State Dinner for Prince Charles & Camilla

[*Deborah*]

I considered a similar approach (sans Paris), but would probably have been even more vulgar and gotten in trouble!

Well done!

[Cucina]

I considered a similar approach (sans Paris), but would probably have been even more vulgar and gotten in trouble!

Well done!

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Thanks! There was a fair amount of self censoring involved. I did however forget to say how hurt Paris was by the bi-partisan condemnation of her White House cooking extravaganza because she made every effort to be BI about her menu selections.

[Pontormo]

This IS funny, thanks! I really had wanted some folk to be silly or try to inhabit another self for a change. You obviously did both. I especially enjoyed the postscript.

And thank you, too, Bill Miller--I just read your choice of a southwestern theme, something that was on my mind as well.

I was actually thinking of being Tom Keller and designing an eleven-course meal with two dishes in each, working one's way through American culinary history from the base to the sublime while responding to different regions of the United States.

Got as far as an inverted California burger (ethereal poached sesame dumpling with an avocado and bacon core, coated with organic free-range beef, Kibbeh style) wrapped in lettuce and plated with a thin streak of Ancho-ketchup, a small pile of slivered deep-fried white root vegetables and a cornichon.

On the side would be what appears to be a frothy chocolate milk shake in a small, tapered, ribbed glass with a base that was designed expressly for the dish. The chocolate would actually be a rich beef broth with a hint either of mushroom or maybe something like a mole sauce to respect what the drink resembles. The straw would be fashioned from a special variety of chive that assumes a very pale hue if treated like cauliflower as it grows.

I abandoned the effort since everyone was being very thoughtful and serious. My own plans were also all rather too much and without a succession of truly complementary dishes, it just wouldn't be in the spirit intended.