Waldo, Where in the World is Jesus!?!

US infant Jesus statue to get GPS.


The statue was stolen from a nativity scene like the one across.

A statue of the infant Jesus on display near Miami in Florida is being fitted with a Global Positioning System device after the original figurine was stolen.

The near-life-size figure forms part of a nativity scene in Bal Harbour, Florida.

The original vanished three weeks ago, despite being bolted to the ground.
Dina Cellini, who oversees the display, says the statues of Mary and Joseph will also be fitted with a satellite tracking device to deter thieves.

She said: "I don't anticipate this will ever happen again, but we may need to rely on technology to Save our Saviour." [WHAT!! oh, dear what is the world coming to!]

A Jewish lawyer, Jeffrey Harris, from Cincinnati, who read about the theft on the internet, has donated the new Jesus figurine in the Founders Circle area of the city.

Mr Harris, who celebrates Hanukkah, not Christmas, told the Miami Herald: ''I felt bad. How could someone steal a baby Jesus? Even though I am Jewish, I like the Christmas spirit.''... (or, according to me, he also likes publicising his name in Bal Harbour as a "Nice Guy" [read: getting more non Jewish clients] [read: ones that won't quibble when their bill arrives].

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7158698.stm

Keep This One Handy!

You may or may not need to go to more After Christmas sales but then their's always the day after New Years.

Consider this my little gift to you all. Ahh, how sweet. Cheap but sweet.

And a Merry Christmas it Was!!

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful time eating, imbibing, and enjoying one another's company as I did at Casa Espinoza.

Everything was terrific. The food was fantastic. We enjoyed Prime Rib with a garlic, rosemary spice rub, Pommes Duchesse's Potatoes and then baked potatoes for a backup, fresh buttered string beans and ginger carrots in a brown sugar butter sauce. Oh yeah, we had Au Jus with mushrooms to top the Prime Rib and a fine bottle of Chateau Neuf du Pape to top it all off.

Then dessert of pumpkin pie and strawberry cheesecake. Yum. We all opened gifts by the fragrant twinkling tree and hugs all around.

Life just doesn't get any better than that! Amen.

Blessings Family and Friends. Chef Deb

Chef Deb's Fruitcake Recipe

Fruitcake Recipe

Items Needed ————-

4 Oz. Fruit Bits

1 Railroad Tie

Wood Saw

Large Rubber Mallet

Safety Goggles

WEAR YOUR SAFETY GOGGLES! (Children Get help from an adult!)

Cut a one-foot section from the middle of your railroad tie. The resulting block of wood should be about four inches by four inches by ten inches.

Then, take some fruit bits and pound them into the block with your rubber mallet. Spread the colors around, or you might wind up with an ugly fruitcake. Don’t be afraid to throw some elbow grease into that mallet! Good fruit bits should be much harder than the railroad tie so you can’t break anything.

For best result, you should pre-treat the fruit bits by setting them on top of your garage for a year (or by microwaving them on HIGH for 30 minutes).

Finally, cover it tightly in plastic wrap, and give your loved ones the time-less and enduring gift of fruitcake!

Wrap the fruitcake in saran wrap and I like to use a nice red ribbon and bow to give the saran wrap a nice warm glow. There should be plenty of railroad tie left to give fruitcake to all your family and friends.

P.S.

Be sure to sign the bottom of it so you know who all the Re-Gifters are next year! Those sneaky little devils.

A Chef's Nativity Scene

This is made only from veggies and fruits. Its my kind of NATIVITY scene. Edible.

But wait, I really like my Mum's (Auntie GMa).
Its sooooo pretty......!

(do you even appreciate how long it took me to find a vegetable based Nativity Scene on the Internet!!!)

Feh! You don't care...

Bad Day at Black Rock

The old movie phrase fits here today. I pretty much "blackened" most of my food products today due to an out of wack oven. True. Yesterday my friend had her Pommes Duchesse ruined by the same oven. My problem? I couldn't remember which oven it was today that overheats.

So after Tourne'ing all my Root Vegetables (which are hard as rocks and gave my hand cramps) I put them into the oven and they were desimated in a short amount of time. We have convection ovens which cook (or blast, as in my case) quickly. All that painful work for nothing.

Then I tried to make a simple pan gravy, which I've made thousands of times and ruined that by listening to another chef friend and used wine instead of chicken stock (something I know NOT to do) but under all the pressure to complete 2 full dishes in 1 1/2 hours I screwed that up. All I could present to Chef was the chicken. Which was fine and golden crisp.

