I was up at 4am this morning so I could be in Dayton by 6am. Wellness clinic at the Smith's on Hwy 50. I was a little late because it was further out than I remembered. Oh, well. The clinic ran over an hour-people kept coming and Robin (the lead) kept saying yes. More money for the both of us! I was home by about 2pm.
Spent the afternoon on various business calls, etc, then on to the LAHI list. I made it through Kaiser (not much info on the web about the individual Kaisers, just the Foundation in general.
Jordan taught til 8pm so I finished off some left overs (stuffed turkey breast, made new mashed potatoes, a salad and used the two leftover globe artichokes as a side). I am a tired puppy, so I am going to bed early. Tomorrow is another day!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday morning was spent baking and putting together Whoopie pies. The traditional chocolate Whoopie pies with a vanilla-marshmallow filling and the less traditional Pumpkin Whoopie pies with vanilla-cream cheese filling. They ARE labor intensive but the results are tasty. I found the chocolate pies filled with the vanilla-marshmallow filling to be a little too rich and sweet for my tastes. I had some vanilla cream cheese filling left over and put some of that filling in extra chocolate cookies I had left over and I thought that combination was much better. Once I was done baking and assembling and packaging attractively, I schlepped them all down to Anne at SCOR so they could make the final decision as to what they wanted to give for a marketing gift: Spiced Pumpkin Bread or Whoopie Pies (chocolate and pumpkin combo). Me, I vote for the pumpkin bread, lol. It tastes good and packages well and is much less labor intensive.
The afternoon was spent working on the LA hospital list for Jordan. It is crazy how much information is out there on the web and how much of it contradicts another source! I am probably a third of the way through the first and most important list (there are four).
For dinner I tried two of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine meal suggestions. There were about six recipes that revolved around salsa. For the first recipe, Creamy Salsa Soup, I combined a jar of Pace mild salsa (minus about 1/4 cup for my second dish) and 3 cups of chicken stock. I heated the soup to just boiling, then put the soup into the food processor (or blender) with 2 Tbsp cream and puréed the soup. I then returned it to the pot to reheat some. When it was time for dinner, I put the soup in a bowl and topped it with a bit of sour cream, a few diced avocados and some crisp tortilla chips. Very pretty! The soup was a little too spicy for me, even in it's milder form, but Jordan liked it well enough (no raves, lol). I also served a warm open-faced tuna sandwich. I took one can of tuna, drained it, then mixed it with 1/4 cup of mayonnaise and one cup of the mild salsa. You can add salt and pepper but I didn't think it needed it. I spread the tuna mix over a split section of baguette, put some sliced Manchego cheese on top and placed it under the broiler. The recipe said to try Pepper Jack cheese, but I didn't have that, so you use what you have. I topped the meal off with a Globe artichoke-easy to cook and tasty too!
Today, Tuesday, the morning was filled with PT, a teleconference call with one of the women that works for USC in the real estate department (who would have thought a university needed or even wanted a real estate dept?!) about the LAHI (Los Angeles Hospital Inventory) project USC is doing, and getting the oil changed in my car.
I had lunch with Janell (who was also at Big-O getting an oil change and new tires) at the Fifth Street Bakery (one 5th and Keystone). I had read about them some months ago and been wanting to try them. I had a Hot Pastrami sandwich with crispy hot fries and Janell had a Grilled Tuna sandwich with fries (here's were hot and crispy too, lol). The prices are all under $10 but it helped that I had a coupon from Living Social, the online site where they offer different discounts at different businesses everyday. Janell got a White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookie to go and I bought a Caramel Apple Croissant. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know how it tastes! All in the name of research, lol.
This afternoon will be more work on the hospital list. I haven't figured out dinner yet.....
The afternoon was spent working on the LA hospital list for Jordan. It is crazy how much information is out there on the web and how much of it contradicts another source! I am probably a third of the way through the first and most important list (there are four).
For dinner I tried two of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine meal suggestions. There were about six recipes that revolved around salsa. For the first recipe, Creamy Salsa Soup, I combined a jar of Pace mild salsa (minus about 1/4 cup for my second dish) and 3 cups of chicken stock. I heated the soup to just boiling, then put the soup into the food processor (or blender) with 2 Tbsp cream and puréed the soup. I then returned it to the pot to reheat some. When it was time for dinner, I put the soup in a bowl and topped it with a bit of sour cream, a few diced avocados and some crisp tortilla chips. Very pretty! The soup was a little too spicy for me, even in it's milder form, but Jordan liked it well enough (no raves, lol). I also served a warm open-faced tuna sandwich. I took one can of tuna, drained it, then mixed it with 1/4 cup of mayonnaise and one cup of the mild salsa. You can add salt and pepper but I didn't think it needed it. I spread the tuna mix over a split section of baguette, put some sliced Manchego cheese on top and placed it under the broiler. The recipe said to try Pepper Jack cheese, but I didn't have that, so you use what you have. I topped the meal off with a Globe artichoke-easy to cook and tasty too!
