Tuesdays Top Ten- The Musical Artists Who Accompany Me While I Cook

If I had a Reality TV series it would be a Black and White episode of "The Art of Cooking with Stephanie Sheffer" if the space surrounding me was devoid of music.  When I am stirring and sifting, or slicing and dicing ~ it is the musical collaborations and compilations that set the tone for me.  My tastes change from time to time, but here is my list of the artists who will always get me in the cooking groove. I am a lover of music, but I can't always articulate why- I like what I like and that is that- 


1. Jack Johnson - My sister introduced me to Jack almost 8 years ago.  I love to bake cookies to the tune of his voice.  It always makes me happy!



2. Frank Sinatra- He is amazing, period.



3. Dave Matthews - I discovered Dave when I was 15.  I loved him then, I love him now, just the same.



4. My Dear Disco- This is a newer one that I was just recently was introduced to but I Love them!  There could listen to their song "All I Do" over and over.



5. Brett Dennen- He is another new one for me and "She Mine" is my favorite by far.



6.  Maroon 5- Ever since my daughter Lauren sang "This Love has taken its toll on me" at 2 years old from the back seat of my car, I was hooked. 
 


7. Michael Buble-  He is a lot like Sinatra to me- He always delivers and gets me dancing in the kitchen.



8.  Jason Mraz-  "Ba da da boo ba da boo da boo da"- Yeah I just like his style- and together we make great a great dinner!



9.  Jem- This is another newer favorite that I am really inspired by.  Her song "Its Amazing" is one I can't stop listening to also!



10.  Ashley MacTavish - She has been my best friend since I was 7 years old.  Her voice is simply amazing, a beautiful gift!  I have a CD of her singing children's songs that she gave to my kids and one of her with the Clarion Band.  Live version of Ash is the BEST but I like to listen to her when I am winding things down in the kitchen- its always a great way to finish the night.  

Monday's Plate: Hot Plate vs. Cold Plate

A few months ago I met with a very well known and respected chef in my hometown's downtown.  We came together to discuss opportunities and simply dish about the world of culinary.  I was entirely intrigued by every single thing this man said.  Why wouldn't I be?  He has built a highly successful business with many enamored patrons.  His plated creations whisper to the seated visitor deliciously devine traces of a secret love affair that cannot be concealed.  Each of his courses is a destination to be explored with all of your senses.  I am completely inspired by the accomplishment of this culinary treasure he has anchored on Front Street.  This Chef/Owner is a culinary hero in my heart always.

One component of our conversation laid a very heavy impression on me.  Mostly because it was so simple and made absolute sense.  This chef told me "You don't ever want to serve your food on a cold plate!"  He continued, "First it will suck the life right out of your food."  "Second, if the food is obvioulsy not placed on a hot plate and it is already in the process of cooling, well people will tend to eat the food too fast and not take the time to savor it."

Think about the different meals that have been prepared for you, and think about the meals you prepare at home and then compare.  One noticeable difference that sets these two meals apart is how they are plated.  A restaurant meal can be so very extra special not just because you are being served, but because your server is nestling your entree onto the table with a hot pad.  This is because they are shielding their hand from the intentionally absorbed heat within your plate.  How many of the meals that we make at home are intentionally served on warm plates?  Probably not many.  I do attend to this "hot plate" aspect much more now that I am in school, but with a 6 and 8 year old I have to be careful.  Once we are outside the restaurant boundaries this Mama's warnings apparently are not taken as seriously as a waitstaff's precautions.

I have recently discovered that you can apply this Hot Plate / Cold Plate concept not only to plates but to your relationships with people too.  Its a balance beam type of subject.  By that I mean that when you decide what type of plate you are today~ well if its the less desirable "Cold Plate"- then my suggestion is to figure out how to get the oven pilot light going and don't wait to long to stir up some warmth before the next course or social interaction in the relation to the people around you.

