Your Place Gourmet

Get It Ground!

2008-07-20T12:06:00.011-07:00

Many of my clients depend on me to create healthy meals that will help them lose or maintain weight. To do this, I choose very lean cuts of meat. For my weight loss clients, I try to use 95%-96% lean ground beef in recipes calling for ground beef. My local grocer usually stocks 80%, 90%, and sometimes 93% lean. The leaner the ground beef, the higher the price. In this week's sale ads, ground beef prices ran from $3/pound for 80% to $5.79/lb for 93%. In fact, you can sometimes find a brand name of very lean (96%) ground beef in the meat case for nearly $7 per pound.

In these same sale ads, ultra lean boneless roasts (top & bottom round, shoulder) at approximately 95% lean, were on sale for $1.88/pound. Why not grind these? I asked the meat manager if he would please grind these lean roasts for me and he happily obliged. I ended up paying $22.50 for 12 pounds of 95% lean ground beef, rather than $69.50 for 12 pounds of 93% lean ground beef that was in the case - more than 3 times more expensive!
This also works for other types of proteins (chicken, turkey, pork). Unfortunately, most meat counters will not grind anything but beef, due to the possibility of cross-contamination. For these cases, I have purchased a meat grinding attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer.

With this freshly ground beef, I have Salisbury Steak w/Rich Brown Gravy and Muscle-Packing Meatloaf on the menu for this week. Both recipes are from my latest favorite cookbook, The Most Decadent Diet Ever! by Devin Alexander.

Salisbury Steak With Rich Brown Gravy
4 servings

Ingredients:
1/3 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons onion soup mix
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound 96% lean ground beef
3 tablespoons, unbleached all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup fat free, lower sodium beef broth
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
olive oil spray
1 onion, sliced and separated into rings (about 3-1/2 cups)

Combine the egg substitute and oats in a medium mixing bowl. Let stand for 3 minutes to soften the oats. Add the onion soup mix, minced onion, garlic powder, pepper, and beef. Mix until well combined, and then shape into 4 oval patties about 1 inch thick, 3 inches wide, and 4-1/2 inches long.

Put 2 tablespoons of the flour in a medium shallow bowl. Dip the patties in the flour to coat them on all sides. Shake off any excess.

Put the remaining flour in a medium mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in enough broth to form a paste. Then slowly whisk in the remaining broth, then the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce until well combined. Set aside.

Preheat a large nonstick skillet to medium-high heat. When the skilet is hot, lightly mist it with olive oil spray. Put the patties in the skillet, side by side. Brown on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side.

Pour the broth mixture into the skillet. Add the onion rings to the skillet and use a wooden spoon to stir them gently into the broth mixture, being careful not to break the patties. Bring the liquid to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes, flipping the patties once, halfway through.

Transfer the patties to a platter. Spoon the onions and gravy over the patties. Serve immediately.

Each serving (1 pattie with 1/4 of the gravy and onions) has: 205 calories, 26 g protein, 13 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 60 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 573 mg sodium

Muscle-Packing Meatloaf
4 servings

Ingredients:

olive oil spray
2/3 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup fat free milk
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1-1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup minced carrots
1/3 cup minced whole green onion
1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1-2 tablespoons seeded, minced red jalapeno pepper, to taste
1-2 tablespoons seeded minced green jalapeno pepper, to taste
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound 96 percent lean ground beef
1/3 cup ketchup

Preheat the oven 350 degrees. Spray a standard (8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inch) non-stick loaf pan with spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the milk and the oats. Let them sit for 3 minutes or until the oats are softened. Add the egg whites followed by the Worcestershire, carrots, green onion, parsley, red and green jalapenos, garlic and salt. Mix them well.