Today, Tuesday, the morning was filled with PT, a teleconference call with one of the women that works for USC in the real estate department (who would have thought a university needed or even wanted a real estate dept?!) about the LAHI (Los Angeles Hospital Inventory) project USC is doing, and getting the oil changed in my car.
I had lunch with Janell (who was also at Big-O getting an oil change and new tires) at the Fifth Street Bakery (one 5th and Keystone). I had read about them some months ago and been wanting to try them. I had a Hot Pastrami sandwich with crispy hot fries and Janell had a Grilled Tuna sandwich with fries (here's were hot and crispy too, lol). The prices are all under $10 but it helped that I had a coupon from Living Social, the online site where they offer different discounts at different businesses everyday. Janell got a White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookie to go and I bought a Caramel Apple Croissant. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know how it tastes! All in the name of research, lol.
This afternoon will be more work on the hospital list. I haven't figured out dinner yet.....
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
It was kinda cold this weekend so it was a good time to bake. I made Spiced Pumpkin Bread as a part of my marketing trials. I got this recipe from Michael's mother years ago and it is still good!
Spiced Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/3 cup water
1tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (you could use all all-purpose flour also)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan and set aside.
Beat together the sugar and vegetable oil until well blended. Add in the eggs, pumpkin and water and beat again. Mix together all the dry
ingredients, then add to the pumpkin mixture. Mix only until ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about one hour or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf pan comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes in the loaf pan. After running a knife along the edges, turn the pumpkin bread out of the pan and continue to cool on a wire rack. Do not cut until it has cooled completely.
I made three smaller loaves to see how many this recipe would make. It helps me figure out how much to charge for each loaf. I used paper baking pans from King Arthur Flour and I must say, they are great to use. They look nice (dark brown with a gold pattern on them) and stand up well to baking. They also help with the packaging as well. I am offering two types of wrap and SCOR can chose which one they want. One is wrapped like a present in waxed paper with a thin ribbon wrapped twice around the long way. The other is wrapped in cellophane with a four inch wide piece of pretty tissue paper around it's middle and a ribbon around that (ala Martha Stewart. Say what you will, the woman has some great ideas! Either her or the people around her.). I'll make Pumpkin Whoopie Pies Monday to add to the offerings and let Anne chose which one she would like. Apparently Whoopie Pies are the new cupcakes according to some people!
Whoopie Pies originated in New England and are historically chocolate cake-like cookies filled with a vanilla cream filling. Some also say they originated in Pennsylvania from the Pennsylvania Dutch folks. The women would sometimes make these as a treat for their husbands and pack them in their lunch bags. When the husbands saw these treats, they said "Whoopie!". The people in Pennsylvania, however, call their Whoopie Pies, "Gobs". Don't know where that name came from!
Once Jordan finished teaching this morning, we went to brunch at the El Dorado. Nice buffet and Jordan's favorite. We stopped by the grocery store on the way home, but I forgot to buy more pumpkin so couldn't work on the Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. And with the time change, it's bedtime early tonight, lol.
Spiced Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/3 cup water
1tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (you could use all all-purpose flour also)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan and set aside.
Beat together the sugar and vegetable oil until well blended. Add in the eggs, pumpkin and water and beat again. Mix together all the dry
ingredients, then add to the pumpkin mixture. Mix only until ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about one hour or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf pan comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes in the loaf pan. After running a knife along the edges, turn the pumpkin bread out of the pan and continue to cool on a wire rack. Do not cut until it has cooled completely.
I made three smaller loaves to see how many this recipe would make. It helps me figure out how much to charge for each loaf. I used paper baking pans from King Arthur Flour and I must say, they are great to use. They look nice (dark brown with a gold pattern on them) and stand up well to baking. They also help with the packaging as well. I am offering two types of wrap and SCOR can chose which one they want. One is wrapped like a present in waxed paper with a thin ribbon wrapped twice around the long way. The other is wrapped in cellophane with a four inch wide piece of pretty tissue paper around it's middle and a ribbon around that (ala Martha Stewart. Say what you will, the woman has some great ideas! Either her or the people around her.). I'll make Pumpkin Whoopie Pies Monday to add to the offerings and let Anne chose which one she would like. Apparently Whoopie Pies are the new cupcakes according to some people!