In my rush to get my pork roast in the oven quickly I put it in the same oven as my tourne vegs and Chicken. It got too browned crisp on the bottom before I could change ovens. Then Chef decided to change our zucchini provencal to just tourneed zucchini and I thought we had to do both. Neither turned out since I was so busy I overcooked my sauteed tourneed zucchini.

It was a Kitchen Bitch Day from Hell. Send Sympathy Cards to someone who is paying attention. Not me, obviously.

^%^#(!!! (put your special words here). %&((#*@!!

Written Final is tomorrow for Skills class (Kitchen Cooking). Thursday is Competency in Roasting and Poaching and Friday is Competency in Grill and Saute.

After my screwups today I think I've cleared all negative hurdles and everything should be fine. I work well under severe pressure. Not the piddley ass kind like today.

Rock On!!!

What to Do Saturday Night.....

Gee, life is different now that I'm Over 50 and alone in one of the world's best Cities for fun, food, and excitement. Saturday nights slam that one home. I'd Love to go out and dance somewhere, have a toddy or two and listen to good music. Going alone doesn't really kick it up for me.

Where does someone my age find fun peeps to hang with? (Glo, move back to SF, STAT!)

So what did I do today for fun you ask? I cooked in the Espinoza Residence (my home)! I have a monkey on my back called COOKING JONES. I made Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage, Potato Leek Soup and Veal Scallopini with Lemon Caper sauce. I was beat tired. Hung out at Casa Espinoza relaxing and sharing family time. Very cool.

I had to work up some energy so I could drive home to SF. I knew I had work ahead of me. I had to make my bed with clean sheets, wash dishes, etc. Little things that take up time. I thought I'd be in bed reading the last part of my Sanford novel Mind Prey.

Something happened on the drive into SF. I had my CD player playing The Doors. I got so into it I was dancing in my car seat. I loved it. Music energized me. When I got off the Freeway I rolled down my window so I could pump up the volume even more. I loved the cool air, the city lights, downtown SF and my music. I just wanted to keep driving just to listen to more music.

When I got into room 206 I put on more music and just kept rocking. I got a lot done and can't believe that I'm still up at 10:45. I'm just loving the music cranked up to Saturday Night High.

I don't have neighbors on either side so I'm going for it. I'm dancing while working around the little room. Tonight, I feel eternally young. Stuck in time when music and dancing were all I lived for. It was fun.

I'm beginning to slow up, somehow I'll have to stop the rock and roll and roll into bed and finish my novel. Sunday is SLEEP IN DAY. Ahhh the luxury.

I miss my young lively life today. Most other days I'm happy with my older self. I'm sure tomorrow I'll embrace my older self tenderly so I don't hurt my old bones and muscles I spent dancing around my room tonight. Gotta hang with the Big Dogs. Just suck up Old Age and fugitaboudit!!

Lights Out Kids!!

Doin' the Hustle!

Today was kitchen madness. There's never enough work space and too many things to do, get, chop, dice, mince, peel, and pour. There were about 10 of us in class today and all of us were using at least 4 saucepans, bowls, plates, tools, and weighing and measuring. Its like working on the runway of Los Angeles Airport. Everyone has sharp knives and pots of boiling liquids. Its a constant effort to keep from colliding with others. Somehow we don't which is amazing in itself.

We had to do two different braises, one was a Swiss Steak and the other Coq au Vin (chicken). We also had to make two different starches for each and different veggies. We had to time it so it was ready at the same time to present to the Chef HOT! All in two hours.

The red cabbage was really good with apple, brown sugar, red wine and red wine vinegar and a few more things. It took time to "sweat" it out and not overcook. The rice pilaf was easy to do and just forget about. I boiled the potato long before I needed it so it for mashing with cream and butter so it had to sit and wait for me. I put it above the stove to keep warm.

We also braised celery and fennel in chicken stock which was surprisingly good. I thought I overcooked them but Chef said they were perfect. Just needed more salt! Imagine someone telling me I need to use more salt! Ludicris. I'm trying NOT to ruin everything with my salt addiction.

We also had to cook some mushrooms (quartered) and pearl onions (blanced and peeled) in bacon rendering to add to the Coq au Vin as garnish. There were easily 65-70 pots to clean in addition to all the other stuff.

I feel like I ran a marathon. I'm pooped! I completed all my stuff and Chef liked everything except needing more salt on the Swiss Steak dish everything was good. By that time I was starving so guess what we get to do? Yes! We eat our own food. It was yummy. This is where the pounds are creaping on though.... Oh well, job hazard.

