Last week was a whirlwind!  Lots of fun and very busy.  I had the third session of kid's cooking camp and it went very well.  We had the cooking competition on Thursday with wonderful judges Nancy Waldeck and Rosemary Rutland.  All three groups did a great job as usual which makes it difficult for the judges.  The scores were very close again but the winning team was The Three Foodkiteers. 



Everyone worked hard on Thursday for the judges and Friday for guests.  We cooked for 30 on Friday and all went extremely well!









I was scheduled to do cooking camp today through Friday for the 6 to 9 year olds but the registration was too small.  Not to worry, I won't be bored.  I have a call with a potential client at 8:00, a meeting with a potential client at 10:00, another phone call at 1:00,  business is looking good.

I also have little things to do like finally get to Costco.  We're actually out of things I never thought we'd run out of.  I'm also leaving on Friday to go to Pittsburgh for my niece's baby shower.  I have presents to get ready, packing, and since I'm driving to Pittsburgh my sister did some shopping while she was here and there is a small mountain of her purchases to get in the car.

I love my job and life and would so much rather be busy! 

This has been a busy week.  I sometimes have busy weeks, but this one was exceptional.  Lots of fun though!

My sister and nephew arrived Saturday, camp started Monday which is why my sister and nephew came so they knew this was a working week for me.

Monday in addition to cooking class, I had my monthly class at the Y.  I teach in the senior center and I have 14 to 18 regulars each month.  This month's theme was Stone Fruits and I made Plum Crisp, Cornmeal Coated Chicken with Peach Salsa and Nectarine Salad.  I get there at 6:00 pm for prep, the class is 7 to 8 and leave about 8:30 after cleaning up.  I love this class!  Everyone has fun, asks questions and enjoys the food.

Tuesday was the library program in Jackson, Georgia.  This was a little bit of a drive but we didn't run into any traffic traumas and didn't get lost so all was well.  Of course my family came with me, they had never been to Jackson!

We had a great time. I did Quick, Healthy Meals for Teens and had a pretty big crowd.  The teens were a little hesitant to volunteer to help at first, but once one person came to help, the rest were eager.  I have pictures thanks to my sister.







In addition to the teens that attended the party, there were 2 college students who have received scholarships from the library.  To repay the scholarships the students give 30 hours of service to the library.  A great deal!

I need to get ready for camp now.  Yesterday was the competition and there are pictures.  Today we'll feed friends and family. 

Our judges for yesterday enjoying their cocktail (no alcohol!).

Another busy and fun week for me, this is the third session of cooking camp this summer.  This week there are 8 in class, 2 guys, 6 girls.  Also this week my sister and nephew are in camp.  My nephew is attending and my sister is assisting. 

I have trouble sometimes in the summer with my calendar.  Since I am doing the same thing everyday when I have camp, I occasionally don't look at the calendar and when I do I discover that I have a little too much fun scheduled.  This has happened this week!

I teach a cooking class at the senior center at the Y every second Monday of the month.  So yes, that was last night.  I mentioned to my sister and nephew that not only would there be no dinner but that we were going to the Y for a class after camp.  My nephew helped during the recipe preparation in class and my sister helped with dishes and serving.  We had a fun time and were home to watch The Closer.  I did stay awake until the end!

There will be no dinner for my guests again tonight because after class we are heading far away to a library to do a cooking class for teens.  This will be another fun class, I think there are 20 teens signed up.  We'll eat a good lunch at camp and then journey to the library. Today we have southern region foods at camp so we'll lunch on shrimp and grits, turnip greens and hummingbird cake.  Not bad before a long journey. 

After tonight  we're done with double days of classes.  I promised a good dinner for Wednesday - Scampi and Linguine.  This is one of the favorite meals in the family so we'll have a relaxing delicious dinner tomorrow.   

They arrived from Pittsburgh on Saturday and we just relaxed around the house.  I did feed them - grilled steelhead fillets that were delicious.  Sunday we had fun before the week started.  We went to the aquarium and had a good time.



No fish for dinner Sunday, we had macaroni and cheese with broccoli.  This was for planned leftovers so when we foraged for meals there was food for foraging. 

Have to get ready for camp now.  We leave the house around 7:20.  My husband gets to have fun while working at home today.  He will be ready to accept delivery of the new mattress!  I'll sleep well on it tonight. 

