My Food Cart has 4 really great wheels!

My Food Cart has 4 really great wheels!

Many moons ago I had a mid-life crisis!  As my 40^th Birthday approached, I found myself in the middle of the “Mommy Car Pool” orbit.  I decided I had to liberate myself, release the inner woman (still very hip in my own mind). I decided that I had to have a Convertible Sports Car!  I had to have it...be it old, new, shiny or pale; my summer of 1996 had to include my hair flying in the wind, driving along the shores of Lake Erie in a convertible.  And, as I am a determined and passionate (okay obstinate) woman, I did bring home the “dream car”!  It wasn’t brand new…but it fit the bill.  It was a beauty, a Jewel Blue Mustang GT Convertible.  I tend to love things deeply and have a very hard time letting go.  So, I share with your today, my long ago mid-life crisis…is now my summer-fun, traveling Food Cart!  It may be a little shabbier, a lot older…but man, ain’t  it still so cool!  As my GrandKids Owen, Connor and Ava say “Memere, don’t you just love the car with no roof?!...Yes kiddos, I do!”

I will be packing up my wares, all ready for my debut at the VEGGIE U 10th ANNUAL FOOD & WINE CELEBRATION http://veggieufoodandwine.com/ …straight dab in the middle of my Third Chapter Crisis…. Doing what I love, passionate about the culinary world and on fire to share the delicious vibe.
Ain’t it cool?....See you up the road my friends!!

Blog Lite....An Unusual Hero!

An unusual hero….on a hot sunny day

Let me take you on a summers day ride.  I was driving along in my now “infamous 96 Mustang”, top down radio playing the 60’s and I witnessed a site that had my brakes pumping.  I witnessed a marvelous, incredible jaw dropping site.  I saw a beautiful woman sitting on her front porch with her arm buried in a large bag of Lays Potato Chips!  Now, I will repeat, she was not on her back deck, there she was in the open, brazen as all get out…simply enjoying.  Honest to goodness, I swear it is true.  Can we be real here?  Chips are delicious…they are salty, crunchy, tasty, yummy…and in this day and age, they are almost “illegal”.  I don’t know why fun delicious things are now looked on with horror…but this woman has my vote.

It was hot outside, her cool drink was misting over…and she was brazenly enjoying one of life’s simple pleasures.  Yahoooooo!!

It has been a hot week here in Ohio, but that hasn’t stopped us from working the test kitchens and building the business.  As we pushed each day up the mountain (yes, even a delicious business can be hard and frustrating)…I thought of my new hero.   I think I will drive by for another sighting…just for the fun of it!  Look for a ridiculous recipe to include “potato chips”…we may make them ourselves, but regardless…I am inspired!

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!