Author: Carma Spence

Carma Spence has been experimenting in the kitchen since she was four years old and loves trying out new recipe ideas. She is the author of Bonkers for Bundt Cakes and Your Perfect Pie, as well as author and contributor to several more non-food-related books. With Carma's Cookery, she is taking her passion for empowering people and blending it with her passion for cooking, gift-giving and entertaining.

The Business of Food

Launching A Gourmet Eatery: Everything That You Should Know

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date October 10, 2016

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Over the past few years, gourmet foods have become somewhat mainstream. By this I mean that more and more casual restaurants are offering “gourmet-inspired” menus. However, just because there are already plenty of gourmet eatery establishments around, that doesn’t mean that yours won’t be a success.

Especially as, many of the places calling themselves gourmet, are in fact not offering a gourmet experience at all. Their food may be fancy, but to be a gourmet establishment, it’s about more than just the food. A gourmet restaurant isn’t called gourmet for any old reason; it’s because it offers something above and beyond the norm.

With this in mind, if you’re thinking of launching your own gourmet eatery, here’s what you need to know:

Your gourmet eatery menu needs to be unique

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In order for your gourmet eatery to have any chance of being successful, the food that you offer needs to be unique. It doesn’t matter if you sell the same type of cuisine as other local establishments, such as Spanish tapas for instance. However, it does matter if the food that you serve is exactly the same. To launch a venture that has the potential to be successful, the food that you serve has to have a unique twist to it.

It can take time to make your menu unique but don’t rush the process. You need to serve a selection of dishes that not only taste amazing and are unique, but that are also quick and easy to whip up. So that when your restaurant is packed on a Saturday night, there is time to create them. What you don’t want is for your dishes to be hard to do in busy periods because they’re too time-consuming. You want to be able to offer a gourmet experience regardless of how busy you get.

There’s more to running a gourmet eatery than meets the eye

A mistake that many people make when it comes to starting a restaurant is thinking that it’s all about serving delicious food, and that’s it. However, there’s a lot more to running a successful restaurant than that. Of course, the food is important — it is a restaurant after all — but it’s not the be-all and end-all of being successful.

Just like in any business, running an eatery requires you to manage it efficiently. This means organizing ordering, creating an efficient rota for staff, keeping on top of the accounts, and so much more. You need to be able to keep up to date with all of the must-have items for your restaurant. As well as knowing who to call should you suffer an emergency or problem. For example, what do you do if you have a Magic Chef HVAC failure? This could leave your restaurant without heating or air conditioning. The last thing you want is to offer guests an atmosphere that’s below their expectations.

Marketing a gourmet eatery needs to be “upmarket”

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Last but not least, it’s crucial to ensure that your marketing is as effective as possible. As well as in keeping with the tone of your place. While the aim of marketing is to build awareness of your brand, it’s important that the marketing is also well suited to your target audience — otherwise, it may not appeal to them. When your marketing is mismatched to your audience, you may fail to get the customers you need to succeed.

Launching a gourmet restaurant isn’t something that you can do without any planning. It will take time to get your new venture up and running.

Tags food business, food marketing, gourmet eatery

The Business of Food

Food Business: How to Run a Restaurant as a Former Chef

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date September 29, 2016

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When great chefs want a little more independence, they decide to buy their own restaurants. There are many reasons for doing this. To begin with, it means that chefs don’t have to take orders from other people. But they often don’t realize what goes into running a great restaurant. Being a chef and being a business owner are two very different tasks. If you’re thinking of making the move, here are the key differences to be aware of.

Cooking is Not Accounting

One of the most important tasks you’ll have when running a business is balancing the books. This is essential because no business can survive if its accounts are not in order. This is how businesses get into financial tangles, and many businesses fail as a result. And just because you know how to cook, that doesn’t mean that you know how to manage money. You should take courses and learn from others if you have no experience of managing a business’s accounts. Hiring the right help is important too.

Shouting at Your Team is Not the Same as Managing Them

We all know that chefs that run kitchens are under pressure. And this is why they often end up doing a lot of shouting when trying to keep everything ticking in order. This is fine for a hot, busy kitchen environment. But if you try to run a business and manage a wider workforce in that way, you won’t get very far at all. You need to learn how to manage a team and give them the support they require to do their jobs well. Running a business is more about taking calm and practical steps, as well as decisions.

Good Food Alone is Not Usually Enough for a Good Food Business

Creating good food is obviously essential when you run a business. You can’t afford to shy away from the task of creating great food because this is what customers care about. But, at the same time, you will have to wear your business hat and be aware that good food alone isn’t enough. You also have to think about how you can reach out to people and turn them into paying customers. Companies that provide things like social media for restaurants can help you reach people in a modern way. And you will also need to make the exterior of your restaurant appealing to attract people inside.

