The Big Cheese

Do you like cheese? I know I really like cheese plus the fact that there are so many different types and styles of cheese from all over the world, cheese is a seriously interesting food.

I do have one problem with cheese; it is a flavor stealer. I first discovered this when I was 18 and working at a pizza joint. A plain "cheese" pizza was wonderful tasting but if you put extra cheese on a pizza with other toppings, the only real flavor coming through was the cheese. As I have grown and my tastes have changed, I have discovered that I really prefer a hamburger over a cheeseburger. Once again, that cheese is a flavor stealer and all you taste is the cheese. Omelets and cheese is the same thing, all you can taste is the overwhelming flavor of the cheese and not much of anything else.

I know people really do not like when I say these things, mainly about cheeseburgers but it is so true. The next time you want a really great burger, skip the cheese and enjoy all of the other things that are going on with the true and pure burger. You might be surprised. Save the great cheese for some fresh fruit and a nice bottle of wine. In fact, there is just about no greater culinary experience greater than a savory and salty Stilton with a really nice Porto. What a flavor explosion! Cheese does have it's place in the world and in cooking; that place is not on a burger!

Bad times, hoping to get back to better times.

It is really hard to maintain a blog when you feel no one reads, and if you do not post on a regular basis, no one reads and no one follows what you are doing and what you have to say. Knowing this falls of deaf ears and probably no ears at all, I am going to try and get back to regular postings.

The past few weeks and months have been rough and tough. After much effort into weight loss and such, I fell off the horse and have gained some back. There are many reasons but the main one is I am a weak person, just full of petty excuses. So let me name them off, get them out in the open, and then I can maybe move on and get back to me again.

I hurt my shoulder. I hurt my knee. I had to put my dog down (Dec. 9th and I miss her!). Work has been long and stressful. I guess the one single thing that really made me slow down and stop was my dog Elmo. I tried to spend every waking hour with her I could before she had to go; and when I did try and get back into it, I just wanted to be with her. Since she has gone, my shoulder does not hurt much any more (but maybe that is just in my mind?). To top everything else off, I think I had H1N1 Swine Flu last week and am suffering the residual bronchitis (for sure) and eventual pneumonia (I hope not). This has been a horrible sickness!

With all of this said, I want to get back to posting more food related topics here! I almost feel inspired by the Jules and Julia movie! Not that anyone will read what I have to say.

I am going to cough some more and go to bed!

Not to be ctitical of a critic but...

Last night, I participated in a fund raising event benefiting the Saint Francis Service Dog Foundation here in Roanoke. It is just a wonderful cause and it is always great to have a group of chef's get together to pull off a wonderful dinner for a great group of people and dogs which make a difference in peoples lives!

Tonight, I am checking around the net and happen to pull up an article about the event and I am very disappointed to read what Nona Nelson from The Roanoke Times had to say about the event. I am not bashing her and the comments others had to say in her article but I do not think she understands and gets what this was all about; to be even slightly critical of what the chefs had to prepare is a bit naive.

All of the chefs that participate in this are business owners, business men, and have very busy schedules; not to mention family and personal lives. It takes hours and hours to prep for an event like this. Many of us donated product with money out of our own pockets as well as the time invested to make all of this happen. I just do not think this was the stage to be hyper critical about the food served. If she did not like what I had to prepare for this, that is fine and I can live with that but I think she unjustly criticised Scott Lockhart from Horizon Bar and Grill. He is a wonderful chef and did his very best to put out some great looking and tasting food for all. I am sure she is right on some points she made but Chef Lockhart should be praised for the effort he put into this dinner, as well as all of the chefs. I say BRAVO to you all!

That is all I have to say about that!

Sign of the times!

I have not written here much lately and I tend to do so only when I have something interesting or exciting to say. That is probably not a great thing; you can imagine how exciting my life must be since it has been a while. One good thing; I have lost 101 pounds over the past 7 months.

I am driving down the highway this afternoon with a coworker and something strange caught my eye. A person driving next to me was holding a piece on paper with the word "HELP" and a telephone number. Did he need directions because he was lost? Was he being help hostage? Curiosity got the best of my coworker and he called the number.

The person driving the car noticed I am a chef and wanted to know what restaurant I work at and if I was hiring! This was hilarious and a very innovative way of job hunting. I am not a chef in a restaurant so I really could not help out but do hope he finds work soon!!

Customer Service?? Good bye Circuit City!

I think we live in a time of poor customer service and we as a society see this more and more each and every day. I have seen examples of this over and over the past few years and the announced closing of all Circuit City stores is a prime example. I am not saying that bad customer service did this business in but it surely did not help! Each and every time my wife and I went into this big box store, it was close to impossible to get waited on, yet even acknowledged. I went to this store one day a few years ago ready and willing to buy a computer and could not get a floor representative to wait on me; I went to Best Buy and went home with exactly what I was looking for.

It is not like this was an isolated event. Multiple time we went to Circuit City, there would be sales people gathered in a corner talking and not paying attention to customers in the floor. I do believe this was a contributing factor to the ultimate demise of this big box store. I am originally from Richmond and was a big supporter of CC. I can remember going there as a very young child but as recent years passed, it was really hard to take the complete and total lack of customer service.

I also see this trend in restaurants. If we get poor customer service in a restaurant, we tend not to go back and often, we see these eventually close their doors. We live in a different time where work ethic has been put to the side and often, young workers are more concerned with "where the party is tonight" than I have a responsibility to my employer, my customers, and to myself.

Happy New Year!

Has been a while since I have posted here; much going on over the past few months! I have lost 74 pounds over the past 4 months and hope to keep things moving in a downward positive direction. The job has kept me hopping and that is a great thing. I love what I do for a living. Had talked about doing a cooking class at my church last year and I am going to try and get a class going in just a few weeks. This class will focus on build flavor while trying to eliminate the bad fats we come across each and every day. Should be an interesting class, not a class about dieting; it is all about the flavor!! As soon as we set a date, will post it for all to see.

Will try and post more often as time allows. Most of my blogging efforts are going into my wight loss blog and I have neglected this portion of my web site. Hope you all have a safe and prosperous 2009! Please keep yourself safe!