My nomination was put forward by the Center for Women & Enterprise, and organization near and dear to me and familiar to basically anyone who’s ever talked to me about starting a business.  Their mission is to provide opportunities for women entrepreneurs and women in business to increase professional success, personal growth, and financial independence.

As many of you know, when I was contemplating starting my business way back when (2004 or so), I completed a business plan workshop with the CWE.  Over the years since then, I’ve benefitted from so many of their programs and resources, and I love giving back by helping budding entrepreneurs as well.  If you’re thinking about starting a business, definitely check them out – get on their mailing list to stay up to date about the many free and very affordable classes, conferences, workshops and other services.

(And if you’re thinking of starting a personal chef business – check out my ebook too! “Cook for a Living: Becoming a Personal Chef” is on sale now, right here.)

I’m looking forward to learning more about the other nominees, both in Massachusetts and across the country.  You can participate too through this free, 3-Day Virtual Conference during National Small Business Week.  There will be sessions on everything from email marketing and social media, to managing finances, dealing with customer complaints, and how pop-up shops can help your brand.

In the meantime, I’ll be working on my acceptance speech

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Their “Keep It or Toss It?” engine lets you type in a food and find out how long it should stay fresh in the fridge or freezer – and, most importantly for personal chefs, it differentiates between raw and cooked foods, which many other resources like this don’t.  For instance, I typed in “pork tenderloin” (I’m plagued by spoiled pork) and found that all cuts of pork will stay at their best quality when frozen raw for 4-6 months, but once cooked, are best eaten within 2-3 months.   (And it always notes that food properly stored at 0 degrees Fahrenheit will keep indefinitely, in terms of being safe to eat – it’s the taste and/or texture that will suffer past the recommended dates.)

Another cool thing:  the “Your Questions Answered” section, where it addresses such often-pondered questions like “Can You Safely Drink Milk After the Sell-By Date?” (sure, for up to a week usually) and “I Left Pizza Out Overnight – Is It Still Safe to Eat?”  (they say no; I say yes provided you sizzle the hell out of it in a covered skillet til it has reached 165 degrees to kill off any nasties…or maybe I just hate wasting pizza, and having never had food poisoning am willing to risk it – until I get food poisoning, after which I’m sure I’ll change my tune.)  They source their data mostly from US government sources, research studies and food manufacturers, and they do a nice job of balancing an abundance of caution with a healthy dose of common sense.

For personal chefs, this expiration date info is great to point clients to, in case they have questions about the expiration dates on meals you prepared eons ago that they’ve just discovered in their freezer. And the “3 Ways to Defrost Food Safely” is worth referencing too, so they know it’s not just you telling them the best way to thaw meals is overnight in the fridge.  (And I guarantee that food-obsessed people will be unable to tear themselves away from the site without reading the entire “Your Questions Answered” section.)

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1) Bake more.   All the junk, sugar, corn syrup, indigestible wood pulp (added fiber! yuck) in store-bought breads, rolls, crackers etc – even in so-called whole wheat  or whole grain varieties – seriously bums me out.  I LOVE bread, and I require that it be awesome when I eat it.  Otherwise, I’d just as soon skip it.  I usually buy reasonably healthful whole grain or sprouted wheat bread for sandwiches and toast, but there are still often added sugars and more preservatives than I want. And now that ChefBaby has become ChefKid and is in school, I’m in need of wholesome snacks and lunch items more often.  So, I’m breaking out the bread machine to do a lot of the mixing and kneading work, and will shoot for weekly baking sessions (with a bi-monthly fallback position that I will still consider a success).  Muffins, rolls, bread, occasional cookies or snack cake – I’m looking forward to experimenting, especially with alternative grains, flours, seeds and nuts.  And ChefKid likes helping, so there’s an activity AND a snack, all in one. I don’t think it’ll be a big time investment, and I’ll be happier knowing the bread I eat will be something I want to put in my body.

2) Pickle more.  That’s the verb “pickle”, as in “to preserve in vinegar, brine, or a similar solution,” and arrive at a  salty, vinegary, deliciously pickly little snack. Beans, cucumbers, peppers, beets, cabbage, maybe even eggs – having a little crunch to have next to a sandwich or with cheese for a snack will be a great way to use up extra veggies, as well as avoid excessively reaching for crackers or chips. Some resources that will help me: The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving  and The Joy of Pickling. And my MIL gave me a great tip: save pickle jars and juice when store-bought pickles are gone, and just pop in a handful of whatever you have.  (I’ve done this with radishes, baby Harukei turnips, green beans, and cucumbers, all with good results.) Wait a few days, and voila – instant no-effort pickles

3) Keep better track of what’s in my freezer.  I know, this sounds totally boring, and probably is.  BUT, since I am pretty good about stocking the freezer (anything from farm-raised meats from my CSA to extra servings of any home-prepared meal) then MUCH less good about remembering what’s in there, keeping track should help reduce waste and make mealtimes easier – and that will make me happy. Very exciting, no?   Even in this time of limitless techno-gadgetry, I’m going with the tried-and-true method of a clipboard near the fridge.  Whenever I vacuum-seal or wrap something for the freezer, I write it on the clipboard with the date.  When it’s time to plan dinner, a quick scan of the clipboard lets me know what I have on hand.   Case in point: last night, some brown rice/lentil mix I froze last month was added to two chopped chorizo sausages from the farm, and used to stuff two bell peppers that were just hanging out in the fridge.  I also plan to inventory the current contents “soon”, so I’ll have a complete list.  Woohoo!  2013 is going to ROCK!

Happy new year everyone

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Cook for a Living! Becoming a Personal Chef

Instructor: Christine Taylor Garner; TaylorMade Meals LLC 
3 Sessions – Wed., Oct 12, 19 and 26;  7pm
Minuteman Tech; 758 Marrett Rd, Lexington

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