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Cooking Your Way to Success

Many people love to cook. They make masterful meals for the family and love buying fresh produce and making everything by hand. They watch MasterChef on TV and wonder if they can be the “Next MasterChef” as dubbed by Gordon Ramsey. If you’re one of these people, you may be wondering what you can do to make cooking your life.

Study Food

If cooking is your passion and what you enjoy more than anything, then the first thing you’ll want to do is study food. It may not seem practical, but if you’re passionate about it, then you’ll be successful because of that passion. Find the best school available to you and study the ins and outs of becoming a professional chef.

Get a Job

Once you’ve graduated, the next step is to get a job in a kitchen. The highest paying jobs are found at Michelin-rated restaurants as the head chef. It typically takes years of working, starting at the bottom of the job ladder, in order to be promoted to head chef. During this time, work on your creativity, continually making new and inventive recipes that wow the palate. Stay up with the newest techniques and contemporary dishes, so when you achieve your goal of becoming head chef, you’re ready to add specials that impress even long-time patrons of the restaurant.

You can be successful as a chef. It’s hard work, but when food is your passion, what else could you imagine yourself doing?

Filed Under: General, Home Cooking Tagged With: , ,

Comfort Foods

comfort food - cheeseburger, no mayo

Image by Newbirth35 via Flickr

People often talk about comfort food when they are stressed or upset. Our culture bases nearly occasion around food, so this really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone. No matter what the occasion, event, or gathering, there is bound to be food.  Births, deaths, weddings, christenings, holidays… food, food, food.

So, what are some of the favorite comfort foods in America? Macaroni and cheese is an oft-sought comfort food. It’s warm, soft, creamy and flavorful; plus, who can pass up cheese? Meatloaf is another favorite. Meatloaf makes college kids think of home—it’s simply something that you know Mom would make on a chilly and dark night. Mashed potatoes almost scream comfort! Fluffy, buttery, and once again, soft—everything a comfort food was meant to be.

Many sweet foods have made it into the comfort food category as well. A big slice of chocolate cake, a hot fudge sundae, a thick vanilla malt. All of these things bring a feeling of relaxation. Who would possibly be stressed while sinking into seven layers of rich chocolate?

Sometimes people feel comforted by food because of the memories associated with a certain food. Other times, a component in the food interacts with a chemical in the brain, creating warm and fuzzy feelings that are not just in your head. Food is what our bodies thrive off of; it only makes sense that nourishment will soothe not only the body, but also the soul. So, next time you’re sick, ask your Mom to make some of her chicken soup. It just might be the cure for the common cold.

Filed Under: Dining Out, Home Cooking Tagged With: , ,

Three cooking tips to save time

Who has time to cook, right? Between the kids needing to be at games or practices and a long day at work it’s no wonder households are resorting to fast food restaurants and frozen entrees as supplements to a home-cooked dinner. It really doesn’t have to be like this. With a little preplanning and a few new ideas cooking at home can be a luxury again.

Create weekly dinner options

After a hectic day the belly is signaling that it wants to be filled. You scan the cupboards and the refrigerator in search of the answer to the infamous question, “What to make for dinner?” An easy remedy for this situation is to sit down once a week, say on Saturday, and consider what to have for dinner for the next seven days. Don’t stress yourself out by figuring what days to make which meal instead place your dinner list on the refrigerator and let the day determine what you want to make.

Shop before cooking

How often have you started to prepare dinner only to find out that you have no potatoes for the potato soup? The soup just wouldn’t be the same. Before beginning any meal check to make sure you have all of the ingredients. A simple solution is to shop once a week for items needed to complete at least seven meals, or the one you were currently making.

A slow cooker is your next best friend

Nothing is simpler than placing a chunk of meat (beef, pork, or poultry) with a little water and some seasonings into a slow cooker. Add a few vegetables, turn a knob and by the time you arrive home from work you will be greeted with dinner. Slow cookers are ideal for days that you know when time will be limited.

Filed Under: Home Cooking Tagged With: