Sunday, September 13, 2009

The One With the Chocolate in the Charger

Once again, I am confronted with the realization that I cannot control my own fate. Okay, so I don’t really believe in fate, per se… but you know what I mean. The last week of August, I had to cater a wedding reception for 500. Usually I have a partner to cook with, and we can split up the tasks. Having a partner doesn’t make it twice as easy. It makes it exponentially easier... something more like twenty times as easy. I know that doesn’t totally make sense, but it is true. Maybe when I am catering with Fawn, she does most of the work! I hadn’t thought of that… I hope it isn’t true, but there it is. A distinct possibility.

So anyway, it was a Friday. I had done as much of the prep work as I could on Thursday. Alright, that is a lie. I had procrastinated a few things I could have done on Thursday, and they were coming back to bite me. It was two hours before the reception, and I was officially losing my sanity. I had co-opted the help of my 16-year-old son Dillon and his friend Sam, and we were running from place to place, dropping off supplies at the venue, picking up last-minute items at stores. I sent Dillon into a store with my credit card to pick up all the cut fruit for the displays, and I kept Sam to help me load my car quickly while Dillon was in the store. As we pulled away from the store, my mind was a snarl of stressful thoughts. I was imagining all the things I still had to do, and realizing there was not time to do them. Just then, I noticed a car backing out toward me. I was already passing her, and I chanted aloud, Don’t hit my car, don’t hit my car… and then CRASH. She hit my car.
Maybe it was just a little reminder. Things can always be worse. And after all, it is just a car. I really don’t care about cars. So this week my car is in the body shop being fixed. The lady’s insurance paid for a rental car, which happens to be this pretty sporty Dodge Charger. I have been enjoying driving around in it. Except this morning we got in it to go to church, and Skippy told me, Mama, I think you ruined your new car.

It is not ruined, exactly.

I had glazed two giant chocolate ganache cakes a couple of hours before the event I catered yesterday. When it was time to leave, they were still a little wet (translation: gooey chocolate bombs just waiting to go off). So we lined the back seat of the Charger with newspaper and set the cakes, still on a cooling rack, where they would not slide around. And they didn’t. All the way to Orange, thirty miles and three different freeways. All the way until the off-ramp thirty seconds from the venue. It was a shorter off-ramp than I anticipated. You know what? They still tasted good, and a little upholstery cleaning later, and you can barely tell at all. And you know what else? There are worse things. Ask any car rental place. I bet they will tell you that they practically never have people coming in to complain that their rental car smells like chocolate.

9 comments:

alpinekleins said...

Hee! Sounds delicious, I'd be back there licking the chocolate off the seats. Can't ever waste good chocolate!

Bravo for you Victoria! You are an amazing woman and my heroine!

Kristin

CB said...

It could be fun to drive a Charger around for awhile - especially a chocolate one!! I'm In!!

Jessica said...

Now you can sympathize with me and my cake experience!

Victoria said...

Oh man... I totally thought of you and your cake. BUT, yours was a hundred times more stressful. I didn't care if mine still looked beautiful. Okay, maybe I cared a little. But I was pretty zen about it.

Cranberryfries said...

That is a sporty car. At least you have a good attitude about the whole thing. I love your parting thought. No one would ever complain about it smelling like chocolate. :)

Anonymous said...

All I have to say is: Sweet car!

Jamie said...

Hey, Vic! I FINALLY got around to listeing to your latest music! (Hooray for school!) Anyway, they are wonderful! I want them on my playlist. Keep on treckin' baby! You're doing great!!! Let me know when I can buy the album.

Kathi Oram Peterson said...

You're right. I can't imagine anyone complaining because their rental car smelled like chocolate, though I suppose it could be bad for someone on a diet.:) By the way, I made your amazingly magical bread today. For the first time in I can't tell you how long (nor do I want to admit how many years) I have finally found a wheat bread recipe that works!!! Hubby likes it, too. And it was so easy. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

Fawn said...

I don't know, but there's something about those ganache cakes....