Oh yeah. I PASSED my Safety and Sanitation State test. This is a certificate that is really good to have as a chef. Its like a license. It's given by the National Restaurant Association. Some students didn't pass. One gal told me that out of her class of 15 students, only 5 passed the test. I know there were some in our class but not how many. You HAVE to pass to graduate so they'll have to PAY for the test again in February.

I'll have to go to the Espinoza's this weekend to practice some of my dishes that will be on my Competency Test next Thursday and Friday. I'm looking forward to it. A bit of Christmas music (or not) and a kitchen all to myself!

Life is good. Eat well.

Fat and Skinny Had a Race

Fat won. End of story.

I'm beginning to understand that eating in a restaurant is really a high fat adventure. Just don't do it every day or even every week. You'll lose the race. We use a TON of clarified butter which is just the Fat left over from the butter once we skim the protein off and drain all but the water into a container. Refrigerated, its hard as oil refrigerated. They're both just fat. Plain and simple. Just so you know...

Today we made Veal Scallopini in a lemon and caper sauce with gratin potatoes (thin sliced potatoes and heavy cream 40% fat) and some green beans and carrots julienned. It was good but we did melt whole butter with the veggies after blanching them to warm them before plating them with the veal and potatoes. Sure. It tasted Wonderful. I ate most of what I cooked. No friggin' wonder I'm not losing weight.

Then we also made Salmon with a Beurre Blanc sauce (basically butter) with some blanched spinach mixed in with Orzo pasta. I added a touch of butter for flavor (to please the Chef). She loved it and I did excellent. I ate some of that too.

I've got to plan out a way to avoid these high fat foods or I'll just scream. We HAVE to taste the food we cook before giving it to the Chef. But by the time we're in Skills class cooking we are ravished and everything smells so wonderful. Its like a chockoholic working at See's Candies.

Tomorrow is Braising. Braised meat with all kinds of good things.

My Christmas List has now been updated. A stomach pump is at the top of the list.

Screw it. It is what it is and I am what I am. A Chef! I must taste all that I cook and if its real good I'll eat a bit more of it. Gawd I'm good!

Burp......

Dorm Room Pix (1st of 3)

The biggest item in the room, by bed. I like the blue walls, it sets off the room nicely. The furnishings are a nice wood and the end tables have a granite slab on top of each. The Curtains are burgundy.

You see my mini fridge in front - opps, left the milk out! Bad chef.

Home on the Rangeish...

Dorm Room View!

I actually have what is known as a View from my window. I have a tree (very rare) and can see lots of blue sky (much rarer) I get a good cross breeze when I open my front door for plenty of fresh air (or fog).

Love it.

Dorm Room Bathroom

The room is big enough to move around

in. I like the flooring and pedestal sink too.

I have my water purifier on my "kitchen" table top. Not much but its home for the next year or so.

Nativity Scene - My Way

Recently, I sent around a Christmas thing asking all these questions about how people feel and what they do during Christmas. There was one about a Nativity Scene. I thought this one was pretty clever. Lego Land style!

Doesn't it just scream Christmas! Aren't you filled to the brim with religious fever just looking at it?

Oh Wait..... This is the last supper! See, I just don't get why the nativity scene is so important. I think people eating good food and drinking fine wine is way holier than a baby surrounded by cows and sheep and 3 strangers dressed like drag queens. Go figure.

Food and Drink are always served in Catholic churches. Up on the alter where it belongs. Let's all just eat, drink and be merry with family! That's Christmas for me.

I'd Love a Plate of FASHION!

It's not easy or fun to force yourself out of bed at 5:30am let alone wonder what to wear, what's the weather, do I really care? I might care at 11am but paaaalease, its 5 frickin' thirty.

I used to open my door to "check" the coldness. I stopped doing that since it was so stoopid. I'm in the corner on the 2nd floor of a 4 story building. I face the atrium patio, from a safe weather proof spot. How hard is that to figure I still don't have a clue as to the weather.

What this all leads to is that sometimes I dress "off" for the weather. All male readers won't understand this part so skip to the sports section.

Anywayz. Last night the weather report was Clear, some clouds, basically nice day. Okay, I think I'll wear light pink fleece like pants and a white pullover type cotton shirt. Since the morning is cold at O'Dark Thirty I wear a zippered pull on with a hood. (thank you Glo, I love the Grey pull on).

