Sunday, September 21, 2008

Another Chapter

It's been some time since I've posted anything here. A lot has been going on. Here's the Reader's Digest version. I found out I was pregnant on May 2nd. A few days later my boyfriend, with whome I had spoken about marriage and kids, decided that a baby and a relationship with me was not in his cards. So, I'm going to be a single mom and I'm preparing for that. Baby comes in December, so I still have a couple of months to pull some things togehter. Namely the groundwork for my next career move.

In that vain, I can't stop thinking about France, more specifically Paris. Elle me manque (I miss it). I had planned to do a Food Minded Traveler R&D trip this September, but I'm a little too pregnant to go to Paris by myself right now. So, my new plan is to have a 'dry run' tour with (hopefully) six paying guests whoes opinions and feedback I can use to fortify future tours. I also plan to alter the tour a bit in that I will rent an apartement large enough to house everyone insteadd of just me and a chef. This way it will be cheaper for the guests (no hotel fees).

Also on the career track, I am waiting to hear back from a gal who runs a Seattle food tour with whom I have spoken about taking the position of Operations Coordinator/Manager. This is a fantastic opportunity for me to cross over from F&B to Tourism. She also brought up the idea of incorporating FMT tours into her company, which I would welcome!! I would also be assisting her in the developement of other tours in Seattle as well as other American cities. The pay will not be that great in the beginning, but the oportunity I just can not pass up like I did with Europanache and Backrroads. I need to have a longer vision and not be so shortsided.

So, for now, I won't be able to afford to go out and eat in order to review restaurants, and I'm definitely not hitting the bar scene anytime soon. All I can do is attempt to budget the money I make, and make smart moves in regard to my tour and job potential.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Up and runnung! / Portalis review

I'm happy to say that My first website is up and running!!! It's still a work in progress, but it's up!!

Ok, step two through 1000 coming up. ;-)

By the way, had a great meal at Portalis on Saturday. They have this recovered-vegetarian's favorite dish on their weekly special, Duck Confit!! Go get it before I eat it all!!! the Duck's skin was beautifully crisp and its flesh suculent, nearing unctuois. It was served with a barley and cremini mushroom risotto that was creamy yet firm in texture, as a good risotto should be.

Eat up Seattle!!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Step one

This is a good day. I just bought my first domain name for my tour company/book/TV show, www.thefoodmindedtraveler.com. Now I just need to build a site, create a logo and get (pay) someone to host it.

I think it would be a good idea to get a business partner of sorts. I want to work with someone, or at least consult with someone, about the details of putting together and running a business. I have great ideas about what I want to do tour-wise and idea wise, but making it all happen and happen well is serious business. It'll be in my best interest to have a solid business person to help me make it happen.

So, my foodie friends, keep an aya out for The Food-Minded Traveler culinary tours to be launched within the next 5 months!!!

Friday, January 4, 2008

Feelin' Saucey

Lately, I've been doing a lot of cooking at home, frankly because I'm broke. And because I'm broke, I haven't been able to get all of the traditional ingredients necessary for the dinners I've wanted to make. So, instead, I've been pulling some pretty damn good sauces out of my proverbial ars.

Tricks I've come up with:

- Use fennel bulb in lieu of onion. It gives an unexpected tang to a dish and is a great compliment to mushrooms and left over lamb tartar. (don't ask where I got that, but I had it and I wanted iot.) ;-)

- If you don't have heavy cream to make a cream sauce, use either sour cream or crème fraiche and milk. Again, the sourness of the cream really adds a great punch to the sauce and there's really no need to add any kind of acid to make it pop.

- Won ton wrappers make great ravioli... well, good enough. The wrappers are a bit thin for my taste, but if you have left over pieces of cheese, veggies or just a little bit of meat, you can easily make a filling by blending some or all of the above and plopping it between two won ton wrappers. Vyola! You've got pasta!

- Brown butter makes it better!! If you really don't have anything in your fridge to add to your spaghetti, but you want something yummy, brown up some butter! I like to add some sage or rosemary to it to give it some herbatiousness.


If you have a question for a recipe, or would like me to expand on any of these ideas to help you with your next dinner in, drop me a line.