So far we're through Friday.  Saturday we were invited to see my niece's new house.  She and her boyfriend were at dinner Friday night.  It started out as brunch, but then Cristine decided that brunch happened way too early in the day and it was switched to lunch with Cristine cooking.  Very nice invitation but Cristine can't cook.

The menu decided on Friday night was Beer Bread and Dip made by my sister, Chicken with Lemon and Soy, salad left from Friday with dressing left from Friday, my niece said she had some "big honkin potatoes" that I could do something with, we had dessert left from Friday.  So far it didn't look like Cristine was cooking much, she did turn the chicken. 

Ryan and Bartee                                                              Cristine turning chicken

Cristine and Ryan have a very nice, new home though.  Being optimistic, my husband and I gave her some spice sets from Penzey's, a grill set and a baking set.  She may get better.  We hung out for a few hours and then went back to my sister's house to play with the puppies.  My husband and I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant because I needed zucchini slices.  Excellent!

Sunday the plan was to go to Phipps Conservatory and the day was perfect!  I've been going to Phipps since I was a child and love it there.  We were lucky to see some of the Chihuly exihibit that was just beginning to be set up. 

Family Picture!

We had a great trip.  When I sent my niece an email telling her we would like to stay with her at her new house, just a joke, she wrote:

On the plus side, it flew by, on the minus side, it flew by. 

I can't believe it's Friday.  My menu plan for this week was totally shot down because my husband had traumas at work and worked a lot.  I did manage to make burgers on the grill on Wednesday, but for myself.  Husband took his to work for lunch the next day.  I know that burgers on the grill doesn't sound difficult and it's not, it's just a matter of time.  We have a Weber charcoal grill, small, nothing fancy and I use a starter chimney to light the coals.  I use newspaper to get the coals started, no lighter fluid ever, so I plan on 20 minutes or so to get the grill going.  Since I knew my husband wasn't coming home to eat, I almost just cooked inside, but I enjoy burgers on the grill so I did that for myself.  I also made fresh green beans with olive oil and Penzey's Greek seasoning.

The menu planning class on Monday at the library went very well.  I had nice comments from the participants.  Kind of funny that I started the week with a menu planning class!

I had a big cookday on Tuesday.  I've cooked for this client in the past, but not for sveral months and they came back.  I always like that.  They are a family with two teenagers, so I cooked each recipe for 8 people.  That means 10 recipes, each serving 8.  The day flowed well, and there were no problems.  I had a pleasant chat with my customer Linda. 

I had a new family on Wednesday who are very nice and that day went well but the first time cooking always takes longer.  I'm in a new kitchen and don't know where I placed all the equipment.  They have a 9 year old son and a wonderful dog named Bailey.  Bailey was pretty excited that someone came to spend the day with him!

Thursday I met with my friends and co-workers Cathy and Monique to review the teaching plan for next week.  I'll be teaching new personal chefs next week for 2 days.  We wanted to review our timing since we made some changes.  Things look good though.  Monique went off to teach at the Art Institute and Cathy and I went to Restaurant Depot for her first visit.  Lots of fun to browse. 

I went to my client Amy's house last evening to teach her and her daughter Tessa how to knit.  I volunteered to teach knitting to Amy's Girl Scout troop in February so this was a pre-teaching lesson.  They both did well and will be able to help the others at the troop meeting, I have to say though, Tessa was a little faster than her mom. 

I am teaching at a private class at Cook's Warehouse on Sunday afternoon.  There will be 13 children of various ages and we'll be making Italian.  Cook's Warehouse is a great place to have a cooking party with friends or a team building event with co-workers. 

Now I'm going to re-plan a menu for next week, check my calendar for the week after, go to the post office and maybe get a haircut. 

Enjoy the weekend and try and relax at least part of one day. 

I don't do a lot of shopping for Christmas.  I buy a few gifts for family members - sister, niece, nephew, grandson, probably less than 10 total, so not much shopping.  My husband and I do not buy gifts for each other, we stopped doing that several years ago.

I do get gifts for my clients, they are different each year and I usually make some kind of food item with a Christmas plate or ornament.  I bought what I needed yesterday at the open house at Sugar Art International. I don't want to mention what the gift will be in case any of my customers are reading, it would ruin the surprise.  I also decided that I need to take a fondant class in the future, hopefully next year.  The demo was amazing and the cakes, cookies and cupcakes beautiful.  

