Delayed

I had hoped to have the new web design up, but that is not the case. We ended up going to the lake this weekend for a few hours, and I'm afraid the site design was re-prioritized.

I am very close, and will soon post just the front page for you to see. I'm happy with it for the most part, but my skills are limited and so until I can have it done professionally, with flash and java and all the bells and whistles, I'll probably wish it looked better, but it will do for now.

On the fun side of things, however, I attended my first ever cooking class at Williams Sonoma, and let me tell you. It was fun. We observed a chef make 4 different meals, all of which were very tasty.

They started with a chicken kabob that was rubbed in a curry-ish style seasoning with turmeric, cinnamon, cumin etc, and served with veggies. Next was an Italian burger with a great pesto and onions. The pesto was unique in that it also had cashews in addition to the more traditional pine nuts. Very tasty, and served mini style on tiny buns. Thirdly, and my very favorite was a shrimp taco with lime slaw. Good lord where do I start? The slaw was the best, and very fresh and zingy. But what made the whole thing was the way the chef did the taco shells. He very simply and lightly deep fried flour tortillas and placed them over a rolling pin until they set up and created the shell. The difference between these and the more typical corn tortillas was brilliant. The flour tortillas were much lighter and had a nice crisp without breaking into shreds on your plate. I can't wait to try these myself. I will definitely post the full recipe then.

Finally, we had a baby stuffed portobello mushroom with egg plant, sun dried tomatoes, black olives and smoked mozzarella/sharp provolone on top. These were tasty, except for the liquid smoke that I don't really care for. I prefer my smoke taste to come in smoke form, not so much the liquid variety. But, if that's your thing, you would love these.

Oddly enough, I ended up walking out with ingredients that had nothing to do with what was made. I purchased some Scharffen Berger cocoa for some ridiculous cupcakes I'm going to make someday for my cheat day, and a set of 3 different kinds of vanilla from Nielsen-Massey. A Mexican, a Madagascar Bourbon and a Tahitian. I have no idea what I'll do with those, but I can't wait to find out.

I am looking forward to my next class where we focus on foods from Provence, the first place on my list to visit someday when I'm rich and don't have tiny kids that scream and don't take baths. :)

But for now, I am still doing well on my candida food plan, feeling stronger each day, so stay tuned for more recipes and tips on that.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have the new site up for feedback...I want your feedback. Please?