My new favorite past time lately is reading this new book that my sweet husband recently surprised me with. My Last Supper: The Next Course  is the second in a series by author Melanie Dunea. It is a journey through the lives and minds of 50 famous chefs, revealing what their last meal before death would look like. I wasn’t quite cool enough to have read the first one simply called, My Last Supper, but this one is its  follow-up. The author asks the same six questions to each chef and the answers that she’s given is astonishing! There are one word answers and then there are paragraphs upon paragraphs of detailed accounts of the speaker’s memories of the meal.

On more than one occasion I have been brought to tears by what I’ve read. While the concept of the book is so simple, the execution is very personal, revealing a peek into some of the most intimate lifetime stories and experiences. I seem to not be able to put it down! I highly recommend this book – even if you aren’t familiar with the book’s featured chefs. I’m not familiar with handfuls of them, but I found that it doesn’t make a difference whether I am or not.

It is a pretty special thing when people can come together over a common, undeniable and inevitable truth-that the end of our days will come at some point. To have the chance to entertain such a question as to what our last meal would be seems like such a simple feat, but in answering, its amazing what layers of a person can be revealed.

As I have been thumbing through the book over and over again throughout the past few weeks, I have been toying with what my own answers would be. This is always something that I find myself wanting to avoid because they are the kind of questions that I would very much want to have the right answer for-or better yet, the best answer for. But, truthfully, there isn’t a right or best answer. The answer just is. And, with that, the following is my attempt to answer the same six questions that 50 chefs answered in this book. Please note, tread lightly from here on out, I am experiencing feelings of vulnerability. 😉 Thank you.

What would be your last meal on earth?

At this very stage of my life, I would have to say that it would be a soft white- corn taco Asian/Fusion inspired and it would be sold to me from a food truck. I’m talking something like Korean BBQ or some other steak-ish meat (what’s steak-ish meat?) with a bright and tangy slaw and a sweet-like but maybe a little spicy sauce…with a slice of lime on the side for garnish. Oh, and cilantro and lots of it!

What would be the setting for the meal?

This is so hard to answer!!! As I sort through possible answers in my mind, I am reminded of favorite childhood spots growing up in Connecticut. But then also favorite spots from right here in Colorado! Which leads me to my final answer of Bear Lake by Estes Park in Rocky Mountain National Park. There. I said it. It would be fall and the Aspen trees would be changing all around me and the leaves would be falling into the lake and I could easily see their reflection in the water as they approached their gentle landing. Crisp, clean, glistening, cool fall air. I would need my CSU hoodie.

What would you drink with your meal?

This answer right here is a no-brainer! I would choose New Belgium Ranger IPA. Mmmmm, hops! I’d eat hops crumbled up on top of my ice cream if I could! Maybe this is a super basic answer, but it’s my favorite and I should have my favorite at my last supper, right?

Would there be music?

Yes, without a doubt. While I feel like I enjoy a very eclectic mix of music styles, I need to choose the music that makes me feel the way I do on a warm summer evening, relaxing in the back yard with a Ranger IPA. This feeling, if i’m being honest, is rare and I long for it so much. So, whether it is actually a cold winter night and I’m cooking in the kitchen with Chris, or it is during the summer, my music of choice would come from the soulful, bluesy rock of Big Head Todd and The Monsters; the super smooth, but cleverly gritty blues rock of Kenny Wayne Shepherd; and believe it or not, my third choice is a toss up between Live and Coldplay. Live’s soul-pressing, spiritually-driven, discover-what-this-life-is-about lyrics stop me in my tracks time and time again. But, my more recent appreciation for Coldplay’s spirit-stirring, piano riffs put me into a place of reflection that I think is valuable to slow down and experience from time to time. My answer? All of that up there.

Who would be your dining companions?

While I look around me at the people I surround myself with these days, I can whole heartedly announce that this, my friends, is it. This period in my life, while crazy, chaotic, trying and uncertain, is the period in which I feel like I have arrived. And, by that, I mean nothing proud or arrogant, but that I feel like I am no longer experiencing the confusion and unbalance of high school or the pressures of college and deciding what I’m going to be when I grow up. I am who I have become and I really think its OK. It’s good. All that to say, I am so grateful for my friends right now and if it were up to me, I would have a meal before my last meal, like the day before, that I would invite them all to and we would eat grilled vegetable pizza and Greek salad with lots of goat and Feta cheese. And beer. Craft beer.

But, for my actual last meal, I would have my family, of course, those closest to me. My husband, my children, my mom and dad, my sister, my mother and father in-law. And you know what else? I would make it so my grandparents could come too. Seeing my kids with their grandparents is so cool. It makes me wish I still had mine around to tell them how cool I think they are and to have them meet my own children. So, there it is-a very large family feast.

Who would prepare the meal?

Yikes! It wouldn’t be me. If it were, I would probably have to go by a recipe and my hope is, is that by the time my time comes, I will have given up my clutch of using recipes and be confident enough to make it on my own. But, anyhow, I wouldn’t want to be the preparer of my last supper. I feel like I might have to ask someone who is already really good at preparing Asian Fusion….let me think here a minute. Thinking, thinking…Haha! I’ve got it! And this is the truth. I would have Fabio Viviani, of Top Chef Season Five, make the meal. This is absolutely ironic because he is a full on Italian chef – but if it were up to me, which I know its not, but if it were, I would ask him ahead of time to learn how to cook Asian/Fusion. I just really think this guy is the bees knees (yes, that’s right, I just said bees knees). Funny, charming, humble…he would be a delight to have around. Here, let me show him to you:

Oh my word! I hope you allowed yourself a restroom break during all that! That was a crazy long post! Thank you for hanging in there! Maybe take some time and think about what your answers would be. I found it a good mind/emotion exercise!

Best to you!