Sunday, April 29, 2012

I worked at two Wellness clinics this weekend, one Friday, one Saturday. We had to report in at 5am-a new experience for me, lol! They went well and the other staff members were very plesant to work with.

After I got off work, I made Kafaite, a Greek dessert. We had dinner with friends Saturday. It was Grrek night. We had lamb, potatoes, roasted garlic, a spinach and orzo salad, carrots and Greek wine. A nice evening! Dessert turned out well but we had leftovers, even with sending people home with some.

Today was a computer day, although we did go out to lunch at the Sqeeze-In up the street. We can walk there and it was a lovely day. I had a coupon for my birthday for a free meal- how nice is that?

I also put a few more plants in the back yard. It's shaping up. The kitchen window looks over the back yard so it's nice to have something pretty to look at. Trying to keep busy!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

I went to my personal chef job this afternoon and made what my mother said, "sounds great!" food. There was Braised Chicken with Apricots, Olives with Herbed Couscous,

Harvest Vegetables with Roasted Ginger and Cumin, Basil Beef and Fingerlings Olive Oil and Sea Salt, Brussels Sprouts with balsamic reduction and dried cranberries,

Lobster Vol au Vent with Orange Cognac Sauce (just a picture of the vold au vent waiting for their little pieces of lobster, lol, (Vol au vent is a French fancy name for puff pastry cups),

a Frisee and Apple Salad with Dried Cranberries and Walnuts,

Thick Cut Pork Chop with Spiced Apples and Raisins

and an Arugula and Romaine lettuce salad with Walnuts.

A productive day, although I left the cake in the refrigerator at home so will have to drop it off tomorrow on my way to work! Not very smart....

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

My days seem to be filled these days, with computer time, working on DropBox and Podio. Both apps are new to me but both seem very handy to have around!

My personal chef client that was going out of town, did not go out of town, so I will be cooking four meals tomorrow for him. Lucky me!

As part of those meals, I made a Bienmesabe Cake. The recipe is adapted from Charlotte Bakery-one of the bakery featured on Sweet Eats from the Cooking Channel. As time progresses I am trying to challenge myself to cook or bake more complex dishes. Always learning. The Bienmesabe Cake is a layered sponge cake. Each layer of cake is brushed with a mixture of coconut milk, coconut rum and simple syrup. This helps keep the cake layers from tasting too dry, as sponge cakes or genoise can sometimes be. Once you have brushed on the simple syrup mixture, you spoon on a layer of coconut cream (a custard really), then repeat. I made one six inch cake for my client and one four inch cake for Jordan and I. Once you have all your layers done, frost the top and sides with Swiss meringue and put it in a preheated 400 degree oven to brown a bit. I wasn't totally satisfied with my meringue, so I am going to have to work on it. I know I've done better in the past making meringue (there are three types of meringue: French, Swiss and Italian), but I don't do it often enough. I'll have to think of something else to make using meringue. It tastes good!

This is the four inch cake with just two layers. The photo makes it look like there is more meringue than layers, lol!

Now that the cakes are done, it's time for bed!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Friday was a day filled with computer work (another project for Jordan, this time with DOE). I did manage to make three mini pies. Two Apple and one straberry. They turned out well, and of course, tasty-the most important part, lol!

I took a trip to Macy's with my sister at about 5:30pm. She needed a few things and asked me to go with her. Only problem with going to the Mall is that you can always find something you either need or want! By the time we came home, Jordan was already home (color me surprised, he's always late!). Dinner was a Grilled Steak Salad. Yum! We are trying to eat a little better (yeah, yeah, the pies are not so good-but they are small!).

Saturday Jordan and I had breakfast with friends of ours at a place called BJ's Wild Hog Cafe. They are mostly known for their BBQ. Who knew they served breakfast? And boy, do they serve breakfast. It is not for the faint of heart. Everything comes with cheesy grits or "house fries" (their form of hash browns). Don't get me wrong, the food was good, just lots of it and high in fat.

The rest of the day was, again, spent working on Jordan's new project. I did manage to watch a bit of a movie, then made a Ham and Pea casserole fo dinner. We still have lots of ham! It turned out ok, kind of bland, though.... If I made it again I would try and doctor it up a bit.