Add the beef and mix them until well combined. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and spread it so that the top is flat. Spread the ketchup evenly over the top. Bake the meatloaf for 30 minutes or until it is no longer pink inside. Remove it from the oven and let it sit 10 minutes. Slice it into 8 slices and serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

Each 2-slice serving has: 239 calories, 27 g protein, 20 g carbohydrates, 6 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 61 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 694 mg sodium

Love Those Buns!

2008-07-05T20:12:00.006-07:00

Whenever I make a pot roast or pork roast, it is a two-day meal. The first day being the roast with side dishes, then I shred the leftover roast to make pulled pork or bbq beef for the next day's dinner on buns with chips or some other casual accompaniment. Actually, I look forward to day two more than roast day.

A few months back, the pulled pork dinner day was upon us and I had forgotten to purchase buns. ugh! The thought of driving down the hill to the grocery store (24 miles round trip in a vehicle that gets 16 mpg with gas over $4/gallon) really didn't appeal to me - but I dislike eating this type of food on slices of bread. I also knew that the bread recipe that I use for whole wheat sandwich bread would be the wrong texture for buns.

I started perusing recipes and found this one for Whole Wheat Buns. The texture is fantastic, they smell wonderful while baking, and now my family is spoiled and only want homemade buns from now on. Since they freeze spectacularly well, I don't see where this will be a problem.

Also - I make the dough in my bread machine so I can work on other things at the same time. The recipe comes from Bread Machine Magic.

Whole Wheat Buns - Hamburger or Hot Dog

Makes 12 hotdog buns or 8 hamburger buns

1 cup water
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons yeast

Place all ingredients in bread pan, select Dough setting, and press Start.

When dough has risen enough, the machine will beep. Remove bread pan, and turn out dough onto a floured counter top. Gently roll and shape the dough into a 12-inch rope.

With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces for hamburger buns or 12 pieces for hot dog buns.

Grease a baking sheet (I use parchment, rather than greasing). Roll pieces of dough into balls and flatten for hamburger buns or shape into 6-inch rolls for hot dog buns. Place on prepared baking sheet. Cover and let rise in warm oven 10 to 15 minutes until almost doubled.

Preheat oven to 400°F Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown (be careful mine cook pretty fast). Remove from oven and cool on racks. When ready to use, split buns horizontally.

Banana Split Cake

2008-07-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite summertime treats is Banana Split Cake. I have fond memories of my mom making this cake for me growing up, for my birthday, and even as a special surprise when I visit.

This is the perfect thing to bring to potlucks and gatherings. The recipe is super easy, using very few ingredients, but everyone who tastes this will be asking you for the recipe! This is a no-bake dessert and the original recipe calls for 2 eggs, but you can use egg substitute if that freaks you out.

Banana Split Cake

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened

2 eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 can crushed pineapple, drained

3-4 bananas, sliced

large container of Cool Whip

marachino cherries and walnuts or pecans for garnish, if desired

Mix together the melted 1/2 cup butter with the graham cracker crumbs. Gently pat mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan - do not pack tightly.

Beat together the 1/2 cup softened butter with the confectioners sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Spread this mixture evenly over the cracker crumb crust.

Next, layer banana slices. On top of banana layer, spread the drained crushed pineapple.

Spread Cool Whip over the top of all and garnish with marachino cherries and nuts, if desired.

Can I Afford a Personal Chef?

2008-07-01T05:47:00.000-07:00

Many people ask themselves (and me) this question. The majority of the time, the answer is YES! I then ask a series of questions that make it clear whether or not a personal chef service is affordable. A few of these questions are:

Could you use some extra hours in your week? Having a personal chef gives you 10-15 hours per week to do other things.

Would you like to eat more healthy meals and less additives and preservatives?

Do you purchase healthy ingredients at the grocery store with good intentions, but end up throwing it away because it went bad before you could cook it?

Do you eat out more than twice a week?

