Cooking Under a Deluge

Photograph by Lance Sabbag

February has come and gone, as you are well aware, and with it many plans have not come to fruition.

It is a common adage in kitchens that if you put something on the menu, you should deliver, regardless of how difficult it is to execute. My menu for the month of February included much more than I was able to put forth, and for that I apologize. I do not deign to be so important to all of you that you have been hanging on my every post, but I still do feel that I have shirked a certain amount of responsibility that I promised to you.

The month contained three notable successes on my part, though. One was a test-run of serving food at the Phoenix Café, during their Up in the Aether event—this was the debut of the Baozi, a very, very successful little experiment, and a lesson in making recipes to fit your crowd. I could have served many more than the 16 buns I was able to create.


The second success was an event held separate from my Steampunk endeavors, a banquet dinner through my culinary school for which I was the Marketing Manager, and an event that took up much of my time for the first two weeks of the month.

The third success happened just last Friday: The Steampunk Dinner at Off the Beaten Path Books went off to great acclaim. With copious help from my friends, bread guy, and others, I was able to put forth a remarkable feast, to a room packed with people, and at a level of quality with which I was more than pleased. Forthcoming shall be posts on each course, as well as the bread served (a special guest post by my bread guy.)

Of course, this past month was also The Great Language Learning Challenge promulgated by my friend Miss Kagashi. I made an honest attempt to learn the Magyár language, but amongst all my other responsibilities and things laying claim on my time, I found myself unable to follow through with my goals...

So I cheated a little, and produced the following:



This month I'll have more posts about food and delights, I promise. There's another feast the day after St. Patrick's day, and then two days afterward, I'll be putting up some food at the Phoenix Café once again.

For now, however, I need a vacation, so I'm heading to the North of Michigan to relax with some friends from my Culinary program. We'll be partaking of wine, beer, foods, and relaxation. It's well-needed on all our parts, I think.

Have a wonderful month. You'll be hearing from me shortly.