the years she has had her own catering company, gaining an excellent reputation for cooking easy food that can be thrown together quickly, that nevertheless looks and tastes as if she had been cooking carefully and diligently for hours.
More recently, she had become the chef at Harmont House, a home founded ten years ago in Nyack, for families escaping abuse and addiction, helping them get back on their feet.
Ten years ago, Grace’s friend Sybil came to her and asked her if she would be interested in joining the board. Only, Grace said, if she could actually do something there. Clemmie was still in middle school, Grace counting the hours until she got home, desperate for something to relieve the boredom of having nothing to do.
She became the chef. Not just cooking for the residents of the home, but teaching them how to cook, just as, all those years ago, she herself was taught. Harmont House was now her passion, and her job, and the one place she truly considered her sanctuary.
Grace teaches them the way Lydia once taught her, and throws in the lessons she learned at culinary school: how to organize a kitchen; how to shop for food; what makes the basis of a great sauce.
Five days a week Grace, feet slipped into clogs, an apron wrapped around her, hair scraped back into a bun, cooks first in her own kitchen, then shows up at Harmont House with the ingredients for one last dish for her lesson.
She introduced the English classics Lydia had taught her to cook and that she had learned to love: toad in the hole, bubble and squeak. The cooking humbles her, but more than the cooking, more than the service she is providing, it is the relationships she has with the women, the friendships she has made, that bind her. She has the ability to make a difference in these women’s lives and they, equally importantly, are open to her help.
Her passion, her job and a way to heal the wounds of the past.
Ted will tell people he loves Harmont House, has to tell people he is supportive of the work Grace does, but in private he is jealous of the amount of time it takes up in Grace’s life. He has learned to keep this to himself, but it comes out in bitter sideways swipes.
Still. This does not change Grace’s commitment. She loves cooking for these women just as much as she loves cooking for friends. Her dinner parties, particularly since her success as a chef, are legendary, desserts more so. Anyone coming to the house to write a profile about Ted knows in advance that part of the profile will include long and loving descriptions of the delicious food that Grace provides.
Whatever her passions, whatever her work, still she has time for Ted. She must make time for Ted, ensure he is the number one priority in her life. Whatever is going on in Grace’s life, and it is by no means as easy as it sounds, from the outside, her life looks perfect.
‘You look as if you have never had a hard day in your life,’ someone once said at a dinner party. Grace smiled, for she had learned to hide her secrets and shame well. She had learned to never discuss what she came from, the hell of growing up as she did, having the mother she had.
The more perfect the illusion, the more her secrets will recede. Or so she thinks.
If she just keeps running and running, keeps being the perfect wife, mother, cook, the past will surely just disappear.
BUTTERY KEDGEREE
(Serves 4)
Adapted from Delia Smith
INGREDIENTS
340g smoked salmon trout fillets
110g butter
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon fish sauce
200g uncooked rice
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
3 heaped tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Melt half the butter in a frying pan. Soften onion in it for 5 minutes.
Stir curry powder into the onion, stir in rice, and add 500ml water and fish sauce.
Stir well, bring to boil, cover, and turn down to a gentle simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is cooked.
Remove salmon trout flesh from skin.
More recently, she had become the chef at Harmont House, a home founded ten years ago in Nyack, for families escaping abuse and addiction, helping them get back on their feet.
Ten years ago, Grace’s friend Sybil came to her and asked her if she would be interested in joining the board. Only, Grace said, if she could actually do something there. Clemmie was still in middle school, Grace counting the hours until she got home, desperate for something to relieve the boredom of having nothing to do.
She became the chef. Not just cooking for the residents of the home, but teaching them how to cook, just as, all those years ago, she herself was taught. Harmont House was now her passion, and her job, and the one place she truly considered her sanctuary.
Grace teaches them the way Lydia once taught her, and throws in the lessons she learned at culinary school: how to organize a kitchen; how to shop for food; what makes the basis of a great sauce.
Five days a week Grace, feet slipped into clogs, an apron wrapped around her, hair scraped back into a bun, cooks first in her own kitchen, then shows up at Harmont House with the ingredients for one last dish for her lesson.
She introduced the English classics Lydia had taught her to cook and that she had learned to love: toad in the hole, bubble and squeak. The cooking humbles her, but more than the cooking, more than the service she is providing, it is the relationships she has with the women, the friendships she has made, that bind her. She has the ability to make a difference in these women’s lives and they, equally importantly, are open to her help.
Her passion, her job and a way to heal the wounds of the past.
Ted will tell people he loves Harmont House, has to tell people he is supportive of the work Grace does, but in private he is jealous of the amount of time it takes up in Grace’s life. He has learned to keep this to himself, but it comes out in bitter sideways swipes.
Still. This does not change Grace’s commitment. She loves cooking for these women just as much as she loves cooking for friends. Her dinner parties, particularly since her success as a chef, are legendary, desserts more so. Anyone coming to the house to write a profile about Ted knows in advance that part of the profile will include long and loving descriptions of the delicious food that Grace provides.
Whatever her passions, whatever her work, still she has time for Ted. She must make time for Ted, ensure he is the number one priority in her life. Whatever is going on in Grace’s life, and it is by no means as easy as it sounds, from the outside, her life looks perfect.
‘You look as if you have never had a hard day in your life,’ someone once said at a dinner party. Grace smiled, for she had learned to hide her secrets and shame well. She had learned to never discuss what she came from, the hell of growing up as she did, having the mother she had.
The more perfect the illusion, the more her secrets will recede. Or so she thinks.
If she just keeps running and running, keeps being the perfect wife, mother, cook, the past will surely just disappear.
BUTTERY KEDGEREE
(Serves 4)
Adapted from Delia Smith
INGREDIENTS
340g smoked salmon trout fillets
110g butter
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon fish sauce
200g uncooked rice
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
3 heaped tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Melt half the butter in a frying pan. Soften onion in it for 5 minutes.
Stir curry powder into the onion, stir in rice, and add 500ml water and fish sauce.
Stir well, bring to boil, cover, and turn down to a gentle simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is cooked.
Remove salmon trout flesh from skin.
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