Julia Garreaud
Member Since:
Dec. 2008
Cooking Level:
Intermediate
Cooking Interests:
Baking, Grilling & BBQ, Slow Cooking, Mexican, Italian, Nouvelle, Healthy, Dessert, Kids, Quick & Easy
Hobbies:
Boating, Biking, Walking, Photography, Reading Books, Music
I love to cook but I have to admit my husband IS the COOK in our home. I enjoy being exposed to foods from all over the world. I am also fascinated with regional foods from each of the United States. Peruvian food is one of my favorites. I rarely watch the food network but I enjoy cookbooks and food websites. I love cooking with my family and we each have different roles. I have inspired my young teenage son to start cooking this year and he joined allrecipes.com as well!
My favorite things to cook
I let the four seasons in New England inspire me! During the cold winters comfort foods like Lobster Macaroni and Cheese, Lasagna, Chicken or Beef Enchilada's are great. There is nothing better than hot soup and crusty hot bread dipped in olive oil. New England Clam Chowder, French Onion and creamy Tomato are some of my favorite. Summer is all about grilling, and gourmet picnics at the lake. Fresh salads, vegetables and fruit from my local farm. And the sweet corn on the cob found in New England is the best in the country!
My favorite family cooking traditions
My parents Thanksgiving Dinner became the same tradition for many years but we started to vary some side dishes to add a new spin. My son loves Blueberry pancakes in the summer with hand picked berries and will visit a maple farm during maple season this spring in New Hampshire for some real maple syrup. In memory of my brother I always eat a Boston Cream Pie on his Birthday which was his favorite cake. My favorite dessert is my Moms Bread Pudding but my version is better... I added fresh blueberries and there is nothing better than a piping hot blueberry bread pudding!
My cooking triumphs
I catered a 50th anniversary party for my sons private school for about 100 people. I designed a great menu and prepared about 80% of the food myself. It was a lot of work but the event marked such a significant milestone for the school it was a labor of love. When my son was 12 we had a burger cook off. I put about 12 different ingredients on the counter and we just dug in. In addition to flavor we judged how well the burger was cooked, visual appeal, etc... Although I won Chef Junior came in very close behind... My Patti melt rocked. My secret ingredient was a spoonful of Peruvian yellow pepper sauce!
My cooking tragedies
I just recently broiled some bacon in the oven. I left the kitchen for a couple minutes too long... the smoke set off the fire alarm and the bacon got torched! I corrected that problem the second time around!