Whew, It’s over. We’re finished, at least with the stressful pieces. Today we completed the three course practical exam: five hours to prepare the the prescribed appetizer, entree, and dessert featuring an amalgamation of the of techniques exposed over the course of the past 3 1/2 weeks: knife cuts (yikes), wet and dry heat cooking,…
Advanced Culinary #HoneSweetHome
We’re at the halfway point! Since the last post, I’ve been practicing some culinary techniques and honing my skills, adding a few new ones to the arsenal. IF you’ve been following on Facebook @ChefTasteBud, you’ve seen the photos- what the U.S. military’s Joint Culinary Center of excellence has named its Advanced Culinary Skills Training Course. …
#FarewellJapan
Japan has been a great, trying, fulfilling time in my life. I give little credit to the places I’ve seen and the foods I’ve tasted though. I thank God for the people He’s introduced me to and the lessons I’ve learned and applied. Thank you my JapanFam for your love, help, support, inspiration and open…
#HokkaidoSummerSlice
Hey! It’s me! It’s you! Not at all a long post, but just dropping in to say “Hi, I’m back.” Or maybe to say that I’m still here. Keeping up with you has gotten a bit harder lately, every time I think I’ve figured it out. Lots on the plate. One of my new favorite…
氷屋ぴーす Fire and (Shaved) Ice #SweetToothTokyo
The air thick with heat, laden with moisture, -a heat wave if you will- the cool rolling down my back until it’s finally wisped away- a vapor. Now’s a great time for Kakigori. Simply defined as Japan’s traditional take on shaved ice, crunchy and topped with a range of options, syrup, fruit, condensed milk, sweet…
WisdomTeeth #SweetToothTokyo
Originally posted on Tip of the Tongue:
Not the biggest sucker for sweets; if I’m gonna eat them, it’s gotta be worth it- rich, decadent, and doubtlessly dessert. So far in Japan, many desserts have left me longing for more- and likely to contain bean paste which is weird for us Westerners, granted that’s beginning…
Ticked Off
Mm. Hey Good Lookin’ Been a long time. Sorry to keep you waiting. Wanted to talk about Chopped. Got a little caught up, my typing time given to discussion posts and research papers. Also taken aback by our loss of Tony B. I intended to right him a homage- should have at least re-posted from…
Cutting Edge: Prepping for “Chopped”
Tomorrow’s the day. The name of the game is Chopped. The object of the game is to not be Chopped: mystery basket cooking competition:3 courses, 4 mystery ingredients, and at least 70 minutes of intense cooking. We’ll start with 4 cooks, but only one will be named Chopped Champion! Am I nervous? Not yet. It’s…
Biscoff Cookies: The Silver Lining #PostCards #SE43
You’re still there?! Thanks for sticking around. We left off in Cambodia and we’ll wrap up soon. But I just wanted to take a moment and give a quick shout out to Biscoff cookies, a Belgium original. Travel can be exciting, but the flight between the point of origin and the destination hasn’t always been…
Best Fried Chicken in Poipet #PostCards #SE43
The starting point for the planning of most trips is the food. What’s special about their foodways? I don’t know if I made it clear to you but during my trip to Cambodia, I was staying with two Americans and simply adopted their routine- which didn’t seem to include much cuisine representative of Khmer cuisine….
Can You Eat Noodles? #PostCards #SE43
It was an unusually busy Sunday. Metallic tables and plastic chairs, just like the one’s I had seen in Thailand, with the dining room extending from inside out to the street and the make-shift kitchen out front. Even with all this seating, finding a seat was no easy task. The few that could be spotted…
The Dollar Menu #PostCards #SE43
They say that pictures are worth a thousand words, and I’ve said it before too. But in Thailand, it seems a dollar is worth a couple dishes. Personally, it was a little hard controlling myself by the time I had finally found a place I thought was worth giving a try. I won’t say too…
Tip of the Tongue 