We also met a group of friends for lunch yesterday at a Greek restaurant called Cafe Agora.  Very good food.  It's a small place and I wanted lots of the items on the menu.  I settled for a lamb gyro with a side of Turkish tabbouleh and baba ganoush.  We also shared many of the desserts at the table and all were good.  I of course don't know what they were except for baklava but in addition to the baked goods they have custard of some kind and rice pudding.  It is located at  262 E Paces Ferry Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30305.  A nice casual, good food spot. 

Today we had our usual routine of church and the farmer's market.  I do have a menu plan but won't be here much this week.  Tomorrow is our personal chef Christmas party which is being held at Brio.  I've never been there, so will let you know.  I'm making a Cooking Light recipe for gnocchi tonight that looks good.  I baked some cookies today and they don't look bad.  They are cooling and I have to put some chocolate on them, but look for the recipe if they're good.  The are almond horns. 

I started getting organized today for the party I am doing Thursday night.  This will be the sixth year that I'm doing the client Christmas party for The Beacon of Hope.  With the help of my friends Kevin and Carol and Kevin's son Garrett, we will make and serve food for about 80.  It's always a surprise with the number of guests.  It works out every year though.  On the menu I have shrimp, meatballs, vegetable chili, some kind of chicken, cheese and crackers, veggie trays and dessert that will be donated by my Publix.  I'll be shopping and planning on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. 

That's it for now.  Going to check on my cookies and dip them in chocolate.  And of course there's laundry to fold!

I was optimistic that I would write yesterday.  After eating, I just relaxed.  We ate a little earlier than usual so had time to wait for dessert.

I didn't do a fancy meal for Thanksgiving and didn't use a lot of recipes.  We had:

• Cheese Straws (Barefoot Contessa)
• Roasted Turkey (I did brine it)
• Mashed Potatoes
• Mashed Sweet Potatoes
• Broccoli Casserole
• Stuffing (bread, celery, onions, sage, parsley, sausage)
• Cranberry Orange Relish
• Cranberry Sauce (from the can, sliced with the lines showing by request)
• Pumpkin Roll
• Chocolate Cake

Today will be mostly leftovers but I may make an appetizer for later.  For breakfast, we ate about 10 and I made Rachael Ray's Room Service Stacked Eggs.  They are english muffins, sauteed spinach, sliced tomatoes, proscuitto, cheese sauce and poached eggs, a sort of Eggs Benedict.  Very good even though prep time said 10 minutes which I think was not long enough. 

If I cook more today, I am making Baked Feta with Marinara.  I had it once, on a Cooking Light weekend to the Biltmore House.

Baked Feta with Marinara by Cooking Light December 2002

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, drained
1 (4-ounce) package crumbled feta cheese
 Cooking spray
32 (1/2-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut French bread baguette (about 1 pound), toasted

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Sprinkle feta evenly into a 6-inch gratin dish or small shallow baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with tomato mixture. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Serve as a spread with bread slices.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 2 bread slices and 2 tablespoons spread)

I left you on the conference update with Saturday lunch so I'll continue because there are things you need to know.  After lunch my class was How to Build Successful Media Relations and I did learn some things.  Mostly about service which is very important to me.  I don't think there were snacks after this class, but not to worry, we had a reception at 6:30 before dinner.  The reception was hosted by Inland Seafood and I tasted Shrimp Lollipops, Lobster Enchiladas, Smoked Salmon, Seared Sea Acallops and Tuna Tartare with one glass of prosecco. 

Dinner was the awards dinner so it was very leisurely and wonderful.  I don't think I mentioned but the conference chair was Anne Quatrano of Bacchanalia, Floataway and Quinones, so the food was exceptional!

• Nickel Filet Beans with Wild Mushroom Broth and Crispy Onions by Anne Quatrano
• Hank's Oyster Dressing with Smoked Bacon by Jamie Leeds
• Primo Mac&Chees:Strozzapretti with Speck and Fonduta by Kathleen Blake
• Turkey Ballontine with Satsuna Mustard by Allison Vines-Rushing
• A House Divided: Sweet Potato Pie vs. Pumpkin Pie by Martha Foose

After dinner we had the dessert buffet.  I have mentioned that this is a group of serious eaters.  In defense of my capacity for eating, I only tried the Mississippi Mud Pie and the Frozen Mint Julep, both excellent.  Then off to bed for me!

