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5 unique ways to have a family-friendly Valentine’s Day Dinner
Alright mamas, so we all know we are no longer in the days where the only most important thing we ha to worry about on Valentine’s Day is if your guy made a dinner reservation for you all. We are way passed that and in a whole different stage of our lives. In most ways, Valentine’s Day is probably just another day. However, I think this a great way to show your spouse or significant other that even though you are both busy and life just ends up happening, you still love them and you still want to celebrate that love as you did before you were married. Yes, this is a great…
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S’mores Bites
It’s summer, it’s camping season- whether that means in the great outdoors or in the great backyard or even in the great living room!! Camping and Summer are in full swing! Which means, S’mores are all the rage!! What is not to love about a S’more? Grahams–good! Melty Marshmallow–good! Gooey chocolate–good!!! Now, there is of course the original good, ole’ fashion S’more where you take a graham cracker, toast or burn a marshmallow and top that with a square of Hershey’s chocolate and another graham cracker. These are the classic for a reason and they are amazing just as they are. Yet, they are not always large group friendly or if you don’t…
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Michelle Bernstein Dinner
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to cook alongside an amazing chef. Chef Michelle Bernstein is a James Beard Award winning chef with many years of experience in and around this industry. She is a master at what she does and she is one of the most humble and kind chefs that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. A few years back we did an MCC demo with her and that is when I met her for the first time. She was amazingly gracious and warm then as well. I was very excited when I learned that we would have the opportunity to execute a private wine dinner…
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Flower Show Demo
I always have the pleasure of hosting a cooking demo during our flower show at work. I love doing live cooking demos and as much as I love setting them all up and working with other chefs, it is super fun for me to get to demo my own food. This year our flower theme was Journey To Paradisos. It was an outer space, cosmic, galaxy type theme. Each year they go above and beyond to create these amazing themes and then the flowers tell a story of the theme. Well, with the cooking demos, they ask us to tie the theme into the demo. I wanted to keep this super fun and make…
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Mom’s Birthday Cake
In our family, one Friday a month we all try and get together and catch up and see each other and hang out. My aunt started this and it is called Family Friday and we love it. It keeps us in touch with everyone and we get to see them a lot more often than we normally would. On these Family Fridays, we celebrate all of the birthdays happening that month. We just had our April Family Friday and we celebrated my mom’s birthday for April. My aunt asked me if I wanted to bring the cake as it was for my mom. I was excited to do so as I know my…
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Bosses Farewell Dinner
This past week we had our annual meeting for all of our Regional Chefs, Area directors and any other leader that is high up in our foods division. Unfortunately, we found out about a week ago that our fearless leader, (our VP for over 20 plus years), is going to be basically force retired. It is a shame that he will not go out on his own terms, but I am sure he is ready for the next chapter to begin. Me and my team were asked to host a dinner to honor him and his years of service and send him off with a bang. I was asked to create a menu…
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New Year’s Day Brunch
I think Brunch is so fun and what a wonderful idea for the day after New Year’s Eve when most people are tired and probably “hurting” a little from the night before! This is a great way to continue the holiday a little more while also keeping things super casual, yet delicious. Plus at Brunch, it is sort of anything goes. There is a little breakfast, a little lunch, definitely yummy cocktails… what is not to love!?! I will be hosting a New Year’s Day Brunch this year and after sooooo many years of doing brunches at restaurants, I am super excite to host this brunch at home. All of the restaurant brunches…
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Mexican Dinner at Home
So, it is no surprise that with two babies under 2 years old; a 16 month old and a 6 week old, my hubby and I are not getting out as much as we would like. The other day I had such a taste for Mexican food, so I made us a yummy Mexican dinner at home and it was super easy and super yummy. I even turned the left overs into “bowls” two nights later and those were amazing too! So, I thought I would share these simple recipes I made with all of you out there that may not only be busy with little ones, but kids of all ages and/or…
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Thanksgiving Tips-Turkey Talk
Hey Chef mama followers, thank you for giving me some time off and allowing me to welcome my new little one and get things settled a little at the home front. I am back with you and just in time for the biggest food holiday of the year!!! YAYAYAYAY, that’s right, it’s Thanksgiving. Now, yes, all holidays have foods that we use as a part of the traditions to help us celebrate. Yet, Thanksgiving is a holiday all about coming to the table, gathering around and sharing a meal together. So, that means it is truly all about the food. Also, it is one of the few holidays that people of all races,…
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Summer appetizers for Events
This past weekend we hosted an event at work for a 200 person reception followed by a 50 person VIP plated dinner. We did some awesome bites for this event and so I thought I would share them with you all. I will show pics of how we served them and then I will also include the recipes. They were all great for summer and super fun and fresh. Also, easy to make in large quantities, which makes them great for your next event. This is a jerk chicken skewer with creamy mango sauce. I like this one on the wood grain cutting board because I like the look of it almost blending…