If you answered "YES" to more than one of these questions, you can afford a personal chef and will actually save money by having one.**

**Most people don't realize the amount of money they spend on going out to eat, fast food, take-out, or the cost of the groceries they waste because it goes bad and gets thrown out before they can cook it - Not to mention the gas used driving around town to pick up these things. Another thing people tend to not be aware of is the amount of calories, sodium, fat, artificials, and preservatives they are feeding their families.

Summer Vacation - Kids In The Kitchen

2008-06-07T20:13:00.001-07:00

School is out! Many teens and tweens will be home during the day and rooting through the fridge and cupboards for food. You can either keep your kitchen stocked with quick (but unhealthy) commercially prepared items, have a personal chef stock your fridge and freezer with healthy and ready to heat and eat fare, or you can start your kids on the road to kitchen self-confidence and self-sufficiency by encouraging them to prepare some meals. Having healthy ingredients in the house will help your kids create salads, tortilla roll-ups, and other creations that are good for them. Who knows, they may even offer to make you a meal to show off their skills.

Recently, I was lucky enough to give a cooking class for a group of Girl Scout Cadets (ages 12 – 17). The group was fairly large (15 or 16 girls), and wanted to learn how to make something that could be individualized (especially the vegetarians in the bunch), as well as made by themselves at home. We decided on calzones with homemade pizza sauce for dipping. These recipes are simple and quick, and the girls were thrilled with their creations.

In keeping with the simple and quick theme, I had the girls use Rhodes frozen dough balls for their calzones. While pizza dough from scratch is very easy, it can be a bit time consuming. I also had the girls create their calzones without sauce, and then made sauce in which to dip their delicious pizza pastries.

The calzone and sauce recipes we used are below.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Serves: 8

1/2 cup(s) onion, chopped

2 tablespoon(s) garlic, minced

2 tablespoon(s) olive oil

1 15 oz. tomato sauce

1 6 oz. tomato paste

1 teaspoon(s) salt

2 teaspoon(s) oregano

2 teaspoon(s) basil

1/8 teaspoon(s) pepper

Sauté onion & garlic in olive oil until tender.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Easy Calzones Using Frozen Roll Dough

Serves 8

8 Rhodes Texas™ rolls (or 16 Rhodes Dinner Rolls), thawed but still cold
1/2 cup diced pepperoni
1, 2 1/4-ounce can sliced olives
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped green peppers
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup heated pizza sauce

Flatten each roll into an 8-inch circle. Combine ham, olives, mushrooms, green peppers, and cheese. Place 1/4 cup ham mixture on each circle. Fold dough over (like a turnover) and seal edges with a fork. Place on a sprayed baking sheet. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping. **Recipe courtesy of Rhodes Frozen Dough.

Homemade Calzone/Pizza Dough (Bread Machine)

Makes 8 calzones or personal pizzas

1 1/3 cup warm water

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups all purpose flour (can substitute up to 50% with whole wheat flour)

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher or sea salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons yeast

Place ingredients into the bread machine pan in the order specified by its manufacturer.

Set to dough cycle

When dough is complete (my machine’s dough cycle is a little over an hour), dump out of bread machine pan onto lightly floured board.

Knead a couple of times with floured hands until dough is not too sticky to work with.

Use with your favorite pizza or calzone recipe.

Tis The Season - For Pumpkin!

2007-11-05T21:31:00.001-07:00

October brings thoughts of haystacks and jack-o-lanterns. Jack-o-lanterns get me thinking about recipes using pumpkin. Pumpkin is loaded with the antioxidant, beta-carotene, which some sources say can prevent disease. In addition to being healthy, pumpkin is also delicious and adds flavor and moisture to dishes. I like all types of recipes that call for pumpkin, from snacks to main courses to desserts. Some of my pumpkin recipes have come to be family and friend favorites. In fact, the Pumpkin Ring recipe below makes a cake that I consistently get requests for at potlucks.