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Creativity Matters for Both Tasks, But in Different Ways

Creativity matters when you are a chef. And it also matters when you run a business. This is one of the areas of overlap that should be embraced. But they are different forms of creativity, and you should be aware of this. For a start, when a chef is creative, he or she creates great food and gives people a taste experience they haven’t had before. But creativity in the world of business is all about making the business more appealing to target customers. Think about how you can transfer your cooking skills across to your marketing efforts.

Tags chef, food business, restaurant, restaurant business

Special Occasions

The Prep-Work: Make Your Dinner Party The Best One Yet

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date August 11, 2016

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Having a dinner party? Worried you’re going to make it all wrong and no-one’s going to want to come back? Relax. A great dinner party is achieved through great planning. Don’t jump to impress with recipes you just started practicing the night before. Take your time, read the tips below and see what ideas strike you as just the kind of fun (or sensible) choices you need.

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Prep Tip #1: Don’t put your guests in the hospital

You know what’s not fun? Going to hospital. You might be in danger of doing that to a guest if you don’t find out about their food requirements and/or allergies before you start cooking. A lot of people look for a tactful way to ask for health information. The simple answer is to keep it a private conversation. Phone on the pretext of asking them whether they have any preferences for their meal. Better to be safe than sorry.

I have friends who are lactose intolerant and others who are vegetarians. Keeping their culinary needs in mind helps me create a menu that they can enjoy just as much as anyone else at the party.

Prep Tip #2: Put thought into the drinks you offer

Regardless of what courses you choose, the drink you serve can highlight or ruin a meal. Pairing drinks with food isn’t about being snobby. It’s about the very real effect that a drink has on our taste buds. It flavors the food we serve alongside it. Bitterness in drinks like beer cut through the heaviness of other foods. White wine has a cleansing effect for flavorful food like fish. Red wine doesn’t have much acidity, making it a good choice for fatty chicken and other meats.

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Prep Tip #3: Only the best in BBQ

If you’re offering a barbecue, don’t offer just the same old slabs of meat as everyone else. Be more considered in your choices. Too many people ignore the fact they can cook seafood on the grill as well. Sweet corn, salad fixings and kebabs are lighter foods that are also great at contrasting heavier meat.

Prep Tip #4: Hit it at its freshest

If you’re using whole food ingredients, then get them at their absolute best. Most foods are seasonal and getting them in season results in fresher tastes. Most recipes you’ll find need all the flavor fresh ingredients can offer. So use a seasonal calendar to see the ingredients that will blow your guests’ socks off.

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Prep Tip #5: Easy desserts

We’re not necessarily talking about desserts that are easy to make (though that’s not always bad). Instead, it can be nice to have a change of scene after dinner. Why not make a dessert that they don’t have to sit at the table to eat? For example, you can click here to see cake pops that can be eaten just about anywhere. Just give them a napkin beforehand.

Prep Tip #6: Add a bit of color to the night

If you want things to be fun, then you want to delight all of their senses. This includes sight. Try to add a bit more color to your dish in the form of garnishes. If you don’t want to experiment with the food too much, look at what drinks you’re serving instead. A super bright cocktail with dessert can be just the right kind of dazzling finish.

Tags food prep, party prep

Healthy Living Tools of the Trade

Blenders: Why They Are 2016’s Hottest Appliance

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date August 10, 2016

Image via Pixabay

When it comes to kitchen appliances, we are all spoiled with choice. From freezers to microwaves, they help us cook, prepare and store our favorite food and beverages. But one appliance, in particular, is seeing a huge rise in popularity — the blender.

Image via Pixabay

To some, a blender might not seem like the most obvious appliance every kitchen needs to have. They are often an item that people own but keep hidden away in a cupboard. This is because a lot of the time they don’t know what benefits can come from using one. It can help you eat well, try new ingredients and get more creative with your meals. If you’re still unsure, here are some other things that a blender can bring to your life.

Countless Food Preparation Options

Many people think that you can only make smoothies with a blender. But this is entirely untrue. While smoothies are popular snacks (and sometimes meals) created in a blender, there are so many other things it can make too. You can create pancake batter, make homemade soups and even create your own ice-cream. The great thing about using a blender is that you have the freedom to choose what is included and what isn’t. You can leave out ingredients with high fat and salt content and swap them for healthier alternatives. This makes the blender an ideal appliance for those who want to start a healthy lifestyle or diet regime. Search for blender recipes online to see just how many options you have.