This week went by quickly!  I cooked for a client on Tuesday and then I've just been doing stuff all week.  I teach cooking camp again next week so I'm conserving my energy!

It has been hot here again as it has been almost everywhere.  I don't totally change the way we eat in the summer, but after the holiday weekend I was feeling overloaded with meat.  I like meat, often I crave it, but I needed a rest.

Tuesday for "whatever" night I had leftover mashed potatoes for dinner.  My husband came home from his meeting, asked about my dinner and was a little surprised by my answer.  He had the usual meeting pizza.

Wednesday I had planned for steaks and zucchini but was still feeling too heavy from the weekend.  I decided on the leftover pasta that I had - penne, two kinds of mushrooms, no meat.  I also had zucchini boats  - garlic, butter, parmesan.  Delicious.

Last night I ventured into some animal protein.  My husband works with people who cook and quite some time ago came home with a photocopied recipe.  I have had it on the counter waiting for the perfect time.

I don't know the source, nothing on the page, but it was quick and easy and perfect for summer.  Also no mayo in the slaw!  I made the slaw about 2 hours before dinner and kept it in the fridge.  It was nice and crunchy at dinner, some water was released.  I served it with black beans.

Shrimp Tacos with Citrus Cabbage Slaw
serves 4

1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons sour cream
kosher salt and black pepper
8 ounces cabbage, shredded
1 cup corn kernels
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
8 small flour tortillas, warmed

1. In a large bowl, whisk the orange and lime juices, sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 
2. Add the cabbage, corn, and jalapeno and toss to combine.  Let sit, tossing occasionally, for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. 
   
4. Season the shrimp with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Cook until opaque throughout, 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Serve with the tortillas and slaw.

Today is continuation of errands and cleaning.  My sister and nephew arrive tomorrow from Pittsburgh for camp week.  I think I may stop at the grocery store so we can avoid that this weekend. 

My menu plan for next week is hopefully easy since my week will be harder.  I'm not sure what I was thinking when I scheduled the week, but in addition to camp everyday I have the Y class Monday night and a library program for teens Tuesday night. 

Tonight I am smoking my first turkey breast with high hopes that it will give me leftovers for next week!  I'll also make a blueberry cake for snacks.

Last week was another session of kid's cooking camp.  We had the competition on Thursday with guest judges and then invited guests for lunch on Friday.  Both groups did a great job in the competition, the judges came up with a 1.6 point difference between the groups. 

Thanks so much for the great volunteer assistants and the wonderful judges who take time out of their day to come and visit with the kids.  They do get a great lunch but I know they are working, have deadlines, lots to do.  I did manage to remember to take some pictures of the prep and of the food. 

Get all ingredients ready before you cook:



Sauteed apples cooling and the finished apple turnovers:



Raspberry lemonade ready for presentation to the judges (Meghan Foley, Virginia Willis and Mary Moore):



More great looking and great tasting food:



The potatoes were a delicious surprise for everyone.  The team took some pieces of several recipes to create this original recipe.  It was so good we had it for lunch with guests on Friday. 

Twice Baked Asparagus Lime Potatoes by LiJuSa
serves 12

6 russet potatoes, scrubbed
3 cups water
1 1/2 pounds asparagus
3/4 cup butter, chilled
1 1/2 tablespoons shallots, finely diced
3/8 cup key lime juice
2 pinches salt
cooked bacon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Rub potatoes with olive oil, pierce once and bake until tender, about 1 hour.
2. Cool slightly and cut in half lengthwise.  Scoop pulp into a bowl and reserve shells.
   
3. Mash potatoes.
4. Bring water to a boil in a large pot.  Add asparagus and cook until crisp tender, 3 to 4 minutes.  Using tongs, transfer to a bowl of ice water.  Drain and pat dry.  Cut into small pieces.
   
5. Cut butter onto 8 equal pieces.
6. Over medium heat, melt one piece of butter in small saucepan. 
   
7. Add shallots to pan, stirring until softened but not brown, about 30 seconds.
   
8. Pour in lime juice and bring to a boil. 
   
9. Add one piece of butter to the juice whisking until just melted.  While whisking constantly add each remaining piece of butter one piece at a time until each piece is incorporated. 
   