Pumpkin Stuffed Shells

32oz Marinara (homemade or in a jar)

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1 (16oz) can solid pack pumpkin

½ cup dry Italian-seasoned bread crumbs

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

36 jumbo-sized pasta shells, cooked to firm stage, drained, and cooled

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Spoon a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 13 by 9 inch baking dish.

Combine beaten egg with pumpkin, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and nutmeg.

Stuff shells with mixture and arrange stuffed side down in a single layer in the baking dish.

Cover shells with rest of spaghetti sauce.

Cover dish tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Remove foil, sprinkle mozzarella over top and bake uncovered 10 to 15 minutes more until the cheese melts and the sauce is bubbling.

Adapted from Woman’s Day Magazine

Roasted Pumkin Seeds

2 cups pumpkin seeds, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons Canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Let pumpkin seeds dry on paper towels. Toss cleaned pumpkin seeds with oil and salt; spread out on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 250° oven for about 1 hour, or until the pumpkin seeds are dry, stirring occasionally.

Pumpkin Fluff

2 c. skim milk

2 pkgs. sugar free vanilla pudding mix

Blend till stiff

Then blend in:

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup fat free cool whip

cinnamon and nutmeg or pumpkin pie spices to taste

Serves 8, Serving Size: 1 cup, Points per serving 2

Adapted from Weight Watchers Online

Pumpkin Smoothie

1c. skim milk

1 low fat vanilla yogurt

1 tsp. vanilla

2 pkts splenda

1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup pumpkin

4-6 ice cubes

....mix it up in the blender.

Makes 1 serving, 4 points.

Adapted from Weight Watchers Online

Pumpkin Ring

3 cup bisquick baking mix

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened

4 eggs

1 can (16 oz) pumpkin

2 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup milk

----GLAZE----

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 12-cup bundt cake pan or angel food cake pan, 10 x 4 inches. Beat all ingredients on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Spread in pan. Bake about 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely. Beat glaze ingredients. Drizzle over cooled cake.

Sauteed Spinach & Roasted Beets

2007-10-25T23:09:00.000-07:00

I love root vegetables. From beets to sweet potatoes to rutabega. I have clients who love them as well, so I've been preparing them quite a bit this week.

On Tuesday, I finished shopping for my client and was on the way to their home when I realized I had forgotten my latex gloves - a MUST when preparing beets. I stopped at the craft store, a sporting goods store, and another grocery store in the area, seeking gloves. None were to be had. As I was pulling out of that last parking lot, trying to decide if I should go back home for the gloves (adding an extra 45 minutes to my day) or just suffer with red hands for a few days until the beet juice wears off, I noticed a dentist office. Hey! Dentists have GLOVES!! I walked into the office and told the receptionist of my dilemma. She was happy to provide a pair of gloves and another employee even requested a business card as she may be interested in hiring a personal chef!

Sautee'd Spinach & Roasted Beets

1 pound beets, scrubbed but not peeled

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon thyme, dried

20 ounces spinach, fresh

1 teaspoon ginger, grated

1 teaspoon garlic, pressed

Heat oven to 450 degrees

Line 2 sheet pans with parchment. Slice beets into thin rounds (about 1/8 inch). Toss slices with olive oil, salt and thyme and spread in one layer on baking sheets. Roast 20-25 minutes, the beets should be soft, glistening and dark around the edges. The thinest slices will be crisp and almost burnt around the edges.

Meanwhile, saute the spinach with 1-2 T olive oil, the ginger and garlic in a saute pan. When both are done, combine

Serves 4

Fine Cooking Magazine

Two Contest Prizes This Month!

2007-10-05T22:25:00.001-07:00

I sent my October eNewsletter before realizing it was Breast Cancer Awareness Month so I'm sending another newsletter at midmonth with ANOTHER contest prize in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness. That's right - October will have two prizes! This second prize is a custom handmade bracelet made by Jenny T Designs in the Healing Jewels collection.

Each month, my eNewsletter contains news, recipes, and a CONTEST with prizes. You can't win if you don't enter. You can't enter if you don't get my newsletter. :-)

If you don't already subscribe to my enewsletter, sign up now!

