In the Summer of 2008, I was contacted by a young, single professional named Devon. He was a tax accountant that lived a busy life in Durham, NC who worked part time from his home. He was also an avid world traveler and explorer, climbing Everest at one point, and surfing big waves in Hawaii. He had curly blond hair that met his shoulders and the bluest eyes I think I have ever seen. He was of a medium build, not too muscled up, but toned. When I came to interview Devon, I immediately could tell he loved the outdoors, not only by the golden tan he sported, but from all the photos he had framed of his outdoor accomplishments. Picture after picture hung on the wood paneled walls of his living room, as well as pIllows from Kazakhstan, India and Nepal thrown about on his leather sofa. He was one of those guys that traveled all over the globe in search of adventure after adventure. I guessed that his life was a balance between boring accounting and extreme sport. When he was not out hiking in some remote dessert or hanging off a cliff somewhere, he was living his simple life in Durham, as an accountant.
During our initial interview, I realized how incredibly focused he was about what he put into his body. He asked me to make sure I shopped completely organic and that I only use certain salts (Himalayan, in particular) and oils (primarily coconut), that he demanded he provide for me. He let me know that he loved ALL vegetables, especially legumes. He preferred white meat chicken, lean beef, any and all seafood and fish, and on occasion, possibly a pork tenderloin. When we were discussing how he liked his meats prepared he stressed that he needed the meats “cut into small pieces”. I thought this was a bit interesting and wondered why, but didn’t want to pry. Did he have a swallowing disorder? Did he think that the proteins were absorbed better after chewing small pieces? Was he eating on the go? A “mindful eater” perhaps? The questions ran through my brain, but I didn’t want him to feel like I was judging, so, I never asked. He had his reasons and I was to make his meals the way he needed me to make them.
After the first cooking session, he emailed me later in the week to say he “LOVED the whipped broccoli!” I had made him a signature side dish that I would sometimes use to stuff baked chicken breast. He also stated that he wanted more options like that. I began making a list of all the veggies I had whipped or pureed for past clients. I started with the usual things that are generally whipped or mashed: Potatoes, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower…then he began requesting other things.
”Can you whip carrots for me?”
”Sure!”
”How about beets? What do you think whipped beets would be like?!”
”Soft. Red?”
”Ok. How about green beans?”
”Well, I would need a food processor for those, otherwise they might be stringy or chunky…”
Every week, he would send me more requests for more veggies to me mashed, pureed or whipped. He even bought me a Cuisinart food processor to use to make new favorite side dishes. Over dinner one evening, my husband and I were discussing how my cooks were going that week and I brought up Devon. After explaining that he needed all his meats cut up into 1/2 inch cubes and his veggies whipped, David dubbed him “Baby Food Man”.
Devon lived in a plain looking two story townhouse with the tiniest kitchen that I had ever seen. One counter hosted both the sink and the electric stove, which offered me minimal workspace. I somehow MacGyvered the kitchen to work for me. His appliances were from the Eighties and sometimes the back burner would conk out at the worst times. There were lots of “workarounds” that I anticipated each time I cooked for him, and to say it was mildly stressful would be an understatement.
I packaged his meals in complete serving containers, so that he would have his protein, veg and starch or carb in one easy to heat container. I imagined him on the way to his office, eating with a plastic spoon in his car at red lights. I imagined him eating with a plastic spoon while walking. I imagined him eating with a plastic spoon while laying in bed. The scenarios in my mind were endless, as well as the reasons.
After a few months, he started to work from home a lot more. Generally, he would be in his upstairs office, quiet as a mouse, while I was listening to NPR on my portable transistor radio while dicing meats and pureeing various veggies. One afternoon, I was chopping a BBQ glazed chicken breast into minute pieces and was startled to hear heavy breathing close behind me. I spun around with my knife in hand and stared in shocked as Devon was on a portable stair stepper on the other side of the ironing board I had devised as a cooling station, no more than 5 feet behind me. He was wearing nothing but sneakers and micro shorts, the kind that runners wear that expose the sides of their upper thighs. He began panting harder and harder as he was stepping in place. The stunned look on my face, with knife in hand, must have clued him in that this was an uncomfortable situation for me.
”Oh, don’t mind me! Just trying to get in my steps!!”, he panted.
”Oh, uh, ok….” I said, trying to act as if it was totally normal, but feeling really uncomfortable. He could have easily done this activity upstairs, but I kind of felt like he was trying to show off his body to me. It just felt icky.
A week later, he let me know that he was going to be leaving for a two month trek with his Dad, in Mongolia, and wouldn’t need my services for a while. I wished him luck on his upcoming journey and never heard from him again. I truly hope he didn’t meet his demise, possibly from choking on some large cut of goat meat or a root vegetable that wasn’t whipped.
Until next week, Thanks for reading.
Also, something NEW: You can leave a comment below as well. I’d love to hear what you think.
-Shirlé
**All names, places and occupations have been changed to protect the identity of all clients.
This Weeks Paid Supporters:
A very special shout out to the following paid subscribers:
Robinlee Garber, Chef Lynn Warlick Wells, Jake Brokaw and Miyuki Furtado and Spanky Wilson!
-Robinlee is a childhood friend and all around renaissance woman, living and playing music in Chicago.
-Chef Lynn is a fellow Personal Chef buddy and owner of Thyme Well Spent, Personal Chef Service, based out of Greensboro NC. When not cooking for clients or food styling for cookbooks, she can be found hobnobbing with tastemakers and culinary shakers all over the country.
-Jake and his wife Brigitte have long been huge supporters of my cooking and are also huge supporters of the arts in Baltimore, Maryland. Jake also has an Orthopedic practice I have had to use a few times.
-Miyuki has been a lifelong friend and bandmate of mine from days long past. He’s also one of the best fathers and husbands I know and has raised one of the coolest kids, his daughter Mino along with his sweet wife Tricia. Miyuki currently plays music in his Alt-Country band, Divining Rod. You can listen to Divining Rod out on all music platforms. (Chef Lynn, I think you would LOVE his music!)
-Spanky has been a huge supporter of my cooking from my NC days. When not fire fighting you might find Spanky hiking the Appalachian trail.
Thank you all sooo much for supporting me in this endeavor. I am truly grateful for you.
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