An appropriate use of a Cold Plate

You are having a bad day all the time and everyone around you knows about it.  Nothing ever seems to be very great about anything you encounter.  You complain and whine about the problems that plague you on a daily basis, while never taking responsibility for your own part in how you perceive and react to the situations you are faced with.  Your glass is typically half empty and pessimism is not an uncommon tool in your bag of responses.  In the most extreme of cases, this is the description of the "Cold Plate"-A person who can easily suck the life force out of an entire group if they continue to evolve in this way without interruption.  Usually they aren't actually able to affect people to this exhausting extent because people just won't hang around for it to go that far.  Now I am not saying that we aren't allowed to vent when we are having a bad day, or lean on a friend when times get tough.  Hopefully we all have someone we can go to in a situation like that.  Ultimately it can make you weary if all you ever get from a person is "The Cold Plate".  You wish and hope, and pray for them to have a better day.  They need something good to revitalize their perspective, but in the end they have to be the one to light the match.

A Hot Plate

The "Hot Plate" can set a good example for what a "Cold Plate" has the ability to become.  A "Hot Plate" person is intentional.  They plan ahead, and envision their successes far in advance.  They see potential in people and events in a way that inspires eternal greatness.  Their optimistic outlook is the main ingredient to the manifestation of their own happiness, and also their ability to motivate the same outcomes for the family and friends they surround themselves with.  The person who is a "Hot Plate" is encouraging and supportive.  Their purposeful agenda accentuates the amazing possibilities that life has to offer everyone. They know if they step into each day this way, they will effectively come out a winner.

I know I can count on these hotties!

 An entree of passionately prepared cuisine relies on the induced warmth from the supporting "hot" serving plate.  Similarly a person can infuse these same qualities into their surroundings like the hot plate, and positively accentuate their daily results while also conducting their warmth into the lives of others too.  The "Hot Plate" conclusively is the most paramount way to support and deliver a satisfying flavor for all aspects of life.  We have all encountered the "Cold Plate" from someone else or from our own production.  It is our responsibility to accept that "Cold Plate" days happen, but we learn from its faults, and plan ahead for a better delivery the next time.  If all you ever serve up is cold plates, don't be surprised if people stop making reservations.  Ahh, but if you can master the service of hot plates, then you will likely have a full house every time.   You may also achieve a helpful take-away impression or illustration by the way you transfer your warmth to those around you with a "Hot Plate" mentality.  Thanks to you someone experiencing a "cold plate" moment may be able to learn how to fire up their internal proverbial ovens to find a greater happiness too.

Together with my girls!

Tuesday's Top Ten: I Love to Cook for My Kids- Let me Count the Ways!!!

They are the reason for the depth of my passion!!

How I love to cook at create for my children, let me count the ways!  In my life story there was a particular moment when my love for all foods transformed and turned into a real passion.   Like a beautiful bud when it meets the face of the warm springtime sun, my love intensified for all things food and opened up into a full bloom.  It began with reaching out for fresh knowledge, and building an understanding that there is so much more to eating than I ever took the time to notice before.  Suddenly I wanted to know everything I could about nutrition, food origins, and how to purposefully create meals that would meet our crucial daily needs to be healthy and energized.  At twenty tree years old they laid a beautiful baby girl into my arms, and nineteen months later a sweet boy - from that point on I knew it was going to be my responsibility to lay the all important nutritional foundations of my babes and give them the strong and highly flavored start they deserve.

Strawberry Picking- so much goodness!!

I have learned so far that by setting a good example and creating awareness for how to make good choices, these two munchkins of mine have learned all about "Good Food".  They have a sense of pride in knowing where our food comes from when we practice growing our own garden veggies or when we take a visit to the farmers market and local orchards.  Even raising our own egg producing chickens has been a major lesson in how special food really is.  A new appreciation for how food is produced in nature has really enlightened all of us to the importance of supporting agriculture not only for ourselves but for everyone and our futures.

