THE TOP CHEF PROJECT

As I have said before, I believe design goes hand in hand with all the other creative fields (architecture, fashion design, etc.) in the world, but the one thing I think a lot of people forget is the creative genius behind food. Not only do chef's have to research, plan and taste what they want to make, they also have to visualize it and how it's colors, textures and smells will blend together. Planning a dinner is very much the same as planning a room. You have to take into consideration WHO is going to be eating/living in the space, what they like, what turns them on and off, and how they are going to interpret what you have created.

I think that because I am such a visual learner, and I grew up eating really good food (thanks to my stepfather Harry) I have become some what of a 'foodie'. I appreciate spending time in the grocery store, shopping for produce at Grower's Direct, watching endless amounts of cooking shows on the Food Network - preferably back to back - and shopping at Williams Sonoma, Sur la Table, and Whole Foods.

Last year for 2009, my new year's resolution was to teach myself how to be a better cook, by cooking ALL the recipes in the Top Chef Cookbook. I was going to go in order of publication and write a blog about it. I bought the rights to http://www.thetopchefproject.com/ and immediately started. I was initially inspired by reading the book, Julie & Julia which has since been turned into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Anyways, I got all excited and dove head first into cooking... and it was so much fun! However, within a matter of weeks I stopped. JLID had slowly started to take off and I was concentrating more on school and work than I ever had before in my life. My free time, and my passion for food was put on the back burner, which I know happens to a lot of people, and I totally stopped the project.

Thankfully, one of my friends pointed out to me yesterday, that it had been a year since I stopped the project... and asked why had I stopped? Nothing changed in my life that would make me stop cooking. I still cooked dinner nearly every night of the week, making recipes in my head that were good, sometimes great, often not so great, and my love for Top Chef was still ever present. So I got to thinking, and even though I am INSANELY busy right now taking 6 classes for my last semester at Dominguez Hills, I am going to start again. There is no excuse to loose your passion for something you are passionate about!

So I invite you to join me in my re-start of The Top Chef Project and see what happens next.

ROCHESTER

I just got home from a very cold yet beautiful trip out east to visit my family in Rochester, NY. My wonderful cousin Emily invited me to baptize her son, Jacob and I jumped at the opportunity to be a Nouna (Godmother in Greek) and take a much needed vacation.



While I am a California girl at heart, I like to think I did pretty good in the FREEZING cold winter weather out there. I have never experienced 'wind chill' outside of Mammoth and dealing with it for five days was enlightening.



My godson Jake did amazingly well at his baptism, even managing to spit out 'blah blah blahh' as the Father was denouncing Satan from his little body. It was quite hilarious!!! He only cried for a few moments, and was pleasant even after getting dunked in holy water and rubbed down in oil.



All in all, a wonderful trip that was obviously too short. I miss my family dearly, and I can't believe it had been 10 (YES, 10) years since we had all seen one another. Emily and I made a pact to see each other at least every other year now, alternating between California and New York.