10. Mix about 2/3 of sauce with potatoes, taste, add additional if desired.   Fold in asparagus, salt, pepper and bacon. 
    
11. Mound filling in shells.  Bake in preheated 400 degree oven.
    

No cooking last night for me.  I thawed stuffed pizza that I made a couple weeks ago and it was perfect.  Now I have a raspberry pie almost finished baking.  I have pork slow smoking on the grill, potato salad finished and a blueberry almond breakfast casserole done for tomorrow.  Time to relax!

Such a fun week!  This is the second session of kid's cooking and all is well.  Actually great.  There is a smaller group this week which means that they work a lot harder since they have a lot of food to make.

We've been making beach food, city food and country food.  Tomorrow is the Iron Chef competition and the groups are ready.  There are two groups - S Squared with Sally and Sophie and LiJuSa - Lizzie, Julia and Sarah.  They will be making recipes and presenting the the wonderful volunteer judges.

I managed to remember to take some pictures today and I have the raspberry turnovers, the pasta salad and the two teams working on their salmon rolls.







Quick post tonight.  I have a conference call in 3 minutes for Personal Chefs Cooperative and then Top Chef is on! 

Wow, did we eat a lot today!  And it was all pretty delicious.   My husband and I do not have children together, but he has two daughters and Chrissy happened to be in Atlanta this weekend so we got to see her. 

She is a wedding planner and had a wedding in Decatur on Saturday.  She knew she would finish about 6 pm and even though Greenville isn't too far, it is too far after a couple days of wedding planning!  She decided to come to our house Saturday to visit, sleep and relax a little.

I worked a few hours on Saturday doing my job of Product Specialist for KitchenAid.  I was showcasing the Food Grinder attachment for the stand mixer at Whole Foods in Buckhead.  I love the attachments and the food grinder is my second favorite (if I had favorites), the first being the pasta roller/cutter.

I told Chrissy that I was picking up our dinner at Whole Foods so we would be having a casual meal on the grill whenever she was finished with the wedding.  As much as I love the food grinder I had thoughts that after 4 hours of making and cooking sausage patties that my own dinner had better be pretty easy. 

I finished at Whole Foods at 3 and checked out the fish counter.  There was beautiful sockeye salmon so I grabbed some.  On to produce where I grabbed some South Carolina zucchini.  Then to the bakery for a baguette and dessert.  I was good to go. 

Dinner was all on the grill - salmon, zucchini planks, warmed bread and then raspberry cake.  This was a very nice, very easy dinner.

Today Chrissy knew she would want to sleep a little, she is pregnant and due in December.  I spent some time Friday avoiding menu planning and finishing the baby sweater so I could give it to her.  I did it!  Sleeves, buttons, ends in, all done.  Very cute, have to get the picture from my husband.

We went to church, the grocery store (I planned my menu Saturday) and then home to make breakfast.  The sausage was so good on Saturday that I needed to make it for brunch for us.  Usually when I demo something for several hours I need a break from even thinking about eating it no matter how delicious.  Not this time. 

I cut the meat, added the herbs, spices, put it through the grinder, made stone ground grits, eggs and juice and we had a very nice brunch.  The recipe was from Alton Brown and I will never buy sausage again.  Luckily it makes quite a bit, I made patties and they are in the freezer ready for whenever.

Breakfast Sausage from Alton Brown

• 2 pounds pork butt (2 1/2 pounds with bone), diced into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 pound fat back, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Combine diced pork with all other ingredients and chill for 1 hour. Using the fine blade of a grinder, grind the pork. Form into 1-inch rounds. Refrigerate and use within 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months. For immediate use, saute patties over medium-low heat in a non-stick pan. Saute until brown and cooked through, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

We had dinner tonight of pork chops with mushroom gravy, smashed red skin potatoes and fresh green beans.  This appears to be a week of pork. 

Tomorrow is the second session of kid's cooking camp week.  We are cooking food for the beach, city and country.  I know we'll have fun and I'll be having great lunches again next week.  Note:  Make sure to get in Jazzercise!

Now I'm going to do some knitting.  I have lots of knitting to do and started an easy blanket.  Not much thinking to it, but good for those after kid's cooking days.

It's Friday!  I have a few things to do, but a little of everything which I like.  This week overall was a variety week after having camp  every day last week.

