Belly Up to the Bar With Bendy and Her Friendies!!! Button Pics & New Thread Started!

[*KeepMovingForward*]

My ds wants to be a chef also. Any advice?
[He's only 12.5 now, but we get him in the kitchen as often as possible.
He made homemade chili tonight.]

I can only tell you from what we did with our son Drew. We constantly encouraged him in his cooking-and ate MANY bombs in the process with the lovliest grins on our faces...but that's a parents job, right? We've taken our kids to fine dining places and food festivals since they were out of diapers.

If your son is really wanting to get into the culinary field, check to see if your school offers a vocational program. I know Drew had to test for the culinary arts program with the vocational school while he was in 7th or 8th grade...and that was not to attend until 11th grade. Apparently this is the hot profession now, so there are more kids than slots available. Make sure your school counselor knows your sons interest so he isn't locked out.

Definitely when you go out to eat at the better places and if you attend any culinary festivals or specialty dinners, NETWORK. Even if it is just mentioning your kid is going to or will be going to culinary school to the server. I have more business cards from chefs telling me Drew could have a job with them than I know what to do with. We've also been the lucky recipients of many kitchen tours, without ever asking. We have found most everyone in this field to be so friendly and accomodating.

Have your son do volunteer work that is related to the field (when he's eligible). Drew has helped with two town festivals. He got his photo and story in the local paper and the exposure was priceless. All he did was help to do prep work in baking pies, but it helped immensely with scholarship applications & his college application.

Lastly, I would say encourage your son to try everything. Drew had a hard time with this at first (because we all have our likes and dislikes), but I drilled into him that even if he may not like something that he still has to know what it is supposed to taste like when cooked properly. It really helped expand his already adventurous palate.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me and I'll answer as best as I can. I can't think of a better field to go into-especially when the parents happen to be foodies!

 

[OurDogCisco]

Well, we are boring. We are staying home for Valentine's. However, DS will be our slave, ummm...I mean chef, for the evening. He is going to culinary school and said he will be dazzling us with some Beef Wellington and Red Wine Risotto. Last night he brought home some chocolates from his pastry class. It was his first crack at it, so we think he did pretty good...here's a sample of the goodies:

The hearts are filled with chocolate mousse, then there are the white chocolate balls filled with milk chocolate and raspberries (my favorite), chocolate covered strawberries & then some kind of chocolate covered nuts with orange zest.

The other night we went to Atlantic City and ate at Buddakan (same one that is in Philly & NYC). If anyone is interested in foodie pics from there, let me know and I will post them up.

Must be nice having a chef in the house. I'm hoping my oldest will be a chef too. She is only 11 now but she seems to enjoy cooking...

And, yes of course, I want to hear your reviews of the Buddakan restaruant.

 

[OurDogCisco]

We are having a romantic dinner at home.

To start I got a cows milk cheese from Italy thats been soaking in olive oil and herbs for over a year. We'll nibble on this with a glass of Veuve Clicquot.

Dinner is going to be rack of lamb with rosemary scallion crust a recipe I got off of food network. This is going to be served with mashed potatoes baked with three cheeses (brie, goat and parmesan) from the Williams-Sonoma potato book. Wine with dinner is going to be Cakebread Chardonney (we prefer white wine mostly).

Dessert is fallen chocolate souffle' with vanilla bean ice cream and some more of the Veuve Clicquot.

I will definetly take pictures and post the recipes.

Sounds delicious....

Well... being the kind person I am... I'm watching 4 kids on Valentine's so my friends could go out. I know... I'm a sucker... But she agreed to take my kids overnight on Wednesday so, dh and I are going out that night to a restaurant in town that we have a gift card for. Then, we'll have the whole night to ourselves. Can't wait... This is highly unusual for us because dh is a CPA and normally I don't see him much during tax season but for some reason we need each other this year. I'm not sure what it is...

Anyways... I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's. I know I will....

 

[OurDogCisco]

I am shameless, so I took photos. We got a lot of weird looks, but oh well, I'll probably never see these people again. The manager came over (probably provoked by my camera flash) and wondered if everything was okay...so I had to sit and explain our food porn habit and also that DS is going to CIA. That seemed to stave him off a bit, but I think they thought we had a screw loose anyway. Oh well...our money is green just like the rest of them!

If anyone is interested, this is their website: http://www.buddakan.com/

LOL.... gotta love the manager. That must have been hilarious.... thanks for sharing your review.

 

[TigerKat]

Okay, here is our fare from Buddakan.

