I think people I've entertained at my table will agree. I know my boyfriend would. I am a foodie...through and through. There's just something about taking ingrediants, blending them , and creating something that nourishes and enterains and also brings people together. Who hasn't had a blast sitting around a table full of good food and good friends?
Back in 2001, when I left my position as a marketing events manager in the dot-com world (translation...lots of travel, lots of budgets, lots of stress!), I decided I was going to downsize my life, but I still needed a creative outlet. I thought..."I'll either go to cooking school, or I'll write that novel I've always said I wanted to write." Well, I went to an orientation session at a cooking school and was told it would be $36,000 and to expect to gain at least 50 pounds. Eeek! Hmmm...writing a book would be free and I wouldn't gain weight....no from writing.
So, I started my first novel. But, I decided to take cooking classes here and there and I amped up my TV watching, absorbing every cooking show I could to learn technique, knifing skills, and what spices mixed well with what meats and veg. I took two classes taught by the world reknowned Jacques Pepin, one by local Boston hot shot chef, Ken Oringer, and many other classes such as comfort food, trash fish/treasure fish, chicken dishes, pasta, wine pairing, cheeses of the world.
When people ask me if I went to culinary school, I say no, but I trained at the foot of Emeril Lagasse, Tyler Florence, Julia Child, Gordon Ramsay, the Barefoot Contessa, the Iron Chefs (Japanese), Great Chefs of the World, Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen...you name it!
My favorite dishes are the simple things like mashed potatoes, chicken pie, and yes, mac 'n cheese! However, I've been known to whip up a pretty mean lobster thermador, rosemary pork loin with mushroom risotto, and seafood stuffed filets of sole with hollandaise (all pictured below...dishes by moi.)
And, of course, my good old mac 'n cheese...
Anyone hungry now? LOL!!
Congrats to ~Jamie and Brooke Reviews guessed my favorite thing correctly and both win copies of GHOST HUNTRESS: THE AWAKENING and GHOST HUNTRESS: THE GUIDANCE. Please email me at marley_gibson AT yahoo (dot) com with your snail mail addy.
And today's giveaway is a copy of the fabulous Gena Showalter's young adult book INTERTWINED. To be eligible to win, leave a comment about your favorite food that you like to eat or cook!
Hugs,
Marley = )
Posts
47 comments:
I love cooking lasagna...the layering, the gooey cheese, the sauce...so good
jpetroroy at gmail dot com
I love pasta. It is so quick and easy, but also so very yummy. It's been my favorite food since before kindergarten!
~Meredith F.
rosesaremyfavorite at hotmail dot com
I love steak! Love it, love it, love it. There was some time several months ago when I was anemic and I didn't want to take pills so honestly, I think my mom made me a steak every day for like two months.. it was AWESOME!
I wish I was anemic again..
My mother's chicken de van. Nobody makes it quite like she does. It's amazing! It's my husband's favorite food, too. I don't prepare it at home because it's so much more special when she cooks it :)
Great prize!
Amber
I love Mac and Cheese. It is a great comfort food and not too difficult to make.
I love any kind of pasta, especially w/ seafood in it. Not such a fan of cooking it but love eating it. I also have to have a wine w/it. I like a white wine w/ seafood but also like sweet reds :) Now I hope I'm the lucky # for winning Gena's book. She's also my favorite writer :D
My speciality is Mexican and Asian food. I love to eat it, and love to make it! I tried out an Asian noodle dish recently, turned out to be delicious!
And I just am swooned by everything with tomato's in it, yummie!
Darn you for making me hungry! :) Those dishes you've made look delicious. One of my goals in life is to be your dinner guest! LOL
Oh! And my favorite dishes to make is chicken in white wine sauce, over wild rice w/ cranberries.
Wow and YUM! I'll be over for dinner right quick, Marley!
I love to cook, too. I'm really great at working with salmon after all those years in Alaska. I do a delish salmon in parchment with leeks and lemon. Hungry now... ;)
Oh, there are so many foods that I love to eat! As for cooking, I like to cook lasagna - in fact, I just taught my older daughter how to make it at Thanksgiving.
Margay
I make a bizarre stir-fry that I invented with orange juice and soy sauce...I don't know why I love it, but I do! (Lucky for me it's easy, because I can't really cook!)
I do bake a bit though...my favorite there is a Regency-era seedcake, with caraway...ah, heavenly!
When I eat out (which I do far too often) I most often crave Thai or Indian food...or the dumplings (and sauce) from my local Chinese restaurant...
(BTW, is that mac & cheese pictured yours, Marley? It looks fabulous!)
Cara
I love fish, especially with sauces, and one of your pictures appears to be just that...believe me, I was salivating!
I love cheesecake. I can live off of that stuff. Soo good. hmm... I love to make cupcakes. As you can see I've got a bit of a sweet tooth!
Mmmm...good thing I had a big dinner, otherwise, I'd be totally drooling over all of this. Would love some recipes sent my way! = )
And Cara...yes, all of the pictures posted, with the exception of the chef hat, are my photos of meals I've done. I love food photography and one day will have a lens that really gets in close. That mac 'n cheese recipe is THE BEST. The topper is Japanese panko crumbs and it's just heavenly. Email me if you want the recipe.
Oh...and Ms. Toliver...my goal is to be YOUR dinner guest! LOL!! I think you and I need to write a cookbook together. Hee hee!!
= )
these pictures are incredibly awesome and i'm so hungry looking at them. especially the cheese platter yum. my favorite food is anything you make with a potato.
love gena showalter and would love to win her book!
Chocolate chip cookies!!!
