Friends having an In-Home Class

A while back, four friends decided to enjoy catching up on their lives
and having an In-Home Cooking Class cooking the Thai menu.

We have the chicken breast cut into strips being skewered here in the picture.
They were marinated in a peanut and coconut marinade.

Learning about some basic sauces and ingredients in Thai cuisine.                                     Pad Thai noodles and  Thai Dumplings were also made that evening.

It was a pleasure meeting and cooking with you guys!



Good times. Good Times.  Let's Cultivate Food

Re-GROW your scallions!

More often than not,

I try to teach and share with students that you can

very easily re-grow your herbs and veggies.

In this case...  it has become more like scallions galore.

Two weeks ago, Let's Cultivate Food participated in a Festival

and I had to use some scallions for the Buffalo Chicken Dumpling filling.

I cut the root end off at about 2 inches and placed them in a plant pot- 

all lined up only because there were so many. The only thing in the pot

is water, no soil or anything else.  I've been so busy with Festivals

and Personal Chef Dinners lately that I simply placed the roots in the

corner of the kitchen floor and would just add water every 3-4 days

and in a way they have been completely neglected. 

Low and behold 2 weeks later... they have re-grown into a pot of scallions galore.

I love gardening and growing and re-growing in this case...

thus the name "Let's Cultivate"  There are SO many things one can do

with a simple scallion.... starting with simply re-growing them!

Let us cultivate herbs,  Let's Cultivate Food

SPAM

Many say that SPAM is "mystery meat"
Similar to cilantro,  people seem to either love it or hate it-

SPAM actually stands for Shoulder Pork and HAM.

SPAM was highly consumed in many wars for the soldiers
especially the Russian soldiers during World War II.
When I say highly consumed...
I'm talking about 100 million pounds of it!   WHOA right!?!
During the war there was even a mascot named  'Slammin  Spammy'.
It was a way that Hormel supported the war effort.

Roughly 44,000 cans of SPAM (33,000 pounds) are produced every hour
for over 40 countries to be consumed.  Some McDonalds even have it on
their menu. Hawaii consumes the most SPAM per capita of any US state.

When people call it 'mystery meat' it's really not that much of a mystery.
It's pork shoulder which tends to be fatty along with added salt, water,
sugar, potato starch and nitrites.  In a way it's almost the same stuff
that is in hot dogs.

There was once Kosher SPAM back in 2000 known as Loof for Israeli military.
It was made from chicken and beef and not pork shoulder.

I think when the "mystery" is taken out of it----
you realize there isn't really that much of a mystery to it.



Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food

Dumplings Class through Mt. Airy Learning Tree

We recently held our classroom class of Dumplings through Mt. Airy Learning Tree.
We again, filled the room with eager students who were excited to learn how to
make the filling, fold, cook and of course eat many different types of dumplings.

The students were taught how to properly cut herbs and veggies and the best
way to store them and how long herbs and spices are good for.

A little of the history of dumplings was taught along with many different ways
of how to fold the  "pockets of goodness" - what it translates to in Chinese.

Below are some pictures of the students helping me during the demos
and of course the making and eating as well!

We had good times. Good times making steamed tofu kimchi dumplings,

deep fried veggie dumplings, pan-fried pork and chive dumplings and 

modernized buffalo chicken dumplings with home-made dipping sauces!

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food

Bachelorette Party Cooking Class

What are the occasions that we've held In-Home Cooking Classes for?
Looking back at all the classes,  birthdays certainly rank as number 1.

Some other occasions have been ---->  anniversaries, retirements,
girls night-in, friends visiting from out of state,
just had a baby- want to stay in activity,
surprise! I like you and hope to be dating you,
my wife doesn't cook- she needs a cooking class,
and bachelorette activity/parties just like the pictures
from a recent bridal party In-Home Cooking Class.

This group picked the brunch menu that consisted of 4 items they
chose from a choice of a dozen  or so items.

The menu was ---> mini egg fritattas,  strawberry bruschetta,
french toast roll ups and mini pancake skewered with berries.

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food

Because you need a reason to buy ice cream?

It seems like there is an APP for pretty much everything these days.
It's not just about informational APPS like the weather and map APPS
or even the interactive game APPS but there are tons of APPS
where you simply don't need it BUT at the same time it's
just really cool to use and see.

One of the newest APPS on the market (free) is for Haagen - Dazs' ice cream
You know, because we need a reason to buy ice cream! (sarcastically said)

So what is it for and how does it work?
Well, again since there aren't enough reasons for us to just buy ice cream...

Once you download the free APP
you scan the QR code  (Quick Reader code) on the right side of the lid
and you are ready to go!

Take your ice cream out of the freezer and with your Haagen-Dazs APP
opened - scan the circle (that comes up in the APP) over the lid
of your favorite ice cream flavor.  You will see a hologram of a violinist
playing some music over the lid of the ice cream.  WHAT!?!!
You can see up to 2 holograms using the APP.

The purpose of the music is that once the hologram is done playing
your ice cream is at perfect temperature and softness and ready
to be devoured... I mean, ready to be scooped into a bowl.

Technology is super cool and to see a hologram over your ice cream lid
is strangely quite fascinating.  It's really something else!

We purchased 4 containers because 2 wasn't enough right!?!!

Click the link to watch a quick video of how it works!

WATCH VIDEO




fascinated by technology,  Let's Cultivate Food

Husband and Wife In-Home Cooking Class

As we continue with our In-Home Cooking Class journey...
we had the pleasure of meeting and cooking with a fantastic couple.
Their menu consisted of :
Pork and leek dumplings, Ginger chicken lettuce wraps and a
Green noodle stir-fry with tons of mixed vegetables.

I think it's always great in learning the basics whatever it may be.
In this case it almost always starts with dicing an onion properly.
Not only does it make it easier to cut but it makes cutting a little more fun
because it becomes less of a chore but fun ways to use your knife
and using the tunnel method to hold your onion.

Below are a few pictures from this husband and wife class!

Just a few of the ingredients for this class of an Asian Fusion menu

Learning traditional and more effective ways of folding pot stickers...

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food