Visiting Chefs Have a Play date

I was fortunate enough to have three chefs visit lil chef today. We had a play date cooking party. Sofie Hadley and Libby all came down after naps and we cooked cupcakes.

Now as a chef I have commanded kitchens with over 50 cooks and chefs all working at once. And yet today I was a little nervous about these four little girls coming and cooking. I laid all my prep out got the kitchen clean ready for the arrival.

They showed up and had to make sure they checked out the entire house. Looking in every room. "A" is going to be upset with me I did not clean our bedroom. But we got the home inspection completed and then came downstairs to watch the movie Ratatouille to get properly motivated. Once that was done it was time to cook.

We started off with making a french vanilla cake dividing it into different bowls and coloring the cake. Then pouring the different colors into a muffin tin that was in the shaped of different bugs. Butterflys Bumble Bees Dragon Flys and Lady Bugs. Into the oven.

Then it was dark chcolate cake with coconut nuts and chocolate chips.

When the bugs were done we let them cool and it was time to decorate. each chef got two bugs to decorate.

When that was finished we had milk and cupcakes. Then finished watching Ratatouille. Quite the adventure.

The kitchen is a wreck again............but it was worth it.

The giving of others

In this time of holidays and un-employment for me and my significant other we are experiencing how shall I say it........well we are broke!! Today I was suppossed to get a check from the sale of the auction of our kitchen equipment but the swindler.... uh er!!... auctioneer won't be able to post a check till "early next week". Whatever that means. Anyway A was talking to her mom this morning on the phone and telling her about the problems we were having. Well an hour later she shows up with 10 bags of groceries. She explained she was emptying out her freezer but the funny thing was that there were also eggs and milk and crackers in there as well.

This being my third go at a long term relationship I have had two nightmares for mother in laws but this seems to be the "third times a charm". The sad part of all this is that she is a stage four cancer survivor which means its just a matter of time.

I hope she will be with us long enough for lil chef to get to remember her. I had a Grandmother like her and I credit her with being my inspiration to be a chef. I would like the same for my child as well.

I really can cook....

Tastings......

They are what interviewing chefs do as part of the hiring process. It is the process of cooking for your potential employer. I have never had problems with a tasting. But for some reason this past week in Chicago I forgot how to cook. The tasting involves sending a menu and a list of ingredients up and they supply the food. They also will sometimes give you a mystery basket of food. Its a suprised and they tell you to cook from it. Again no problem have done this many times before.

Well I showed up at 530 am to cook and not all the product was in yet. I also tried something new for this tasting and had timelines drawn up and a prep list ready. Well it was a disaster and I was helpless to stop this train wreck. It was like watching a nightmare come true.

Then halfway through the prep the Corporate Exec Chef came in and told me that they wanted twice as many plates plated up. This means double the prep.

After the tasting word got back that they were not happy with the tasting and were not sure what they were going to do. I was supposed to get a call on friday telling me what the next step was. I am slated to interview with the client next but it is Sunday and still no call. Needless to say I am a little on edge. Oh yeah I also have caught a nasty cold as well. Let me know what you think is going on here......

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL and to all .........yada yada yada

Wow what a Christmas sitting around the table talking to my family and enjoying just being still was fun. The opening of the presents by lil chef was the best part of the day though. She got a tonka truck.....she picked it out, a lil backpack, some clothes, a Mr Potato Head(she is a chefs daughter) but the thing that was the show stopper and has been played with more than anything else was the $.75 bottle of bubbles. We played for over an hour with that, the cat thought it was pretty cool as well.


BUBBLES RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL

I am starting to like Christmas...at least for this year

Chefs hold a special love hate relationship for the holidays. We love them because of our childhood memories and it is the time of giving. But we hate them for the fact that it is the busiest time of the year for us. While everyone else is running around cheering and celebrating we chefs are working hard long days and just when the Christmas rolls around and everybody else is settling back for a week of doing nothing we are thinking about the longest night of the year.....That's right NEW YEARS EVE.

I tell my family that my favorite holidays are Halloween and Super Bowl Sunday, yes this is a holiday if I say it is. No one goes out to eat on those nights. Oh yeah I am also a big fan of Arbor Day as well, Hallmark cards and wal mart haven't figured a way to capitalize on that day yet.

But this year I was fortunate enough to have the holidays off and spend them reliving my childhood memories. Like most chefs my fondest recollections evolved around food and for me that means Christmas cookies and candies.

But in true chef fashion I made sure to put making these little delicacies off to the last minute and then proceeded to spend two 18 hour days getting them ready and oh lets throw in several complicated cookies I have never made just for fun. We will also make our fudge from scratch no marshmallow whip in this house. Oh we can also go ahead and make enough to make these large platters of holiday sweets to give as presents to all our family and friends. I'll never learn. You know the keep things simple.......NEVER!!!!

As you can see we got them done only after many yelling and screaming matches with my significant other and some mistakes but it was fun and worth it.

Lil Chef and the cinnamon rolls

Just found this amusing......Things to do on a snowy cold day.

tap the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XVsKXb6isI

My own Lil Chef

Since my time at home I am finding it harder and harder to not want to be in the kitchen just cooking to cook. And in the absence of a sous chef I have recruited one.

This past week I helped a friend cater a lunch for his race team seminar he puts on. The meal prep went well as did the lunch but I made too much dessert, chocolate mousse cake. I left the mise en place at home for later and went to serve the meal.

Later that night my significant other was complaining about wanting something sweet. So I went in and started to assemble the dessert. Well standing at my feet is my 2 year old sous chef. Well she hopped on her chair and started putting chocolate chips on the cake. In typical sous chef style she assumed the cake was her creation.

Well we served the cake and it was a hit. But the next morning we got up and came down for breakfast and the lil chef went straight to the fridge and helped herself to the cake. Since then there is a constant sound in the house.......her opening the fridge door. And for some reason the handle of the fridge is covered with dried chocolate mousse.

Her mother and I cannot figure out why she has been hyper lately either.....:))