WARNING: The following paragraph is incredibly informational- feel free to skip if you already know me, or... if you simply don't care. ;) I'll try to be brief.
My name is Margaret, I'm 23 years old, and originally from Birmingham, Alabama. I graduated from the University of Alabama (ROLL TIDE!) in 2008 with a Bachelor's degree in Restaurant and Hospitality Management. While earning my degree, I spent my summers and Christmas vacations training under one of the top chefs and restaurateurs in Birmingham, as well as working as a chef at one of Tuscaloosa's best and only fine dining cafes. I immediately jumped into Culinary school after graduation, and finished at the top of my class from the Culinary Institute of Virginia College in March of 2009. After culinary school, I moved to Huntsville and took a job as a chef for an independently-owned breakfast and lunch restaurant which also happens to be one of the area's most predominant catering businesses. (High five if you can figure it out.) I spent a very action-packed summer at the restaurant/catering business until, out of the blue, I was offered a job as the Catering Director at Alabama's second largest hospital. (Who knew Careerbuilder actually works?) Talk about hitting the mother load. There, I really learned the ins and outs of the catering industry. I had thought my whole life that I wanted to work in a corporate environment and build my own catering business on the side, but it didn't take long for me to figure out that the corporate environment simply isn't for me. So around the end of the year, I decided to be a completely crazy person and resign....and finally start my own business. So here I am....hauling all my experience, knowledge, skills, and passions together to bring Huntsville a unique culinary service- more than just a catering business, but really a "one-stop-shop" for any and all culinary needs. More on that later.
Phew! Hope that wasn't too painful! Let's get to the good stuff, shall we?? Like many of you out there, I just plain LOVE food. Love it. Love everything about it. Love how it looks, love how it smells, love how it sounds, and, oh yea, love how it tastes. I grew up in the kitchen, loved food since birth, been cooking since I could stand. Was always more excited about cooking Christmas Eve dinner with Mom than I was about opening gifts on Christmas morning. My DVR is crammed with Iron Chef, Chopped, Kitchen Nightmares, Top Chef... every bookcase in the house runneth over with cookbooks and Food Network Magazines. I spend every meal desperately looking forward to the next. I get giddy in specialty food stores. You get my drift yet? And I know you're out there too. There's a name for us: FOODIES. So here, on this very blog, let us Foodies unite. I'm not here for fame, I'm not here for money, I'm not here for recognition...I'm just here to share. To share anything and everything FOOD.
I apologize if this first blog was a rather boring and uneventful one. I don't promise to write every day or even every week. I'm certainly no Wolfgang Puck or Bobby Flay or even a Frank Stitt. I don't guarantee that I will change your life with my writings. But what I do guarantee is that I will share. I will share what I know, I will share new information or tips that I learn, I will share new recipes I come across. And I will do my very best to enlighten and entertain you. :)
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Cheers,
The Chef Next Door
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Do I have your permission to email Food Network and ask that you have your own cooking show? LOL Oh my gosh...I don't even remember how I came upon your site (1 hour later) but I googled something that DIDN'T have to do w/cooking, ended up on Punchbowl, scrolled through recipes and only "The Chef Next Door" had recipes that always caught my eye! So can I just tell you that I love your recipes, your presentation in all your photos, and your blogging notes-yes, you could easily pass for a professional food critic w/a degree in journalism! =) I have to say, your knowledge, talent and creativity make YOU Oscar-worthy, as well as your recipes! Congratulations and best wishes to you because from the sounds and "looks" of it, you'll be going very far in Foodie-ville! I hope to see you on TV one day (or I'll just have to fly out from Southern CA to your future restaurant...) God bless, Gina G. =)
ReplyDeleteWow, Gina, thank you so much for the very, very kind words!! A cooking show would be way beyond a dream come true- I've always had a passion for sharing the things I've learned and showing people that food can be fun and beautiful, too. For now, I'm just working on my catering business and cooking classes- trying to reach the people in my community. :) It makes me so happy when I am able to touch someone through my recipes and presentations because I believe the way to a person's heart is through their stomach! Keep checking in and I promise to share even more that hopefully you will love.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
The Chef Next Door