A Christmas Story

Let me tell you a little story. See, there's this girl. She's 25, lives alone and, until this year, had only ever cooked things of the "just add water" variety. But her family, oh, her family—now theycould cook. Her mom could cook, her sisters could cook—even her dad could cook! And so it was that every holiday—every Christmas, every birthday, every Bastille Day—she was banished to the living room, in permanent exile from the kitchen.

One day, this girl (totally not me, by the way) decided she would teach herself to cook, and so the learning process began: first with spaghetti, then with barbecues, and finally, eventually, soups and baked goods, and tough stuff like marinades! With Christmas looming around the corner, she dreamed of going over to her parents' house, squeezing into the kitchen and wowing her family with her new, grown-up culinary talents.

Except there was one teensy problem: she didn't know what to cook. But lo, then Memphis chef Diego Velasco appeared to her in a dream and said, "Fear not, oh, little one. For I—the man who brought you all those delicious yum-yums that you stuff in your belly each week at Memphis Santora—will be giving a cooking demonstration at Williams-Sonoma later this week!"

To which the girl replied, "What will you be cooking? Oh, please say it's an organic Futsu pumpkin crème brûlée! Please say it's so!"

And wouldn't you know—that's exactly what it was! Best of all, since the cooking demo was going to be inside the store, she could not only pick up everything she'd need to make the dessert, but also gifts for her family!

Stay tuned. I'll let you know how I—I mean, she does.

Memphis chef Diego Velasco will create Futsu pumpkin crème brûlée at a cooking demonstration at Williams-Sonoma in South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Ste. 2630, Costa Mesa, (714) 751-1166. Sat.-Sun., 1-3 p.m. Free.