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    A Groovy Chef Cooks At Home
    A Groovy Chef Cooks At Home
    A Groovy Chef Cooks At Home
    Ebook237 pages1 hour

    A Groovy Chef Cooks At Home

    By sharine Aupke

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A Groovy Chef Cooks at Home is an autobiographical cookbook sharing the journey of the Groovychef herself from “the calling to the kitchen” all the way to published cookbook author, recipe developer and all around personal chef.
    This book from cover to cover is filled full of beautiful color photos of dishes she has created, the groovy stories behind them, over 70 recipes and a tiny piece of the joy she gained from being in the kitchen during the last 24 years.
    But being a chef isn’t always the glam life. There are many hilarious anecdotes of trials and tribulations, salt instead of sugar, and burnt toast that every REAL chef under goes in their career.

    LanguageEnglish
    Publishersharine Aupke
    Release dateMar 15, 2013
    ISBN9781482309256
    A Groovy Chef Cooks At Home

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      Book preview

      A Groovy Chef Cooks At Home - sharine Aupke

      A Groovy Chef Cooks At

      Home: Psychedelic Bits

      and Bites From The

      Kitchen

      Written by

      Shari Groovy Chef Aupke

      i

      Copyright@2013Shariaupke

      All rights reserved

      ISBN:978-1482309256

      2

      This book is dedicated to all the people

      that have touched my life in some way

      and have made me a better person.

      "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are

      starving to death!" Rosalind Russell as Auntie Mame

      3

      4

      Table of Contents

      Acknowledgments i

      1. Groovy Isn’t Just A Name, It’s a State of Mind

      pg#7

      2. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme: The Pantry

      pg#17

      3. Incense and Peppermints: Setting the Stage

      pg#29

      4. The Gravy Isn’t Wavy If You Don’t have Roux: Basics

      pg#37

      5. Far Out Bits To Begin with

      pg#47

      6. Let The Sunshine In: Breakfast Bites

      pg#69

      7. Mother Earth: Fruits and Vegetables

      pg#77

      8. Rowing The Boat Ashore: Fish

      pg#97

      9. From The Farm: Meat and Poultry

      pg#111

      10. He Ain’t Heavy: Rice and Pasta

      pg#121

      11. Communal Table: Family Favorites

      pg#131

      12. Breaking Bread

      pg#145

      13. Fun-Do…A Cheesy Party Idea

      pg#151

      14. A Little Peace of Goodness: Dessert

      pg#159

      Final Thoughts

      5

      6

      Groovy Isn’t Just a

      Name, It’s a State of

      Mind

      1.

      7

      8

      Groovy Chef Isn’t Just A Name, It’s A State

      of Mind

      Groovy- The dictionary defines this word as meaning cool, awesome or excellent.

      Chef-Defined as the chief cook

      Groovy Chef- An awesome cook that believes that food and life go hand in hand and that the

      actual experience of cooking is just as important as the end product. Also believes that, like the

      gathering at Woodstock, cooking and eating is best done with many rather than alone.

      I was born in December 1970, the child of two hippies (If you ask my Mother she will

      vehemently deny this). My Father was a blues musician and my mother a factory worker. Like all

      young adults of the late 60’s, they met, fell in love, married (despite the disapproval) and started

      a family.

      I grew up knowing about the 60’s and what that time meant for most people. I grew up knowing

      about the Vietnam War, drugs, free love and equal rights for all humans. From this, I learned to

      be a patient, tolerant, free thinker that listened to my heart more times than my head (which

      got me in trouble an awful lot because the 80’s weren’t tolerant of this!)

      It took me several years to find my real calling in life. In my early 20’s I became a preschool

      teacher, married and started a family. Molding young minds was what I truly believed my life

      calling was.

      Until I realized I was the Mother of three kids and longed to be home with them more, molding

      their young minds.

      So I quit teaching and stayed home.

      Being a stay at home mom is wonderful and I highly recommend it if you ever have the chance.

      However, after three months and countless hours at the park, play groups, and cartoon network

      (I have very strong opinions about Bob the Builder and Blues Clues), I had more than my share of

      stay-at-home time.

      I pursued a culinary arts degree on-line (I still had to be a stay-at-home mom after all) and for

      two years, I studied, cooked, studied, cooked (watched Bob The Builder) and fed family and

      friends every chance I got.

      9

      I did my apprenticeship with a man named Fred Greenwood who owned a wonderful catering

      business specializing in bbq and smoked meats as well as large events. It was by far the most

      interesting learning experience ever and not something you can learn in a classroom. It was

      during these six months that I really learned what being a chef is about. Culinary skills do not

      mean a thing unless you can apply them correctly and this can only be done in the field.

