So out of my norm....and again, not about cooking....

Ok, so today after the Lance Armstrong Foundation cancer walk, I had a bit more energy so with Austin's motto being Keep Austin Weird, they held the thrill the world simultaneous thriller dance for the world record.  I found out about this a few days ago and looked up the site and started learning the 8 lessons to be able to do this dance, well life got in the way and I only learned to lesson 3.  But I have a over zealous 16 year old who really really wanted to do this so after the 5K walk, we learned to the best of our ability the 8 parts to this dance and along with 779 other Austin folks, set the world record for the most folks doing this dance at the same time....take a look.... www.vimeo.com/2065295  We are in there somewhere....I will post pics when I download them from the camera.

Not about food at all.....

Ok so today was the Lance Armstrong Foundation walk In Austin, Texas.  We had a team, Lou's Crew in honor of my mom Louise Downey.  Our team raised $2000.  The walk was great.We ended up with 6 walkers for Lou's Crew, my sister Vanessa, brother in law Bernie, My girl Dana, my daughter Madelyn, and my husband Ed.  Vanessa and Madelyn did the walk in 48 minutes and some change, Bernie and Ed were probably more like 55 minutes and Dana and I were 59 minutes and 02 seconds (we casually walked and talked).  I want to thank all my peeps for donating to this worthy cause.  Next year Lou's Crew will have more members, raise more money and sport team shirts...I have a dream that one day, there will be a cure for cancer....

The Web The Web The Web is up! (doing the happy dance)

My web site is up, ahlalou.com ..well it is still posted as "coming soon" but there is a web site. Right now it will take you to my blog (this one) and my e-mail site, chefalyssa@ahlalou.com, which I am in the process of being able to retrieve messages from. 

 And, I just got a booking for a baby shower, ok normally I do not do catering but it is for a friend, and sometimes I bend the rules for them :-).  Just to be clear, I do personal chef home cooking, cooking classes, intimate dinner parties, and interactive cooking parties (the whole Food Network in your kitchen deal) .

Early voting!

Early voting begins on October 20th.  Why not cast your vote early and beat the November 4th rush?  My thing is this, if by now you do not know who you are voting for, you will be no closer on Nov 4th.  If you are undecided, replay back all the debates, read more past news on the internet and look at the hard facts, not the negative campaigning, the facts.  And vote for who you feel will lead us through these hard times we are going through.  This may be the most important decision you have made EVER!  Remember, there was a time when women and people of color could not vote.  We all have that right now to be able to change our country for the better.  

New banner page. See the image above.

My artist son, created the banner page for me.  I should have the web site up soon.  I am very excited about the direction my site and branding is going in.  Ah la lou, ah la lou, ah la lou :-)

My logo!

What do you think about my logo?  The logo color is actually maroon but blogger is limited to just the color blue :-)  So use your imagination (lol).  Weigh in and tell me what you think.

Chef Alyssa Tips October 2008

I found this wonderful breading for pork, chicken, and seafood from zatarians called Bake and Crisp.  This is like shake n bake but with a kick:-)  The breading is more like japanese panko bread crumbs then regular bread crumbs.  Yum! 

Clean your chicken (the breading is seasoned so you do not need to season the chicken)

dredge in egg

roll in bake and crisp

spray baking sheet with oil

bake at 425 for amount of time on box (port, chicken and seafood have same temp, different times)

Enjoy!

One thing I also want to mention, when I cooked my yummy chicken last night, it browned wonderfully but some of the breading stuck to the pan.  A quick tip for getting that cooked on stuff off of pans is to soak the pan with a dryer sheet and the stuck on food will come right off!

Register to vote

Texas folks!  You have until Monday October 6th to register to vote. This includes changing your address if you have moved.   For all others, please remember to exercise your right to vote!  

A unique gift idea!

I was reminded that my friend Rachel Shields has a wonderful candy wrapping business.  If you need a unique party favor, advertising or holiday decoration, consider candy over wrapping.  I have ordered personalized chocolate candy wrapping from her for my nieces wedding and personalized lollypops for the announcement of the birth of her son.  Great idea!  

Check her out at:

MyJazz Candies

MyJazzCandies@Yahoo.com

Personalized overwrap for any event

It's getting closer!

Well it is getting closer to show time!  The site is just about done. The logo is complete and so awesome and I have ordered a bunch of chef "stuff" to get me started.  I will hang out my shingle soon and I am looking at good things happening.  The economy is in the toilet so I am going to explore more teaching how to cook as opposed to cooking for folks.  Some of that will happen but I will teach those to "fish" so that they can be self sufficient and for those who just can't handle the pole, I will "fish" for them.  This is going to be exciting!  Stay tuned.