More Flexibility

Whether it’s at home or work, we all lead busy lives. This can make it difficult to find the time to prepare healthy, well-portioned meals and snacks. Convenience and processed food that can be cooked quickly is often the only option. However, a blender can provide you with speed and flexibility. You can place your ingredients into the blender and in no time they can be transformed into soups or smoothies. You can then place these items into a portable cup, which allows you to consume your blended creations on the go. You can also use your blender when you have more time to create meals and snacks too. With this much flexibility, it’s no wonder so many people are using them.

Blenders Are Easy to Use

As blenders have become more popular over the years, their manufacturers have improved their design. Unlike ones you may have used in the past, blenders are now sleek, fast and easy to clean and use. You can also personalize them to your requirement with different attachments and fixtures. They also come in an array of sizes so they can fit seamlessly into your kitchen and suit it’s style perfectly. Just remember that blenders do vary in price and quality. So it’s always best to read reviews to gain further insight before parting with your money. Take a look at this 6500 Vitamix to get you started.

It should now be pretty obvious why blenders have become so popular. Whether you want to make healthy eating more doable or just want to try something new, a blender is the perfect appliance for you.

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Take Charge of Your Health!

Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.

This Healthy Eating Worksheet will walk you through the process of creating a healthy eating plan. All you need to do is print it out, set aside some time to complete it, and then fill it out. Then you can create your plan, knowing that you have addressed potential obstacles and came up with some creative ways to handle them.

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Tags blender, blenders, blending, smoothie, smoothies

Creative Cookery

Can You Reduce The Amount Of Food You Waste?
Yes, With These Best Kept Secrets

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date July 11, 2016

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Food waste is becoming a big problem for many households. You buy a bag of salad fixings and then don’t use it up before it start becoming sludge — for example. Because of this, you end up spending more on your food bill, and it is a cost that can spiral out of control if you are not careful. Therefore, if you think you are wasting food, here are some of the best kept secrets to help you reduce it.

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Plan your meals

Meal planning can save a lot on food waste. This is because you are only using the ingredients you need to make the meals you plan. It’s easy to get into the habit of doing it. It just requires you to sit down and work out the meals you want to eat. You can just do it for your evening meals so you are better prepared. Or if you want to be super organized, consider planning your breakfast and lunch meals, as well. All of which will help you reduce your food waste.

Beware though — if you like to eat out on the spur of the moment, you’ll need to make adjustments on the fly. Many times I’ve ended up with food waste because I ate out more than I thought I would and fresh produce went bad before I could use it.

Make a food shopping list

Planning your meals then allows you to write a food shopping list rather than just going and buying what you think you need. The problem with shopping without a list is that you end up buying things you don’t need. You can get drawn into special offers like discounted items or get another item for free. All of which could end up being wasted. The best advice would be to write a list of all the items you need so you don’t buy more than necessary.

Don’t let food spoil

One of the biggest ways a household can waste food is by letting food spoil or go off. This is because we end up not using it in time and the use by date passes. The reason why we tend to do this is because we don’t prepare in advance by meal planning or writing a shopping list. However, if you do buy a few extra bits on your shopping trip, then you don’t need to worry about food waste anymore. There are ways you can prevent it. By buying a gadget like a Fooodsaver v3240, you can then store food correctly for freezing, meaning you can get use out of it another time.

Batch cooking

Sometimes buying food in bulk can save a lot of money overall. Which is a good way to be if you are looking to reduce your food bill. But if you don’t handle it in the right way you could end up wasting quite a lot, which defeats the purpose. This is why batch cooking is a great way to reduce food waste. Taking an afternoon and cooking up a bigger batch of a meal and then dividing it into portions. You can then freeze the portions. You will have a perfectly healthy balanced meal ready on those days that you don’t have time to cook. Reducing your food waste and your food bill at the same time.

I hope this has inspired you to reduce your food waste.

Tags food waste, meal planning

Healthy Living

Five Steps for Successfully Growing Your Own Food

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date July 9, 2016

Photo by Gellinger

We all know that whole, organic foods are an important part of a healthy diet. Getting familiar with your grocers is a good idea, but you can play a much more active role in your diet. Growing your own food can be as rewarding as it can be tasty. In this article, I’m going to give you a glimpse at just how you can get started.

Photo by Gellinger

Know what to plant and when

If you’re gardening outside, your plants are mostly going to be at the mercy of the weather. For that reason, you need to start developing schedules for when you can plant and harvest different foods. There’s never a season where you can’t grow something of your own. You don’t have to research too hard, either. There are all kinds of websites that have monthly schedules telling you when it’s a good time to plant one food or another.

