Men Who Cook & Men Who Mix
In 2000, I became a member of the Board of Directors at River Oaks Art Square Center and served on this amazing board for seven years. I plan to dedicate a blog solely to this extraordinary museum in the very near future.
I believe it was back in 2001, when Rachael Dauzat, Executive Director along with the rest of the board members decided on hosting a fundraiser where the town’s prominent men (Jurys still out on how I got into this category lol) would bake their specialties and serve samples of their secret recipes to the public.
The 1st Men Who Cook event was a huge success. It was an intimate affair that attracted a crowd of 150 and surprisingly, my famous gourmet chocolate chip cookies were voted Best Dessert.
Eventually, men who created specialty cocktails participated and instead of voting for the best recipe, the winners were determined by the amount of money they received in their tip jar, and instead of individual cooks participating, teams of men from surrounding businesses were competing.
When this wonderful cook-off became a team effort, I involved my then co-workers at KALB-TV. I would stay up all night until the early morning of the event baking several cakes and dozens of cookies. This was an easy task for the men of KALB-TV because they would arrive at my house after everything was done. My team members would sample the baked goods to make sure that the cookies and cakes met the high standard that their taste buds require and then they would head to the pool to swim and have a few beers until it was time to get ready for the event. Their lack of involvement in the baking process did not bother me because the old saying is true, ‘too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth’. As of today, the Men Who Cook & Men Who Mix event is one of River Oaks Art Square Center’s most successful and profitable fundraisers.
By taking part in this fundraiser for so many years, I’ve become an excellent baker and I’m currently writing a cookbook titled, ‘A Box and A Bottle’. I plan to show how one can turn a box of cake mix and a bottle of booze into a culinary masterpiece.
Cheers!
- David
For more information on River Oaks Art Square Center, visit RiverOaksArtsCenter.com.
