gimme some oven

Hey hey!  We’ve made some fun new updates to the site (with more to come).  So if you have a few minutes, take a moment to look around!  :-)

Here’s a quick summary of what’s new….

see recipe for site updates!

Oooooh la la!

That’s right!  Today I wrapped up my week of culinary adventures with a final day of “hors d’oeurves boot camp” at the ICE (Institute of Culinary Education) in New York City.

And talk about a grand finale!!  Today we made all sorts of delicious, sophisticated little hors d’oeurves — once more, using a number of ingredients and techniques that were new to me.  Apparently with cooking, there’s always something more to learn.  I love it!

Here are the highlights…

see recipe for institute of culinary education: day two

This morning I took the train down into the heart of NYC for my final culinary adventure — “hors d’oeuvres boot camp” at the Institute of Culinary Education.

Commonly known as “ICE”, this professional culinary school also offers an outstanding array of “recreational” options.  I had such a hard time picking one out!  From courses such as “Got Wine?”, to “Techniques of Cake Decorating”, to “Sushi and More”, to courses for kids, teens, families, and couples, there are literally hundreds of options to choose from.  (You should totally check it out!)

I ended up going with the “hors d’oeuvres” class — partly because it was a great 2-day weekend course (for 5 hrs/day), partly because I love entertaining, and partly because I hoped that after staring at the word for two days…I might finally learn how to spell hors d’oeuvres!! :-)

Anyway, it ended up being a truly enjoyable morning.  Here are the highlights!

see recipe for institute of culinary education: day one

Back in the Big Apple!!!

For the fun culinary adventure of the day, I spent the afternoon in Greenwich Village doing a “Foods of New York Tour“.  So fun!

We basically spent 3 delicious hours walking around with our group (about 10 of us) and our hilarious (and very knowledgeable!) tour guide.  Between all of the zillion interesting facts she shared with us, and all of the yummy foods we were able to sample, the hours were completely enjoyable and flew by!

Here were some of the highlights…

see recipe for foods of new york tour: greenwich village

Ok, Mom — here’s a picture of me.  :-)

We finished up our final day of “Mexican Cuisine Boot Camp” today at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America).  And holy moly — it was “mole” day!!

see recipe for culinary institute of america: day three

It’s been another gorgeous day at the CIA!

For those of you who are just tuning in, I’m finishing up Day 2 of a 3-day “boot camp” at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY….and having the time of my life!  :-)

Without further ado, here are some of the highlights of the day!

see recipe for culinary institute of america – day two

“Thyme” to begin!!!

The first part of my NY adventure kicked off today at the chipper hour of 6am, when I arrived at the Culinary Institute of America to check in for boot camp!  Hooray!!!

I think I intially thought “boot camp” was just a nice little name for their cooking classes.  But they aren’t kidding!  After 12 hours filled with cooking, lectures, recipe-planning, campus tours, taste-testing, socializing (of course!), and the chance to enjoy two phenomenal meals prepared by CIA students….I’m a tired, but very happy camper.  :)

So many stories to tell, recipes to share, and photos to upload.  But for now, here’s a glimpse into my first day…

see recipe for culinary institute of america – part one

Hi all!  Click on the photo or this link to hear the scoop!