Chase's dream job had begun in March with a call from Jackson's assistant, Michael Williams: "I was told that "a client" wanted my services as personal
chef but I was not told the client was Jackson until I was hired..."
"I couldn't believe it,I asked him if I was on 'Candid Camera.' I said, 'Am I being punked?"'
She said Jackson had seen her resume which included jobs cooking for Macy Gray and Jamie Fox as well as catering a fund raiser for President Barack Obama. She said he also knew she was from a multiracial background and her godfather was Redd Foxx.
But before she started she had to pass muster with three other people: the Jackson children.
"I came to the house and the first people I met were the kids. They started interviewing me," she said. "They told me: 'We're into healthy eating."
When they approved her, she went to work and "We developed a really great bond."
Most days, she said, Jackson made a point of having both lunch and dinner with the children, Prince, 11-year-old Paris; and 7-year-old Prince Michael II, known as Blanket, and each meal was preceded by Paris saying grace. After weeks of healthy food, she said she wrote Jackson a note with a suggestion:
"I said, 'What about doing comfort-food Saturdays? We could do barbecued chicken and corn on the cob, maybe Mexican food or soul food."' She said he loved the idea, but as the concerts approached, healthy eating returned full time.
"He said, 'I'm a dancer,' and he wanted food that would not make him cramp up while he was dancing."
She now treasures little notes she received from the children and from Jackson and a present he gave her.
"One day he handed me a little gift bag and said, 'This is for you from me and the children.' He had given me an iPod Touch because the children told him I still had a Walkman. It had the 25th anniversary 'Thriller' album loaded on it."
She said she has visited with the children since Jackson's death and they are doing well. "They have so many cousins to play with."
As for Chase's future, she said Jackson encouraged her to write a cookbook and she has written one tentatively titled, "Fit for a King." It includes recipes she cooked for Jackson and the story of the time she worked for him.