#63 The Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous Cookbook

#63 The Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous Cookbook

It just goes to show you, money can't buy happiness. This cookbook was published in 1992 and these are the people we were suppose to envy and and want to be like at that time. They were eating well, just not a lot. See the photo of the Lobster Bouillon, three peas, six tiny pieces of green bean and a nibble of lobster. I've had more stuck in my teeth after a big meal. Then there's the people, Elizabeth Taylor and husband number 8 chowing down on roast chicken at Michael Jackson's Neverland. What a train wreak that was. Tatum O'Neal was cooking a grilled shrimp risotto, is she out of rehab yet? Poor Florence Griffith Joyner was talking about a healthy lifestyle and she would be dead less than 6 years later. Half the people in the book are either dead, divorced or only forgotten, if they're lucky.

So that got me thinking of the "Rich and Famous" I've met over my lifetime. There haven't been many but I have hung out with a few billionaires. I wonder how many there are in the world? I've met at least 4. The first are two ladies, a Mom and daughter, that I met because my sister used to help decorate for one of the parties they threw for the elite of Kansas City each year. I happened to be visiting and she took me along to help. They were lovely and didn't seem demanding at all. Marty got invited to a luncheon and to the mansion so she knew all the dirt. Seems like daughter "may" have dated JFK Jr. but she ended up with a carpenter who came to fix something around the house. I have always told my hubby, the only man he would have to watch me around would be Bob Vila. What lady doesn't want a guy who can fix things! Anyway I can't mention any names but I can say the ladies were practically Kansas City "Royal ty".

Then there was the weekend I hung out with Sam Walton, his brother and Lassie in the Missouri Ozarks. Now those boys had some money. It said in the paper a couple of weeks ago that the widow of one of his sons is worth $23.2 billion and good old Sam had several kids.

This whole weekend was a bit surreal because I ended up breaking my arm and spending the rest of the time on pain killers. What I do remember is cheap old Sam didn't even send me a get well card or flowers how cheap is that! I was there in the middle of the Ozarks at the request of Walmart, they bought a lot of the stuff I designed with my partner Pam. Walmart didn't actually request, they said you'll be there and you'll give some demonstrations. Another one of their guests was Lassie, the real Lassie or Lassie number 6 or 7 and her famous trainer Rudd Weatherwax. Our workshops and Lassie's were on at the same time so we were going to miss seeing her. I have to explain that Pam really, really loves dogs.

Anyway, Pam decided we would just head over to Rudd's cabin, and introduce ourselves. Turns out he was a lovely man and he invited us right in. Lassie is a bit like Paris Hilton, she travels with a BFF which was a cute little white dog at that time. Lassie was beautiful, much taller than she looks on TV but she was kind of standoffish. Her little buddy was very eager to entertain and she was doing tricks all over the place. Finally after about 20 minutes Rudd said he had one last great trick to show us. Finally we thought, Lassie is going to go and get help for little Timmy who's down the well! But no, Rudd had us follow him into his bedroom. I don't know why this didn't seem strange at the time but in we went. I don't remember all the details but the trick was the little dog going over to the bedside table and turning on the clock radio. Kind of a let down, so we decided it was time to leave. As we were leaving Lassie walked over to the door and asked to be let out. She trotted outside to the first big tree and then something shocking happened. Lassie lifted her leg, who knew, Lassie was not a girl at all, that long hair hid a lot. This is getting long, so I'll have to save the other "Rich and Famous" I have met until another post. The cookbook for today is #63 The Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous Cookbook, by Robin Leach.