Today I checked on packaging for a baking project for one of my clients. I am trying to wrap up 7-14 mini cupcakes to give as a marketing gift, so off to Michael's I went for a look see. I think I will use a 6 inch cake round for the amount of seven and a 9 inch cake round for 14 mini cupcakes, then wrap them all up in a cellophane bag, put on a ribbon and some other decoration and call it done. I sent a quote off to my client so I guess she'll let me know if the price is right and when she wants them. I'll be making the Mascarpone Mini Cupcakes with Strawberry Glaze. They were yummy, if I do say so myself, lol!

Jordan and I took a ride up to Boca, near Truckee, just to get out for a while. What a great day! Kinda warm though, for this time of year. Afterwards we stopped in at Moody's in Truckee for a drink and a snack, although Jordan ended up ordering a pizza. Not so much a snack food, lol. Not bad, but I couldn't decide if I liked their sausage or not....

Lots of talk today about his new project. He is definitely one busy guy. Now he is not so sure he is going out of town this week or not. Guess I'll just roll with the flow.

Thursday, April 20, 2012

It's been a busy couple of days!!

Monday I went shopping for my Tuesday personal chef client. I was also given an "assignment" as part of a job interview so had to write a synopsis of probiotics and obesity (quite fasinating, really). My assignment took most of the afternoon, what with researching the topic first, then writing it. I had Jordan proof-read it. He gave me an "A" and told me he wished all his students wrote as well (thank you, thank you, lol). Once I finished my assignment, I made Mascarpone Mini Cupcakes with Strawberry Glaze. The strawberry glaze is just strawberries chopped up in a food processor, then you add powdered sugar. Yum!

Tuesday I spent the morning making Raspberry Truffle Tarts (dark chocolate truffle filling, chocolate cookie crust) and Pie Pop, this time using pie dough. There is a "surprise" raspberry in the middle of the truffle tarts and I added Chambord to the truffle filling for a boost of raspberry filling (the original recipe called for vanilla extract). The pie pops are much better with the pie dough, but still seem to be too savory because of the limited amount of filling you can put inside. I decided that next time, I need to add something to the pie dough to more compliment the filling. Like putting cinnamon into the pie crust with apple filling. I'd have to work out what might compliment other fillings. For the strawberry pie pies I made, I used some leftover strawberry glaze to coat one side of the pops. That should boost the flavor!

The afternoon was filled with lots of cooking-Red Wine Braised Short Ribs, Parmesan Turkey Meatloaf, Fennel Roasted Vegetables, Lamb Banana Curry,

Turkey Roll-ups, Pasta Pan-fired with Butternut Squash, Pine Nuts and Sage,

Crispy Filo Spinach Tart,

Pork Chops stuffed with Spinach, Maple Glazed Chicken, Portugese Style Rice, Glazed Carrots, Sausages with Kale and White Beans,

and for Tuesday dinner: Halibut with Brown Butter, Chickpeas and Roasted Carrots.

Oh, my! Lots of cooking going on! I was tired when I got home!

Wednesday I had a catering job for a corporate dinner. They wanted the same menu I did last week, lol! So I made Orange Glazed Baked Ham with Glazed Carrots, Scalloped Potatoes, an Apple, Dried Cherry and Pecan Salad with Maple Vinaigrette dressing and Eton Mess (yummo on the Eton Mess-strawberries and crushed meringues mixed with Chantilly cream and topped with more srawberries!). I was done and had it delivered before 6pm. The dinner went to the fourth floor of the ROC building. I told a friend of mine that that room was the best kept secret in Reno, lol! It looks like a gentleman's club with lots of wood and big leather chairs. Who'd have thought?!

Once that was done, I attended "Drinks&Ink" sponsored by Tuaca at Comm Row. Tuaca was celebrating the new design of their Tuaca Liqour bottle. Corey Miller of the "Six Feet Under" tattoo shop (and famous for being on one of the reality TV shows featuring tattoo parlors) designed a "tattoo" for the Tuaca bottle. When the bottle reaches a certain temperature, the "tattoo" changes from white to blue. How cool!! I was asked to attend by the Baddish Group who represents Tuaca. The Baddish group has contacted me several times to write about something/someone for Examiner.com. So there I was....one of the VIPs, lol. It was certainly an eclectic group of people! I did meet Corey Miller and interviewed him. Nice guy! He seems a little bewildered by his new found fame. His band played last night at Comm Row. The band is a rockabilly/rock/surfer/blues band. They're pretty good! Loud, but good! I even got my picture taken with Corey Miller, lol.

