Who said you need a microwave oven to heat your food?

Check out these clever MacGiver cooking tricks, courtesy of Sharenator and Lifehacker

Have some other tricks you’d like to share? Leave us a comment!

We love Springwise.com…such a great source of inspiration and ideas for food artisans, home-cooks, home-bakers, and for food entrepreneurs and wannabes. Some months ago (coincidentally, just a few days after “Kitchen Klutz of America” day…June 13th), Springwise spotted BookofCooks in the wild and wrote an awesome piece explaining what we do.

In their most recent newsletter they zoomed in on the booming business of rental kitchens (also known as “Culinary Incubators” and “Commercial Kitchens“). This is a topic that we’ve discussed on our blog before and that many BookofCooks’ users are keen to learn about.


Why are Rental Kitchens so important? If you are a home-cook or home-baker looking to turn your passion for food and cooking into a professional occupation (and hopefully someday, a successful catering or food manufacturing business!) you need to keep in mind that the use of residential kitchens is highly regulated and strictly prohibited in most parts of the US!. Food safety must be your number one concern. So what are your options?:

First, you can consider doing your cooking and baking at your client’s home. If you decide to go with this option, be sure to research and find out what permits/licenses are required by your municipality, county or state –and you may want to consider obtaining liability insurance to protect yourself *and* your client. Tidbit: talk to a culinary professional or visit your nearest culinary school to get some advice, or take the time to visit ServSafe where there is a wealth of information on Food Safety local regulations.

Another option is getting your own kitchen certified. Yes, it is costly, and it can be a hassle. But a lot of people (for the most part, caterers and personal chefs who already have lots of clients/volume) do take the time to modify their kitchens and get them inspected in order to comply with food safety norms. It requires some upfront investment but it can be done, and there are testimonials from folks who’ve had great success. We’re going to write a piece on Certified Residential Kitchens in the coming months so stay tuned.

Lastly, a third option (*best* in our opinion if you are just ‘testing-the-waters’ and don’t want to spend too much time and money until you see if there is some demand for your skills, baked goods, or meals) is to consider setting up base at one these commercial kitchens mentioned on Springwise. Depending on the location, the equipment you need, the number of hours (and time of day) that you want to contract, can cost as low as $15 per hour. Tidbit: during a recession, you may be able to find restaurants and hotels that have underutilized capacity, and therefore may welcome an opportunity to rent their space to you during off-peak hours or outside the busiest day-parts.

As Philly.com points out “Shared-use kitchens are opening across the country, catering to creative chefs tired of the long restaurant hours, home cooks known for their specialties, and bakers looking to get started, all of whom need a commercial food prep space for their artisanal businesses”. Point your browser to this Wikipedia page that is quickly getting populated with information, and links to lots of kitchens across the country. This google maps based website called Culinary Incubator can help you find what’s in your area. Also, be sure to also check out Detra Denay Davis’ website (we blogged about her before on our post “Cottage Food Laws”). Her website contains an extremely comprehensive collection of links and information on the subject of Cottage Food Laws as well as commercial kitchens.

Remember, food safety is first. Good luck and happy cooking / baking!!!

Some of you emailed us before asking for guidance on how to go about selecting the right caterer, chef or private chef for a wedding, cocktail party, corporate event, and other special occasions; and we promised to blog about it some day.

Finding the best match for the type of event that you have in mind….evaluating the company’s credentials (or person’s credentials – in the case of personal chefs)….budgeting for it…Yes, it can be a daunting task.

So we asked event planning expert and entrepreneur Andrea Wyn Schall to share some general advice, tips and ideas based on her extensive experience hiring catering companies and culinary professionals from all walks of life.

Andrea is the founder of A Wynning Event, a Los Angeles based special events planning company. She is also the author of the book “Budget Bash – Simply Fabulous Events on a Budget”. You can learn more about Andrea here.

Whether it is a wedding, dinner, holiday party or any other special event it is important to assemble a team of experts that will help you produce your event with style, taste and great food.  To many people, the food you serve at your party is one of the most important elements of the celebration.  Therefore, it is imperative when selecting a caterer or private chef that careful thought, consideration and research is done before you hire him or her.

One of the first things I tell my clients when they consider a caterer or chef for their event is to first interview him or her.  Get a sense and feel for who they are, what type of food they are passionate about, their cost and presentation.  Ask for sample menus and ask if you can observe them in action.  It may be difficult to watch them at a small event, but many times prior to an event starting, I will be “backstage” observing the caterer, his kitchen and service staff and presentation.

Also, ask for references, and more importantly CALL THOSE REFERENCES.  I can’t begin to tell you how often people don’t follow up on a reference and then they are disappointed when the service or food doesn’t meet their expectations.  It is also important, especially if you are serving a particular type of food at your party, that you use a caterer or private chef that specializes in the type of food genre you choose to showcase.  Of course, any trained or experienced chef can prepare and cook any type of food but I believe that if you are looking to create an “Eco-Friendly” themed dinner, you need to hire a chef or caterer who specializes in macrobiotic vegan food.

Determine your food and service budget prior to meeting with your chef or caterer.  When you meet with them, be honest and realistic.  Don’t present them with a hamburger budget and expect to eat Kobe beef and Maine lobster.  Remember, service is a secondary component of the catering budget and with workman’s compensation insurance, business insurance and other business costs your food budget most often is higher than you first estimated.

In addition, many catering companies include a service fee that may range from 10% on up to 22% or higher.  This fee may cover operating costs such as transportation, refrigerator trucks (if it is a large event), commercial kitchen fees, trays and service items, tips for the staff or prep staff to name a few.  When you are presented with a bill and it simply states staff with a price, don’t hesitate to ask what the breakdown of staff is.  How many servers, kitchen help, scullery crew or prep personnel does this fee include?  After all, you are paying for a service; you need to know what you are paying for.

All caterers or private chefs and their staff should clean-up their work area when they finish the job.  If their kitchen is set-up in an area other than your kitchen, then it is best to cover the ground with Astroturf or another type of non-skid carpet to prevent an accident from occurring.  It also makes clean-up more efficient since the ground covering with the food scrapes will be taken away after the event finishes.

Therefore, when selecting a caterer or private chef for your next event, consider the above mentioned factors.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions whether it is a menu or price item.  Give your caterer or private chef a true and accurate guest count to prevent them from an embarrassing situation such as running out of food.  Remember, you are the host, make sure the team behind you supports you and makes you look like a star host or hostess.

To find more cost-saving and helpful party planning tips, menus and recipes, advice, pictures and more go to www.budgetbashbook.com – Budget Bash – Simply Fabulous Events on a Budget.