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This is the tale of two women. Two women from different parts of the world (ok, so not really one lives in Tennessee the other in Florida). Two women who were inspired by the movie Julie and Julia to start really flexing their cooking muscles. Two women who, this weekend spent their Saturdays shopping for items that are not standard fare in their fridges. Then these two women set out on Sunday to cook their way through a wondrous and luscious journey – one cooking French and the other cooking Mexican; both using the recipes of geniuses. That is our tale today.
The French-Chef hails from Lakeland, Florida and goes affectionately for me by Mrs. House of Flying Monkeys (Melissah) for short. She set out to make more recipes from Julia Child’s iconic book, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. She apparently purchased the book after seeing Julie and Julia and initially made her own boeuf bourguignon, which she affectionately called beef fauxguignon. When she did this, she twittered about the journey. Her twittering caught the attention of one of the reporters from the NY Times and she was interviewed (see it HERE), about her experience cooking as the Julia Child cookbook has seen a huge resurgence in sales and my copy still hasn’t shipped yet from Amazon.com! So after the interview, the Lakeland Ledger (where she is a current resident), picked up on the story and decided to give her a challenge – they wanted to see her cooking in action. Melissah, not one to let a challenge go, took the bait, picked out her apron and planned her menu. On deck was Potage Parmentier (Potato and Leek Soup), Salade Jardinere au Vinaigrette (Green Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing), Galettes au Fromage (Cheese Biscuits), and Gateau a L’Fraises et Framboises (Butter Spongecake with Strawberries and Raspberries). How amazing does that sound?! Ah to be there and taste it…I just read her tweets and the reporter has left, the photographer has left and she has been successful. I’m sure she will enjoy dining of the fruits of her labours, I know I would love to be there to help! 
I, on the other hand, still waiting for my French cookbook, decided to learn a few things from the new Top Chef Master himself, Rick Bayless. While at McKay’s, I found his cookbook “Mexico: One Plate at a Time”. I couldn’t wait to get to the checkout! I’m working on a personal self-improvement project called Anna101 and learning to be a better cook is one of my goals for the next 365 days (I’m a good cook, but I want to become more adventurous as a cook). So, what better way then to learn to cook real Mexican food that is not from a box labeled “Ortega” or in a bag from “Taco Bell”. I picked what I considered to be a Mexican standard dish, Enchiladas Suiza and I wanted to go by his rules and recipe exactly. Also on my menu for the day is homemade guacamole (something I’m pretty good at already, Spanish Rice and corn – oh and tortilla chips, naturally). It all started out with the best of plans, I would shop on Saturday and cook on Sunday. I invited friends over to try my experiment and 3 took the bait, my husband is a captive audience member already. So, question is…how’d it go?
Well, it started out with an effort to find all my ingredients. I struggled with finding plum tomatoes so I had to settle for the standard large Grainger County variety. I also couldn’t locate any of the original cheeses that Rick Bayless suggested (one of them was called something like Chiuahuah – um, huh?); so I settled for his fall-back, Monterey Jack. In addition, I needed to find sour cream with ACTIVE cultures. Unless you’re buying an organic one as I did, no active cultures appear present in the standard store variety of pasteurized pleasures. My plan was to make CREMA that was suggested as the ideal situation for one of the ingredients of the enchilada sauced, however I chickened out. It involved mixing heavy whipping cream with active cultures sour cream and letting it sit (unrefrigerated), for 12 hours. I just used one of his “cheats” he suggested. So, that was Saturday.
Sunday, I woke up and went to work. Roasted the tomatoes and jalapenos. Let me just say that roasted tomatoes are JUICY as all get out and I used a lot of paper towels to soak up the rest of the liquid that didn’t make it into the blender. We put the chicken in the Ronco Rotisserie, and I began the process of reducing my sauce. I had to do it in a saucepan since I don’t (as of yet), own a dutch oven – I do, however, covet one from Le Cruset. I think it would have reduced faster if I had one. Still, I reduced it, added the chicken stock and we took a taste. First thing we noticed – HEAT. Rick Bayless likes his Mexican food hot! Adding the cream definitely helped calm it though; but I cannot imagine how much we would have suffered if I bought Serrano peppers over the jalapenos. Whew! I shredded the chicken by hand, and the cheese…nearer to showtime I fired up the Spanish Rice, Corn and made fresh guacamole using Frontera Guac Mix (I like my own recipe for fresh guac better). I softened the corn tortillas, rolled them and set them to bake. The friends arrived and voila…Mexico on my table!
