Do you bring the ingredients?

Imagine a typical weekday in your house. First, you have to ensure that everyone gets up and ready for the day. Next, there’s breakfast and lunches to be made. Then, it’s time for everyone to go to school or work. Once work and school are done, there are typically errands to be run, like getting groceries, afterschool activities that kids need to be dropped off at, homework that needs to be finished, and dinner that needs to be started. Plus, all the other things that can pop up during the day. That is a lot to handle on top of spending quality time with the ones we love. 

Do you ever feel like you don’t have time to sit and help with homework because you’re making dinner? 

Do you feel so sluggish after a long day that you pop a frozen pizza into the oven for dinner even though you wish you were making something fresh? 

A personal chef could be precisely what you need to help your busy family. 

Top 6 reasons why your busy family should hire a personal chef: 

1. Spend more time with your kids rather than at the grocery store and the kitchen. You can be more involved in your kid’s homework and learning about their day at school when you don’t have to focus on making sure a nutritious and delicious meal gets made. Your children probably would love to be able to get more time with you. 
2. Give yourself some time to yourself. As a parent, your life is typically go-go-go. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that self-care is a vital part of life and that everyone should ensure it’s part of their life. Giving yourself the night off from cooking or having to pack your family into the car to go to a restaurant to have a fresh and hot meal prepared right in your kitchen can be exactly what you need to hit the reset button. Plus, your dishes are done for you, so you don’t even have to worry about clean-up afterward. 
3. Create a better evening routine for your family. Your nights can be just as hectic, if not more so, than your days. Why not make it easier on yourself by having a personal chef come in occasionally as needed to help create a better evening routine for everyone in your household? 
4. Everyone can relax. Have you ever noticed that your kids can feel it when you get worked up and upset? Giving yourself the evening by booking a personal chef to handle a tasty meal can help you to de-stress, and by extension, your family to de-stress can be just what you need on a Wednesday night. Plus, there’s the added perk of no dinner dishes for anyone. 
5. Expand your family’s horizons when it comes to food. It can be fun to try a new meal or dish that you wouldn’t prepare for yourself. Having a professional chef whip it up in your kitchen can make new foods fun for the whole family. 
6. Add an easy and healthy meal to your life. Many parents feel guilty about the meal they serve at the end of the day to their family. Maybe you didn’t have time for something fresh and had to turn to a frozen meal? Perhaps you’re not great at cooking healthy. A personal chef offers a great way to improve the quality of what you and your family eat, even if it’s just one day a week or a few times a month. 

Myths stopping your busy family from hiring a personal chef: 

• Myth: It’s too expensive. Fact: A personal chef can fit just about any budget. If you go out to eat, you can afford a personal chef. Many chefs and menus you can book on CookinGenie cost about the same as you’d pay at a restaurant without having to leave your home. Of course, some meals may cost more than others, but that’s typically due to a few factors, such as ordering a larger serving size or the ingredients for the meal are more expensive at the grocery store, such as an expensive cut of meat. The beauty of CookinGenie is that you can see the price before you book. 
• Myth: You have to employ a chef on a weekly basis to get food cooked in your home. Fact: While many private chefs only cook for one family, a personal chef can be booked for any many or as few days as you’d like. 

• Myth: You need to upgrade to a fancy kitchen or buy unique items for your kitchen to use a personal chef. Fact: Your personal chef can prepare your meal using your kitchen and existing equipment. There may be a time when a special tool may be needed for a specific dish that you may not have, but accommodations can be made if necessary. 
• Myth: You have to be a gourmet foodie to use a personal chef. Fact: There are many dishes prepared by professional chefs, meaning it’s easy to find a meal that will work for your family. You’ll be surprised by how many different types of food dishes you can find on CookinGenie. You can select an old family favorite or switch things up with something new. 
• Myth: My family is too big (or small) for a personal chef. Fact: You can order as much or as little food as you need to feed your family. There is no minimum or maximum food requirement for ordering on CookinGenie. Some families take advantage of ordering more than is necessary for dinner, as then you’ll have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  

Considering using a personal chef to help your busy family? No matter if you’re looking to utilize a personal chef once a week or once a month, you can find a chef and menu that works for your family. Check out the CookinGenie app today to see what’s possible. You’ll love having the opportunity to eat a great meal at home prepared by a professional chef that costs about the same as a meal at a restaurant while being able to spend more time focused on what’s important.  

There are certain things that just evoke America:  

 – Baseball. 

– Uncle Sam.  

– Corn fields.  

– Apple pie.  

But what if we told you one of these iconic symbols doesn’t really belong on the list? 

 Turns out there’s nothing all that American about apple pie. In fact, neither apples or pie originated in North America: the ancient Egyptians get the credit for creating pie, and modern apples originated in the mountains of Kazakhstan, then spread along the Silk Roads from Central Asia to Europe.  