This week I had my class at the Y on Monday night, I so enjoy my monthly class at the Y.  Tuesday I was going to clean but I managed to avoid that totally and did some relaxing.  Wednesday I had a library cooking program in Fayetteville.  The program was sold out (it was free but signup required) with about 28 kids from age 4 to 12. 

The library summer theme this year is "Make a Splash at the Library" which is not a favorite of the librarians since books and water should not mix.  My program was Water, Water Everywhere and I made fish (lives in the water), zucchini (contains water) and lemonade (made with water).  The kids helped me cook and everyone sampled.  I have no pictures because an hour long program + kids helping + tasting for all does not equal pictures. 

Thursday I had a personal chef customer.  It was a little strange because usually I see my customer and don't see the kids.  My customer started a new job recently so I just got to say goodbye to her and the kids are off school so I got to see them.  I had a good day of cooking and in addition to the meals I left them a treat of fresh fruit. 

Today is starting out well.  I like to get to my desk about 6 when I'm not working but didn't get here until 7.  I decided to pick up a row of knitting while I was rested and I also did one row.  About 7 more rows and the baby sweater is done!

I checked email at my desk, emptied the dishwasher and made a meal for my Loving Meals MInistry.  The family has three young children and the mom is on bed rest due to have twins.  They need food!  I made Chicken Piccata with Mushrooms big enough to avoid.  It's a lighter recipe from Eating Well.

Chicken Piccata with Pasta and Mushrooms from Eating Well January/February 2008
serves 4

• 6 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 chicken cutlets, (3/4-1 pound total), trimmed
• 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 10-ounce package mushrooms, sliced
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
• 2 teaspoons butter

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until just tender, 4 to 6 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and rinse.
2. Meanwhile, whisk 5 teaspoons flour and broth in a small bowl until smooth. Place the remaining flour in a shallow dish. Season chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper and dredge both sides in the flour. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned and no longer pink in the middle, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate; cover and keep warm.
3. Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until they release their juices and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add garlic and wine to the pan and cook until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved broth-flour mixture, lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in parsley, capers, butter and the reserved mushrooms. Measure out 1/2 cup of the mushroom sauce. Toss the pasta in the pan with the remaining sauce. Serve the pasta topped with the chicken and the reserved sauce.

Now I have a load of laundry in, I need to dust a little, maybe vacuum, make a menu for us for next week, get to the bank.  Next week is another session of kid's cooking camp.  So much fun but I need easy meals for that week so I can make sure I don't avoid Jazzercise. 

I have a training session with KitchenAid this morning so need to be ready to watch online at 10:00.  Going away party tonight so no need for dinner for us!

I just spent a week teaching people to cook and heating up food that I cooked previously, but not cooking much from start to finish.  Kind of strange but I knew I'd need quick meals last week.

I taught cooking class at The Cook's Warehouse to 12 young adults last week.  Each day they cooked a meal and I enjoyed what they made for lunch.  And I enjoyed for dinner what I had stored in the freezer.

Menu planning is the best plan for me.  Monday night I planned a quick roast pork tenderloin with sauteed spinach and frozen macaroni and cheese from Trader Joe's.  Tuesday night was leftover chicken soup for just me.  Wednesday was pizza from the freezer,  one that I had made with sausage, pesto, roasted red pepper and mozzarella, also a salad.  Thursday night was chicken curry from the freezer with rice and sauteed zucchini. 

Friday I had planned to roast some chicken with stuffing from the freezer but didn't do well on thawing chicken so we went out for dinner last night.  Roast chicken and stuffing with fresh broccoli tonight with leftovers planned for tomorrow since I am working a couple hours Sunday night. 

I love to cook and I enjoy eating but I knew last week was busy for me and each day after class I had a couple hours of  work to do for the next day of class.  I also wanted to make sure I went to Jazzercise so I would feel good and I needed to keep up with laundry. 

The only way to get it all in without any stress was to plan my meals for the week.  Last week was great.  I did get to Jazzercise 3 times and we had good meals each night. 

Next week is not a cooking class week so I've planned my menu and will make some meals that take a little more time. Not too much more though, I have a good busy week ahead!

About two weeks ago I received an email from the executive director of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs (WCR).   I am a member of a couple committees in WCR and because of that, was one of the members chosen to be asked to go to the White House.  Yes, THE White House. 

