A Many-Splendored Thing
I have a theory about falling in love. Maybe you know this already. It's a trick designed to hook you into resolving some deep childhood issue...usually with a parent. You fall in love with the man who's just like your inattentive father, or your overly protective mother. All you know is that he makes you feel like magic. Finally you are complete.
Sometimes this feeling can last for years, but more often it fades away quickly as you realize that you've constructed another relationship with that impossible parent. What should have been your salvation is something way too familiar. I've fallen for this trick a few times in my life, and didn't realize until way after the relationship was over what had really happened. All I knew was that I wanted to run. But this phenomenon, this moment when you realize you're falling...falling...and you surrender to the moment, and you're amazed that the universe could provide such a gift, is what songs and movies and books are written about. People lay down their lives for this feeling even though it's an illusion.
Back in the 80's I was working for a catering business that did a lot of parties for the film industry out here. The head chef was a handsome and hilarious guy, probably wildly funny because of his heavy drinking, but I liked that. I was drawn to people who drank more than I did. It gave me a comfortable excuse to drink with impunity since these people imbibed so much more, and were doing just fine. There was one client who used us to cater all their parties up in the Malibu hills. The setting was typical...big house, big pool, big view, lots of recognizable faces. The chef had started out very early that morning creating extremely impressive hors d'oeuvres. Miniature spanakopitas, leaves of endive piped with creamy goat cheese, caviar tartlets, plus the usual baskets of crudite, and platters of ripe berries that were always expected at these parties. We arrived, ten of us, chefs and servers, to the house about 4 pm, and got busy setting up trays, grilling off tiny shrimp kebabs with little crocks of dipping sauce, figuring out which herbs would work best as a garnish for each platter. The guests began to arrive and gathered around the pool. It was clear from the start what kind of party this would be. We had 2 bartenders and they were immediately overwhelmed with pouring out wine and beer and gin with tonic...slicing up limes...trying to keep up with demand. And then mirrors started appearing on tabletops, with tidy lines of cocaine being drawn for guests to enjoy. Remember, this was the 80's and the world was different then. By 7 pm the party was really in gear, and clearly this was not an eating crowd. The servers would make the rounds inside and outside with beautiful large trays of exquisite food, and bring them back to the kitchen untouched. Over and over again the trays would go out, and they would come back, piled high. The music was blaring, everyone was flying high, jumping in the pool, and even a few of the catering crowd were being thrown into the pool fully clothed. This was what a successful Malibu party was like. By midnight most of the guests had left and we were cleaning up...gathering all that food, wondering what we could do with it all.
The most neglected tray was filled with cherry tomatoes that the chef had stuffed with guacamole at 6 am that morning. He took one of them and stuck it on the end of his nose, and continued to clean and bus tables. Nobody seemed to notice except for me. It was at that moment that I fell in love with that man. Real love.
Guacamole is over as far as I'm concerned. It screams 1985. here is a much better use for a ripe avocado.
Avocado Dressing
flesh of 2 ripe avocados
1 garlic clove, minced
juice of 2 limes
¼ cup of orange juice (from the container is fine)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon strained yogurt
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon cumin
pinch salt
pinch cayenne
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. This is great on a salad or drizzled on fish or chicken. It's too thin to use as a dip, but then that would be guacamole. Don't make that anymore.