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FOOD FOR FERN
There’s no place like home...
What is it like when a chef cooks in the confines of your home? Just ask Brittany Baldwin who not only takes her delicious cuisine to your table and takes care of your family but she takes care of the environment as well. The Portland Home Chef does it all like any chef who works at a restaurant but instead does this right in your kitchen. She definitely provides a very healthy and sustainable eating experience for your family. From the spot where she picks the food to where the food’s packages are thrown, Brittany Baldwin is revolutionizing today’s cooking experience with her sustainable practices which will be much appreciated in for future generations. If you want to put your eggs in one basket, it should be definitely in hers. FERNTV got an exclusive interview with the one who they call The Portland Home Chef...
FERNTV: Please tell us here at FERNTV how this idea come about?
Brittany: I noticed many restaurants beginning to start their own gardens or work directly with farms and I thought my business would work well within that idea. Plus I could fit it into the locavore movement by moving to a farm/garden space within 30 miles of the city. From there the recycling and composting fell into place. I feed the kitchen scraps to my chickens and take home any recycling the city won't take in my clients bins. (plastic bags and lids)
FERNTV: Do you feel that being a home chef are you more likely to spark change in a family's eating habits rather than cooking at a restaurant?
Brittany: Yes, but on an unconscious level. They don't have to think about it. I just do it for them. I also research products and find tricks to saving more waste from going to the landfill. I cook a weeks worth of meals and throw away just a handful of meat wrapping paper. Everything else is utilized, composted or recycled. I think I greatly reduce the food miles and overall carbon footprint for the ten families I work for. They might otherwise order out food in non recyclable containers or buy products that can't be recycled.
FERNTV: There have been always been the saying, "Eating healthy is never tasty" but now that is so not true...do you feel that people were just used to the taste of comfort food and were just too lazy to change their ways.
Brittany: I think there are many healthy tasty foods, it's just hard to come up with something when you get home after a long day and don't have any time to fix your family a balanced meal. Convenience food is the main culprit in bad diets. (Convenience food also usually carries more food miles and comes over packaged) I think my service opens people's eyes to how good healthy food can taste and how good it can make you feel. Parents can also feel better that their children are being raised on whole foods rather than processed TV dinners. I don't think it's laziness, we're a very busy society, we work long hours, our kids are in sports and extra curricular activities, its hard enough to get everyone together around a table let alone find the time to make everything from scratch and get to the store to buy it.
I myself get home and don't feel like cooking after cooking all day. To prevent myself from reaching for bad foods I try to take the time on a weekend afternoon to prep a few things so that my weekday meals are easier to make in a shorter amount of time. I make a pot or beans or legumes (good for the heart and a dinner side), a soup or a roast turkey breast for lunches, maybe a casserole to defrost later in the week. I also will cook off a large piece of meat like a whole chicken or pork shoulder roast and turn it into three different dinners (roast chicken with potatoes and carrots, enchiladas the next night and chicken pasta the third -for example). I end the week with seafood -it is easy and quick to cook and in a pinch can be thrown over rice in a rice cooker with some garden veggies and a miso-citrus sauce. The couple hours I invest on Sunday makes my life easier and tastier all week.
FERNTV: People never see the output of cooking in terms of waste unless you are in the industry, what are some of the things you and your program do to reduce waste.
Brittany: I save all veggie and fruit scraps and feed them to my chickens and compost them in my own compost. I buy products locally made with minimal packaging (mustard, bbq sauce, tortillas, etc). I use cloth shopping bags and try to get everything in one trip to the store. I recycle everything but the meat wrapping paper, use reusable storage and cooking dishes and provide organic farm eggs.
FERNTV: I guess some families never want you to leave the kitchen and always want you to come back?
Brittany: Yes I have heard proposals of putting an ankle bracelet on me so that they always know where to find me. Some of them also talk about bringing me to the old folks home with them. but in general I've worked with the same families since i started the company and as a result have become one of the family. Especially with their dogs and cats who flank my sides while I cook begging for scraps.
FERNTV Can you briefly describe how fun your cooking classes are?
Brittany: Its fun to have a chef work privately in the comfort of your own home. I do all the shopping then show up and work with one, two, or 8 guests on a range of items. My services are often given as a birthday or present They open a bottle of wine and we cook and feast for a couple hours. They are left with a recipe packet, leftovers, and I allow them to call me and ask me questions a few times after the class if they think of anything else. I recently helped a student apply what he learned in my class about making Bechamel Sauce to his Thanksgiving turkey gravy.
Here is a write up I recently received from Portland Picks!: http://www.portlandpicks.com/newsletter/0299.php
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