Limoncello

Somes days when I just want to you something new I head to the grocery store. Just to see what attracts my eyes.  Today's choice was limoncello! It was new, I always like the sour flavor the the lemon. But this sweet and creamy.

I remember when...

Man, I love me some spaghetti!  As a kid growing up the whole family helped mom cook dinner and set the table. Mom would let us break the noodles in half into the water and pour the red sauce with the noodles and meat. But I always got stuck helping with the garlic bread, just coating the top of one half of a French baguette. Spending time making this together was something fun and we enjoyed it because we got to help make spaghetti as a family.

F.F.F.W.F

Fish fry Friday with family.  My family for dinner fried some tilapia up with mac n cheese and collard greens.  It was great to spend time with everyone in, my favorite part of the house, the kitchen.  My mom and myself took care of the fish. She breaded and I fried. My oldest brother mad the greens while my second oldest brother took care of ths mac n cheese.  That's how a F.F.F.F goes in my house.

Soup for Spring

During the spring time people deal with allergies and colds plus other sickness. You know what helps with one of those problems? Soup especially hot soup.  A lovely bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup would go great with a cold.

First round at Corner 17

Wasteful

A lot of people throw good food away because they are full, don't want it, or just not gonna want it later. So instead people could portion size themselves or just give to the less fortunate. It's been something on going but not many people realize how much they waste until its to late.

Berries

They are plenty of different types of berries around this world.  I'm not a berry fan. Only thing is because there are tons of berries some can be poisoning but you won't find those laying around the kitchen or at the grocery store. With the bad comes the good meaning majority of the berries that are available to us are healthy and yummy.

Knife cuts

How well can someone cut a carrot? As chef's we use our knives everyday. Spending time to learn your knife cuts will take you a long way. Being able to cut correctly will help look professional in precise on a plate.

Pay for what you eat!

Living in St. Louis, there tons of different places to eat. There are places out here with low prices for good food and then there are places that have great food for high prices.   I often hear people either their happy for the price they paid or complain about the price. Listening to this I just smile and think, "you ordered it and thought it was a good idea at first now pay up."

Nothing like a good steak.

Before starting culinary school if I ordered a steak it was always well-done because I grew up in a house where a steak was never still bloody or pink when it touches our plates.  No one ever asked for a rare or medium-well or medium-rare done steak in my family.  In class one day we made steaks and our Chef was asking everyone how they were cooking their steak mainly everyone said medium-rare besides a few. I'm going to be honest I was amongst the few!  But , my twin, Ethan( we're not really twins) was my partner he suggested that I would try something new. At first I was like no way but I promised myself to try new things. So from well-done to medium-rare went my beautiful steak. Long story short changing how I eat my steak was a wonderful choice.

Chicken

Has it ever occurred to anyone that chicken is a amazing animal.  Chicken is a very versatile dish component in anyway someone choses to use it.  Chicken has changed overtime and the different places chicken has traveled from. You can add almost add any flavor to it comes out just as good as before hopefully.

Nuts!

All I can really say is honey roasted peanuts.  Hands down those are the best flavored nut to me. Why some of are thinking?  Well that's because, peanut butter is great to me with the salt but taste just like the peanut itself. Then there's the sweetness from the honey on them. Honey roasted peanuts are my favorite way to eat peanuts it's just that simple.

Easter leftovers!

Easter left over at my house normally consist of ham, stuffing, Mac n cheese, and possibly deviled eggs if they were cooked correctly and not over cooked.  This year we were left with a surprise white lasagna.  I know that it not a new thing to a lot of people but I have never seen or heard of white lasagna.  The whole concept of using chicken and Alfredo sauce with it blew my mind.  I'm a chicken lover and I was way happier to find this as a left over. 

Strawberries

Where do I begin talking about strawberries? There are so many things you can do when it comes to strawberries. You can have them in a refreshing salad as a garnish or you turn them into the dressing of that some salad.  Turn a strawberry into a glaze or a frosting for a cake.  All of the outcomes really depend on the mood and resources you have at hand or you what you can get.  Strawberries are a diverse fruit and it takes a special tick to make someone see how far they take the flavors of a strawberry.

Hot

Everyone knows by now how they feel about spicy foods.  I'm a heat seeker meaning I love spicy foods and different levels of the spiciness.  To me there is nothing like my hands sweating and nose running from eating something hot.  Some people don't like spicy foods at all. To the point they will go out their way to lose the heat completely.   Then there are some people that don't mind getting a little kick of spicy as long as it is not an overwhelming heat.

How communities can influence what you eat?

      Communities influence the way you because that's what surrounds you and the food you were brought up to eat as a kid depending on your families.  The restaurants, diners, dive-ins, and even cafes have an impact on what you put on your plate.  Your parent(s) took out to eat and cooked family meals that lead to the things you eat now.  Your little donut shop on the corner made you fall in fresh donuts so you never settle for day old long johns.  You much rather wait in line for a good steak burger than going to a fast food restaurant burger.

Sprouts help you grow!

          As a kid my mother use to tell me to clear my plate no matter what type of vegetables were on that plate.  No little kid wants to eat the green things on the plate the looked like whole baby cabbage.  Brussels sprouts were never my favorite side item at dinner but I ate them because mom said to clear my plate before we even thought about going outside to play.  We always ate them the same way blanched and sautéed off before serving tossed with a season salt and pepper and garlic as normal.  Now when I think about eating brussels sprouts, I think of the different ways to make apps or make them the star of the plate. Eating my veggies as a kid helped me grow over them now as a young adult.

It's almost easter!

What's your favorite item or combination of two things you looking forward to eat for Easter dinner?  Personally mine is cooking while dinner is just starting to get passed around the table. Once everyone has had their final pokes at the stuffing and my aunt has let it cool off finally its time and out comes desert.  Out comes a full hotel pan full of this sweet, crispy, golden brown and my favorite item for Easter a peach cobbler.  Now take it a step further add some vanilla bean ice cream on the side and let those two flavorful sweets put a spring in your mouth.

Good BBQ!

It's getting to the point that everywhere has their own style of bbq. St. Louis has some pretty good bbq places around but you have to find them first.  When you smell the smoke from a grill it sends your taste buds on a frenzy for bbq.  But what helps set the bbq apart in St. Louis besides the bbq itself are the sides that come with your plate.  All the way from greens to homemade pies there will never be one a different bbq place that will taste the same.  So go out and get some St. Louis bbq that you haven't tried or some that you love.

For the love of mac!

Today in class we got to sample Mac n cheese that our chef made herself.  This version was her own interpretation of this restaurant called Sweetie Pie's locally famous Mac n cheese.  I don't remember eating at Sweetie Pie's but I did once a point of time.  I mixed the Mac n cheese with peach habanero and that blew my mind. I didn't think it was gonna work but everything blended well and went down easy.