A new adventure April 30, 2008

 I was in the grocery store the other day and I was inspired by all the beautiful produce.  The fruits and veggies were so bright and vibrant.  The berries especially caught my eye.  I love berries.  I mean, who doesn’t, right?  So I started getting this hair-brained idea….I was gonna make some jam.  Ok, now I know that canning sort of has a bad connotation, as in only grandmas do it, but I thought it sounded like fun.  So, I went over to the canning aisle, bought myself some jars and decided to give it a whirl. 

I had the day off today and the girls were at daycare, so I had the entire day to face my fear of canning. It was just me and my jam.  I researched a little online to find the best canning techniques, since I know absolutely nothing at all about it.  It actually sounded not that hard.  Well, I’m here to tell you that anyone can be a “canner.”  Is there a better term for that?  What I mean is that there is a reason that your grandma does it.  It’s not hard, you can preserve virtually anything and you get to have it in the winter when you can’t find a decent berry anywhere. 

I chose to make strawberry jam, but I’m pretty sure you can use any kind of fruit you want.  If anyone wants the recipe I used, just let me know.  And hey, if you need to, call your grandma for advice.  Grandmas are cool! 

It’s ok to be afraid…of food. April 29, 2008

In the spirit of being honest, I’m gonna tell you about a few of my ridiculous fears as far as food is concerned.  Why do you think I titled this blog the fearful foodie?  There are a handful of foods that terrify me.  Maybe it’s silly to be scared of food, but none the less, I am. 

Take eggplant for instance.  I’m scared of it.  I haven’t the slightest idea what to do with it.  Sure I’ve heard of recipes  that call for it, but it’s a vegetable that I have yet to conquer.   And then there’s yeast.  You may say “You’re a baker, how can you be afraid of yeast?”  Good question.  Yeast and I don’t seem to get along.  We have sort of a love-hate relationship.  I love what yeast does and what effect it has on things, but I just haven’t figured it out yet.  It’s too volatile, too unstable.  I’ve had this aversion to yeast for quite some time and then, a couple weeks ago I found an article in a magazine that inspired me.  I subscribe to Bon Appetit magazine and in it there was an article about homemade cinnamon rolls.  They sounded so perfect and delicious so I decided to devote one of my days off to conquering cinnamon rolls.  I’m not gonna lie and say the process was pretty and perfect, but after 4 batches, by golly, I got it!! 

So, the point of the story is that it’s ok to be intimidated by certain foods, or food in general I guess.   Take one thing, one little ingredient at a time and experiment.  Try a new spice in your dinner tonight and see what happens.  Spend an hour trying to conquer homemade cinnamon rolls ( or 8 hours!).  Little by little you’ll begin to find out that nothing’s too intimidating.  After all, it’s just food.  Have fun with it. 

Adding flavor April 28, 2008

Today is Monday, and on Mondays my workplace is usually chaotic.  There’s usually 100 messages that have to be returned and a million other things that need done.  All the cooks were gone today, so I got drafted as a cook as well as a baker.  Don’t get me wrong, I like cooking, but there’s something so beautiful about baking.  Baking is like science.  I know exactly what I need and in what quantities to get a certain reaction.  It’s perfect and beautiful.  In cooking, however, it’s a guessing game.  A little of this, a little of that……it stresses me out! 

I made some cookies today….these particular cookies were orange peel cookies.  It called for orange zest in the dough and candied orange zest on top, but the glaze that was supposed to go on top of them called for powdered sugar and water.   I got to thinking about it and wondered why I would use water in the glaze.  That’s the perfect opportunity to give my cookies another boost of flavor.  So, instead of the water, I used orange juice and let me tell you something…..they were killer!  That little bit of extra orange flavor took the cookies over the top!  That rule applies with anything, really.  Even in cooking, if something calls for water and you can substitute stock or juice, do it.  Take every chance you can to impart even more flavor to your food. 

Ok, that’s all the useful information I have for the day.  Mondays are tough!

Why a food blog? April 28, 2008

I will be the first to say that I don’t know everything about food.  I probably know very little, actually, but it has become a very important part of my life.  I work as a Pastry Chef for a catering company and I get to experiment on a daily basis.  Some of those experiments turn into something amazingly beautiful that I can’t believe I created.  Some, however, turn into hilarious disasters that teach me something about next time.  I get asked all the time about recipes and ideas and tips, so this is my way of sharing what I know and being the first to admit I don’t know it all.  Perhaps the only difference between you and I is that I’m not afraid to try.  I actually love trying to create something beautiful out of something I know very little about.  It’s a rush, I guess.  So, in this blog I intend to share my successes, my failures, my tips and things I’ve learned along the way.  I hope I get to hear from some of you about your attempts.  After all, it’s just food!!