Guess Who's Cooking Dinner?

“Hello? Horry County Library, may I help you?”

           “Reference Desk, please.”

           “Reference, may I help you?”

           “I need a contact to report Elder abuse. Do you have a reference for that?”

           “I’m sure we do. If you would give me your name and number, I will call you as soon as I locate the information.”

           “Thank you. My name is Allyson Fowler; and, my number is 555-3600.”

           “I will call back shortly.”

           It was ten minutes before the phone rang.

           “Hello, Ms Fowler?”

           “Yes, this is Ms Fowler.”

           “This is Joan at the reference desk at the library. I found the information you wanted.”

           “Great! I have a pen and paper ready.”

           “According to a listing of helpful organizations, given by the State, you may call the Department of Social Services or, depending on the elder person’s address, the city Police Department or Horry County Sherriff’s Department. Also, according to a brochure I found, you may take the elder to the closest hospital and they know exactly whom to call for the fastest attention. Does that help?”

           “Yes, it helps a lot. Thank you.”

           “Goodbye.”

           I turned to Betty with a big smile, “There are two of your bibliography references. List the Public Library as one and the hospital as another. Since we already found this information in the phonebook, that makes the last three required references for you paper on Elder Abuse.”

           “Joe, I don’t know how you come up with this stuff. I was sure I would be short on my references. I just hope the professor accepts them.”

           “She will. They are a hundred percent legit and verifiable.  Your paper is done and ready to submit on time.”

           “Thanks, Joe. I’ll let you know how it turns out. I hate to rush; but, I have to get home and fix supper for the boys.”

           “Bye, Betty.  I have to get cooking, too. Talk to you later.”

           Bill would soon be home and ready for supper. I sure hope I have something I could fix fast. Betty and I had worked on her term paper all day. Bill always wanted his supper as soon as he came through the door.

           The only thin thawed was a brace of quail Bill had shot before going to work. I have never cooked quail.

           “Hello, Horry County Public Library. May I help you?”

           “Reference Desk, please.”

           “Reference, may I help you?”

           “I’m not sure. Do you have reference material on cooking?”

           “Yes, we do. How may I help?”

           “I have a brace of fresh quail; and, I have never cooked quail. I need a fast and good recipe.”

           “If you would leave your name and phone number I will call you as soon as I locate some recipes.”

           “Thank you. My name is Allyson Fowler; and, my number is 555-3600.”

           “Oh, yes! Ms Fowler, I hope the previous information was helpful. I will call right back. Goodbye.”

           Ten minutes later, she called back. If nothing else, she was predictable and prompt.

           “Hello, Ms Fowler?”

           “Yes, this is Ms Fowler.”

           “This is Joan at the reference desk at the library.   I have a fast and easy recipe for you. It calls for wild rice; but, I am sure you could substitute brown, yellow, or white.”

           “That’s wonderful. I have a brown and wild rice mixture that I love. I have a pen and paper, go ahead.”

           “In a deep pan, heat oil for frying. Drop all quail in the oil until they just begin to change color. Remove from oil and allow to drain. Cook rice. When rice is done, stuff quail with rice. Drizzle quail and rice with cream of chicken soup. Place any left over rice in baking dish and top with stuffed quail. Bake in oven that has been preheated to 375 until quail brown. Serve hot. I hope that will help. It was an older cookbook.”

           “That is fine. I have everything and it sounds like I will have enough time to get it ready. Thank you!”

           “You are welcome, Ms Fowler. Goodbye.”

The recipe was easy, quick and smelled great. Now I could only hope Bill liked it. If he didn’t, he would be furious that I wasted his quail.

           “What’s this?” That did not sound promising. Bill sounded angry and upset.

           “I saw the quail in the fridge; and, I fixed them for supper.”

           “They don’t look like how I usually eat them.”

           “I’m sorry; but, you have never shot any for me to cook; so, I made something I thought you would like.”

           I fixed the plates and sat down to supper. Bill kept cutting his eyes at me, as though to warn me the quail had better be good. I was aware that Bill could have a temper where his food was concerned. I held my breath until he tasted the quail.

           “If I had known you knew how to really cook, I would have been shooting quail all along. I expected to have to cook them myself. You did a good job with these.”

           I sent up a silent “Thank You!” to Joan, before starting to eat. They really were good.

           “Hello? Horry County Public Library. How may I help you?”

           “Reference Desk, please.”

           “Reference, may I help you?”

           “Yes. I need a recipe for goat.”

           “For what?”

           “Goat. Someone gave my husband a goat ham. He wants it for supper. I have never cooked goat. Do you think you could find a recipe?”

           “This has to be Ms Fowler.”

           “It is, Joan. I hate to keep having you look up things like this; but, I have no idea where to find them on my own.”

           “Don’t worry about calling. Yours are some of the more interesting calls. This one may take a little longer than the others. Give me your number and I will call you back as soon as I find something.”

           “Thank you. It’s 555-3600. Goodbye.”

           Joan was right. It took her over twenty minutes to call me back.

           “Hello, Ms Fowler?”

           “Yes, this is Ms Fowler.”

           “This is Joan at the reference desk. I have found a recipe that seems very easy. Are you ready?”

           “Yes. I’m ready.”

           “I had to really hunt. The recipe is from ‘Larousse Gastronomique’ which is the go to book for gourmet cooking and professional chefs. First, wrap the goat meat in bacon and season to taste. Cook on low heat for several hours until tender. Remove meat from bone and add favorite barbeque seasonings. Return meat to cook for thirty minutes checking that it does not dry out. Will that do?”

           “Yes it will. Thank you. It looks like the reference desk is going to turn me into a decent cook.”

           “Glad I could help. Call anytime you wish. It isn’t hurting my cooking, either. Goodbye.”

           “Hello?”

           “Hey, Joe! Guess what? I got an A+ on my paper, plus extra credit for ‘thinking out side of the box’ on my references. Could not have done it without you, thanks.”

           “Anytime, Betty. I got a lot out of this assignment myself. Bye.”