Whoopie Pies originated in New England and are historically chocolate cake-like cookies filled with a vanilla cream filling. Some also say they originated in Pennsylvania from the Pennsylvania Dutch folks. The women would sometimes make these as a treat for their husbands and pack them in their lunch bags. When the husbands saw these treats, they said "Whoopie!". The people in Pennsylvania, however, call their Whoopie Pies, "Gobs". Don't know where that name came from!
Once Jordan finished teaching this morning, we went to brunch at the El Dorado. Nice buffet and Jordan's favorite. We stopped by the grocery store on the way home, but I forgot to buy more pumpkin so couldn't work on the Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. And with the time change, it's bedtime early tonight, lol.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
I spent the day at Walmart at their flu shot clinic. A long day, mainly because from 9am to 1:30pm, I had no patients! I gave my fist flu vaccine at 1:30. Bummer... I did end up giving 17 flu shots. Otherwise I spent the day reading, people watching and checking emails. Not too exciting, although I took Martha Stewart's Everyday Food with me and got some good cooking ideas. It even inspired me to buy some salsa so I could try a couple recipes. I'll let you know how they turn out.
Not much else to report other than I am going to Maui December 8-23 for a private chef gig. How exciting!!
Not much else to report other than I am going to Maui December 8-23 for a private chef gig. How exciting!!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Kitty trauma this morning changed the day. I cancelled PT thinking I would be taking Crazy Mary back to the Humane society this morning. You can't talk to a human, you only seem to get voicemail so I left a message. When they finally called back, they told me I needed to schedule an appointment to return Crazy Mary. Of course they did not have an opening until tomorrow, when I will be at a flu shot clinic all day! Jordan got elected to take Ms Kitty back. She's not talking to me anyway, lol. I do feel bad/sad it did not work out.
I had a flu shot clinic from 1pm to 6:30pm at the Pepsi Co. I gave 25 shots! Nice people though. Did you know they can buy Pepsi in bottles, as well as water and a few other drinks for $0.25 each? Gotta have some perks, I guess. Otherwise, they have a drink dispenser where they can refill Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, water, Sierra Mist and Iced Tea for free (just like at the fast food restaurants!).
This was a quiet evening. Jordan had a dinner meeting to attend, I stayed home and had leftover lasagna for dinner with garlic bread. No drama this evening, at least not yet!
I had a flu shot clinic from 1pm to 6:30pm at the Pepsi Co. I gave 25 shots! Nice people though. Did you know they can buy Pepsi in bottles, as well as water and a few other drinks for $0.25 each? Gotta have some perks, I guess. Otherwise, they have a drink dispenser where they can refill Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, water, Sierra Mist and Iced Tea for free (just like at the fast food restaurants!).
This was a quiet evening. Jordan had a dinner meeting to attend, I stayed home and had leftover lasagna for dinner with garlic bread. No drama this evening, at least not yet!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
I had a wellness clinic that started at 7am this morning. It was at Carlisle's Food Service (I had no idea They even existed!) off of Lemmon valley Drive. Everyone seemed very nice, although I was surprised by the number of Spanish speaking only people they had working there.
We finished early, so I was able to stop by SCOR and pick up at least part of my service ware. Turns out rather than the 20 they were expecting, they had only 12 show up, out of about 20-30 partners. Too bad. I did learn that the SCOR staff got to finish the lunch, so Anne got two meals for the price of one. Apparently the meal was a huge success. That is always nice to hear!
Once I finished my clinic and stopped by SCOR to pick up my utensils et al, it was on to a doctor's appointment. The afternoon was quiet, so I did some cooking. Not much else to report.
We finished early, so I was able to stop by SCOR and pick up at least part of my service ware. Turns out rather than the 20 they were expecting, they had only 12 show up, out of about 20-30 partners. Too bad. I did learn that the SCOR staff got to finish the lunch, so Anne got two meals for the price of one. Apparently the meal was a huge success. That is always nice to hear!
Once I finished my clinic and stopped by SCOR to pick up my utensils et al, it was on to a doctor's appointment. The afternoon was quiet, so I did some cooking. Not much else to report.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Wow! Where does the time go? It's November already!
Today I got early so I could make lunch for the Standards of Excellence employees. I must confess, I bought a pie crust. Just did not want to take the time to make my own. I also bought two disposable tins to bake the quiches in. I sautéed shallots along with asparagus and spinach, then put all that into the blind baked pie crust (to blind bake means to bake the crust while it is empty. It assures that the crust is crisp and flaky and not undercooked and doughy.), then added shredded Gruyere cheese. I topped all of that with a Royale made with eggs, half and half, Creme Fraiche and salt and pepper and a little nutmeg. Smelled really good-hope the SOE people liked it! Before I left to drop it off, I mixed up dough for Parker House rolls for the doctor's meeting. After I dropped off lunch it was on to my personal chef job.
