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Beginners Welcome Too, You Gotta Start Somewhere!

Several weeks ago, I received an email requesting a series of cooking classes on “all things Cajun/Creole”.  After chatting with the client, I surmised that she was younger than my average client, didn’t have the 15oo square foot kitchen I usually find myself in (the whole flat was about 350 square feet!), was budget conscience, and most importantly, wanted to broaden her cooking horizons.  I was in!  Anyone who is in it for the knowledge and know-how will be a fan for life.  We talked food, prepped food, cooked food and enjoyed food…my kind of afternoon!  As I made my way home, an email came through from the client, requesting open dates in November and expressing interest in continuing the classes through the upcoming year…wow, a fan of food, albeit a new fan of food, but a fan none the less.  Again, I was in and we are now planning for the upcoming year.  So what is my point you may ask…It is never to late, or early, to start pursuing your passion!  The kitchen is a fun place to be, why do you think it’s the focal point of so many fantastic  new homes!   So to all you aspiring “home kitchen culinarians”, make your grocery list and head to the store, it’s never to late to gain the upper hand in the kitchen.

Why Is It That The Our Sense Of Smell Is Like A Time Machine

Yesterday, as I was cooking for a client in what happened to be a somewhat public space where random individuals were making their way past my clattering pots and pans, I unknowingly was taking them back to their mother’s or grandmother’s kitchens.  Four separate folks slowed down, inhaled deeply and replied in their own individual ways…”wow, that smells great, takes me back to…!”  Why is it that smell invokes such deep and vivid memories?  It’s because the area of our brain that controls emotional memory lies very close to our olfactory nerve.  Those freshly baked cookies take you back to Grandma’s when you were young, the smell of Banana’s Foster flambeing may whisk you back to a first date and the smell of hot gumbo almost certainly takes you back to each years first cold snap.  These memories are imprinted on our psyche, and can bring on endless smiles and joy, so get in the kitchen and begin to make your own lifelong memories based on smell…your nose will thank me later!

If the Feds won’t do it, we will have to fend for ourselves!

Who would have thought that the shutdown of our government would take food off of American’s tables.   WIC (a nutrition program for women, infant and children) and SNAP (another nutrition assistance program),  will both be broke by the end of October, so many Americans have begun to make donations to food banks.  If there is no assistance, more folks will be relegated to supplementing their daily meals through private food banks (churches, private entities, food drives, etc)  Now some may say, “Food Stamps are for the poor and they need to get a job”, but after Hurricane Katrina, my family received government funded monies to help with food during our evacuation, which lasted 11 weeks.  Hard working Americans also utilize these programs when catastrophe strikes so don’t fool yourself into thinking this is not everyone’s problem!  If you want to show the feds that we can do this, donate formula and other essential nutritional supplements to your local food bank, the infant you feed may just be the person who fixes this problem 30 years form now!

Amazing What a Cup of Love Can Do For Your  Event!

Last week, I had an event that made me miss home.  Why you may ask?…not because of the gumbo, pralines and banana’s Foster, but because of the hugs, kisses, and genuineness that this family had for and shared with one another.  The event marked the end of a long wedding weekend, so all were in a “loving” kind of mood already.  But this family, who had ties to Louisiana’s rich culinary traditions, simply oozed caring and love for one another as they all stood around the kitchen.  Great Aunts musing over  their now grown relatives, doting parents of the groom, Uncle “whoever” doing his best to embarrass anyone he can in contact with and an endless parade of family members and friends making their way into the kitchen to approve of the “goings on” at hand.  Now, not that all of my other gigs don’t have great families with lots of love to go around, it was just that this crew took be back to a more innocent time, reminding me of my own family as I grew up, as well as the bonds which were forged over good food, good company and family fellowship.   Lately, folks have gotten away from “family time” centered around food.  Try family dinner 1-2 times a week and make an effort to have extended family meals every month or two…you may be surprised at the bonds that are discovered, strengthened and grown over food and that secret ingredient…a cup of love!