10 Most Popular Posts of 2014

by | A Few of My Favorite Things, Being Married to a Chef, Blog, Chef Life, Children, Cooking, Dating, Friends and Family, Holidays, Restaurant | 0 comments

Every time I look at the calendar, I am amazed that we’re in a new year.  2014 just flew by for our family.

Somehow in the midst of the craziness I started blogging.  I had no idea how much I would enjoy writing and really wasn’t prepared for all the comments and emails I would get from so many people around the world that could relate to my life!

Today I thought I’d share my 5 most visited blog posts/pages from 2014 and also my 5 personal favorite posts.

Emulsified Family Top Posts of 2014Top 5 most visited posts/pages of 2014:

You’re Dating a Chef?  Please Read This! – Every month, this post is at the top of the list!  Dating a chef is not easy!

How to Clean a Chef Coat – Yep!  It’s a pain, but somebody has to do it.

Frequently Asked Questions about Being Married to a Chef – Just trying to dispel the crazy myths about being married to a chef.  (No, they do not cook for us every night!)

You Know Your Dad’s a Chef When . . . Part 2 – Our kindergartner wrote Modernist Cuisine on her homework and I tweeted about it.  Modernist Cuisine tweeted back and my site went crazy with visitors!  Woohoo!!

Stitch Fix – This has absolutely nothing to do with raising a family with a chef, but all about me falling in love with this company.  Who doesn’t love having great clothes show up in a box at your doorstep?  I tweeted about this page. Stitch Fix pinned in on Pinterest and people visited.  I doubt any of them were chef wives, but you never know. 🙂

 

My 5 favorite posts from 2014:

Letter to a Young Chef Wife – I loved putting together a list of things I wish I knew 19 years ago when my husband first started working in a professional kitchen.

The Hands of a Chef – I asked for pictures of chef’s hands on Facebook and received such a great response.  🙂 (more…)

Prepping Thanksgiving in a Restaurant

by | Being Married to a Chef, Blog, Chef Life, Cooking, Holidays, Restaurant | 0 comments

Preparing for Thanksgiving can be overwhelming.

It’s a big meal, full or recipes that we only make one time of year.

There’s pressure to have it all taste good (obviously) and to have it all warm and on the table at the same time.

Somehow, we all manage to pull it off and live to tell about it year after year.

But have you ever stopped to think about what it’s like at the restaurant your chef/husband or significant other is working at?

Sure they tell us how insane it is and we see them physically exhausted before and after.  But have you ever seen what the back of the restaurant looks like the days leading up to Thanksgiving?

It’s like nothing I could have ever imagined!

My husband’s restaurant will be serving 1,000 guests on Thanksgiving.

1,000!

I can’t even being to fathom how you would do that.

Let’s look for a minute at what prepping Thanksgiving looks like in a restaurant . .. no fancy photography, just snapshots with my chef/husband’s phone.  I’ll only share a few since you probably don’t care about seeing all 15 of them. (more…)

Saving Big Cooking Jobs for the Chef

by | Being Married to a Chef, Blog, Cooking | 3 comments

saving big cooking jobs for the chef

Why is it that I always have these great big cooking ideas on days my chef/husband is working?

Oh, right, he works a lot.  How could I forget?  If I waited until he was off, I might never do it.

A few months ago I purchased 25 lbs. of rainbow carrots.  I decided to can them because there was no way we would ever be able to eat them all before they went bad.

As I started to cut them, I began to get frustrated with myself.

Why in the world was I doing this on a day my chef/husband was at work?

While I have some basic knife skills, I’m not very fast.

He also took my favorite knife to work and refuses to bring it home.  So I was stuck using my second favorite knife.

He on the other hand, could have done the same task I was doing in about 1/10th the time.  And I’m not exaggerating. (more…)

Seeing the Chef at Work

by | Being Married to a Chef, Blog, Cooking, Holidays | 0 comments

seeing the chef at work

Look! There’s Daddy!

It’s not often we make it into the restaurant where my husband works.  It’s over an hour in the car (and our kids are horrible car riders) and there’s the fear of them being disruptive in a quiet, fine dining restaurant or yelling, “Daddy,” when they see him.

The girls ask to eat there all time time, especially on his days off.  But what chef wants to go eat at his work (and make that long commute again) on his day off?

Today we had the chance to watch him cook as a guest chef at the Christmas in Seattle Goumet Food and Gift Show.  I took the girls out of school early and we headed up to Seattle to watch his demo.

I just love to watch him teach.  I love that when he talks to groups, he just teaches a technique or method of how to do something and then talks about all the ways you can adapt it for the different seasons. (more…)