 My children have a very developed palate at their young ages of 6 and 8, and it is always fun to see what they think of new foods or flavor combinations that we come up with.  They definitely have their favorites and I have also allowed them to dislike things too.  Since there aren't too many things in the "dislike" category, I am fortunate that I have not had to become a short order cook to satisfy rumbly tummies at dinner time.

I have acquired and stored a vast body of knowledge so far and yet I feel like I have hardly scratched the surface.  Every day I learn something new in my culinary crusades.   It is my mission to give my children the best start so here are the Top Ten Reasons why I Love to cook for my kids:


1.  There is nothing better than hitting a home-run, double play at the diner table- this is when they ask for seconds.


2.  My mom always made sure that my sister and I had a warm, hearty meal for dinner every night, even when she was attending night school. I never appreciated that until I had kids of my own.  Certainly she gave me a great foundation to build upon with this practice- I have the blueprints in my own hands now to create a similar foundation in my own kids- Thanks Mom!

At the apple orchard with my Mom and Lauren- Family Traditions

3.  My kids love to help in the kitchen- I have learned that this usually equates to messes, but how else are they going to learn.  Its our time together, these are the real teaching moments.  I am just thankful they are interested.

4.  With noses up high in the air, they walk into the kitchen and exclaim "What is that yummy smell Mama?  What are you cooking?"  Hook, line and sinker!!  If it smells good that is half the pleasure, right?


5.  My kids have told me that their lunches always look different than anyone else's at the school lunch table.  I asked them if that was OK and if they were happy with their lunches I made for them.  Both answered that they love their lunch "even if there aren't any fun things in wrappers."  Whole foods have nothing to hide!

6.  I love to talk about the week's dinner menu with my kids and get ideas for what they would like to see at the dinner table.  Together we can come up with some ideas that work well not only for dinner but we can use the leftovers for lunches too.


7.  Since they were little babies the Grocery store trip has always been a "Big Family Outing."  We make a pretty big deal about going to pick out our ingredients and favorite foods.  We talk about how to pick out the freshest ones of the bunch and in the past couple of years we have enjoyed doing our circle through the store without much aisle action.  The kids understand that fresh is best whenever possible- it takes three stops to accomplish this- but the trip is always an adventure and they usually get the added bonus of eating dinner out on such occasions too.  Oryana deli (a local Co-Op with an Organic focus) is one of the family faves.


8.  They always tell me the truth about what they think of the food I prepare.  The constructive feedback is never sugar coated.  Either they like it or they don't- they aren't afraid to go over it with me.  This is very helpful especially if it is a new creation.

It was super hot but they were loving it!!

9. When they do like something the praises are overflowing with love and admiration.  There happiness is what fuels me.  It makes me want to keep pushing the boundaries of my knowledge and learn even more so I can present them with the next exciting and delicious dish.


10.  Someday I hope they will look back at what I have started them with on this journey towards making healthy choices and appreciating "Good Food."  I pray that they will take these values and ideas and pass them to their own families.  I believe that if they start to understand it all now, and appreciate all these experiences that no matter what they do, they will always know how to pick a good peach, enjoy a garden fresh carrot, and create a balanced meal.

I love you my dear Lauren and Riley!  You make me so very very proud!

Love Always, Your Mama

Monday's Plate - Together At The Family Table

I didn't have enough time beforehand to study my dictionary.  Apparently that was not necessary since I have been doing enough Thesaurus work with my blog that my vocabulary is up to speed.   I honestly can't tell you what my final score was.  I didn't win, but I didn't lose either.  Thanks to my Mom I did get a great game changing score in the middle of the game.  Dad wasn't very happy about it since it was his turn after me.  Its all about laying out a brilliant word on some part of the prime real estate on the Scabble board.  By the end of the game I was exhausted, partly from eating too much, and partly from working all day in the kitchen making food for a long time friend's baby shower and also for my Mom's Birthday Game Night/Family Dinner party which ended up being back to back that day.  

I did my pear plate x2 for both parties and tried something new- Candied Pecans- they a very yummy new addition with the dried cherries and goat cheese too.

