If Seeing is Believing, then Tasting is Convincing!

How do you explain delicious to someone?  We often try to do this with words, gestures, plating, pictures
...sometimes even with aromas!  But if "Seeing is believing, then Tasting is convincing"!

(more pics of tastings gone wild at http://www.thekitchensbounty.com/photogallery.html )
We just experienced a marvelous weekend of decadent tastings and overwhelming "convincing".
Can you shout "I Believe!".  Well yes, food can inspire that kind of an outburst!... and Yes, we did have the occasional "it's alright", but as they taught us in basic math, throw out the lowest and highest....
(sorry we are keeping the highest, it just felt toooo good)

The KB Team has the pleasure of sharing the Love of the Table through food tastings of Classic Baguette with Pomegranate and Rose Herb Butter, A Salad of Field Greens with Summer Berries, Pistachios and Rose Petals with Honeyed Poppy Seed Dressing, Seared Salmon Kabobs with delicate lemon slices and finally...just a little taste of our own Chocolate Souffle Torte with Berry Caramel, Marinated Berries, French Creme and a garnish of Rose Petals (notice a theme here?!)

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In all we had over 1000 tastings...and survey says "You love our food"!
We humbly thank you and invite you now, as always,
to find the joy...share the bounty...with the Kitchens Bounty.
Delicious dreams my friends and to include these recipes in your Summer dining click on the website for newly posted recipes above.  http://www.thekitchensbounty.com/menu.php
Our thanks to our host, Barnes Nursery, the Huron Chamber and the Amazing Mulberry Creek Herb Farm.

Where the Wild Things Grow...

A Team captures the Spirit of "Where the Wild Things Grow".

 Pictured KB Team Alex Wheeler, Patrick Gioffre photographers and Nathan Carr Set Design

In the last weeks,  things were percolating in the Secret Garden at the Kitchens Bounty…matter of fact, maybe percolating is too tame of a word to use…it was wild out there!  Wild, over grown, over decorated, over populated (with birds that is!), over lit…can there be too many candles or too much heart…no, there is just no such thing!  We have named the early Summer Photo shoot of our riotous and beloved Secret Garden, “Where the Wild Things Grow”…yes, it is obviously a nod to the wonderful, well loved story of close title “Where the Wild Things Are”(by Maurice Sendak)  The much known story of a boy named Max, who roared a little too loud and had a little too much “Wild” in him!  Somehow, the Secret Garden Oasis makes me think of Max, and perhaps reminds me a little of myself.  Living Life… full out, Cooking in the Kitchen…full out, Spicing a little intensely…full out (are we scarring you?), and loving the people in our life and business…full out!  Many visitors on seeing pictures or an in person visit declare “that Garden is too overgrown…it is a little wild!”

Well here is the answer, it sure is!  Grow Garden Grow…roar, but at the end of the trail, what is really revealed is a harbor of safety…with people who care…with your Dinner waiting for you…Deliciously prepared with love.

I celebrate the guest who believe in The Kitchens Bounty approach, The Staff that works too hard and plays even harder, and the harbor that all of these positive emotions create! 
Roar on my friends, in your life and in your food!
For a little fun check out our Photo gallery
http://www.thekitchensbounty.com/photogallery.html
entitled "Where the Wild Things Grow"...and don't be scared -

A Fathers Day Love Note....

Father’s Day… a Love note to the men in our life!

Can you really write a love note on a towel?  I think so!  I believe by now my friends get it…my entire creative thoughts on food are inspired by love. Yeah, really!   Sometimes it is love of people, memories and roots, and sometimes we are inspired by the passion of a garden or a setting.  But today, I celebrate in sharing that I am inspired this weekend, by the Love of Dad’s.  Father’s Day is a great time to reflect on all those men in our life that are Dad’s … our Fathers, our Father in Laws, our Brothers, our Sons….all of the men who call themselves Dads and behave like one!   I used to think my Dad was my hero (he was!), then I saw my husband as a Dad and he became the hero(he is!)….and then….my breathe was taken away by seeing my own son as a Father.  Wow - Life has an amazing way of repeating itself!!!