Today, well today I am recovering, lol. I tried to sleep in but Ah Choo was having no part of it. I start on a new job today for Jordan. Learning new things! It helps keep you young!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

We had a lovely time in LA visiting my Mom and my sister, Michele and her family. I flew in late Wednesday evening so couldn't do much Wednesday.

On Thursday, Michele's friend, Pam, came over and all of us went to Santa Monica Pier. Although I guess it's really the Promenade now. The street is blocked off to all but pedestrians and goes on for at least six blocks. A long walk for my Mom! We had lunch at the famous (or infamous) Barney's Beanery, which has been around since the 1920's. They seem to serve every type of food under the sun, but are famous for their chili. When the depression hit, people would come in for a bowl of chili, but couldn't always pay, so would leave their license plates as collateral. They could have their plates back when they brought in money to pay their bill. Some people didn't come back, so license plates are hanging up all over. It is said Marilyn Monroe, Steve McQueen, and many others ate there at Barneys. Kind of a cool place! We walked more after lunch and ended the day with a gelato and a "sit down" on the top flour of the food court, which (kind of) overlooks the waterfront. There were statues incorporating plants and steel statues all over, so I took some pictures, lol. Here are some of my pictures:

Friday we drove down to Escondido to check out Champagne Village, the retirement center Lawrence Welk started (you read correctly-Lawrence Welk, dead but not forgotten!). It's in a beautiful area and we wondered if my Mom would like it. It is about a 2-3 hour drive from Michele's house, so I'm not sure it would work out. It poured rain most of the day. haven't driven in such heavy rain since I moved out West from Chicago! We stopped at a couple of stores looking for a pie pop maker but couldn't find any. It was an adventure, to say the least!

Saturday, Janell and I left to come back to Reno. We did hit a little rain and snow on the way back but the roads were clear. Thank goodness! We made it back safe and sound. Jordan is still sick so I am trying to talk him into going to the doctor. We'll see if he does.

Today I wrote two articles for Examiner.com. Did you know that this month (April) is National Grilled Cheese month? And National Soy Foods month, National garlic month, National Florida Tomato month and National Soft Pretzel month?? Neither did I, til I looked it up, lol. There is literally a food holiday for every day of the year. Oh, and April is National Food month. Not sure about that one as every day/month seems to be a food holiday! Anyway, I wrote and published two articles, then tried my hand at pie pops.

I made two types of pies, Sweet Strawberry and Apple Chai. I used puff pastry, just to play around with the recipe a bit. I discovered several things... First, even when you roll out puff pastry, it still puffs up too much for pie pops (at least I think so). Second, your crust, whatever dough you use, puff, pie dough, etc, better taste good because there is a huge pie to filling ratio. Third, don't over fill your pie pop-it will burst open or run out. Fourth, the pie pops taste better either sprinkled with a little raw sugar or brushed with a little glaze to sweeten up all that crust. Fifth, dispite the fact that strawberries make a wicked good pie, the Apple Chai tasted the best. I am making pie pops as part of a job I have so I would rather practice before they are due than have all sorts of problems with them and not have the time to fix it! Here they are, all lined up:

I'll work on them again tomorrow using regular homemade pie crust. I'll see if that works better-it should. But now it's time to put together some dinner.....wonder what's in the fridge?

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Yesterday was a busy day! I picked up my serving dishes from my Monday catering job, then spent the morning making desserts. Peach Meringue Cake and Mini-Molten Lava Cakes (a recipe I will probably not use again. It didn't seem to work so well.).

The afternoon was spent making all the dishes for my client the next week, which took all afternoon. Orange Glazed Ham with carrots, Scalloped potatoes, Aaparagus wrapped in bacon, Cornish Game hen with a Mushroom Sauce,

Lime Hoisin Salmon with couscous,

Jeweled Couscous,

Turkish Lamb Kabobs ("dekabobed", lol),

Curried Vegetable and Chickpea Stew,

Split Pea Soup with cheese croutons, and

Pork Loin Roast with Port Sauce. I also made two salads. The one pictured below is mixed greens with baked parmesan rounds.

Today was filled with appointments and I am set to fly to LA to see my mom and my sister, Michele (Janell drove down yesterday). How exciting!! Be back Saturday.