I'm good. Happy. Going to school, catchin' the shuttle, draging my red carry 0n with my Halloween Uniform and shoes inside, hefting my knife kit. I go to the ladies changing room and see a classmate (they're all half my age). She looks at me and, with surprise, says "I didn't know we could wear our pajamas to school".

I could have responded two ways.

1. Oh, these aren't my pajamas, this is what the retirement home gave me when I left.

2. Oh yeah dude, I was too, like tired to dress so I just hustled out of bed and beat it to the shuttle. Ya know what I mean?

#1 They may or may not have questioned my attire after that comment.

#2 She would have thought I was some fool trying to play my "game" long after the batteries ran out.

What did I say, you ask?

I said. "Oh no, these aren't my pajamas." Indicating of course that I should burn my clothes now and that I have no clue what these kids wear.

I just want to blend. I don't want to stand out in a fashion sense. If she really saw my pajamas she'd never even talk to me. I'd be a scary homeless person. I mean, I'm still using my terrycloth robe I got when I went on the Royal Carribean Cruise xyz years ago. Its not exactly at its peak anymore. But you can still read the label.

I may avoid the changing room for a while. Don't want everyone seeing my entire wardrobe of 2 full drawers! (there is only so. much. room. here). Fooey.

Oh yeah, we made pasta today. I'm getting sick of heavy sauces. I wish the next class was fruits and liquids.

As My Grandfather Used to Say....

"that was a yolk meja". Today we had EGG day which was fun after all the chaos of our competency final on soups and sauces. I purposely came to class hungry, meaning I didn't have a blueberry muffin or egg and chorizo burrito, etc. before class. I was focusing on the eggs, which I love.

There is a student in class that NEVER had an omelet!!! I was shocked. She didn't think she'd even want to cook one. We all had to cook eggs: Scrambled (how hard is that), over medium (very hard since we had to PAN flip it) I wasted about half dozen eggs not to mention the mess. Glad I didn't have Hot Line (cleaning the stoves) or Steward (cleaning the floor). I had Dishwashing. Again. Damn. I wish I could use gloves...

Then we had to poach an egg in a pot with hot water, vinegar and salt. When it rises to the surface you're good. If it doesn't you're an idiot. Means you forgot to add the vinegar and salt. We had to put this little piece of sunrise on a half toasted english muffin (that was panfried in the oil left over from cooking the Canadian Bacon then top it all with fresh made Hollandaise (which is pretty much pure fat).

After that we made a European Omelet. yada, yada, yada..... I'm tired. I stuffed mine with minced leeks and mushrooms with parmesan. Chef liked it. That's all that mattered.

Tomorrow is Pasta Day. Its gonna be a bit hard since we have to work in teams. I hope I get my culinary expert Phil. He's good. But probably the other students will have hissy fits since both Phil and I are - lets just say it - the best in class. There. Its said.

I never thought my hand muscles could be sore. They are. The bottoms of my feet are sore, my back, my neck, my upper arms, my..... ad nauseum.

Just to show my age, which I'm not proud of, I'll end with a quote from that lovely comediene Red Skeleton,

Good Night, and God Bless.

Chef Boy R DDay!!

We had our skills competency test today in the kitchen. We had two hours to make: Hollandaise, Mayonnaise, Bordelaise, Bechemel and then Mornay Sauce. Our "must make" soup was Consomme and then we got to choose another. I chose Cream of Mushroom. Mostly because this weekend I practiced my French Onion and New England Clam Chowder soups along with my Sauce Tomate (french spelling).

I managed to make all my required sauces and soups and the taste test from the Chef for each made me happy. I did well. Some excellent but I did forget to make a garnish for my Cream of Mushroom Soup. I did bring it home however so I could have something to eat. Screw the Garnish! (I would have made it, of course had I remembered).

Chef said that this was the HARDEST test we would all take at the CCA. I'm just glad she didn't share that with us before we started. We all kicked butt for 2 hours. We really were Real Chefs at Work!

Super Fun.

Now I'm just pampering my "kicked butt". I'm ever so tired. Its 6:30 and I'm contemplating sleep. Gotta get up at 5:30 and start a whole new routine. We'll be doing eggs tomorrow. Later this week we do pasta. Yum. We make it ourselves. Better yum.

I think its gonna rain tomorrow. Hurray. I got galoshes! Oh fun. Real rain.

I'm signing off now. Too tired to keep my little fingers tapping.

Find happiness. Do what you love.

Chef Deb