Walking in the Kitchen with Bob.. Barefoot, of course!/ The First Post

Hello and welcome to my culinary universe! A friend of mine (ty dragon!) inspired me to do this today and it looks like its going to be a lot of fun! What I hope to do on this blog is share some of my all time favorite recipes that have either been handed down through the generations in my family, from friends, some that I have created and share what the "heart" of cooking for me is all about. Your probably wondering about the title.. well.. when you wear non skid shoes in a kitchen all day, you get home from work and you have to cook (which sometimes does not even get accomplished because cooking is the last thing you want to do) but, none the less.. the shoes come right off and to your own kitchen you go to make something 100 times more simpler than what you have been doing at work all night. Even on my days off I have a "bad" habit of cooking barefoot in the kitchen unless it involves deep frying.... then the shoes go on. My second reason for my title is anyone who knows me, knows that Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa is my all time favorite Food Network Tv star!! I have made a ton of her recipes over the years, they are consistently well thought out and superb!! Not to say i don't use any other sources for recipe ideas, just usually if I am planning a dinner party or some form of a gathering, a recipe or 2 of hers is usually involved, if not the whole menu!

Like many people in the profession, I come from a long line of excellent cooks. From my 2 grandmothers, my aunts and, of course, my mother (may the perpetual light shine upon her). I attended Culinary School and went away to Kansas where I worked for 2 bistros before the economy went to hell in a hand basket and am now back in Illinois. But, moving on. some of my fondest memories are being in either of my grandmother's kitchens either asking to help or pulling pots and pans out of anywhere and everywhere , pretending to have my own cooking show like Julia Child did. Yes from age 5 on, i remember watching Julia Child, Justin Wilson, The Frugal Gourmet and Yan Can Cook! Above all, Julia Child.

My 3 main passions in cooking are Desserts, Pasta, and Sauces. Very few people know that I really really do adore the labor of love that goes into making a PERFECT sauce. To this day I remember what Chef Bryan Flowers said in class.. that you could have a average to horrific piece of protein on a plate and make it into something magical and delicious with a perfect sauce. I even have a cookbook entitled the Sauce Bible!! Moving on, my big claim to fame is desserts, it is what Im good at, which at one point in my life I thought strange because in my memory i do not remember anyone really making a whole bunch of desserts, unless it was for a holiday, even then, Christmas was the only one with all the cookies and Easter with the Lamb Cake my Grandmother Millas would make and my Aunt Theresa! ( May the perpetual light shine upon them both!) However, what I do remember are people running to a bakery and buying, and more buying or coffee cake, that cake, birthday cake, more coffee cake. So thats where my love for making desserts come from, my entire family has always been big dessert fans!
Pasta was probably, like most, the first thing i cooked. It started in a few ways, the first on my own meal was of course a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and hot dogs. ( I nearly did go into shock in my adult life when I did meet people who indeed could not even begin to boil water or make macaroni and cheese out of a box!) But there we have it. From there, one day, and I do not recall who was doing this, but somewhere on TV, somehow, yes even back in the late 70's someone was showing how to make Fettucini Alfredo. Well, I mean, heavy cream back then, what was that? Mind you I think i was maybe 8 around the time i attempted this.... if not earlier. So hey, heavy cream.. milk.. .hmm must be same thing.... and mom has parmesan cheese from that plastic container in the cupboard (do you see where this is leading,,, lol) well but needless to say i went forth and made something resembling a very milky alfredo.... and from then on decided yea no i am not making that again, not to mention the anger that spewed forth from my mother on how much milk i had wasted. >.< However out of this evolved my garlic noodle recipe that I have been devouring with all kind of noodles since I was a child..... and recently I made an "adult version of the recipe! Since it was the first recipe I created Im going to share that first, the kid and adult version! I hope you give them a try and enjoy them!!!!!