Preparing your soil

But if you want to garden anything, you need to make sure that preparations are right for it. Too many people start buying seeds, shoots and bulbs and are surprised when they’re not growing at all. Make sure that the soil you’re using is healthy enough to sustain growth. This means making sure it has the right pH level for what you want to grow, for example. Using your natural food waste or buying fertilizer can help it along too.

Start with basics

If you’re entirely new to gardening or you want to make sure your first try is a success, then go for the vegetables that are among the easiest to grow. As you get used to it, you’ll learn more about planting and maintaining your food and be able to move to trickier customers. However, even the easiest vegetables to grow, like potatoes and salad leaves, can start to make a real contribution to your meals.

Make use of the space you have

Don’t worry, if you don’t have huge plots of land ready to nurture your future food, there are still ways to use the space you do have. For example, using plant pots or even vertical gardening can be enough. If you want to get serious about it, you can easily grow food indoors with a hydroponic growth system. These kinds of systems can also help you grow foods out of season.

Caring for your garden

Once you’ve found the place to plant them, chosen your foods and taken care of the soil you need to get into the habit of tending to your garden. As well as watering them, you need to take care of weeds and pests. Pests can eat away at your foods while weeds will choke off their access to nutrients and water. There are a variety of pesticides, mulches and even plants you can grow to make this less likely.

Hopefully, this article has inspired you to find the space to start the habit of growing your own food. Your meals will taste all the better for knowing how much care you put into the ingredients.

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Take Charge of Your Health!

Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.

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Tags growing food

Healthy Living

Should you avoid vegetable oil?

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date June 20, 2016

Public Domain Image

The most commonly used oil is vegetable oil, but is it good for you? | Public Domain Image

Using the wrong type of cooking oil can actually be making you gain weight. The most commonly used oil is vegetable oil, but is it good for you? I understand that it can be frustrating to decide which is the best cooking oil to use. One minute you are told to use peanut oil, then that olive oil is not all that it is cracked up to be. This post will try and clear most (if not all) of this up for you.

Many manufacturing companies falsely represent their oils. They tell you that their oil is healthy and will help you lower your cholesterol levels, while improving your blood pressure and more. In reality you are being misled by these companies.

The problem with vegetable oils is that the oil needs to be extracted, and this can only be done by using a chemical process, not a natural one. These oils are ones such as corn oil, sunflower, oil, canola oil and soy bean oil.

This technology is fairly new, so decades ago people just did not eat this type of oil at all. Which is also the reason why obesity was not such a huge concern then as it is now.

Vegetable oil is used in so many products including almost every single processed food out there on the market. Adding too much vegetable oil to your diet can lead to many health problems including weight gain, inflammation, heart disease, high cholesterol levels and more.

The problem with vegetable oil is that it contains huge amounts of Omega 6 oils. It is important to understand that the ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 oils should be kept at 1:1. Adding vegetable oils and processed foods throws this off completely. It is not unheard of for people to have ratios as high as 25:1.

Avoiding vegetable oil as much as possible can be a huge boost to your health. | Public Domain Image

The biggest side effect of this bad balance of oils is gaining weight. While our body does require fat to repair our cells, it does not require such high levels. When too much fat is available the excess is simply stored as additional fat.

This excess storage leads to problems such as clogged arteries and has been indirectly linked to some cancers.

So what can you do to combat this?

The easiest thing for you to do is to avoid using vegetable oil whenever possible. In fact try not to use it all. Unfortunately this is not as easy as it might sound. As I mentioned before, vegetable oil can be found in pretty much every type of processed food.

While avoiding vegetable oil as much as possible can be a huge boost to your health, there are other choices you have when it comes to cooking with oils. These are oils which are normally pressed, as opposed to extracted, even filtered oils are usually a better choice.

The healthiest oils available today include:

Ghee
Palm oil
Butter
Coconut oil
Olive oil
Avocado oil

Try these oils out in different ways. Use butter or ghee for frying eggs and onions. Coconut oil is great for roasting vegetables. Try them out and see which ones you like the most.

Whether you are trying to lose weight or just eat in a healthier manner, it is important to pay attention to the types of food you are including in your diet. Try to stay away from processed foods as much as possible. Get into the habit of reading food labels to see what type of oil the product contains. Remember you are making lifestyle changes and not just on a ‘diet’.

By avoiding vegetable oils and replacing it with a better alternative you will be doing your entire family a service. You will all stay healthier and slimmer and be happier for it.

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Take Charge of Your Health!

Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.

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Tags vegetable oil