      After my apprenticeship, we moved to a larger house and my youngest turned five. I found

      myself at that stage where all my children were going to be in school some or all of the day and I

      needed to find something to do with my time. My husband (at the time) suggested I start my

      own catering business.

      As much as I enjoy large gatherings, my real desire was smaller gatherings. There is a scene in

      the movie The Big Chill where the friends have come together for the weekend after a mutual

      friend’s funeral, and they are sharing a meal, laughter and wine at a very large table. The scene

      pans into the dining room from the doorway to give this outsiders view. It is this very scene that

      became the inspiration for my business.

      I wanted to chef small intimate gatherings. Romantic dinners for two, holiday dinner parties,

      cocktail events, any type of event that offered people the chance to enjoy one another’s

      company while breaking bread. I desired to be the chef, entertainer, and culinary educator.

      So after several weeks of tossing business names around, we settled on A Groovy Get Together.

      At the time, it was simply a name that I had chosen based on its catchiness. Little did I know that

      it was to become my persona later.

      Like most new businesses, the first year was a struggle. I spent 23 hours a day marketing,

      creating, designing, and toiling over every tiny detail. In the first 365 days, I believe I might have

      managed twenty-five parties total. Some were big, some were small. Each was a tiny triumph.

      The Chef Gets Her Groovy On

      It wasn’t until the second year that things really started cooking.

      The business had started to pick up and I was getting repeat business as well as word of mouth

      business. That word of mouth was actually what gave me the name Groovy Chef. My birth name

      is somewhat of a challenge for people (thanks to my Fathers incredible desire to name me Cher

      and my Mothers incredible desire against it) so all people could remember was the word groovy

      10

      in A Groovy Get Together and the fact that I was a chef. So as time went on, I would get calls

      asking for the groovy chef.

      My ah-ha moment arrived when I realized that I really was just that- a groovy chef. My parties

      and events were custom designed for each client, every menu was custom tailored, I was doing

      private cooking lessons, and every event was something of a production, always happy joyous

      events that ended on an excellent note.

      It was also during the second year that I found my groove. The recipes I developed were really

      more about taking your average dish and changing it with the addition of something special,

      making it groovy style.

      That same year I thought I would try my hand at food writing. I had no prior experience with the

      exception of loving food and cooking. I sat down one night and randomly wrote a piece and

      proceeded to send it to a local newspaper editor. A week later Chow Down was born. Over the

      course of the next three years, I expanded that column to two additional local news

      publications.

      The four years the business was in operation, I was very blessed to experience some of the

      gatherings I did. I had the chance to chef an event in the Unity Temple (a Frank Lloyd Wright

      historical building), charity events, and birthday parties, along with a proposal dinner where the

      groom lived in Virginia and the bride lived in Chicago. Two weeks of constant planning and she

      said yes! I was also present for the announcement of a first baby to a couple that had been

      trying for years.

      I even managed a romantic Valentines dinner where the client asked if he could take credit for

      the meal, all I needed to do was come in, prepare it and leave before his girlfriend arrived.

      Naturally I was happy to oblige. My philosophy has always been about sharing the experience. A

      great glass of wine is only great if it’s shared between friends.

      All good Things Must Come to an End…or Do They?

      Like a strange twist of fate, four years into the business, I came to a crossroads unrivaled by

      most life changing experiences. The newspaper I was writing for phased out freelance writers

      and that same week, my husband asked for a divorce.

      11

      Naturally the two were not related, they just fell upon the same path at the same time. I

      decided to relocate to start fresh but decided to keep the business closed. I also stopped

      writing.

      It is funny how life reminds you of your roots when you least expect it.

      During the last five years of my career as a chef, I have had to really dig deep to find that place

      that makes me happy. I had to find myself, not unlike those hippies back in the 60’s. I had to find

      that balance in my life between the past and the present and make it work for me in the future.

      It was on this part of my journey that I found Buddhism (the principles are in line with the values

      and morals I was raised with) and working with positive energy (and a tarot reader and the

      zodiac).

      I also relearned to listen to my heart rather than my head (believe it or not it works better when

      you are 40 something then 20 something).

      That is where this cookbook (and the ones to follow) comes from: my love of food, each

      individual ingredient all the way to the last little bite and everything in between. It is about

      sharing the recipes, leaving room for creativity and enjoying the act of food preparation. It’s

      about expanding your mind and your palette in search of inner peace. And it is about sharing all

      of this with the people that mean the most to you.

      12

      Cookbooks: My Second Greatest Passion

      I have been collecting cookbooks since I was 18 years old and newly married. I would browse

      the clearance section of the bookstore and buy whatever I could afford at that moment. Most of

      the books I could afford

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