Back in the Saddle

The last time I posted the cicadas where still in the middle of their loud chorus. They will be cranking back up before we know it.  One of the many sounds that I oddly missed when outside of the South. 

During my long absence from posting I have had a lot going on on the professional front (2 promotions; cook to supervisor/manager to ADFNS). I'm now the Assistant Director of Food and Nutrition Services at a hospital. I have more responsibility, but also the stress and headaches that come with it. I welcome the challenge though. If it isn't challenging you or scaring you... It's not challenging enough.  

My life outside of work has had a few things going on as well. I was asked to do a handful of things through my social media connections and also help some chef friends. I'm now a staff chef for Grillax. I'll get to do more writing and testing out products for them. 

Promo pic from the dessert #GrillingChats I co-hosted 

This opportunity came about after being asked to help co-host a dessert themed #GrillingChats. The chats focus on different ways to grill, such as meats, how to entertain while grilling, and other things that involve grilling. I mean it is called #GrillingChats . It is fun being a pastry chef and incorporating the grill into desserts since the grill is always used for savory dishes. I love grilling everything, and being a trained pastry chef, it is fun playing around with different foods and seeing how they do as a sweet dish.

I was asked to do an article with Eat Y'all for the Christmas season. I enjoyed writing about some of the things my family does during the holiday season. Getting to share a recipe and little look into my personal life was exciting. I look forward to being able to do it again in the future.

Milk Punch and Cookies. My picture for the Eat Y'all article 

 The fall and winter season have many holidays that are personal to everybody. Getting the opportunity to share a little bit of what my family does to enjoy our Christmas season was an insightful look for me as well. I made myself really observe what my family does during this time. Though this time of year can, and usually is, stressful, I was able to really see how this next year we could make it even better. Not everything has to be perfect. If you don't have enough tinsel for the tree, no need to stress. Just give what you have to the kids and let only the bottom portion of the tree get the "icicles". 

I also got to try and talk about a rib roast from Certified Angus Beef through #Foodiechats. All of it has been fun and getting to write creatively is exciting for me.  Getting opportunities like this to be more involved with the online food communities is exciting. I was able to try a new recipe out on a cut a meat that I usually do not cook, and then share it with the online community of #Foodiechats. There will be a post of the recipe that I used to roast this beautiful piece of meat. 

The boneless prime rib roast that I got to prepare for friends and family  

This involvement has made me realize how much I love to share my own knowledge of the culinary world. It has made me want to explore more avenues of sharing my know hows. The involvement has kept me immersed in the food culture and helps me to keep expanding my knowledge, too. 

I'm currently looking at getting my YouTube web series up and going. It will be good related of course. I'll be exploring different cultures cuisine and then making it my own. I'm really excited about it. Hope y'all will tune into that as well.

The challenge of getting a video web series started has proven to be challenging, but exciting. I'm pulling from all resources and getting input from different professionals. I have even gotten books on different approaches to social media, food styling, and food photography. I guess you can say that I'm trying to become a Jack of all trades. Food is definitely my main passion in life, and I'm excited to share even more of that with y'all. I'm excited about this journey and that y'all are following me.

Happy Eating