Jamming Out!

 So lately I’ve been going through a “Jamming” phase. I’ve always been fascinated with how a piece of produce could be at the peak of its season and you simply put it in a jar and preserve its quality like pulling tomatoes in the cold of winter. Of course it sounds effortless when I say simple, mastering the art of canning, preserving, and pickling is not for the faint hearted but anyone can do it with just a little bit of patience. You MUST begin by sterilizing your jars. I used a glass pint jar (16oz) with a screw on band. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the jars/lids and sterilize them for up to 15 minutes. Be careful to take them out of the water with a pair of tongs, let dry. What next?

Kid Chefs take over SOBE

The little chefs making humus

My apologies, these past couple of weeks have taken their toll on me, and I had to catch up on my school work and sleep. Here is bit of an overdue post that I would really like to share with you.

I wouldn’t consider myself a “host” (like of a show), but after last weekend I may have to reconsider that. Its been more then half a year (give or take a few months) since I announced my participation in the 2011 SoBe (South Beach) Wine & Food Festival. I was asked to Host/MC the “Food Labs” at this years “Fun & Fit as a Family” (the kids portion and most popular event of the festival). The Food Labs are where kids (ages 2-17) get to cook with celebrity chefs one-on-one  (how cool is that). The event is held at Miami’s Jungle Island, which is host to a wide variety of exotic birds, monkeys and more! This is the same venue where I interviewed Food Network stars like, Paula Dean, Marcella Valladolid, and Guy Fieri! Chefs attending this years Food Lab’s (Saturday & Sunday) included Iron Chef Cat Cora, Jamie Oliver, Food Network stars Melissa d’Arabian, Marcella Valladolid and Celebrity Chefs Adrianne Calvo and Michelle Bernstein.