Chef Debbie's Summer Escapades: All In One Yummy~issimo! Blog

No your eyes are not deceiving you! This is actually a NEW Yummy! blog!

It's only been 2 1/2 months since my last blog, and there's been absolutely nothing going on... if you believe that, I have a bridge for sale...

So what's been happening in Yummy~ville?

Well, we went to the Fancy Food Show in NYC in June. Stayed with sweet husband Tim's sister, Judy and her teddy bear husband, Alan. We spent several days playing in the city and then ate and drank our way through the FFS. I didn't think it was possible that I'd ever get tired of luscious, creamy, double bleu cheese...

For those of you who followed Hell's Kitchen and the foul mouthed chef contestants trying to win the opportunity to work for (and turn into a mini) Gordon Ramsey, this is Petroza who was signing autographs at the FFS for a condiment vendor. I always thought he seemed like the only "normal" contestant on the show!

Back in Cincinnati with the suitcases barely unpacked, it was time for me to leave for New Orleans for my USPCA National Conference. How fun is it to eat and drink your way through such an amazing food city with 300 of your closest foodie friends!

Spent a good bit of time with one of my favorite people in the world, Liz Geeslin and her clan, the Kitchen Bitches!

Besides the AMAZING food at some of New Orleans' premier restaurants like K-Paul's, Brigtsen's and The Acme Oyster Co., I was fortunate to meet Lisa Brisch's fabulous husband, Jim, who is one of the nicest, easy~going and funny men around! (Sorry Lisa ~ but I don't have to LIVE with him, so he seemed just about perfect to me...)

It had been two years since I'd seen KB Lisa and had never met Jim ~ but I certainly hope it's not another two years until I see them again!

And, finally, to bring you up to date... the bottling process has finally begun!

Yeah, yeah, I know! I've been saying for several years that I was going to work on bottling a couple of products. But after meeting some vendors at the FFS in June, as well as tasting many new products (that I humbly believe aren't as good as mine are) the process has begun!

I'm working on several Gourmet Spreads ~ they can be used as a sandwich spread, salad dressing or a veggie dip. The first batch of samples were given out last week and here are a few of the initial comments:

Holy Jesus! I just wanted to eat it by the spoonful right out of the jar!

I had to hide this from my husband because he almost ate the entire jar by himself!

This is so amazing! When can I start stocking it here?

The flavors that my tasting panel will have to endure in the next couple of weeks:

Roquefort Sherry

Basil Parmesan

Asiago Cracked Peppercorn

Mediterranean (Feta and fenugreek).

My hope is to have two flavors on store shelves before the end of the year ~ not sure which two flavors yet, but everyone seemed to love the Roquefort Sherry.

OK, so now you're all up to date and you can quit "reminding" me that I haven't written a blog in a while, or mentioning to sweet husband to tell me it's time to write a blog!

There's a lot of fun and exciting things coming up in the next few months ~ events and parties planned every weekend in September and most of October, my BIRTHDAY (hint, hint), a radio remote with my sweet friend Queen Janeen at Meijer and, I sincerely hope, a VACATION in late October.

I promise to blog more ~ well, at least more than once every 10 weeks or so...

So Much To Write About, So Little Time

Well, this is the first of what I anticipate will be a long history of blogging. If you're interested in food, adult spirits (my personal favorite), recipes or vacations that include any of those three, then you've found the right place.

As the owner of Yummy~issimo! Personal Chef Service in Cincinnati, I just returned from the 2007 USPCA National Conference in Philadelphia. Now you haven't properly "done" Philadelphia until you've spent five days with 200 personal chefs eating and drinking 24/7. Additionally, I'm very pleased and honored to say that I was given an Excellence in Business Award as the 2007 Marketer of the Year!

I had never planned to write a blog ~ let's face it, there's enough to do on any given day without trying to take photos, think up something clever to say and then sit down and format the photos and text. But thanks to Mark Tafoya, the extremely talented Executive Chef of The Guilded Fork and his fascinating workshop at the National Conference, I'm hooked!

Every Friday morning (at 7:40 am streaming live on your computer) I have a radio segment on WGRR 103.5 FM where I talk with the morning team of Chris and Janeen. We talk about recipes, cooking techniques and whatever else comes to mind and I try to come up with some clever recipe names that tie into something going on in Cincinnati or what's been going on in our lives. Gotta tell you, there are times that coming up with clever names is by far the hardest part! But this week it's easy as I'm talking about Philadelphia~inspired recipes. Check out Yummy~issimo! Personal Chef Service and click on the WGRR Recipes link and you'll go directly to that week's recipes.

I hope you enjoy this blog. Keep checking back ~ I'll post recipes, cooking successes (and failures) and funny client stories.