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| David Vartanian |
By Charles Buller, M. Div
Palm Village Vice-President of Advancement
Most of you have probably noticed that there is a new interest in cooking in our culture. With the advent of 24/7 cable television came the Food Network and the Cooking Network. Cooks such as Rachel Ray, Paula Deen and Guy Fieri have become household names to those with culinary curiosity.
We at Palm Village have joined the fun. For the second year in a row, David Vartanian of the Vintage Press in Visalia has contributed his lifelong skill in the Kitchen to our spring fundraiser which we simply call our Living Legacy Guest Chef event. This has become an annual event and next year promises some new surprises as we have already begun the planning!
This year we had 140 in attendance. Chef Vartanian wanted to emphasis the local faire. The evening began with amazing hors d’oeuvres of grape leaf wraps, almond, date and bacon wraps, and then transitioned to a main course featuring Shisk-Kabob (most in attendance who like lamb said it was the best they have ever tasted), rice pilaf, asparagus, and his now famous carrot puree vegetable.
During the Q and A portion of the event David revealed the secret to his scrumptious carrots—he simply cooks them in butter (no water added), purées them when done and then adds half and half.
Chef Vartanian entertained the crowd by taking the entire shank of a lamb and reducing it down to barbecue-sized portions. His strawberry shortcake to follow was absolutely terrific. Special thanks to Gordon Wiebe of Wiebe Farms for providing the video cast so all could see the demonstration!
Those of us who plan this event want to thank those of you who contributed to make this a great evening. A combination of management staff, and board of director’s donations cover the cost of the food so that all other gifts benefit our living legacy fund. An additional $13,000 will be added to this fund by the time all checks from the evening have been received.
Next year’s guest chef event is shaping up to take a slightly different format. Watch this newsletter for some interesting developments as the event approaches in April of 2011!
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