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You will need a new copper-bottom saucepan. Make sure that it is of a very good quality. It is ideal if you visit the factory and watch the process as your pan is being manufactured before you learn how to boil water correctly. It is a bonne chose.

When you receive the pan, wash it according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Decide on the type of water you are going to use. Mountain water, spring water, distilled water, the special French brand or water from the Swiss Alps. I prefer the French brand and find it to be a bonne chose.

Pick a very fine cup for your beverage. They come in a wide variety of materials, but in my opinion, plastic is not a bonne chose. I prefer a hand-painted porcelain nine-ounce cup which has room for cream, sugar or lemon or all three. Mine was created in the private kilns of an ancient Chinese Emperor. I had the privilege of being taken to an antique tea shop, secretly, by an elderly peasant on one of my many trips to the Orient. There, I found my delightful cup which is painted with lotus flowers, meaning elegance.

You are now ready to choose your beverage. Tea or chocolate. If you prefer tea, it should be the best quality. I love the tea that has been grown for several hundred years in the city of Agra, India. The present tea gardener's father, grandfather, great grandfather and third cousin were husbandmen in the formal gardens of the descendants of the Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal.

He faithfully tends to the tea harvesting and kindly let me snip a handful of leaves from the best of the species. I did find it a little difficult bringing it back through the airport, though. I won't go into detail, but it came close to not being a bonne chose.

When you arrive home, you will want to place your very expensive tea in a pretty container, which I'm sure you will appreciate as your friends come to call, and you bask in their glowing remarks. If you choose chocolate, you will want to have on hand some very fine whipping cream. Mine is made fresh weekly from pedigreed cows in my back pasture, descendents of the sister of the famous Elsie, and her husband, Elmer, of bygone days.

One of the best places to find very good chocolate is in a wonderful little restaurant in old Mexico. It was there that I was introduced to Chef Ricardo who makes a bi-annual trip to Central America with his friend, Juan Perone, to obtain these very special beans. They trek up the mountains on a mule to bring back the choicest pods from the cacao trees. They are then roasted and powdered, resulting in the finest cocoa. I have a standing invitation to meet with the chef each time when he returns so that I may purchase this yummy product while it is at its freshest. Of course, you may obtain Swiss chocolate, but the trip will take much more time and preparation and would not be a bonne chose if you wanted a cup right away.

You are now ready to boil the water. Fill a clean measuring cup with eight and one half ounces, to allow for evaporation, with the water of your choice and pour it into your new copper-bottom pan. Place it on the burner, turn the heat on and watch the water. In spite of the old adage, it will boil. Check at intervals until you reach the ideal temperature of 212 degrees. Once the water is bubbly, you are ready to pour it into your cup and add the product of your choice. If tea, place the dried leaves in a diffuser in the cup, remove after three minutes, add cream, lemon or sugar, or all three if you wish. Stir well.

For chocolate, have ready in your name-brand blender one-half teaspoon of the extract of a freshly pureed vanilla bean. Add this and the fine cocoa powder to the water in the cup. Add one tablespoon superfine sugar and stir for 10 seconds. Top with your freshly whipped cream. You are now ready to relax and enjoy your beverage - a bonne chose.

But first, make sure that the fabric on the chair you are going to sit in is….

- Lenna C. Wyatt

Lenna C. Wyatt, of Scottsdale, Ariz., has written dozens of short stories, many with O. Henry-style endings. She's nearly finished with a mystery and continues to work on an archaeological novel about the first 2,000 years of human history.