Rock This Kitchen

An anecdotal guide to the single man’s quest for comfort food In 1988 I stayed at David Foster’s Studio in Malibu, California for about 4 months. During that time I kept a daily diary of my thoughts, feelings and the general goings on at the studio, the various stars and celebrities who came and went, and of David’s comments and behavior. This book consists, in part, of some of the entries of that diary, and of some other episodes involving David, Ronnie Hawkins, Prince Charles, Pierre Trudeau, Patsy Gallant, Vikki Gabereau and a host of other characters, including members of my band “Bearfoot”. This is not a “tell all’ script. It is primarily a cookbook, containing nearly 50 original recipes, each of which is preceded by a retrospective anecdote involving me and some of the above-mentioned characters. Everything that happens in this book is true. Nothing contained herein could be characterized as fiction. During the late 1990’s, I began a “pen pal” relationship with one of my cousins. Those correspondences were primarily done by email and I have included them here simply because they seemed funny. I left them basically unaltered, and I felt they added some comic relief and a pleasant distraction from the main theme of the book. This book also contains some essays; one dealing with global warming, another with the commercialization of Christmas. One essay deals with why very famous people sometimes become personally tainted by their success and how that corruption affects others. Throughout this book I document the beginning, middle and end of a very painful relationship I had with a woman I loved deeply. The depiction of this relationship provides a thin but very heartfelt thread of poignancy, which I’m sure most cookbooks lack.

In 1988, I stayed at David Foster’s studio in Malibu, California for about 4 months. During that time I kept a daily diary of my thoughts, feelings and the general goings on at the studio, the various stars and celebrities who came and went, and of David’s comments and behavior. This book consists, in part, of some of the entries of that diary, and of some other episodes involving David, Ronnie Hawkins, Prince Charles, Pierre Trudeau, Jeff Porcaro,Vikki Gabereau and a host of other characters, including members of my band “Bearfoot”. This is not a “tell all’ script. It is primarily a cookbook, containing nearly 50 original recipes, each of which is preceded by a retrospective anecdote involving me and some of the above-mentioned characters. Everything that happens in this book is true. Nothing contained herein could be characterized as fiction. During the late 1990’s, I began a “pen pal” relationship with one of my cousins. Those correspondences were primarily done by email and I have included them here simply because they seemed funny and because the dialogue was centered around culinary themes. I left them basically unaltered but did clean up some of the formatting and in certain cases, the grammar and spelling unless the grammar and spelling were intended to be incorrect. This book also contains some essays; one dealing with global warming, another with the commercialization of Christmas. One essay deals with why very famous people sometimes become personally tainted by their success and how that corruption affects others. Near the end of this book there is a chapter that deals with suicide. In no way should it be taken seriously. It is an attempt at humor, irony and sarcasm. Throughout this book I document the beginning, middle and end of a very painful relationship I had with a woman I loved deeply. The depiction of this relationship provides a thin but very heartfelt thread of poignancy, which I’m sure most cookbooks lack. My relationships with the people mentioned in this book are genuine, and thanks to my daily diary, the events are accurate. All the recipes are original (although I did a lot of research on the internet) and I take full responsibility for the results, should you wish to try them. One disclaimer: I am not a professional chef. Even professional chefs sometimes make mistakes. I recently attempted a recipe from a very famous chef who appears regularly on a popular cooking program. The recipe failed because the directions were inaccurate. The oven temperatures in the recipe were wrong and resulted in a culinary failure. I have tested each of my recipes in real time in my own kitchen and can assure you they will bring very satisfactory results. However, each oven behaves differently, and there are other factors which may influence the outcome, such as how much booze you have consumed before attempting the recipe. I cannot accept responsibility for these and other random factors should they result in a less than satisfactory outcome. I express opinions about certain people in this book and those opinions should be held apart from the facts. As I said, everything in this book actually occurred. There are no fictitious renderings of an event. My opinions, on the other hand, are merely personal observations, to which I am entitled. Some of the dialogue may not be verbatim since it is nearly impossible to recall the exact conversations one may have had 30 or 40 years ago. I can assure you the spirit of those conversations is accurate. There is no "plot" in this book. While there is a timeline which jumps around a fair amount, it is helpful to remember that the stories or "anecdotes" are provided for entertainment value, if entertainment is the right word. Some recipes are imbedded in the narrative but most appear at the end of each chapter. An autobiographical cookbook may seem at first glance to be a rather unwieldy literary vehicle. After an exhaustive search I have concluded the 'genre' does exist but is somewhat limited. I tried to find the humor, if there was any, in most of these stories and I did my best to stay away from personal attacks. If anyone mentioned in these stories takes offense I sincerely apologize. It was not my intention to hurt anyone's feelings. Sometimes, the truth hurts.

Dwayne Ford Biography Dwayne Ford was born in Edmonton, Alberta on October 7th, 1949 to American parents. Dwayne has dual nationality and regards that distinction as his most valuable. At the age of five, he began piano lessons, and has been a professional musician since the age of 16. Dwayne Ford is a talented and accomplished composer and musician who has written, performed and recorded with some of the music industry's biggest names including David Foster, the band ‘TOTO’, Donovan, and countless producers and musicians. Dwayne has won awards from The American Song festival, The Tokyo Music Festival, and six awards from the SOCAN. A founding member of the band Atkinson, Danko and Ford (which would become Bearfoot), Dwayne recorded five albums for CBS, producing the last one himself. (it is now a collector’s item thanks to the names appearing on the album). “Bearfoot” was nominated for a JUNO award, and shortly thereafter Dwayne arranged and co-produced a million selling record called “From New York to L.A.” for Canadian songstress Patsy Gallant. His foray into writing is a labor of love. “I do not think of myself as a writer by any means. I just love the process so much I can’t help myself. Sometimes I just have to write”.