It was DELICIOUS but I will say, I made a few mental notes of things I may adjust or change for my next go round. Still, I feel wonderfully more confident making a true-to-form, fresh Mexican classic for my friends/family. Now, to decide the next adventure!
BTW…I have decided to only do 1 main culinary adventure dish each month as the cost of this meal was kinda steep and I really can’t afford to do this every weekend. I will do other adventure smaller dishes (sides, vegetables, etc.), for the remainder of each month. PICTURE COMING SOON.
I am dressed up and looking fabulous. That’s not the power of Facebook. However, the fact that a friend from high school whom I probably have not seen since 1992 is on a cross-country trip to Las Vegas and has decided to swing through Knoxville to visit lil (okay big-girl), ole’ me! How awesome is that?! I mean, I’ve lived in Tennessee since 2002 and this will be the first friend who actually managed to brave the big bad South and visit me. It makes me giddy with excitement. There will be a lot of catching up to do, I will meet the man who’s on the journey with her and she will meet my hubby. I’m taking her to the Knoxville institution that is Litton’s for some good burgers and conversation. I wish more of my friends would visit. Knoxville and East Tennessee has some wonderful treasures and I’d like to share them with those I love. So, by the power of Facebook, I’ve reconnected with a past friend and will be so glad to see her as she travels on by. I plan to visit her when I’m up in Easton too and we have some ideas for a party to get together some old re-connected Facebook friends. Will keep you posted! Safe trip AVB!
We have been host to the wonderful puppers of Lord & Lady Dotson for the past 3 weeks. It was the Lord & Lady’s trip to Maria’s home and family (UK), so of course we were going to lend the assist. We’re the standard dog watchers for them, and they for us. I’m sure all of you who are dog owners/lovers have a similar situation worked out with your good friends too. Come on…you know you do.
Anyway, adding Ginny Weezy and Trixie Pup to the mix put us at four dogs and the requisite 2 cats. Truly it’s Hairapalooza now, which is even more than it was before (Hairstock). Still, the pups were good and we’ve picked up some tips from the Dotson’s that seem to really have an impact. For example, Trixie Pup is an old girl…seriously, she’s over 13 years or something old. Each day we gave her a glucosamine pill, and she was as sprightly as a young girl. So, point taken. It also reminded us that at some point in the future we’ll only be a 2 dog household (that will be the total pet tally in the household). It’s like when you visit a screaming nursery of children and realize perhaps you’re better off remaining childless.
Still, it was good to see them back and the best thing was getting to hear about their trip. It appears that they had a wondrous time and I’m so glad that Maria got time with her family. Living away from family is tough and I understand this. I know we’ll hear more about the trip as time goes on, but it’s nice to have them back nonetheless. In fact, it’s nice to know that they are part of our framily – cause it felt like they came back home tonight. Welcome back friends…we are enjoying the silence.
Well ladies and gents, I just got back from a long ladies weekend in Hot-lanta! It was a joyous romp with 3 ladies that I consider to be very good friends here in Knoxville (Mrs. Overtly Trite, Succulent Wild Woman and Mommy Strangelove)…and I’m so glad that life brought our paths together. We left out on Friday morning and I was going to blog on the entire trip – however the cost of 24 hours of Internet at our hotel was like $12.00 so I figured I could wait. In the meantime, I really wanted to share some of the wonders that ATL has to offer.
We started out early on Friday morning (okay, not so early), 10 AM. We took 2 cars which wasn’t the greatest in “green” ideas, but figured just in case we couldn’t fit ourselves and whatever we find at Ikea. The drive down was uneventful other than a unique idea for another road trip called the Sweetwater Steakhouse (I believe housed in a gas station), oh and the journey through Dalton, Georgia complete with their silly Beaver Carpets outlet. Come on!
Our first stop when we hit the 6 lanes of highway excitement known as Atlanta, was Flip Burger Boutique. Why? Well, it’s the brainchild of former Top Chef finalist, Richard Blais (whom both Mommy Strangelove and Mrs. Overtly Trite are fans of). Even though Chef Blais’ twitter page indicated he was back in the ATL, the staff told a very disappointed patron he was still out of town and wouldn’t be in. We, however, were there for the food (and a hopeful glimpse but not as important). We were not let down. Everyone ordered and I went the foodie path indeed. My choice: the A5 burger (Japanese Kobe beef, foie gras, frisee, caramelized onions, and red-wine syrup), with a side of tempura asparagus and a glass bottle of coke. The A5 burger is NOT cheap, but I will say, it was the most luscious, succulent, melt in your mouth burger I have ever, ever eaten. We all split some liquid nitrogen shakes, flavors: Toasted Marshmallow w/ Nutella and Krispy Kreme. Just a revelation. The whole meal. Who knew a burger joint would be so delightful?