It was my Mom's birthday weekend, and our newly formed "Family Game Night" was a perfect fit for the whole family to get together and celebrate.  My sister Jen and I decided to handle the food for this one so that Mom could take a break and enjoy.  I had two parties to attend in the afternoon and so I got to work right away Saturday morning- turning my kitchen into a beautiful disaster!  Obviously I totally enjoyed prepping all the food I was responsible for.  Jen told us that she worked in her kitchen all day too and to everyone's delighted surprise she offered us some very delicious dishes for all her hard work!  Mom couldn't help not making something too.  She made her favorite cake in the whole world- "Mississippi Mud Pie!"  

Here is a photo tour of some of our food:

The birthday girl and her "Mud Pie"

Jen's Taco Salad in Tortilla Bowls- they were so creative and scrumptious!

I chose to make my "Thai Corn Cakes" with fresh sweet corn from my  Mom's favorite corn farmers and she loved them.  They are so easy!

Jen's "Artichoke Mushroom Bruschetta with Pesto"  These were AWESOME and so different than anything I had seen before- Good job girl!

My "Triple Mushroom Soup"  

Jen's Dessert Platter- A Cream Cheese Pecan and Chocolate Dip and cinnamon sugar graham crackers.  This was really cool too, very different, fun and delicious!

The gorgeous birthday girl enjoying the goodies!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Thanks for sharing your Birthday with us 

and letting us put together a dinner for you!

We love you!

"Mom's Girls"- Me and my Sister Jen

The Break Up ~

March 7, 2010


This is my goodbye to you my dear sweet love.
I just love you so much that it is taking over everything.
I lose my mind when you are around.
I find that I can't control myself around you.
I am not used to having such a lack of willpower.
I feel like you are starting to affect my health, and that is where I draw the line.


I am not saying that we can't ever see each other again, but I think for now it is best if we take a break.  I need some to time to figure out who I am.  Your distractions are taking me down a path that is starting to be very costly.  If we are ever going to have a chance to be together again then I think this time away will be best for us both.  


I believe I will appreciate you more after our time away.  I am truly sorry that I can't be with you right now, but if we are meant to be- then we will be united again someday very soon.  I will never forget how happy you made me feel during the good times.  I will look forward to those times that will be awaiting us in the future.  


I will love you always and in all your forms: Sugar, Chocolate, Ice Cream, cookies, cake, and certain candies.  Please forgive me that I can't be with you until I can learn to control myself. 


Love always,
Stephie


-Due to my complete love for all things food I have had some issues lately with the majority of the clothes in my closet not fitting me comfortably.  This is something new to me and I think it is because I have lost the balance between calories in/calories out.  Up until recently I had fortunately been able to eat whatever I wanted to my hearts content.  Since my full time schedule started for culinary school this semester I have not made the time to workout like I usually would.  Yet I kept on eating, and especially my baking classes have really added to my complete loss of willpower.  It is all just so wonderfully tasty and I don't know when to stop eating the cookies!  I just need some time to get the control back and then I think I will be able to happily return to my enjoyment of all things sweet.  I'm not sure how it will all work out, but thankfully I am in love with veggies and fruits too so I think I won't feel too lonely during this break-up.  That is one benefit of being a foodlover of all things food, there are always options!


To start I am going to have a green smoothie for breakfast:





Its a recipe I made up and posted to SparkPeople.com.  Let me know if you try it!
Be-Bok Berry Smoothie

If the Personality Fits- Wear it Proudly

I am going to describe something I have noticed lately about myself in my development towards being officially recognized as a chef.  As I gaze into the mirror I can easily see past one thing I am already familiar with and that I have accepted about who I am:  "I am a people pleaser."  I came to terms with that trait a few years ago and happily found a nice balance between being agreeable and just saying no when appropriate.  OK, I do still load it up, but trust me when I say I am doing everything I want and love to do.