Oh..my..word.......that all looks AMAZING! The panko rings, the duck breast...I could go on and on. Thanks so much for posting the great pics!

I was going to post my pics of raw & chargrilled oysters and blackened redfish but they cannot follow that awesome display.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

I was going to post my pics of raw & chargrilled oysters and blackened redfish but they cannot follow that awesome display.

Oh no you don't! You MUST post pics. I am an equal opportunity foodie here.

 

[TigerKat]

Oh no you don't! You MUST post pics. I am an equal opportunity foodie here.

OK, here ya go:

Here's a little NOLA food porn for y'all, we frequent this little place about a mile away quite often:

Raw oysters

Chargrilled oysters (my fave)

Blackened redfish w/crabmeat

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

OK, here ya go:

Chargrilled oysters (my fave)

These have intrigued me the most. The oysters look positively delicious. I've never seen them chargrilled. Actually, everything looks heavenly. That is the one type of cuisine that is lacking in the Northeast. Thanks for posting the photos.

 

[TigerKat]

Here is a link to a recipe if you or anyone else is interested:

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2006/03/19/dragos-style-charbroiled-oyster-recipe/

 

[Tatania]

Last night he brought home some chocolates from his pastry class. It was his first crack at it, so we think he did pretty good...here's a sample of the goodies:

The hearts are filled with chocolate mousse, then there are the white chocolate balls filled with milk chocolate and raspberries (my favorite), chocolate covered strawberries & then some kind of chocolate covered nuts with orange zest.

For a first try, those chocolates look amazing to me. I assume the heart-shaped ones get made in the mold but it must still be tricky to make the top and bottom glue together and have the right thickness.

Desserts are my total weakness and the pictures from the Budokan are to die for. I'll be working Valentine's evening - no big deal being single - but it's fun to hear about everybody's plans.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Here is a link to a recipe if you or anyone else is interested:

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2006/03/19/dragos-style-charbroiled-oyster-recipe/

Thanks! Dh would probably LOVE these. I'll have to try this out sometime.

For a first try, those chocolates look amazing to me. I assume the heart-shaped ones get made in the mold but it must still be tricky to make the top and bottom glue together and have the right thickness.

Desserts are my total weakness and the pictures from the Budokan are to die for. I'll be working Valentine's evening - no big deal being single - but it's fun to hear about everybody's plans.

Yes, they are definitely a mold, but actually pretty darned easy to make (I say this because I have been making chocolates for over ten years as a side business). The worst part is getting the white decal on the chocolate just right...which is exactly what DS came home and complained about. LOL! I told him if he is trying to compete with my business I may have to knock him off...or recruit him. I was actually pretty surprised DS came home with anything edible considering that was his first night of class. Guess they don't waste any time and dived right in.

That's a bummer that you have to work tonight. I know when I was single I'd still rather be off even if I was just sitting home bumming around.

 

[DisneyMom5]

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me and I'll answer as best as I can. I can't think of a better field to go into-especially when the parents happen to be foodies!

Thanks for the advice!
Yes, we foodie parents are totally for having a child whose in the culinary arts! LOL

 

[D&R love Disney]

Well, we are boring. We are staying home for Valentine's. However, DS will be our slave, ummm...I mean chef, for the evening. He is going to culinary school and said he will be dazzling us with some Beef Wellington and Red Wine Risotto. Last night he brought home some chocolates from his pastry class. It was his first crack at it, so we think he did pretty good...here's a sample of the goodies:

The hearts are filled with chocolate mousse, then there are the white chocolate balls filled with milk chocolate and raspberries (my favorite), chocolate covered strawberries & then some kind of chocolate covered nuts with orange zest.

That looks amazing. I hope he's loving culinary school!

Okay, here is our fare from Buddakan.


Entrance to Buddakan, which is on Caesar's Pier in Atlantic City

Big Buddha

View of the restaurant from our booth

Cantonese Spring Rolls w/Shrimp & Chicken (in back) & Chicken and Ginger Dumplings w/Sesame Dipping Sauce

Asian Barbequed Pork: Grilled Tenderloin, Chinese Broccoli & Giant Panko Onion Rings

Pan Roasted Duck Breast: Roasted Garlic, Corn & Scallion Spoon Bread with Five Spice Jus

Char Grilled Aged Beef: Szechuan Fries and Watercress Salad

Roasted Ponzu Chicken w/Golden Buddha Buns (these were essentially dumplings filled with mushroom risotto)