Now Accepting Plastic

2007-09-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I rarely write checks anymore - nor do I carry cash - I use plastic; both debit and credit cards. The card I use for any given transaction depends on several factors, not the least of which are the perks related to each card. With my personal debit card, I get cash back that adjusts to the top three spending categories each month. One of my business credit cards gives extra points for grocery and fuel purchases. Being a personal chef, 90% of that card's usage is groceries - Cha-Ching!!

In my business Your Place Gourmet - Personal Chef Service I've decided to accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express cards. I find it terribly irritating when the particular store or service provider, from whom I'd like to make a purchase, doesn't accept the card of my choice. I wanted my clients to be able to use their favorite card. I also wanted to offer payment plans and automatic billing to my regularly scheduled clients.

Grapeseed Oil?

2007-09-23T23:11:00.001-07:00

Have you tried this stuff? It's fabulous! It's got a higher smoke point than olive oil, no cholesterol, and expands when heated so you use less. I had someone send me a bottle to try it out and I'm hooked! Natural grapeseed oil is absolutely flavorless and light. The infused oils are terrific too. So far, I've tried garlic infused and butter flavored. Next on my list to try are jalapeno and zesty lemon!

Another thing I learned about grapeseed oil is that the bargain-priced oils tend to be chemically extracted, rather than expeller pressed. Chemically extracted?? YUCK!

I found the Wildtree Herbs products to be the best for my dollar, but couldn't find anyone in my area who sold it. So... I became a culinary consultant for the company in order to purchase it directly. I don't do home parties and such - just not my thing - so this territory is wide open if someone wants to do that. If that's you, contact me and I'll get you hooked up.

Speaking of Wildtree, the products helped me get dinner on the table in a flash today. I cubed up some pork tenderloin and tossed it in the slow cooker with some Wildtree Asian Ginger Plum marinade & dressing before I left the house for my son's lacrosse practice. Once we returned from practice, I heated some garlic infused grapeseed oil and stirfried some Asian veggies in a snap. Brown rice rounded out the meal. This dinner was healthy (as the Wildtree products are all-natural and cholesterol free), quick, and delicious! My husband packed up the leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.

Asian Mini Buffaloaves with Honey-Garlic Sauce

2007-09-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

Last week, I hit the pavement in search of locally grown/produced foods. I ended up purchasing some buffalo and some honey. The buffalo was from Arizona Buffalo Company in Buckeye and the honey was produced at Uncle Mac's Honey Company, which is located in Laveen but the products are only sold in Goodyear at the SwapMart.

At first, I created dishes using each ingredient. I made honey-peanut butter bread in the bread machine and bison bourguignon in the pressure cooker. Both recipes were outstanding! Now to create some tasty meal using both buffalo AND honey in the same dish. After tweaking some classic dishes, I came up with a play on meatloaf, "Asian Mini Buffaloaves with Honey-Garlic Sauce." My 14-year old (who initially turned his nose up at the idea of "buffaloaves") just finished up his second helping. Here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Asian Mini Buffaloaves with Honey Garlic Sauce

Buffaloaves
1-1/2 lbs ground buffalo
1/3 cup water chestnuts, finely chopped
3/4 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1 egg
1 garlic clove, minced

Sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Buffaloaves
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
Mix lightly but throughly to blend. Too much mixing will make the loaves tough.
Spray insides of muffin cups with cooking spray. Divide meat mixture into 12 muffin cups.
Bake at 275-300 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
Remove from pan and serve immediately with honey garlic sauce.

Sauce
Combine ingredients in a sauce pan.
Cook and stir on low heat until hot and bubbly.
Serve loaves and sauce with rice or Asian noodles.

