Tag: family

All That Glitters Ain’t Gold

So in appreciation of all the time energy and MONEY we spent on their marriage, my son and his wife invited us, the parents, to have brunch with them at the Georgian Terrace. I was overly excited,it has been somewhere I wanted to go since I moved to Georgia. The Georgian Terrace is on of Atlanta’s Historic sites first opening it’s doors in 1911. I knew we would be in for a treat…..but all that glitters ain’t gold.

The Up View of the lobby in the Georgian Terrace

We were to have lunch at their restaurant/bar …The Livingston. It was beautiful….historic with a modern flare

Table for Four with a view

But that was where all the glitter started to lose it’s shine. I still don’t know our waiters name but let’s just say he left a lot to be desired. I was excited to see on the menu ( view Menu)Sweet Potato Donuts ( anyone that knows me knows that anything with sweet potato as an ingredient is going to be on my radar). We placed an order for the donuts to start with our teas and coffee and then ordered our brunch. There were 2 orders of the Livingston Omelet, 1 for the Black Truffle Omelet, 1 Double Cheeseburger, 1 Mini Quiche Lorraine and 1 Chicken Monte Crisco.

Menu

Sweet Potato Donut

The Livingston Omelet with a side of breakfast potatoes

Mini Quiche Lorraine with a shaved salad

Double Cheese Burger with house made waffle potato chips

My meal for the afternoon….
Chicken Monte Cristo

Now the presentations were nice but the tastes fell short. The sweet potato donuts were okay as a yeast donut but wasn’t enough sweet potato for it to carry it as a main ingredient. The omelet that my husband and son had both tasted way too salty. My son’s father-in-law’s double cheeseburger was over cooked ( actually he said it was burned along the edges) and his mother-in-law felt her quiche was just “alright”. As for me and my Chicken Monte Cristo, well, let’s just say the brioche bread was the best thing about the sandwich. It came off pretty mediocre. We all agreed that their potato products were really good. The house made waffle chips, the breakfast potatoes and the french fries were well done and very enjoyable. I really had high hopes for the meal here but my feelings were dashed. I hope it was that the chef was having a bad day but i will never know cause I’m not moved to visit them again.

August 17, 2014
Mother of the Groom

Gown: Ralph Lauren Nordstrom’s Necklace, Earrings, Bracelet & Clutch: Gems and Baubles Hair: Chic Strands Make-Up: Shalawn Architect Beauty Wilis

August 13, 2014
Is the Doctor In???

So many people knock using jar sauce…well I use jar sauce. I don’t have the time to make sauce from scratch, so I do the next best thing…. I doctor up a jar of sauce. Now you may be asking what do I mean by doctoring a jar of sauce? Well we can compare it to surgery…we just aren’t cutting up any people. First things first you’re gonna need a jar of sauce. I went with Ragu because it was on sale.

Now here’s where the cutting begins. I started by dicing onions, bell peppers and portabella mushrooms.

I then took about a pound of ground beef and browned it off. Added some sausage and some diced bacon.

After I added the diced vegetables along with a can of diced tomatoes ( you see I like a chunky sauce).

Now what most people don’t understand about cooking is that it is not a true science. It’s about what you like and how it makes you feel. You have to find out what works for you and your palette and make it WORK.

I love, love , love a lot of garlic ( especially in Italian food). Maybe that doesn’t work for you ( guess what don’t add it). After that’s done I added the jar of sauce and began a prescription of seasonings. Thyme, crushed pepper flakes, kosher salt, black pepper, dried Italian herbs and some slow simmering……

Sauce fit for a king

Let your imagination and your taste buds run free when trying to doctor a jar of sauce. maybe you want to add just vegetables,,,, diced or shredded zucchini, carrots, spinach, sweet peas or maybe you want to try adding seafood, or alternative to ground beef…It’s all up to you.

Now because I’m always taking it to the next level I decided I would doctor the pasta, too. I used thin spaghetti cooked according to to package directions. Then I sauteed garlic with red pepper flakes in olive oil, making sure not to burn the garlic ( nothing worst than the taste of burned garlic)

Then I added the pasta with some of the cooking water and minced parsley. Time to serve it up

Go buy a jar of sauce and get to doctoring.

BCJ2U

April 12, 2014
A Day Off??

So what does a retired chef, fashionista who has returned to the work force in retail do on her day off? Well I know most would say sleep….Hell I planned for SLEEP but that was not in my future for my day off. Apparently when it’s your day off you have to get everything you weren’t able to get done, done. ( had it really been that long since I’ve punched someone’s time clock?) All the things you are too tired to do after work needs to be accomplished. Like laundry, unless you don’t mind wearing dirty clothes (please don’t stand beside me if you do). I did over 3 loads not including sheets and towels. All for the sake of looking, smelling and feeling good.

At this point I am truly feeling sleepy but there was so much more for me to do. Time to prep dinner so that when I finally get that sleep in it’s one less thing I have to worry about. Steak & peppers it is or was . Sliced bell peppers, onions and seasoned my beef and stored them in the fridge until later.

Not quite what i did but you get the picture

Well since my mind was on food I decided to research my next food attempts. Do you know how easily you lose track of time while surfing the internet. Only to have it interrupted by the plea of a child that needs to be picked up from her La-cross game ( hey wasn’t Dad supposed to do that?) off I went to wait on her bus. Thank God the bus beat me there so it wasn’t a long wait.

Ok it’s only one kid but that’s how i was feeling at the time

On my way in I remembered that I was supposed to pick up something at he supermarket. Conveniently….I forgot the list. So I had to go off memory (not a good thing for those that know me). After getting everything I could remember I head to check out only to realize I didn’t have my wallet. Did I just waste time on my precious day off? Thank God that not only was my wallet in the car but they hadn’t put my groceries back. Winning (it’s the little things).

how I must’ve looked to the cashier

After unloading and putting away groceries I realized that I hadn’t cooked dinner. The whole getting some sleep was no where on the radar for me. Good thing I had already prepped. Whipped up some steamed rice with steak and peppers. And no there are no pics of it either. Have you not realized the trend in this post? None of the pictures are ones that I have taken. It was supposed to be my day off. Let’s just say I finally made it to bed that night after 12am.

Ahh Sleep

Thank God I had another day off…. back to back…wait I forgot I booked a jewelry show. There goes that day off…..too

April 3, 2014
And so it begins……

I’ve been wanting to start a blog for some time now…..Hell I’ve been told I should start one by way too many people, if I should be totally honest about it. So here it is…..The Chef In Pearls. I think that title embodies so much of who I am today. I take great pleasure in creating food and sharing it with people, especially the ones I love. And well as for the pearls ( one of my favorite accessories I own) I love …love ….love… fashion. I think my Mom created that little demon inside me way back when. I grew up wanting to own the clothing and accessories my mother had. Fighting my younger sister over which pieces we’d play dress-up with next. We knew what it was to have custom made clothing as well as shop in large department stores. We lived life as fashionistas without ever really knowing it. It was just apart of growing up. I owe my love of cooking to my Mom, too. She was the epitome of a host. Always coking and panning the next get together. I don’t know how she did half the things she pulled off but she did it. And she’s still doing it at age 70. I am thankful for these experiences because they helped to shape….The Chef in Pearls.

February 11, 2014