My friend, Genevieve and I used to be secretaries together. Last week she was in town for a food convention and she (and our friend Mindy) came over for dinner. She had a small gift for me, with a card. On the card she wrote, “Goodbye secretaries!”.

I’ve had many great jobs. I’ve worked with good friends, I taught aerobics, I learned Photoshop and InDesign, I organized a camp… They’ve all been good great amazing jobs that have been so difficult to leave. But, what I do now rivals them all. I finally found something that I really really love: FOOD. I love to talk about it, make it, write about it, learn about it, plan it, shop for it… I just don’t like to do the dishes. What Gen said made me realize (once again) how awesome this job is. And, she’s doing something with food too!

She just completed a program to become a Natural Chef at Bauman College. She has a blog and is starting to Personal Chef. From secretaries in Texas, to fooding in Colorado and California. We’ve come a long way (literally and figuratively), haven’t we Gen?!

This is Genevieve’s business (haha, that makes it sound like it’s her business, not yours… like “mind your own beeswax”). She’s a natural chef, consultant and educator. This girl knows her stuff! She’s a wealth of information on healthy eating, and doing it in a yummy way. She is often one of my resources. In her “about” page on her new blog, she says,

“I love cooking with organic, seasonal, unrefined ingredients and learning why these foods are beneficial to our bodies. This project was born out of a desire to equip others in learning how to cook healthy food. I invite you to join me in the joy of creating delicious cuisine, understanding the necessity of nourishing the body and the satisfaction of sharing incredible food.”

Right now there’s just one blog post… But, trust me, it’s enough to whet your appetite. We ate the kale I had in the fridge when she was over last week. If we hadn’t, I would have made the Kale Chips she wrote about. I can’t wait to read her next post. I think she’s going to write about granola soon. I’ve tried this granola. It’s wonderful!

When she and Mindy came over, we decided to make dinner together. I’d just finished editing last week’s show, so I was exhausted. But, I remembered a pasta that I’d made a few months ago, that I called Pasta in a Pinch. Literally, I was in a pinch – we’d invited friends over for lunch after church. The chicken that was to be our main course had been cooking in the Crock Pot. But, when we got home, I realized it needed about another hour to cook. We were hungry. I had bacon, parmesan cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and peas. It became lunch… We omitted the peas at Mindy’s request, added mushrooms, grated carrots, and kale. I sent Husband to the store to get a loaf of French bread, we had a simple salad of lettuce, grated carrots, oranges, and lemon salad dressing, and paired it with a bottle of Ma Chérie red wine. Voilà, dinner. It was yummy. While we cooked, Gen would add a tidbit of information here and there. Like about the olive oil and why it’s best not to heat it until it smokes (and why the Bari Olive Oil that I use is really good olive oil), the word for how I was cutting the orange, why organic bacon is better for you… It was so fun! Here’s what we made. I hope you enjoy it!

Pasta in a Pinch

Last modified on 2012-04-26 00:09:29 GMT. 2 comments. Top.

Here’s to good, healthy food that tastes great!! Here’s to doing what we love! Here’s to inspiring and equipping people to eat well, something that is important to both Gen and I.