Cooking At Home
I guess I’m weird when I get into the kitchen. There are just some
things I can not do without…Madagascar Vanilla, extracted into a
special blend for my baking. Himalayan Salt, White Truffle Oil, and the
wines, the wines have to be a certain type and taste to go in my
sauces. I am not a chef, but I grew up with a French Cuisine chef, a
German Cuisine Chef, a French Pastry Chef and a Chocolatier. I learned
a lot, and although I didn’t want to be a Chef, I grew up to be a
chemist, which is about the same thing. People use to rave about my
Uncles pastries, they would travel across states in the 1960’s to buy
his cakes and pastries. My Grandmother would have people stand outside
her kitchen to taste her German Food from the restaurant. My brother
was a French Cuisine Chef and use to cook for us all the time at home,
trying out new flavors and recipes before going into the “kitchen” to
work and my Father was a Chocolatier, going up against Godiva in a
world-wide competition and winning with his Polynesian Confections.
Like I said, my father was a Chocolatier, so I grew up with chocolate
in the house all the time. I learned how to crush the beans and get
real chocolate. My father always used the best ingredients for all his
projects, as did my other relatives. They all had their quirks and
demands that gave their dishes unforgettable and hard to figure out. I
had some friends, when I was growing up, that came from Italy. They
taught me how to make Italian Sauces and pastas, and now, I get people
that come to my home and ask…"what is that flavor? It is wonderful but
I can’t figure out what it is.” The recipe might be the same as the one
that they use, but my ingredients are always different.
I have a Spice rack, that probably doesn’t look normal, I know my
friends come in a just gasp. They look at every bottle and say…"what do
you use this for, and why do you pay so much for it?”
Because who ever eats what I prepare needs to know that I cared to put
the very finest ingredients into what I do…especially my family.
Do we eat this way every day? Yes, we eat this way every day…and
subsequently, my children and my husband have become the worst food
critics in the world.
Flavor and satisfaction mean the world to them, they don’t eat fast
food, unless it’s made fresh and hand made with great ingredients
(which means it’s not very fast).
I grow an herb garden around my house every year and treat my herbs
with tender loving care just because, those will be going into the
belly of my children sooner or later.
I also raise geese. I feed my geese a special diet, laced with fresh
herbs, because I know that when it comes time for Christmas, those
geese will nourish the very reason I am alive and I want it to be
spectacular for them to consume.
I do the same with Chickens, Beef, Fish…yes, all have a very special diet, for their health and for the taste of the end result.
I was putting together my kitchen shopping list and saw all of my tools
and spices when I cook and was re-stocking when I thought I’d come out
and blog about ingredients.
I can’t tell you how much it means to get the finest ingredients for
your cooking, and to demand the finest ingredients for your table when
you eat. Don’t you deserve it?
I had a Chef tell me the other day, that he hates using Aspartame and
Splenda in any of his dishes. He said that he felt it ruined his cakes
and how they tasted and presented. Our SugarBlend is the finest
ingredients and not only are they gourmet ingredients designed for
professional chefs and the results they demand, but it’s also
functional, so he said that when they used SugarBlend, they got great
results in the kitchen, and the patients got great results in their
blood work, no other sweetener has been able to do that in all the time
that he had been a professional chef.
Ingredients do make a difference.
If you live in a place that doesn’t have professional places to shop
(Idaho Falls Idaho has very few Certified Chefs of any kind!), you may
be able to go to TJMax or Ross, if you have them, and browse through
their food section. Sometimes, they have nice things for the kitchen,
but you really have to look. On Line is also a good place to go, if you
want to wait.
The best thing to do is to stock your pantry and then check your
ingredients every week to make sure you don’t run out. I have a special
room in my house in which I dry my herbs and prepare ingredients for my
kitchen, but not everyone want to make that kind of commitment to food,
so just make sure that the ingredients you are buying are fresh and the
ultimate in quality.
Thanks for letting me rant!!!
d