by Drew Kime
Shouldn't I have performance anxiety?
Man, those cameras are big. Lights are pretty hot. Do they really need that many people in here? I've never done this in front of so many people before. Okay, here she comes. She's taller than I expected. She seems really confident, I can tell she's done this with hundreds of people. Hope she thinks I'm good. Take a deep breath, and … "Hi Robin, I'm going to be showing you how to do a frozen chocolate truffle pie."
It's my first time cooking on live TV. I knew I could cook, but presenting it on TV, that's a whole different ball game. Any minute my mouth will dry out, I'll forget the next step, I'll forget to take a breath and talk until I pass out …something. Public speaking scares people more than death, and it's been over 20 years since I was in that play in high school. I'm really not ready for this.
It doesn't help that I got stuck in traffic on the way to the station and walked in three minutes before the show went live. I was on after the second commercial, so I had to move fast. And *&^%$#@!!!! I forgot the butter. Yeah, this is going to be just great.
And … it was great. I charmed the three ladies from the earlier segment. My wife said they were giggling like schoolgirls. (Of course they'd already finished their first bottle of wine and it wasn't 10:30 a.m. yet.) I got the pie done and pulled out the finished stunt double for the closeup. Told jokes, got the entire recipe in there. And I wasn't nervous. Like, at all. What the hell?
I guess the last year I've spent writing the food blog was good practice. I always try to write the way I talk, so I've really been "talking" to a pretty good sized audience several times a week for months. I don't think I said anything on air that I hadn't written already, so it's not like I was even coming up with new material. She just asked questions, and I knew the answers. It was easy. Hell, it was fun.
Athletes and artists frequently talk about being in a "flow state" where they're not conscious of what they're doing. There's a term from psychology that sort of captures it: automaticity. When a behavior has been praticed so many times that you no longer think about the mechanics of it, it becomes automatic. Like driving a car. You start out tentative, thinking about your mirrors, the brake pedal, the turn signal. Eventually the only thing you're thinking about is getting around that granny in the Volvo. You've achieved automaticity behind the wheel.
That feeling of confidence can be an incredible rush if you take the time to notice it. I'm not talking about the self-affirmation kind of confidence, where you look into the mirror and tell yourself, "I am good enough, I am smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!" No, this is the feeling of absolute certainty that you've got it covered.
That's how it felt on that kitchen set. I wasn't thinking about the recipe, or the chocolate, or the whipped cream. I was barely thinking about what I was saying. I just went out there and performed.
Oh, by the way, you want the recipe for the pie I made? Here you go.
Frozen Chocolate Truffle Pie
Ingredients:
12 ounces bitter sweet or semi sweet chocolate
1-1/2 sticks butter
6 large egg whites
4 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
pinch cream of tartar
pre-baked pie crust
Directions:
Melt the butter in a double boiler, then add the chocolate, cocoa, sugar
and salt.
While the chocolate melts, separate the eggs.
Start mixing the chocolate and butter together as soon as you see the
chips start to melt. When the chocolate is completely melted, and the
sugar and cocoa are incorporated, remove it from the heat and mix the
yolks in one at a time.
Set the chocolate mixture aside and let it cool to room temperature. While
it's cooling, add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat until it
forms stiff peaks. Congratulations, you just made meringue.
Add about a third of the meringue to the room-temperature chocolate and
mix it in. Then add the rest of the meringue and fold it in gently. Try
not to deflate the eggs while folding. Once the meringue is completely
incorporated, pour the mixture into a pre-baked pie crust.
Spread the chocolate evenly. If you're fussy about this stuff, like I am,
make sure the top looks nice. Freeze for at least two hours, four would be
better.
Cut with a very sharp knife, not a pie spatula. Serve with fresh whipped
cream.
For step-by-step directions, see the original version of this at How
To Cook Like Your Grandmother. While you're there, you can check out
more than 200 other recipes that would have looked right at home in
Grandma's kitchen.