A Perfect Eating Partner

Food is an amazing thing. It can make you happy. It can comfort you. It can symbolize a moment in time. It can even make you feel guilty. All in all, when you have good food it does something magical to your mind, body and soul. But it’s not always about the food itself. I have found that an important part of enjoying food is savoring the experience of the meal as much as you savor the flavors.

The other night I went to this amazing steakhouse in Raritan, NJ called Char. From the moment you drive up to the restaurant the stage is set. An outdoor patio with fire light torches lines the front of the building. Outdoor umbrellas are draped in bright orange fabric which accents the fire light coming off the torches. So right away your brain associates the decorative fire surrounding the building with the flames that will be lighting the grill for your soon to be eaten steak. And this all happens before you even walk in the door. Then you enter…more flames, more orange (which happens to also be a color that stimulates the appetite), but then the juxtaposition of water is introduced as well as the modern lounge décor which gives you the feeling of high class service and a high class dining experience.

Then you are seated. And this is where my story really begins. Part of having a great meal is having that meal with someone who enjoys the experience of dining out as much as you do. Now don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for simple eating. Not every meal is a 3 course dinner. Not every restaurant offers such high class service and ambiance. But when these dining opportunities arise, it’s so important that the person sitting across from you appreciates all of these elements as much as you do. As I like to put it, someone that really goes for it! My eating partner on this particular evening (who will remain nameless for now) was one of those guys who definitely knew how to go for it. The first move he made was ordering a bottle of wine. All ready we were off to a good start. Then it came down to ordering the food. Now granted, most guys tend to NOT hold back. I mean why should they? They don’t seem to have the same food/body image issues that we women have, but still some guys just eat to eat. Not this guy. We both perused the menu looking over the variety of appetizers, salads, and entrees that were available to us. We listened to the waiter describe the specials for the evening. Now the discussion begins. So we decided…an order of stuffed mushrooms (stuffed with crabmeat), an arugula salad served with a mixed berry vinaigrette, an 8 oz. filet mignon for me (a 12 oz for him) accompanied by 2 sides, whipped sweet potatoes and grilled asparagus. The food was phenomenal all round, just to get that point out of the way. But the partnership that we had throughout the meal was even better. Both appetizers were shared, the wine flowed, the steak was cooked to our liking (both medium rare) and we were both awe-struck by how amazing the whipped sweet potatoes were. Even dinner rolls were shared. You can’t not share a pretzel dinner roll with someone. Everyone needs to experience how good they are. Then by the time everything was said and done, we were both in agreement that dessert was not an option.

And when you put all this together, it made for the perfect dining package. Great food, great service, great ambiance, and most importantly a great person to enjoy it all with. It really does pay to have a perfect eating partner.

Mix Two Parts Baking with One Part Social Media

I have two passions in my life. In terms of extracurricular activities food, and even more so baking, is one. In terms of education and career the field of communication, with a focus on social media, is the other. Social media is an increasingly popular form of communication. And as various forms of it grow (i.e., facebook, twitter, the blogsphere) the world as we know it is getting noticeably smaller and therefore more connected.

Now since social media is one of my passions, I have been trying to immerse myself in all its facets. I tweet on twitter, my status and photos get posted on facebook, and of course my outlook on life and food is shared with the virtual world via this blog. But lately I have found that social media has really been the best outlet for collecting ideas and inspiration for my latest baking/cooking venture.

Last weekend I found a recipe for frosted pumpkin cookies. However, I wanted to do something to it to make it more my own. So I tweeted for suggestions and got some responses back, so instead of just following the recipe verbatim, I added pecans, resulting in this…

Now I am on to my next cooking mission for this coming weekend: a yummy crock pot recipe. So again I looked to the twitter world for suggestions, and within a matter of minutes, got a list of crock pot recipes.

But it’s not just twitter… Facebook is another outlet for sharing and suggestions. As pictures get posted of my latest creation, comments are made, links are shared, pages are suggested, and before you know it I have developed a whole new food social network.

So if you really want to create a recipe for success, just mix two parts baking with one part social media, bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, and voilà! Perfect every time.