Pretty Eats

Pretty Eats

How do you make food look pretty?
My mother made the most delicious food and each item on the plate was attractive. Her prime rib done on a Farberware grill in the kitchen was wondrous: it smelled divine and the drippings were used in her famous gravy, which was like velvet.I don't recall garnishes, like parsley, or the garden Kale used so often these days.
Salads were crisp and the bowl was chilled-it was so good. Her go-to salad dressing was Good Seasons, in the envelope-Italian.
My Dad did not care for salads, but there they were and I loved them.
When I look back on my father's ribs on the grill and the beautiful mahogany finish on them, I think that garnishes don't have to be there-the food speaks for itself, doesn't it? He marinated the ribs in Good Seasons Italian dressing and garlic.

Candles are the ultimate garnish!

Our daughter, Sharon

Dinner on a warm day: salad, roasted squash, apples, cheese, and good ol' Wisconsin summer sausage (delivered to us with love by our Wisconsin cousins)-garnished with wine! 

Working in restaurants when I was a young bride, taught me all about ...PARSLEY!That was the only garnish I saw, except for cherries on sundaes.

I used parsley on everything in those days.

It was everywhere and I thought it made food so elegant. I never ate it-I just looked at it.

Recently, on a trip to Sonoma, CA.we lavished  ourselves with two meals at LaSalette.

LaSalette is named for Chef Manuel Acevedo's mother, Salette.

Dinner at Lasalette, Sonoma, CA.

Bacalhau-cod and potatoes, garnished with quail eggs and a bit of parsley.

My husband loved the pork rolls with stuffing and cheese potato croquette.Can you see the garnish?

LaSalette is perfection every time, serving traditional Portuguese cuisine with a modern twist.

So, whether you love simple cuisine, or enjoy a diversified menu of the many cultures  around the world, the food and the people you cook for and share your food (and your parsley) with are the thing! As Jacques Pepin says, 

"HAPPY COOKING!"