Not long ago I noticed a new restaurant had opened in the area and that was a nice surprise considering the economy and some of the challenges future employers will have with employee benefits like health care. Costs have skyrocketed and it is making it very difficult to run a business, especially a labor intensive business like a restaurant. However, these young entrepreneurs decided to do it. In this new restaurant there is a window that overlooks the Chef’s area where you can watch them make everything from scratch, even the desserts and appetizers.
In fact, I was amazed at the brilliant appetizers that the chef was preparing for the guests, and he was making a great dessert, “wow”, I thought, “I want one of those”. Yes, I know you can go to the frozen food section and buy processed food desserts and appetizers that look really good and quite tasty. But there’s nothing like a made-from-scratch dessert or appetizer. Apparently this chef had gone to culinary school and was an expert in the culinary arts. What also surprised me is that the price on the restaurant menu was quite nominal and very fair.
Now wouldn’t it be great if you could make appetizers and desserts of that quality; of a four or five star restaurant? Well, maybe you can, maybe you just need some tips and a decent instruction manual; an instruction manual. If you’re looking for such a book, I have one, and while it may not be as good as that chef’s creations, I can whip up some pretty good appetizers and desserts for my guests. The book I would like to recommend is titled;
“Best Recipes for Appetizers”, a book by Betty Crocker, published by Macmillan General Reference, a Simon and Schuster Macmillan company, New York, NY, 1989, 93 pages, ISBN: 0-02-861530-1.
In this book you will learn to prepare the best dips, spreads and appetizers with cheese. How about the seafood appetizers? There is also a chapter on “snacks and tidbits”. Sometimes appetizers become the first course of a big meal, in this book you will find out which ones go with what kind of meals and prepare your taste buds for the next course. There is also a chapter on sweet snacks and the types of desserts I saw the chef make.
You know what, now that I think about it, I could do the same thing here at home, not because I’m a great chef, but because I have this book, the one I just recommended to you. There are pictures, a list of ingredients, and helpful little tips to help you get it right and display it like a perfect appetizer from a top-tier restaurant. Please consider all this and think about it.