We jumped back in the car and headed for the hotel – Marriott on Spring Street. Swanky rooms for the low-cost on priceline. Where they hit you is on the $28.00 per night, per car parking fee. OUCH. There was also a very large family reunion at the hotel this weekend. So it was hoppin’. We checked in, freshened up and headed out to help the economy at the Lenox Mall. Lots of great shops there! Succulent Wild Woman ended up with a sweet satchel from Fossil; Mrs. Overtly Trite scored some fantastic Betsey Johnson earrings; Mommy Strangelove introduced us to the wonders of LUSH; and I started to replace my lost makeup by going to Bare Escentuals. Big event for me was that I got my ears re-pierced finally! I was so nervous and it didn’t hurt at all. Not at all. We finished the night with dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and closed down the mall. Only complaint about the night was a woman who was not wearing the best shirt for shopping…I mean when a brisk walk leads to your nipple making an appearance…choose more wisely folks. Back to the hotel, we sat in the bar and drank some sweet drinks. We laughed and it was nighty-night time.
We awoke the next morning to head to my personal mecca, IKEA. I highly recommend the cost effective Ikea breakfast – I had scrambled eggs, bacon, french-toast sticks and grits. All for $1.99. Seriously?! I added a Cinnamon Bun to split with the ladies and got a huge glass of Lingonberry drink. I scarfed and headed out into the showroom without the ladies who were getting their coffee fix. I headed through the top floor of IKEA pretty quickly, wasn’t looking for anything significant. I spent the majority of my time in the marketplace where I scored some great knifes for my upcoming culinary classes amongst other things. I actually behaved myself and didnt’ spend a whole lot. I was proud. I’m also proud that I turned 3 other women (Mrs. Overtly Trite specifically), onto the joys of Ikea. I did my job.
We then went to Atlantic Station shops and I found great rings at the outside arts/craftsmen show. We ate a small plate lunch at a place called GRAPE and each enjoyed a glass of wine. After a quick jaunt to H & M (which did not have big-girl clothing), we went to check out the mass-market Ross and TJ Maxx. Not so hot. Same stuff we get here in Knoxville. Oh well! We ran back to the hotel, got gussied up and headed back out. After a quick trip for Mommy Strangelove to return an inappropriately cavernous purse she purchased the night before, we stopped quickly at Filene’s Basement (kind of a letdown). I did score a nice $12.00 necklace for the evening…as we headed to our next foodie location…HOME.
We made reservations for this restaurant because at one point Richard Blais (yes, that guy again), was involved with them. We were very happy with our experience at Home. I got a fabulous Caesar salad, seared beef tenderloin with foie gras, asparagus and artichokes which was heavenly. We got some dessert and headed back to the hotel. Bellies full and clueless me stealing Mrs. Overtly Trite’s front-seat shot-gun experience. We went back to the hotel and laughed our booties off. I only wish I really did lose some of my booty.
Our trip came to a close this morning with a trip to Watershed, a restaurant co-owned by one of the Indigo Girls (Emily Sailers). The brunch was sensational. Sensational! We split a bread-basket filled with all hand-crafted items: homemade English muffins, biscuits and a roll. These were served with sweet cream butter and homemade preserves. Mrs. Overtly Trite introduced us to banana fritters – yum! Then the main attraction…I ordered an omelet with goats cheese, bacon and tomatoes. SOOOOOO good. Also tried Mrs. Overtly Trite and Mommy Strangelove’s candied bacon. Interesting. Afterwards, we made a quick stop at Trader Joe’s only to find out that you cannot buy 2 Buck Chuck (wine), on Sundays.
We headed back to Knoxville secure in the knowledge that we enjoyed some fabulous food, amazing company, lots of laughter and the promise of another trip sometime soon. So in honor of fabulous friends here are some inside jokes/memories: “This isn’t Freak-Nic weekend is it?”; “Are you having fun…b?”; “Margaret Cho’s song stylings.”; “Well, we didn’t have the blind experience, but we did have a deaf experience.”; “I’ve got a date!”; “Verizon GPS sucks.”; “I’m working for the Chubb Group.”; and so much more. Love you girls.
