Posts Tagged ‘Normandy Restaurant’

We Can Stop Cleaning the Kitchen at Food Stamps Cooking Club!

October 9th, 2012

 Nothing, but NOTHING, motivates one to clean the kitchen like having a French pastry chef come to your home for a Cooking Class!  Everything shone to a fare-thee-well and when the magic show had ended there was no trace that anyone had entered the kitchen…was it a dream?  Well, it was dreamy, all right!
Angels helped to bring this about.  You may recall that there were computer issues awhile back.  During that time, the August 29th issue of the Lincoln Journal Star carried the story of how Chef totes his pastries to the Farmers Market.  His story touched my heart and soul, so I ‘hired’ the heavens to help  bring him to the Club House for a Cooking Class.  Having a real, live chef has been a dream of mine for awhile.

When the computer was up and running again, I contacted Chef Lawrence through his website.  He responded instantly and shared with me that the news item had produced so much interest and new customers for him that he felt the need to give back.  He would be delighted to come and share with us.  Had we connected a week earlier the answer would have been ‘no’ because he was just too busy.  Angels have such great timing.

His philosophy is simple:  “Get 9, give 1.”  In other words, he ‘pays it forward.’  What’s not to love about that?

Chef Lawrence De Villiers, a French Pastry Chef from Lincoln, NE, relaxed in the Club House before he taught us about crepes!

 

Prior to his arrival, we made nice for him:

 

We learned at the outset that all cooking is meant to be simple.  Use simple ingredients.  Be sparing with herbs and fixings.  When making crepes, it’s best to whirl the ingredients in a blender or food processor and let the batter rest for at least one hour before preparing the finished product!  This allows the bubbles to dissipate so there are not holes in the crepes.

 

Chef discusses his work in a homeless shelter in the Bronx, after arriving in the USA from Normandy, France.

After Chef Lawrence had given us an overview of our lesson and had shared some of his story with us, he proceeded to the kitchen.  WOW, were we impressed!

These videos were made possible because of Food Stamps Cooking Club supporters:
Judy Coe, Videographer
Dustin and Wendi Buggi, Technical Advisors Extrordinaire
Pastor Kathy Rahorst, Chief Cheerleader
Loretta Pope,  Charleen Scott, Velda Koehler, Ruby Meister, Annie Wickett,Jan Neal- all consummate cooks
Jeff and Lorraine Wellman and Renita Farrall, long distance  Club Fans
Anita Brown, Prime Promoter
Kim, Janet and others who could not attend because of last minute snafus
and
of course,
THE NORMANATOR, who supports Mother Connie no matter what.
Connie Baum
The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post.  Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline.  Always do business with those you trust implicitly
PS:  We live for comments!  Chef Lawrence will appreciate your comments, also!  Thanks for your patience as this blog post was being prepared FOR YOU, dear members!