We take our celebration of Dad’s seriously….as evidenced by our very cool “Dad Towels”… What is it?..An oven mitt, a napkin and a hand towel all in one!  The Dad Towel derives its name from the Dad of the house who, no matter the occasion or the task, always preferred a dish towel to a linen napkin, “they are just more useful” was the cry!  So we adopted the useful towel/napkin, oven mitt.  We don’t just sell them, use them or display them on Father’s Day…but all year long.
 They are a little funny, a little “tongue in cheek” but at the end of the day they are wonderfully reliable…and a true nod to those Dad’s we love…and they do remain my favorite love note to the men in my life!  HAPPY FATHER’S DAYS….may your tables be filled with fine food, family and love!

COFFEE...it really is an ART!

Coffee…it really is an art

I love coffee.  It is more than a hot beverage to me, it greets me in the morning, it comes with a sense of roots (a part of my family’s tradition), it comes as a time of rest (that break in the day), but for me in my love of all culinary, it comes as “the signature” to a great dining experience. 

When a great cup of coffee arrives at my table in a restaurant….I can always sense (or taste) if this establishment cared about the coffee - the selection, the presentation and most especially a rich robust but smooth taste!

At the Kitchens Bounty, we truly care about our coffee….I want to share the adventures of finding that perfect brew for our Kitchen, our Table and our Customers.
 (check out photo gallery http://www.thekitchensbounty.com/gallery16_adventures_in_coffee.html)

The search was on for a Specialty House Blend that we would create with a Local Artisanal Roaster of exquisite coffee beans.  With this goal in mind, we found ourselves in the Test Kitchen with just such a person, Julie Spitzley of  Storm Mountain Coffee Roasters located right here in Huron, Ohio!  As a prelude we invited Julie to join us at the Kitchens Bounty, we discussed blends, taste preferences, preparation style (we both love French Press!) and the ultimate goal:
 A coffee that delivers depth, richness, character, and full-body with a velvet delivery.
Yes, I know that is a very tall order!

So we strapped ourselves in, and began a marathon tasting of 10 specialty blends, each of which we “really tasted”. At the conclusion of our tastings, we did arrive (although somewhat AMPED UP!)
The results can now be tasted at the Kitchens Bounty classes, at our future demos/tastings, and soon available for purchase in our Custom 1lb bags….What a way to start the day or end it!

Enjoy my fellow coffee lovers….here is some delicious new fuel for your days and the perfect signature to a great dining experience.  We have arrived!

The 'TEST KITCHEN' gone wild!

Ever wonder what a “TEST KITCHEN” really is.  Well my definition is that it is a Kitchen Laboratory, where recipes are created, tried, retried….then tweaked…and tried again!  Oh, here is what else happens, there is a tremendous amount of “tasting”…okay “eating” going on.

Well,  we were slamming in the Kitchens Bounty Test Kitchen over the last week, including a grilling marathon over the Memorial Weekend.  My job was to be sure that the recipes, we will soon introduce as part of the Gourmand’s Guide for  The Amazing Rub, deliver incredible taste, versatility and delight!
At the very same time we have a mantra…we insist that our foods look fabulous!  Wow, this is almost as much work and effort as getting dressed for your favorite date!   Okay, so we cooked, we grilled, we tasted, and then we did it again, over and over!  (Do any of you feel any sympathy for this woman who gets to do what she LOVES?!?)  Some of our recipes include Turkey Burgers with a Ying and Yang Attitude (serve it with our Thai Sweet and Sassy Chili Sauce Recipe)this is pictured below, You Pull It Pork, and the Amazing Seared Salmon Plank!

·         The Results…a rocking, fabulous, and delicious guide for The Amazing Rub.  We love it, we hope you will too!  Look for the posting of our Free on-line Gourmand’s Guide for The Amazing Rub….and stay tuned all of my fellow Coffee Lovers…we had a coffee tasting this week, (which  I will soon share)  that was out of this world! Under the guide of a knowledgeable and talented  local Coffee Roaster,  we have come up with The Kitchens Bounty Signature Blend…10 final tastings….and enough coffee ingested to almost call 911…we will post the story soon…Terri