That was easy today! Just three meals to make: Maple Chipotle Salmon with Wilted lettuce, Stuffed Turkey Breast with Mashed Potatoes and Orange Ginger Glazed Carrots and last but not least, Mediterranean Pork Chop with Green Olives and Preserved Lemon and Roasted Tomatoes on the vine. I stayed for lunch. We had the salmon. I served it with a mixed green salad with dried cranberries, toasted pecans and sliced Seckel pears. I found the seckel pears at Whole Foods. Cute little things that went well with the salad and raspberry red wine vinaigrette. I was done by 12:30pm! Almost didn't know what to do with myself, lol!
But then it was off to finish tonight's dinner for the doctor's. I rolled the dough into a ball shape, lined them up on a parchment lined baking sheet, let them rise a second time, then baked them off. I added more salt to the recipe this time because the last time I made them, a few weeks ago, I thought they lacked salt. Parker House rolls is a sweeter dough anyway but the extra salt adds to the flavor. Because I prepped yesterday ( did my mise en place-made sure I had everything ready for today), today was less stressful. I baked the stuffed turkey breasts, made gravy, whipped the cream for dessert, reheated the potatoes and carrots and I was done!
Then it was time to pack up everything, load up the car, and deliver dinner. Once there, I saw Rob Welti, one of my old bosses from Regent. He was very surprised to see me, lol. Wanted to know what I was doing at SCOR? I told him delivering your dinner! He had a lot of questions. I got dinner all set up, then it was back to the house. I'll pick up my chaffing dish and all the rest tomorrow. I had to tell Anne I was charging more for this dinner because of increased food costs (for a holiday dinner) and because this was a labor intensive meal. We'll see what she says when she sees the bill!
As for Jordan and I, we had lasagna for dinner, broccoli and salad. And now I am ready for bed! Got to get up early for a wellness clinic in the morning!
Today I got early so I could make lunch for the Standards of Excellence employees. I must confess, I bought a pie crust. Just did not want to take the time to make my own. I also bought two disposable tins to bake the quiches in. I sautéed shallots along with asparagus and spinach, then put all that into the blind baked pie crust (to blind bake means to bake the crust while it is empty. It assures that the crust is crisp and flaky and not undercooked and doughy.), then added shredded Gruyere cheese. I topped all of that with a Royale made with eggs, half and half, Creme Fraiche and salt and pepper and a little nutmeg. Smelled really good-hope the SOE people liked it! Before I left to drop it off, I mixed up dough for Parker House rolls for the doctor's meeting. After I dropped off lunch it was on to my personal chef job.
That was easy today! Just three meals to make: Maple Chipotle Salmon with Wilted lettuce, Stuffed Turkey Breast with Mashed Potatoes and Orange Ginger Glazed Carrots and last but not least, Mediterranean Pork Chop with Green Olives and Preserved Lemon and Roasted Tomatoes on the vine. I stayed for lunch. We had the salmon. I served it with a mixed green salad with dried cranberries, toasted pecans and sliced Seckel pears. I found the seckel pears at Whole Foods. Cute little things that went well with the salad and raspberry red wine vinaigrette. I was done by 12:30pm! Almost didn't know what to do with myself, lol!
But then it was off to finish tonight's dinner for the doctor's. I rolled the dough into a ball shape, lined them up on a parchment lined baking sheet, let them rise a second time, then baked them off. I added more salt to the recipe this time because the last time I made them, a few weeks ago, I thought they lacked salt. Parker House rolls is a sweeter dough anyway but the extra salt adds to the flavor. Because I prepped yesterday ( did my mise en place-made sure I had everything ready for today), today was less stressful. I baked the stuffed turkey breasts, made gravy, whipped the cream for dessert, reheated the potatoes and carrots and I was done!
Then it was time to pack up everything, load up the car, and deliver dinner. Once there, I saw Rob Welti, one of my old bosses from Regent. He was very surprised to see me, lol. Wanted to know what I was doing at SCOR? I told him delivering your dinner! He had a lot of questions. I got dinner all set up, then it was back to the house. I'll pick up my chaffing dish and all the rest tomorrow. I had to tell Anne I was charging more for this dinner because of increased food costs (for a holiday dinner) and because this was a labor intensive meal. We'll see what she says when she sees the bill!
As for Jordan and I, we had lasagna for dinner, broccoli and salad. And now I am ready for bed! Got to get up early for a wellness clinic in the morning!
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