• Harvest Peach Shortcake by Terri Burke
• Mississippi Mud Pie by Carla Cabera
• Maple Walnut Nougatine Bars by Lisa Smith
• Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Caramel by Kathryn King
• Frozen Mint Julep by Luis Vasquez

Monday the general session was Unveiling the Magic of Southern Hospitality with panel members Virginia Willis, Kreis Beall of Blackberry Farm, Nathalie Dupree, Ti Adelaide Martin of Commander's Palace, Marie Nygren of Serenbe and Melissa Rathbun of Rathbun's.  The session was very informative and again focused on outstanding service. 

I had to forgo the morning snack because the first class Monday was one where I was presenting!  I met with my fellow panel members to get miked and ready for the class Evolution or Revolution: A Working Checklist for the Business of Running a Business.  The class was well received and I got to relax a little and go off to the InfoFair and Picnic lunch! 

For lunch we had several green salads to choose from, potato salad, biscuits, cornbread, pulled pork, shrimp of some kind, lamb barley soup and several cakes.  I loved the lamb soup and was fortunate to share a lunch table with John and Sukey Jamison of Jamison Farm and mentioned that I loved the soup.  Sukey makes it and it is available from the website.  I encourage you to go and buy some for the winter.  They are very nice people and are passionate about their lambs. 

The afternoon session I attended was How to Make It with Antoinette Bruno, Cindy Hutson, Ana Sorten and Susan Spicer.  It was also an informative class.  I decided to miss the afternoon snack and headed home, in time for Jazzercise.  Much needed!

The remainder of the day I will be relaxing by reading, maybe a little knitting and even perhaps a nap, still giving thanks for such a wonderful life. 

Happy November!  The year seems to be picking up speed. 

The poppy seed cake was excellent!  Here you go:

Solo Fancy Ground Poppy Seed Cake

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 can Solo Ground Poppy Seed Filling (12.5 ounce)
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (I love Penzey's Double Strength)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 12 cup Bundt pan or 10 inch tube pan and set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. 
3. Add poppy seed filling and beat until blended. 
4. Beat in egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add vanilla and sour cream and beat just until blended. 
6. Stir baking soda, flour and salt until mixed, and add to poppy mixture gradually, beating well after each addition.
7. In separate bowl with electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold into batter.
8. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.
9. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.
10. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool completely.  Dust with powdered sugar.
11. I made the recipe just like the directions said!  One small thing - my bundt pan is black inside so I do lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees to let it cook a little more slowly.  The dark coating sometimes will let things burn. 

I am going to Jazzercise this morning.  I felt that I had no need to try and get to the class during rush hour, Halloween traffic last night.  I am also off to Toys R Us to look for Thomas the Tank things for the grandson's third birthday this weekend. 

The apple cake is really good!  It looks more like a giant pie, but it is good.  I would normally send it off to work with my husband, but Friday is food day there.  It seems, from what he says, that it's hard to fit in actual work with all the eating that needs to be done.

I have knitting class today though and it would make a nice snack there.  I'll pack up plates, forks and cake and people can have a snack before fun. 

I found the recipe in my new Penzey's catalog and you can find it here Apple Cake . I made it exactly as the recipe says.  I was very happy to find Earth Balance brand vegetable shortening at the store last week that has no trans fat.  It has to be kept in the refrigerator.  I used that for the cake.  I also used the Vietnamese Cinnamon that I order from Penzey's because I love cinnamon.  One of my favorite spices is nutmeg and I always use fresh.  If you compare the fragrance of the fresh grated with the jarred stuff, you'll be amazed at the difference.  I get my Nutmeg from Penzey's also and have a microplane grater just for nutmeg.  Yes, I love the stuff. 

One thing that I wanted to mention the last time I wrote is an email I received from America's Tests Kitchen.  You might have heard of the show, Cook's Illustrated or seen some of the cookbooks they put out.  The email is about an organization called Parents Against Junk Food and has a link for more information.  Although I don't have kids, I think it's important for everyone to eat good food.  If you're interested, this will link you to the website and more information Parents Against Junk Food. 

I'm off to knitting class now.  Tomorrow I am auditing a food safety class all day which is my next step in teaching it.  My husband is taking the class tomorrow and he was reviewing the book last night after dinner.  It was kind of a weird night of questions about handwashing, parasites, bacteria, etc.  It's all good information, it just makes you look at things very differently! 

 I am on vacation this week, but I have been extremely busy.  I have a lot of things to get planned and organized that are coming up in the next few weeks.  In addition to my wonderful customers. 

