Ann Vernon
Eight attendees at the 2023 Oracle Schools Foundation Gala/Auction were excited to find that they could savor the delicious flavors of Spanish food without having to leave the Brooke! Nile Vernon, who spent many summers in Spain and picked up cooking tips from various families he stayed with while teaching in a graduate program, was assisted in food preparation by Ann Vernon and Pat and Ron Andrea.
As you may know, tapas are a signature feature of Spanish cuisine and you can find these succulent morsels of food in bars, bodegas, and tascas throughout the country. One of the most famous tapas is the tortilla de patatas, which is essentially an egg and potato omelet cut into bite-sized pieces and served cold or at room temperature. Along with the tortilla, guests enjoyed several other typical tapas as they sipped on sangria. Next, they were served a typical soup, cream of garbanzo with ham cracklings, which was followed by paella. Paella is perhaps the most renowned Spanish dish of all. It is cooked in a shallow pan which was introduced by the Romans and essentially is an amalgamation of rice and tasty morsels of meats, seafood, vegetables, and saffron. Nearly every region in Spain has its own version of paella, and the only common denominator is the rice! Guests at the Vernon house could choose from seafood paella or paella with pork, chicken, and chorizo. Everyone saved room for dessert—bread pudding with a whisky and caramel sauce.
This dinner was just one of the twenty-two fixed-price events offered at the 2023 Gala. The 2024 event will take place on March 10 in the MountainView Ballroom, and we hope to have more dinners such as this one—but we need your help! We know there are good cooks and hosts in this community, so please contact me at [email protected] if you will help us by hosting a dinner, a cocktail party, or an event of some sort.
Please check the website, oracleschoolsfoundation.com, for more information about the Spring Fling Gala that raises money to support preschool and other worthy educational projects at Mountain Vista School in Oracle. Also, save the date for the Tributaries Benefit Concert on April 10 at DesertView.