Herb Gardening For Dummies

2007-09-04T06:18:00.000-07:00

Growing tired of spending $4 for each little package of fresh herbs at the grocer (then having half of them go to waste), I decided to invest in one of these hydroponic gardens so I could grow my own herbs, then harvest only what I need each day. I'm sure I could have created a cute little dish garden on my own - much more cheaply too - but I know from past experience that I would forget to water it and all that good stuff.

This is my herb garden, about 10 days since set-up. The pods that still have their little "greenhouse caps" on them are later sprouting varieties. For my first attempt at herb gardening in water, I've got Mint, Italian Basil, Dill, Thyme, Parsley, Purple Basil, and Chives. This is also the first time I've taken a picture with my phone. I hope my herb-growing skills are better than my photography skills.

Personal Chef for Pups?

2007-09-03T10:07:00.000-07:00

With the recent news of contaminated pet food and treats, I have received a few requests to make all-natural pet products - ie: offering pet personal chef service. Currently, I am recipe testing several items (my three pups are the lucky tasters!) and hopefully should have something to offer my pet clients within the next couple of weeks. I'm working on kibble (dry) dog food as well as fresh/frozen moist dog food, doggie biscuits and cookies, as well as doggie birthday pup-cakes!

Stay tuned to this blog and to Your Place Gourmet for updates.

Celebrating the End of Summer with Food

2007-08-31T13:25:00.000-07:00

Labor Day BBQs signal the unofficial end of summer - even though summer feels like it lasts until November here in the Valley.

While we are not hosting a Labor Day party this year, we will be attending one and bringing a side dish. I've decided to make a tasty, colorful salad that takes advantage of the season's fresh sweetcorn and tomatoes. This salad is easy to make and holds up well on a buffet. If you don't have access to fresh corn, frozen roasted corn in your grocer's freezer will work almost as well.

Corn Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
6 ears of corn, cooked, cleaned, and removed from the cob OR 1 – 12oz bag frozen roasted corn (Trader Joe’s is fantastic!)
3 large tomatoes, diced
1 large onion, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

If using frozen corn, thaw in refrigerator and drain.
In a large bowl, toss together the corn, tomatoes, onion, basil, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Chill at least one hour before serving.
Serves 4

How Old Is That Food I Bought Today?

2007-08-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

In researching local food sources, I found that, on average, our food travels 1,500 miles before it reaches our dinner tables, according to 100 Mile Meals. This means our "fresh" food is probably 5-8 days old by the time it reaches our grocers' shelves.

Gaining momentum is a movement to eat more locally produced food. By doing so, local growers are supported, and an awareness created of what is actually produced within a 100 mile radius of our own back yards.

The trick is trying to eat mainly (or only) locally produced foods. I'm going to give it a shot, so I and my company will participate in the September 2007 Eat Local Challenge and make this an option for my clients as well.

Off to find recipes using the tasty ingredients produced within my 100 miles.

Foodies and Winos

2007-08-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

I am just back from the USPCA's annual conference, held this year in Philadelphia. Aside from the interesting classes that I attended, the best part of the conference had to be the people I met and the friends I made. Over many, many glasses of wine, I got to know chefs from all over the country. The sharing of helpful hints, war stories, and names of reasonably priced packaging suppliers was plentiful as we ate, drank, and laughed our way through the weekend.

During the conference, one of the classes I attended was given by Mark Tafoya of The Gilded Fork. This particular class was titled, "Harnessing the Power of the New Media," and was all about using blogs, podcasts, and other new media as a way to boost our businesses. While I am miles away from any sort of podcast, consider this my first attempt at blogging. If I get really daring, I might attempt to make my own changes on my website http://www.yourplacegourmet.com/

Another memorable class I attended was a Food Styling class, given by the master food stylist, Denise Vivaldo. What a fun gal she is! While I haven't really started experimenting with food styling, the image above is of a dish I made while writing my monthly food column for My Hometown Estrella magazine.
All photography is by Michelle Roles Photography in Avondale, Arizona.
http://michellerolesphotography.com/