NC old lady
Assistant Cook
I'm new as of yesterday. My passion is cooking. 40 some years ago I was the divorced mother of two, working as a paralegal. I started a business where I prepared 6 meals a week for professionals I knew. Remember this was before Lean Cuisine and microwaves. 5 of the meals were for one and one meal was for 2 people -- my theory was that they would eat out at least once during the week. Word of mouth made my little business thrive and soon I had to make a decision -- would I keep my job with the security of a paycheck and health insurance for myself and my children or quit the job and go with the new business. Well obviously I chose security and have often wondered what would have been. I went on to a second career and am now retired. My husband and I cook once a week at a facility that feeds the food insecure and the homeless and supplement groceries for families once a month. Our biggest problem is that we go to the facility two days prior to serving to find out what is available and what needs to be thawed. Depending on the size of what we are thawing, sometimes we need to bring it home and prep and or cook. This is where we are having difficulty. Once you cook something, how do you keep it best to preserve flavor, texture etc. Obviously this leaves out preparing things like chicken and dumplings, etc. I a looking forward to finding the appropriate forum where I can pick the brains of cooks with more experience in this area than what I have. We try to cook each week for 50 people. Sometimes we have leftovers and occasionally we have to make grilled cheese for any stragglers over 50 but we never send anyone away hungry. I recently purchased an Oster oven roaster and will be trying it out tonight on two 12 pound top sirloin roasts. Wish me luck.