In the end it was a wonderful experience. I missed my hubby greatly and felt very happy to come home to his sweet hugs. Now, back to reality and a wonderful reality it is.
Pics to be posted in flickr at some point
I got to eat lunch today with some wonderful women, Jenilu, Mrs. Overtly-Trite, and Jenilu’s daughter and friend…I took them to Hard Knox Pizza (because I’ve been thinking about it ever since I ate there….yes, on Saturday). We got to catch up on Jenilu and family’s move to Florida – I was jealous of her daughter’s tan! She updated us on the Monkey-Mistress and her hubster and we all said a little prayer that hubster’s job interview today went well (Monkey-Mistress’ husbster’s interview). We dined on luscious pizzas and foccacia bread and then, I got a pleasant surprise.
I had ordered plates from Jenilu almost a year ago. They were back-ordered at the time, and scheduled to arrive back in November. They arrived at the Monkey-Mistress’ household and we swore we’d get together for me to get the dishes. Well, life got in the way, they ended up getting packed up and moved with the Monkey-Mistress to the south (well, farther south). I think they were in Florida, and then I think, arrived in Macon, Georgia. That’s where Jenilu picked them up on route to Tennessee. Needless to say, I’m glad to have them, but sad that they’ve apparently traveled more than I have these days. It’s all good and frankly kind of funny to me!
However, we’re going on a trip soon…details to come.
This weekend and frankly, this past week I feel like I’ve lost a bit of my zing and zest again. Darn it! I don’t know how it’s so easy to lose once you get a hold of it. Perhaps it was the monthly business trip which is slowly sucking the life outta me. Perhaps, it’s not having the dough to live life decadently and go on wildly amazingly transcendent vacations. Perhaps it’s because I’ve slacked a bit on my wellness plan. Perhaps, it’s because we had a completely “friendless” weekend. Not that we lost any friends or anything, but it was the first weekend in a LONG time in which we really didn’t do anything with any of our friends. It kinda felt odd, in fact. For someone like me who’s so afraid of “getting close” to others, I’ve come to really find comfort in our circle of friends. I mean, they’ve brought a lot of connectedness into our little lives. In fact, I feel kinda lost in a sea of who knows these days. Last week, I emailed and left messages for my boss since Wednesday and hadn’t heard back from her since. I tried to call a whole host of co-workers on Friday and only got 1 person to respond to me. I suppose that the sense of connection we feel with others is what keeps our mojo tethered to us? I dunno. I do know that I am not cut out for the life of a hermit. Now, to try to convince myself that I’m excited about Monday.
Here’s hoping for some friend-time soon.
Well readers (and mostly my friends/family), another birthday is almost in the can and I can spend the next 365 days attempting to change my life for the better. I must admit, it was a wonderful birthday with some melancholy moments sprinkled in for good measure (will discuss on my personal blog). All and all the birthday began with my husband’s whispered well wishes at midnight, and after a good night’s rest. I awoke, and was ready to hit the world full-on as a 35 year old woman.
The morning started off in fine form, and I even had a successful trip to renew my driver’s license and got a decent license pic this year! Yea! All through the day I had a ton of beautiful twitters, facebook comments, voice mails and phone calls. After a melancholy afternoon. It was off to meet my local friends at my favorite place to eat on my birthday (since it’s the only day that I can eat there if the Jim is involved), The Melting Pot.
If you’re not familiar with the divinity that is The Melting Pot, you should be. It is four courses of insane beauty that consist of cheese fondue, sublime salad, meat fondue and chocolate fondue. It is an evening worth breaking my eating plan for. I shared a wonderful meal with 11 fantastic friends, and got some stunner presents too. Note, one will be offered up as a contest prize on this blog soon – stay tuned. In the end, I’m looking forward to a 35th year on this earth full of hope and promise. I pray that everyone has a wonderful night and years ahead and thanks to all my friends everywhere for all their love and support. I am who I am thanks to you all.
35th never looked so good.
Photo credit: http://www.talk-food.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/image_1426526.jpg
First, a brief clip hosted on my personal site because I can’t figure out how to upload a quicktime movie to WordPress; with some slightly off-color language – you were warned (don’t click if you can’t handle it).
Last night, I spent a couple of hours in the company of rock-n-roll Chef Anthony Bourdain and good friends. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to file this post under this blog, or my personal blog since the Jim opted not to go to the show because, and I quote:
The Jim: “What is he going to do?”
Me: “I don’t know, I assume talk, give a lecture, discuss his travels?”
