESIGNED, WHILE SLEEPING & DREAMING,  STILL ABED, THIS MORNING...... AS I SWITCH UP SUNRISE DINING FOR AFTERNOON TEA.    

....My 'mess o' kale' , skillet-cooked in water, seasoned with red balsamic vinaigrette, hot chili oil, Mike's 'hot honey' and pomegranate dressing.....heated, until no longer 'soupy'....then, sliced scallions, chopped sweet pickled ginger, toasted sunflower seeds, crushed salted dry 'Harvest Snacks' green pea pods, a single strip of broken-up fried bacon, some previously-cooked basmanti rice with pineapple and sliced, boiled okra are added....the concoction is reduced, again, and a bit of yellow corn kernals, three or four chopped cherry tomatos, a dollop of coriander paste and a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds then added.....Did I get this 'right', Grandma?