I have been very busy with an idea for a new business. It just came to me on Tuesday as I was working on something else and my head is full.   It is very exciting for me and I have been creating forms, writing business plans, marketing plans, trying to get my ideas organized on paper as they come into my head.  I have to get the ideas in some kind of control or I'm afraid I'll lose some of them.  Stay tuned for further details.

I've also been getting ready for Saturday when I will attend the Big Brother/Big Sister fundraising gala.  Five of my fellow chefs and I have created a package and donated  "Dinner for a Year"  to be auctioned at the gala for a lucky winner.  I will be attending with Bob Brinson of Gourmet Innovations, Inc. to explain the service to interested gala attendees.  We are very excited that we will be included in the live auction and believe that this will raise some money for the organization.  

No knitting class today.  The class was a little full so I'm on knitting class break until 9/22.  I do think that since I would have been knitting today anyway that that's how I'll spend my morning. 

I also may forage for something to bake.  I made the beef stew yesterday, but not really according to the recipe.  Once I looked at the recipe a little closer, it seemed boring so I added black beans and chopped green chiles to it.  The recipe claimed that it simmered for almost an hour, but that wasn't right either, it took about 4 hours.  It was delicious but I'm going to have to write down what I really made.  I served it with cornbread that was excellent and allowed me to use up the rest of my buttermilk that I've had in the fridge.  I rarely use all the buttermilk when I buy it for baking.  I do however measure it into cups, put it in quart ziploc bags and freezer it for later. 

I think that's all the work that will be happening for today.  I know, it's only 8:30 am, but it looks like it's time for breakfast - leftover cornbread and knitting!

It is rainy and grey here today but we need the rain so that's fine.  Saturday was very wet and a perfect day to read and nap with the dog.  Sunday I made it to the farmer's market and am stocked up with food.  I know I have a menu planned for Wednesday, but that may be optimistic depending on class that day.

I ended up not getting fish to grill for Sunday.  When I checked out the fish selections the salmon did look great but we've had that the past 2 weeks.  They did have some fresh cod and it was $6.99 per pound so that's what I got and changed my menu in my mind.  I went with oven roasted instead.  I bought small red potatoes and roasted them whole at 400 degrees with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh rosemary from the garden.  I let them roast for about 50 minutes then started the fish. 

For the fish I found a piece of sour dough bread in the freezer so I made fresh breadcrumbs with that.  I added lemon pepper seasoning (from Penzeys), fresh lemon zest, fresh garlic and tossed it all together.  I pressed the crumbs on the fish and it went into the oven with the potatoes.  I roasted it for about 20 minutes I think, it was a medium thick piece of fish.  While that was cooking I cleaned my fresh green beans, placed them in boiling water for about 7 minutes, added a touch of butter, salt and pepper.  It was a great meal.  I also had a glass of pinot noir.  Excellent. 

For dessert we had decadent Texas Sheetcake Bars from The Cake Mix Doctor.  I was bored on Saturday afternoon and found that I had a German Chocolate Cake mix in the pantry.  Also the rest of the ingredients needed for this.  Very good, very rich, they went to work with my husband today so they would not get eaten here.  I may have to start taking some things to neighbors over weekends.  Thank goodness my husband does go to an office.

I planned menus this morning for my clients for next week.  I have no menu creativity in the afternoons so I got that done in a few hours this morning.  All are different - two clients eat no fish, one client loves fish, one client is on a low fat plan with lots of veggies, I enjoy the planning.  It's like a game for me to match a perfect menu to a particular client. 

That's it for now.  Maybe some cleaning will need to happen now.  I avoided that this weekend. 

Yes, after the meat and Costco on Saturday we still needed groceries on Sunday.  We had a pretty full day Sunday.  It started with church, we always attend the 8 am service, we're early people and that's in Alpharetta.  After church we zipped over to the DeKalb Farmer's Market which takes us about 20 minutes because it is in Decatur. 

Once at the store we had to go fast because we needed to meet people for brunch at 11:30 in Woodstock.  I had corn on my list for eating this week, but it's been so good so far this year that we decided to get some for the freezer.  We bought 52 ears.  Back home to unload the cold stuff to the fridge and get directions to brunch.  We made it to brunch at 11:35 which was almost exactly on time. 