The Jim: “Is he gonna cook?”
Me: “I don’t think so.”
The Jim: “Well then I’m not paying the money to see a guy talk if he ain’t servin’ up what he’s famous for…”
I can see his logic. It makes sense. Anthony Bourdain started out his career as a dishwasher and moved to chef at the succulent Brasserie le Halles in NY. While there, he wrote articles and eventually a book entitled Kitchen Confidential. His life changed when that book became a hit. He’s written more since then, but most people know him now from his travel show, No Reservations which is a feature on the Travel Channel. His m.o. is to take the viewer with him on a journey around the world and be a traveler who is unafraid to immerse themselves in enjoying each experience that another culture or country has to offer. Especially gastronomically. While he’s not as shocking as Andrew Zimmerman (the guy who eats almost anything), he has a very good delivery style in his show and truly encourages people to be “good travelers”, and to open yourself up to new experiences with…of course, no reservations.
So, when I heard he was coming to the little town of Knoxville, Tennesssee; I knew this was an opportunity I was not going to miss. I mean, when does a guy like this decide that Knoxville is going to be a good location to explore? Someone who’s so well-traveled and has been to places including Russia, Vietnam, Namibia, etc. Best part, was a lot of my friends agreed with me that this was worth the price of admission. Sadly, we didn’t pony up the cash to do the meet, greet, and eat afterwards, because sadly, I couldn’t justify the pricetag, but nonetheless – we were in. Thanks to Mrs. Overtlytrite, we scored some sensational seats in the 6th row of the gorgeous Tennessee Theatre. So…game on.
We planned the night to begin with a meal at a Honduran restaurant called La Rumba. It was a very good meal, and their happy hour is indeed happy ($1.00 beers and $2.00 margaritas that will make you quiver with glee). If you go, don’t be shocked by their avacado colored building – go inside and be impressed with their food and hospitality. First of all, there was a tad to much “Mexican” flavor to the menu, but we all made the effort to order some “uniquely” Honduran food. I ended up with two Papusas (kinda like a filled pancake with cheese, and pork), and a shrimp dish that was amazingly seasoned. I did have a margarita, and I only had 1 because I don’t hold my liquor all that well, and I was a driver for the evening.
After a fantastic meal with Mrs. OvertlyTrite, Mr. OvertlyTrite, Brother OT and Nephew OT, and the always awesome Mommy Strangelove, we hopped in our automobiles and headed to the Tennessee Theatre to meet up with Mr. & Mrs. Dotson for a evening with Chef Bourdain. He started off the evening with some brief initial notes about Knoxville indicating that there was some sensational cheeses in his dressing room and a good local beer. He also indicated that the people who were doing the catering of the meet, greet and eat afterwards were surprisingly well versed in succulence including lamb cheeks (which is better than I ever anticipated), as it was catered by the Northshore Brasserie (which has amazing food and some of the best Steak Tartare I’ve ever ate). He then spent the next hour or so talking about his travels, the foods, the cultures and the importance of being a good guest and not an ugly American when going abroad. He was witty, he was offensive (in a good way when speaking of vegetarians – I love you Maria), but mostly he was poignant and real with us – or at least a real as a person riffing on a theme standing in front of a packed house at a theatre could be.
I was very happy to see the house packed for the show and thank AC Entertainment for encouraging and bringing this man to town. Hopefully the good showing by the audience will encourage other entertainers, etc…to include a stop to the Knoxville area as we can be some pretty “hip” people who would also like to indulge in some good shows and not have to drive to Atlanta or Nashville in order to see them. But I digress…
The best part of the evening was that Chef Bourdain opened up the floor to questions from the audience and those who wanted to ask something lined up at two microphones placed at the center aisles. People immediately started heading up to the mics and while initially I had thought I had a good question (i.e. How he actually got through the experiences he had with the Kalahari Bushmen in Namibia), he had already discussed this issue during his lecture. So, I thought…darn it. Then I realized I did have a good and valid question, so I got up out of my seat and took my place at the end of the line on the left hand side of the theatre. Person after person asked questions that ranged from “I’m a vegan and I want to know why you bash us?” type questions, to the obligatory audience member offering Tony to let them take him to the best bar/restaurant in town (um, unless his producer has connected with you and set up your evening, I doubt this married man with a baby is just going to randomly head-out with a random Knoxvillian – especially since some of the audience already forked out $140 some dollars to nosh with him after the show). Soon after I was in line, one of the staff of the theatre came up behind me and indicated she was cutting off the line for questions and informed me that I may not have an opportunity to ask my question as he may stop taking questions soon. I figured well, I can understand that, but I’m here and I’ll stick it out to see if I get my opportunity or not.