Banana Tower: Crisp Cookie, Glazed Bananas & Chocolate Caramel Rum Sauce

Vanilla Creme Brulee: Vanilla Custard, Caramelized Crust, Lemon Grass Poached Mangos & Coconut Gelee

Zenful Donuts: Sweet Cream Filled, Banana & Chocolate Sauces for dipping

Coffee Mocha Ice Cream

Everything was really good, although the consensus was that the Asian Pork was the best. We don't go to Asian places often and none of us were expecting everything to be sliced & cut up the way it was...so presentation was a bit surprising. The Ponzu Chicken had the sauce on the side, because DD wasn't too sure about it (in case anyone is wondering why its naked). We were really shocked that the desserts were so good because normally in Chinese and Japanese places dessert leaves a lot to be desired (at least in our experiences thus far).

I am shameless, so I took photos. We got a lot of weird looks, but oh well, I'll probably never see these people again. The manager came over (probably provoked by my camera flash) and wondered if everything was okay...so I had to sit and explain our food porn habit and also that DS is going to CIA. That seemed to stave him off a bit, but I think they thought we had a screw loose anyway. Oh well...our money is green just like the rest of them!

If anyone is interested, this is their website: http://www.buddakan.com/

Everything looks amazing, thanks for sharing

 

[TigerKat]

These pics aren't very good but I wanted to share them with y'all anyway. These are bacon wrapped shrimp with chipotle bbq sauce and black bean and brown rice pilaf:

 

[ChelleinNC]

Looks good to me

After several hours of "what do you want for dinner?" while trying to work around DD15's plans to go to the movies (teenage girls & plans DO NOT go together!!!! ) DH, DS & I ended up at our local Mexican place that we normally really enjoy. Not tonight. Small little restaurant in a grocery store strip mall that has decided "live entertainment" would be a good thing on the weekends . OMG it was awful! At first it was a guy DJ that was singing (or lip synching, not sure which) then he invited his sister up there who is a Cher wannabe WOOOO Girl Whoever told this girl that she could sing deserves to spend eternity locked in a small room with her music playing continuously. The table next to us seemed to be the family of the "entertainment" who clapped and cheered after every song of her 30 minute set. It was awful, it was so loud we couldn't carry on a conversation at our table and did I mention it was awful?!?! The food was good, but we couldn't wait to get out of there and probably won't go back for a long time

Sorry for the rant. Hope everyone is having a nice Valentine's day

 

[Tink rules]

H20 PLUS IS ON SALE UNTIL MIDNIGHT... JUST IN CASE YOU LIKE SOME OF THE ITEMS THAT THEY USE IN THE RESORTS... (I PERSONALLY LOVE THE AQUATICS SHAMPOO THAT THEY USE AT THE POLY...)

http://www.h2oplus.com/retail2002/Catalog.aspx

Usually the shampoo is $14 a bottle - it's on sale for 3 for $18... does not include the type they have on DCL (sorry...)

Also...if you go to Fatwallet.com and sign up, and put fatwallet in the promotional code before check out - you will get an extra 15% off!!! (I did!!!)

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

H20 PLUS IS ON SALE UNTIL MIDNIGHT... JUST IN CASE YOU LIKE SOME OF THE ITEMS THAT THEY USE IN THE RESORTS... (I PERSONALLY LOVE THE AQUATICS SHAMPOO THAT THEY USE AT THE POLY...)

http://www.h2oplus.com/retail2002/Catalog.aspx

Usually the shampoo is $14 a bottle - it's on sale for 3 for $18... does not include the type they have on DCL (sorry...)

Also...if you go to Fatwallet.com and sign up, and put fatwallet in the promotional code before check out - you will get an extra 15% off!!! (I did!!!)

Thanks for the info! I just placed my order with the fatwallet discount.

 

[cntkg1]

Double Post...sorry.

 

[cntkg1]

Just wanted to stop in and give a shout out to "Whogirlsmom" for her Cherries in the Snow recipe. I made it last night for a family Valentine's party and what it hit it was!!!

Thank you!!!

 

[ChelleinNC]

Allright girls, I'm calling on my expert friends for some F&W advice. DH & I are talking about taking our 1st ever F&W trip this fall since the grandparents have moved nearby we'll be able to get away without the kids I'm just a little excited about this

I've read all of the food reviews, but haven't paid as much attention to dates & events, figuring we wouldn't get to go until the kids left home We'll probably go for 3-4 days, sometime in October. Is it better to be there for the weekend or during the week? I'm really not a "crowd" person (yet Disney is my favorite place in the world ) What else do I need to know? Help me please