While early pies were made with meat, Emily Upton, writing for Today I Found Out, reports that the first recorded apple pie recipe was from England way back in 1381. These early recipes bear little resemblance to the apple pies we know today—they rarely called for sugar (which was an expensive, luxury ingredient at that time) and came served in a pastry that went by the rather unappetizing name of “coffin.” This “coffin” was not meant to be eaten; it was really just a container to hold the filling, sort of the Middle Ages version of a paper plate. The first apple pie recipe that resembles the pie we know and loves today, with a sweetened filling and a lattice top, appeared in a 1514 Dutch cookbook. 

So how did apple pie—which is so deeply rooted in Europe—become synonymous with America? European-style apple trees arrived on American shores with the Jamestown colonists, who brought seeds and cuttings to plant in the New World. (And here’s a fun fact from What’s Cooking America: In Colonial times, apples were sometimes called “winter bananas.”) As colonists pushed westward, they brought apples with them. Upton credits Johnny Appleseed with cementing the apple as part of American folklore, as he roamed the frontier planting acres upon acres of apple orchards. By the 19th century, American farmers had planted and cross-pollinated trees to develop an astounding 14,000 different varieties of apples. And of course, many of those varieties were perfect for making pie. 

(Also Read – A Whirlwind Tour of US Barbecue)

Nearly as intriguing as the history of the apple in America is the history of the phrase “as American as apple pie.” Upton cites a newspaper article in 1902 that said “no pie-eating people can be permanently vanquished” and a 1924 ad in the Gettysburg Times selling “New Lestz Suits that are as American as apple pie.” The phrase became such a part of the American fabric that by World War II, soldiers told journalists that they were fighting for “mom and apple pie.” 

Apple pie may have become a symbol of all that’s good about Americans, but there is a dessert that’s actually a better candidate for the title. While it might not have the same ring, a more apt phrase might be “As American as a blueberry cobbler.” Unlike the apple, blueberries—along with black cherries, strawberries, cranberries, and elderberries—are native to North America, and cobblers are a uniquely American creation. These fruit and pastry desserts, along with regional variations with such colorful names as Bettys, pandowdies, grunts, slumps, buckles, sonkers, crumbles, and crisps were created by early American settlers who turned to the simple ingredients they had on hand to create satisfying desserts. Nevertheless, it’s apple pie that became the apple of Americans’ eyes. 

At CookinGenie, we’ve recently added fresh homemade desserts to our menu and naturally, our choices include an all-American apple pie. Genie Brande Colson folds tart green apples and warm spices into a flaky, golden, homemade crust. She can even make a gluten-free variety. Cap off your next CookinGenie visit with a slice of this wholesome, rustic goodness—we can’t think of a better way to end a home-cooked meal. 

Gig economy is changing the worker employee relationship. By allowing people to specialize in a specific area of their expertise, it allows many workers to do the thing they are best at. Which can drive prices down and provide an excellent income for many professionals.

But how does the Gig Economy work for an experienced cook? In the traditional path you would be trained in a culinary school. Then you would begin working your way up the ranks in a local restaurant, taking on more and more responsibility as your skill set improves. From there you would work your way up the culinary ladder by then working at larger more prestigious restaurants. Once they’ve built a skill set and a name for themselves some cooks choose to strike out on their own. From this point they can either move into event cooking, and catering or they can move toward opening their own restaurant. Both of which require the use of a commercial kitchen, and a staff. This is not a small investment and not easy to get off the ground even if you are talented in the kitchen.

Some Cooks are exploring the gig community as a way to step out of the hustle and bustle and pressure of working in a restaurant. They work gigs such as event cooking, weddings, corporate gigs, even food trucks are an extension of the gig economy. Of course, in this line of work it’s a tough survival, the competition is steep and it’s hard to accomplish a steady income.

There are more opportunities than ever for cooks who are wanting to expand their audience and built their reputation. There are apps that have been developed like DishDivvy and Appetivo. Which allow cooks to prepare meals for their own kitchen for pickups. The downside is a lack of reliable income, never knowing how many orders will or won’t come in, and working on a schedule set by customers. All of this can make it hard to make plans.

Then there are new experience-based opportunities like Feastly. That offers services like pop ups, cooking classes and dinner parties hosted by expert cooks. This would be a fun way to expand your clientele and network with other cooks, but the events are only available in a handful of cities and the competition is fierce. Again, this isn’t steady work so even if you make your way into this elite group you can’t count on it for a reliable wage.

This is where becoming a home cook really begins to shine as a perfect option. You collect a handful of clients who you get to know. You prepare the food you love to cook. You set your hours and your availability. You can enjoy the security of a regular wage without the pressure and non-stop grind of restaurant or catering life. If you’re a cook looking for a better path and searching the gig economy. Maybe it’s time to consider being a home cook yourself, you might just be pleasantly surprised at what you find. To learn more about this please go to  www.cookingenie.com

References:

https://www.pymnts.com/news/retail/2018/home-cooks-gig-economy-food-app-dishdivvy/

https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/02/gig-websites.html

https://experiences.cooksfeed.com/browse/?market=all-cities