We ate at Beetle's barbecue which is one of the few places open in Woodstock on Sunday according the organizer of this trip.  It was very good though and I enjoyed my catfish, okra and macaroni and cheese.  We finished brunch about 1:15 to go 6 miles to Berry Patch Farms to pick blueberries www.berrypatchfarms.net .  Blueberries are easy to pick because there are no thorns and they are on bushes so no stooping or crawling on the ground.  The berries here are all organic so you can munch as you pick to make sure you are getting the best berries.  My husband and I each picked until it looked like we had enough, hard to tell and went back to have them weighed and to pay.  We ended up with just a smidge over 6 pounds. 

This morning again I am not working (cooking for a client), but I was faced with 52 ears of corn, 6 pounds of blueberries and a mountain of laundry.  So it's work, just at home.  And I do have paperwork to complete for my clients this week.

I set up a little assembly line of corn - shucked it all, washed it all, starting boiling water, made an ice bath in the sink, blanched the corn, cooled it, cut it off the cobs and made quart freezer bag packages, 12 of them plus some for dinner tonight.  All done with that!  Checked on laundry, still drying, made some peanut butter toast then on to blueberries.

I made up quart freezer bags of berries with 2 cups per bag and ended up with 8 bags. Not overwhelming.  Now all done with that.  And have one load of laundry dried, folded and put away.  Only 4 more loads to go!  Maybe I'll have time to knit. 

Here is the recipe for the blueberry pie we made during the kid's cooking week.  It's very good and pretty easy.  Mrs Smith and Pillsbury both do a good job of making pie crust. 

 Cream Cheese Blueberry Pie
Taste of Home August/September 2005

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped
9 inch pie crust, baked
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 cups blueberries

1. In small mixing bowl beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.
2. Fold in whipped cream. Spread in pie shell.
3. In large saucepan combine sugar, cornstarch, water and lemon juice until
     smooth.
4. Stir in blueberries. Bring to boil over medium heat, cook and stir for 2
     minutes or until thickened. Cool.
5. Spread over cream cheese. Refrigerate until serving.

Off to check on laundry and maybe do some knitting.  I am working on a sleeveless top for myself and it would be nice to have it done to wear this summer. 

This is the weekend that we need to go shopping for provisions everywhere!  I didn't go grocery shopping for us last week so that's necessary, also picked up meat today from Bill Hodge and hit Costco.  Tomorrow will be DeKalb Farmer's Market and blueberry picking.

I made it through the week making meals with what I had already in the house and a couple of leftover items from my week of cheffing.

Tuesday Whatever was frozen pizza I think.  I know, bad personal chef.  I like the cheese pizza from Amy's Organics.  It never hurts to have some on hand.  Wednesday we had dinner out with friends, Thursday was Pork Tenderloin Diane from Cooking Light with Mashed Potatoes (the 5 pound bag cost less than the 3 pound bag for my client and I needed 2 1/2 pounds), Friday was Chicken Parmesan (found 2 chicken breasts in the freezer) with the Marinara Sauce left from Giada's lasagne rolls, cheese from a client and a salad with lettuce that was still nice and tomatoes from the garden.  Tonight I'm having Tacos and Black Beans with flank steak, a red pepper found in the fridge, onion some cheese that is left over from the week. 

The pork was good, quick and easy:

Pork Tenderloin Diane

• 1  (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1-inch-thick slices
• 3/4  teaspoon lemon pepper I use Penzey's lemon pepper www.penzeys.com
• 2  teaspoons butter
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1. Sprinkle pork with lemon pepper.  I slightly pounded each slice to even.
2. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
3. Add pork slices to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove from pan; keep warm.
4. Add juice and remaining ingredients to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.
5. Return pork to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated, turning to coat.
6. Cooking Light June 2005, serves 4

I planned a menu for next week.  With the exception of the fish and burgers, all recipes are from Cooking Light's 2006 Annual.

• Sunday - Fish to grill with Caesar Salad [whatever fish looks good tomorrow]
• Monday - Salmon Sate with Dill Mustard Glaze and corn on the cob
• Tuesday - Burgers and Grilled Zucchini
• Wednesday - Farfalle with Zucchini and Prosciutto
• Thursday - Spicy Orange Beef with Brown Rice
• Friday - Slow Roasted Beef with Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans

It's not a fancy menu since I am working 3 days again, but Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  I usually don't work Fridays, but Tuesday is a holiday.  I need to fit in Jazzercise Monday, Thursday and Saturday since the Tuesday morning class will be crazy crowded.  I try for 3 days of Jazzercise and sometimes 4.