Practice cooking dates menus

The two practice dates that I've done so far were both 3/2 (3 meals, 2 servings each) and they took about 7 hours each, including shopping and chatting with the "clients". I've done lots of extras for these two, just because I love them. The menus:

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One:

- Heirloom tomato salad with mozzarella fresco and balsamic vinaigrette

- Pan fried sturgeon in white wine sauce
Sautéed fingerling potatoes and summer squashes

- Tender braised pork shoulder
Quinoa, garlic green beans

- Free range chicken saltimbocca
Mushrooms and green peas risotto

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Two:

- Salad of baby greens with goat cheeses and orange

- Wild salmon fillets en papillottes with wild mushrooms and fava beans

- Braised lamb shanks
Garlic mashed potatos

- Rosemary roasted Cornish hens
Roasted seasonal vegetables, quinoa

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Everything was refrigerated, and neither of the guys had to freeze anything, they just ate it fresh.

Cooking date this Sunday

I have a cooking date (practice with friends again, they only pay for the groceries) for my food start-up this Sunday.

The menu:

- Cream of carrot soup

- Summer vegetable salad, sherry vinaigrette dressing

- Halibut en papillottes with wild mushrooms and spring onions - 2 fresh servings

- Goulash, garlic mashed potatoes - 2 servings refrigerated, 2 frozen

- Pork chops with ginger orange sauce, red quinoa - 2 refrigerated, 2 frozen.

It doesn't make sense to freeze the quinoa, I'll just put it in the fridge.

I am also going to make them a large stockpot of chicken stock, and freeze it in 1 quart freezer bags. The guy likes to cook himself, but he's super busy, and he's been complaining that he never has time to make stocks. I think he just doesn't have a right technique. When done right, the stock doesn't take any time, it just cooks itself.

See if I can do it all (including shopping at the farmers market and two grocery stores, one regular, one Asian) in 7 hours.

My friend who disappeared after my last test cooking date is fine, and says he enjoyed the food a lot, and lost a couple of pounds in the process. It was just a phone glitch. However, he still hasn't returned the containers. So I got another set of beautiful Pyrex containers for the coming one.

Networking

I went to a business networking breakfast for NAWBO (National Assotiation of Women Business Owners) this morning. Wonderful Marin County ladies, from a real estate lawyer to a meditation instructor, well dressed, well spoken, friendly, mean business. Does it have to be 7:30 in the morning?

One of them invited me to the local BNI (Business Network International) meeting tomorrow. It's at 7 am. I am going.

Yes, your own business means that you set your own hours. As long as it's 7 am to 12 midnight.

Photo session

After making my culinary business website public, I sent it out to everyone I know to evaluate.


So it's been reviewed by food stylists (seems to be OK), chefs and food enterpreneurs (very little response yet, looks like everyone is on vacations), a few food fans, and a number of Internet security specialists. It appears that from the point of view of Internet security, browser compartability, usability, and other technical issues, I'm all right - I've been checked by the best.


On the other hand, the response from USPCA message board is limited and mostly critical - I don't know whether they have seen too many personal chef sites, or just use old computers with obsolete browsers, - but they complain about too small fonts, old boring content, and drab colors.

After my friend M., neither food nor Internet professional, but a charming lady with lots of connections, saw my site, she wanted the buckwheat pancakes from the top picture so badly that she arranged for two friends, one photography inthusiast, another a new home owner with a nice kitchen with a view, to have a photo session where I made the pancakes, and they photographed me.

So last Saturday M. and the guys got the pancakes, and I got photos for my website. I tend to get very stiff and forget to smile on the camera, even though I don't get a stage fright. Luckily, a glass or two of wine relax me just fine. On Sunday I brought snacks to Y.'s sailboat, and got photographed again.

This Sunday I had my friends I. and V. over for dinner, and they videotaped me dressing a salad and grilling vegetables. I haven't seen the videos yet, but I bet I forgot to smile again. The salad and vegs came out great though.

Hello, World!

This blog is dedicated to my dear little culinary start-up, Caliblini Personal Chef Service.
It's my first business enterprise ever, and I am going to write about my adventures, joys and pains of developing the business as I go.

People say that in terms of time and effort required, starting a business is like raising a child. I am in the delivery phase now: after almost a year of taking classes, developing a business model, doing paperwork and working on the website, I sent out the information about Caliblini to most people I know who are interested in food last night. The response is mostly positive, and it's encouraging. I am out of the closet now, and ask my friends to spread the word.

I also did a beta test: provided a free personal chef service to two of my best friends last Saturday and Sunday. It looks like they are both still alive, although one doesn't answer his phone and his voice mail box is full, which worries me enormously. I have two more couples lined up for testing, but I won't cook for them until I find out what happened to Y.

The business cards arrived today. They are super cute, with a picture of a paella, and "Eat well. Eat at home." and my contact info on one side, and "Delicious homecooked meals" and www.caliblini.com on the other. I used stock template from www.vistaprint.com, it just happened to fit my business image perfectly.

I am out in the world.

Wish me luck.