A large part of being a Chef in my opinion is being a people pleaser in the sense that your creation is served with an expectation that the consumer will actually enjoy it, discover intense pleasure, and possibly have their socks knocked off.  This can be whether you are the executive chef of a large restaurant, a school lunch provider, or a homemaker preparing a meal for the whole family.  A chef wants each meal to invoke something extraordinary in the sensation of the taster.  We want to hear what you think.  We want to see you close your eyes and say "Mmmmm."  We simply want you to be pleased by what we have prepared for you.

My friend Ray- Look at that focus!

It is when I  look beyond the "people pleaser" I am suddenly aware this new transformation of my focus and drive.  My commitment level is brimming and I am standing on my very tip toes, fully immersed in an flood of opportunities that are the result of this manifestation of my passion.  My vigor comes from the feedback I am receiving and the encouragements from the people who matter most in my life.  I find myself wanting to push outside the boundaries I have safely resided in.  I feel like the stakes have been raised now and the challenges are no longer just obstacles, but strengthening exercises.  All of this is to prepare me for the even larger rewards that are just ahead.

Staying focused while working with Chef Steve 

I have also felt my competitive tendencies rise up again too.  This is nothing new either since I have always tackled anything goal-oriented with a winning mentality.  So far in my lifetime it has served me well as long as I am careful and respectful in my approach.  In culinary school I can see where it is important to have some of this attitude with a certain healthy limitation.  What I mean to say is that we should never let a competitive edge cut into the more important teamwork factor that we all need in order to successfully complete this program.  As students, we need each other, plain and simple.

Last semester- Pro Cook Team

What is the proverbial gold medal for the students working in the kitchen lab?  I promise that it does exist, whether we work together for it or not.

Everyone wants to put out "The Best" dish at show time.  (**Showtime is what happens after all of the dishes we have been working hard on all through class are ready to be critiqued and tasted)  There is no better feeling than when the Chef Instructor points out a particular dish in the landscape of plated foods and it just happens to be your own.  It gets even better when your classmates try it out too and say things like "Oh that is so good" or "Wow, that is great!"  A triple bonus would be when other chef instructors show up and are instructed to "Try that one right there, its amazing!"  All of these positive remarks can really gratify a students need for a response to their own individualized technique.  It really is special to hear that what you created is "Good!"

Taking some pride in our bread creations in Baking Class

I am really embracing this culinary school experience and in return it is giving me the opportunities to become the person I have been practicing to become for my whole life.  It is such an amazing feeling to be training with so many other people who feel the same way I do about food.  I can talk about recipes all day long with my culinary buddies and we just understand one another.  The culinary world gives me the environment to be myself- a people pleasing, driven, people-loving, happy-go-lucky, passionate, competitive when appropriate, girlie who just wants to cook and create good food that other people want to eat. Oh and have fun while I am doing it too.

Having fun at my Sushi Rolling Class I taught with the girls- This is the fun I am talking about!

Tuesday's Top Ten: For the Love of Food and People

Have you ever wondered how it came to be that we use food words or flavor descriptions as terms of endearment for the ones we love.  Could it be as simple as the food that sustains our health and ability to thrive is equal to the love we need in order to accomplish complete vitality?  Therefore we use the adjectives and proper names of the foods that satisfy our hunger to also stamp the same feelings of fulfillment on the living beings we love too.

I personally love the idea that these two ideas correlate.  I myself have used a number of these many times towards my family and friends, and especially my kids.  These terms just seem to fit.  Being the food lover that I am this association is really fun and it has become a great game for the dinner table with my husband and kids trying to think of all the food names we use for love.  So here is the top ten that we came up with.  You will have to share with me some of your own or any that I may have missed.  As always these are in no particular order- they were just my favorites!  Some of these you can combine too, to make a real lovey combo!!

1.  Little Bean


 2.  Pumpkin Head

3.  Peanut

4.Sweet Pea


5. Baby Cake


6.Pork Chop


7. Dumpling

8.  Love muffin


9.  Sweetie Pie


10.  Honey or Sugar