First of all, this is important. I typically get mildly star-struck and nervous in a situation like this; but this time, I did not. Probably thanks to some well received therapeutic services. I had thought to myself, when am I actually going to have an opportunity to speak to a man I think is cool and does a good service to the world by encouraging people to live in the moment whenever you travel, so what did I have to lose? Nothing. As the line in front of me and the line on the right continued to dwindle, I was inevitably up next and actually up last to ask a question. So, I took a deep breath and leapt.
“Chef Bourdain, you’re kinda like the rock-n-roll chef and you’ve recently become a father. One of my favorite passages you’ve ever written was the story of how you became more gastronomically adventurous when your family was in france and your parents actually left you and your brother in the car so they could go and dine without complaining and at that moment you decided you were going to eat and explore the culinary world because it was the first time it was “off limits” to you. My question is, that now that you’re a father, how do you plan or suggest how to encourage a child to be more gastronomically adventurous and how has fatherhood changed you?” Whew, I got the question out without sounding like a dolt or a silly fan girl. His answer was nicely loquacious and I was honored that he took the time to really answer my silly little question. He discussed the realities that having a child almost immediately made all your “cool-points” go out the window, and he admitted that he lost his earring when his daughter arrived. He discussed the importance of encouraging children to explore new foods and new cultures but not to bully them into becoming gourmands because, that’s a tad pretentious. He also enlisted the concept of counter-marketing to your children about the seedy realities of McDonald’s and the potentially scary clown that is Ronald McDonald. It was a fantastic answer and very generous in his response to me. He also mentioned a concept that I felt was accurate in how to develop a gastronomically adventurous child which includes having a parent who is from a different culture as I grew up with a father who was born and raised in Germany and Anthony Bourdain’s wife is Italian. I think that having a parent who is ethnically different and willing to share those cultural experiences with their family (i.e. food cooked at home, and taking you to their home countries), makes for a child who accepts new aspects of culture more freely and openly (while at the same time rebelling because come-on, we’re kids).
He closed the show and it was a really nice night. I can only imagine the succulent dishes that awaited him and his guests after the show and I hope that he’ll come back soon and that Ashley Capps will continue to be able to lure interesting and varied talent to our little city that could.
The Jim decided to watch one of the kiddos for some of our friends that are going with me to see the fabulous foodie and chef, Anthony Bourdain talk about who the heck knows what this Saturday! Woohoo! I’m pretty excited. Not only because I’m going to see Mr. Bourdain, but I’m sharing the experience with good friends, and probably going (I think we’re going), to try a Honduran restaurant right beforehand, so it’s all good. In fact, this week I’ve made the commitment to eat more healthy and more high-quality. It’s kinda going with my new lifestyle choices (see Anna101 if you really wanna know). Either way, I’m constantly amazed at how much my tastes have matured throughout my life. Unlike Mr. Bourdain who chronicled his entry as a child into the interesting world of daring culinary specialties, it took me a while to warm up to some foods and sadly there are still some foods that I won’t touch. Either way, a lot of the recent shows out there including No Reservations and Top Chef have been inspirational in wanting to start really learning to cook like a pro. I wish there were some cooking classes in the area where I could pick up some great skills like learning how to make a beurre blanc, and cook some of the more complicated dishes. Perhaps, one day, I’ll do this…and then we’ll hopefully have a child that we’ll have to encourage to be more open minded and willing to become a gourmand one day.
SO EXCITED!
Oh, and my suggestion on www.Knoxville.com for where I think Anthony should eat while he’s here – is IN THE LEAD. Oh, yeah, baby. So, Anthony and family, feel free to let me know if you want me to grab a burger at Litton’s with you all when you get here. Oh, I also bought the shirt that was on SHIRTWOOT today – I had to, I believe in the philosophy.
Photo Credit 1: http://i.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2007/bourdain/bourdain_01.jpg
Photo Credit 2: www.shirt.woot.com
Okay, so it sounds more elaborate than it really is right? This is our little slice of internet nonsense, which basically is our on-going effort to keep our friends and family up-to-date on our lives, our love and our continuing pursuit of pomegranates. In this modern age of movement, we’ve realized that distance is not an excuse to not keep everyone posted, so please - stop by anytime - in person or internet-ly and know that you are all never far from our thoughts.