Uh, manicotti hands down. Ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella...I mean 3 different kinds of cheese? What's not to love. Plus, if you count the tomato sauce, it's got a veggie ;)
Dang it, now I want some...
Pork chops with a baked potatoe are my favorites! tWarner419@aol.com
All those pics are making me so hungry! I love making lasagna...yum.
My favorite is stir fry...there are so many different ways to it, ever changing...shrimp is one of my fav ingredients.
I love to make anything Taco related...taco salad, burritos, quesadillas...pretty much anything I can cover in cheese and more cheese with a side of cheese.
Yummaroo.
Happy new year!
I love baking and cooking, but my favorite dish to make is fried rice. Its the easiest and fastest, also the healthiest.
cindyc725 at gmail dot com
My husband went to culinary school a long time back, doesn't do that for a living now, but he has some great dishes. If i had to choose, i would say either his sushi or his Chateaubriand.
Now you have made me hungry!
booknerdd(at)gmail(dot)com
I love any kind of pasta, but especially Spaghetti and Lasagna!!
amandamatthews072107@yahoo.com
I love stuffed shells. I don't mind cooking them either.
Gotta go with stir fry too! And pickles! Who doesn't love pickles?!
I love soup :) though I won't lie, I'm not the greatest cook. It usually comes from a can....
My husband jokes that I can't even boil water because I choose not to cook so he thinks I can't LOL The truth is, though, that I like making country-style home cooked meals; mashed potatoes, fried chicken, vegetables, gravy, dinner rolls or corn bread. Mmmmm!
mmm... I love steak, but cooking wise I loving baking snickerdoodles with my sister during the holidays!!!!!!!! :-)
This will sound really strange but I love to make and eat a huge salad which I ruin all the health benefits by dumping on blu cheese dressing. Next favorite is eggplant parm.
love to cook just about anythiing i can. i would say my favorite is a shrimp stir-fry i do!. sometime i do it on the stove, some times i do it in aluminum foil on the grill....so yummy!!!
JoJo
jojosbookcorner(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks for the recipe offer, Marley!!! I tried to email you via your website, though, and it won't go through...says it can't find the server or something... :-(
Cara
I can't cook at all... Both because I've never actually had the patience to learn, and because what I do cook usually ends up being burnt, but there's this small restuarant in town that serves these amazing cheese fries! What's sad is that you can tell they're frozen fries, heated, and covered with shredded cheese, but it taste like heaven! Mmmm... Now I have to go eat some.
This Christmas I made lasagna. Everyone raved over it and gave me a big head. :) It's currently my favorite thing to make...Stacy
I love love love Caesar salad! I make a killer dressing too. It is so good and I always finish every last piece of lettuce! Its also really easy to make, even though it is a little different every time. Its got garlic, pepper, cheese, and lots of other yummy yummy things! I want to go eat some right now! My friends always blame me for getting them hooked on salad! And they always know what I am going to order- if caesar salad is on the menu, i'm going to order it!
My favorite food is freshly baked bread....so yummy!
chocolate cake
Gosh you made me hungry with this post! ;) I love mexican and italian food... and chicken files! :)
the pictures make me drool :)
I love baking brownies, Yummy ! chocolate is my favorite. it's simple and delicious. My sisters always ask me to make a pan for them.
uniquas at ymail dot com
Ok, so having a Spanish mum, a Polish dad and an Italian step-grandfather, I have been exposed to what I truly believe to be some of the best food around.
I could never choose just one dish as my favourite however. There are just too many good ones!!
My grandmother's lasagne is unbeatable, everyone who tries it agrees. My grandfather's pizzas (homemade dow and everything) are the best I've ever had. They used to own a pizzeria. Then there's potato (and meat too, but I prefer potato) pierogi. There's the easy, yet delicious, pasta with homemade bolognasie sauce (and sometimes even homemade pasta). Paelle for the seafood lover. Tortilla de potata, pretty much a potato omelette, only so much better than it sounds.
And that's just savoury!
For dessert, I LOVE crema catalana!!
But I also love asian and Indian food as well. There are just so many excellent dishes out there, I don't think it's really possible to pick only one.
And the upside to food, besides the obvious? How well it brings people together.
There's nothing quite like a full meal of all sorts of dishes, plus dessert to follow, served on a long table, surrounded by family, mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins.
To sit back, and just let the sounds of laughter and conversation and best yet, a feeling of peace, and assurity that this is where you belong, wash over you. There's just nothing like it.
And all, with the help of food...
inmyblood25@yahoo.com
Cara...email me at marley_gibson AT yahoo (dot) com.
I'm a meat girl, which is bad beacuse I want to be a vegetarian, but I think I wont last very long!
Of course chocolat too, but who does not love it?
But my favourite food is my mommy's :) I wish I knew how to cook, but I have problems just trying to make sandwiches... One day I will join a cooking club or ask my little brother to teach me, he is pretty good at this.. so unfair!
Now I'm trying to convice my friends to go and eat at some asian restaurant!
I'm working on learning to have the patience to cook. For me I'd rather spend the time reading or writing and burning a pan of boiling water isn't uncommon . . . but I'm learning! So far I've been able to figure out how to make a good loaf of bread and discovered a kitchen timer is helping me to not burn things . . . as often! :)
I just love spicy foods. My favorite has to be jalapenos sliced in half with bacon and shredded cheese on top. Baked in the oven just until the peppers start to soften. Perfect spicy delicious blend.
I love to bake and eat cookies and cupcakes but my favorite food is chicken cooked any way.
Ladytink_534(at)yahoo(dot)com
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