I quickly filled out the required forms and mentioned to my husband that I was going to the White House.  Very exciting.  It was a pretty quick turn around with not a lot of details, but the invitation was for June 4th when the First Lady was kicking off a part of her child nutrition program (www.letsmove.gov) called Chefs Move to Schools.  I knew that it was June 4th, probably in the earlier part of the day and there would be a kickoff breakfast with Share Our Strength ( www.strength.org).

I packed up the car and headed to DC on Wednesday.  I like to drive and knew that I would stay overnight on the way up.  Stayed in Richmond, did some shopping and saw the Tiffany exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.  Wonderful!

I left Richmond Thursday afternoon so I could check into my hotel and meet up with fellow WCR members at Commonwealth Gastropub (www.commonwealthgastropub.com) in DC.  Jamie Leeds is the owner and she is also president of WCR.  She invited our group to be her guests for dinner.  Yes, a bunch of chefs in a private room, eating, and talking about going to the White House the next day.  Lots of fun. 

Friday morning was sunny and no rain was expected.  Yay!  I headed out of my hotel at 7:30 to stroll to the JW Marriott for breakfast.  Oh my!  I knew there were many chefs invited, but this was pretty amazing.  There were about 600 chefs for breakfast!  Imagine the chefs in the Marriott kitchen making the breakfast. 



We listened to a panel of chefs and principals already working together.  We got some tips on how to work with schools and how to start.  At about 10:15 we all headed to the White House.  It was quite a sight, 600 chefs from 37 states leaving the hotel and walking a couple of blocks to get in line.  There was security you know.

As we stood in line we met new people, chatted with our friends, wondered if the line would ever move and tried to cheer up the Colorado chefs who were really suffering in the heat and humidity.  We were in line about an hour before we got to the first check point.  One of the new people I met was Rochelle who is a member of WCR and owner of ChefWear (www.chefwear.com).  She brought chef jackets for the entire Obama family including the first dog.  Yes I took a picture of the cute gift bags and the chef line.



Once we reached the beginning of the line, we formed into 3 single lines where there was an official person checking our names off the list.  I was hoping I was on the list since we had received no confirmation.  I made it through, he crossed off my name.  Eight more feet and there was another official person with a list and he too was crossing off names.  Made it through that too!

Once through the name checkers we went through the little room with the xray machines.  We had been told what not to bring and that if we had any of the not approved items that we would not be going inside.  We were allowed to take cameras, purses and phones though.  I made it through again!

Once through there we headed up a driveway and there it was, the White House!  Lots of chefs taking lots of pictures.  The Marine band was also playing.



I was surprised that once inside it was very relaxed.  We were just roaming free.  I know there were boundaries and there were Secret Service police and Marines all around, but they were very unseen.  We mingled, went to the garden, chatted and had well needed water. 

The garden is beautiful and I took lots of pictures of the First Garden. 









We mingled and took pictures until about 11:45 when there was some signal and we all moved close to the White House to the rows and rows of chairs set up.  We added some people after the breakfast so I would guess there were about 1000 chairs set up for 1000 chefs. 

The White House assistant chef Sam Kass spoke first and introduced the speakers - chefs from DC with their school principals.  They spoke on what they were doing, how things started, how things had grown.  After that Chef Kass introduced The First Lady and she spoke to us.  She is very invested in helping kids and families learn to eat better and have better choices available.  I got some pictures, a little difficult but I tried.



The program ended at 1:00 and we were told to remain seated until the First Lady was away from the lawn.  She was going to the garden to harvest and cook with kids.  We left and are ready for the next step.  I got a picture of one of the boundary keepers.  I asked first and he was very nice. 



I went back to the hotel, changed out of the chef uniform.  It was 90 degrees and sunny in Washington on Friday.  I went to the Renwick Gallery and then to Restaurant Nora (www.noras.com) for a delicious dinner.  Nora Pouillon is also a member of WCR and is very much dedicated to organic eating and sustainability.  This was a very nice dinner. 



Saturday was the long drive back to Georgia, about 11 hours and then dinner of chicken soup from the freezer.  Perfect comfort food.  Today is relaxing mostly and getting ready for my first week's session of kid's cooking camp at The Cook's Warehouse tomorrow.