Tag: story time

blog post

Story Time: How I Fell in Love with Food

tlkitchen

I have said it before and I will say it a million times more: I love food! Food to me is more than just something to eat, it’s something to create and to experience. Like most foodies, my love for food started at a really young age. Growing up there were a lot of times we did not have much. My mother was a single parent with three kids and she did her best to take care of us. I appreciate those times because they made me into the well rounded adult that I am today. Some nights, we did not have much of anything to eat and my mother wouldn’t really know what to do. I was not to oldest of my siblings but I always felt like I had to protect everyone and I took it upon myself to see what was going on in the fridge.

This is where is all began, at the age of 9 I was living the life of a real episode of Chopped and creating dinners out of a basket of random things I found around the kitchen. My mother was always so surprised when I would call everyone down the stairs and she would say things like “where did this come from?” or that wasn’t even in the fridge!?” I was always so proud of myself and very happy that I was able to help my family any way that I could.

I learned the basics of cooking from my grandmother. She taught me how do to things like make eggs, Fry foods and bake box cakes. Most of the things I learned in the kitchen were from watching Food Network. When I got older, I started to do a lot more research about different kinds of food and spices. I started experimenting more with flavors and developing my own style of cooking. Of course, I am no pro, there is so much more I want to know and learn about food and cooking and I am excited to do so. I am actually considering going to culinary school, so that I can become on actual professional and have the chef title. Chef Cannon…..that has a nice ring to it!

What started off as a way for me to help my family through the struggle, ended up turning into my passion. I hope one day I will look back at this post and see how far I have come and I hope to really make a name for myself in the culinary world.

TLCannon

blog post, food blogger

Story Time: My First Encounter with Tofu

tlkitchen

For those of you who are not vegetarians or vegans the thought of tofu is probably scary. You hear all the horror stories about it being bland, slimy and gross. And just like you, I was a bit skeptical trying it for the first time. In today’s story time, I want to talk about my first run in with tofu and how my relationship with it has evolved over the years. Hopefully, I can inspire at least one person, who may be afraid of tofu, to try it at least once and who knows, you may even love it.

I waited for a good solid year before I even considered trying tofu. After awhile I felt like I had to try it, I mean, I am a vegetarian and this is something a vegetarian would eat. I thought maybe I was missing out on something but at the same time, much like brussels sprouts, tofu had a bad rep. People would tell me it lacked textured, it taste like nothing or it was the worst thing they ever tried. A lot of my friends would say they can only eat it in miso soup and I should try it that way first. In true Telisha Fashion however, I decided not to go with the norm and try it in miso soup but to order General Tso tofu from a Chinese food restaurant instead.

By this time, I was in college, full of life and way too excited to try this tofu dish. I would like to point out that I was in Michigan and Michigan, in my opinion, does not have the best Chinese food. I walked back to my dorm, food in hand and I was so ready to open up a new chapter in my culinary journal. My first impression was that it didn’t smell too bad. In my meat eating life, I really enjoyed General Tso chicken, so I was familiar with the sauce. Not going to lie though, it didn’t look that great. I picked up a piece with my fork and it slide right off, I swear I even saw it giggle a little bit as it fell back into the tray. At this point, I am not feeling so great about this but my mama didn’t raise no punk, and I was not going to back out now! Let’s fast forward a little bit and by this time I am face down in a toilet, trying desperately to rid my body of that foreign giggly piece of whatever I just ate. You ever eat something and get angry? I was so over it and just ended up throwing the whole meal away.

Going forward about 6 months later, tofu crossed my mind again. I have always been the kind of person to give things more than one try. I decided not to buy it from a restaurant this time but to actually prepare it at home. When I opened up the package I thought it smelled weird, I almost called it quits again but I decided to keep going. I had found a recipe online for Crispy Fried Tofu. I made it….I tried it…I loved it! At the point I realized that it wasn’t that I didn’t like it the first time, it was that, I did not like how it was prepared.

Over the years, I have made so may tofu recipes. From homemade tofu sausage to my own upgrade and so much better, general tso tofu. The thing to know about tofu is that alone, it is bland but that is my favorite part about it. Think of it as a blank canvas and you, as the artist, has the opportunity to add some much life and flavor to it. When I talk to people about tofu now, I always recommend trying it fried first because it was a game changer for me. I also say, ‘If you don’t like it the first time, try it again.’ Trying new things is always a little nerve racking but think about how much you can miss out on, if you never open your mind (and palate) to something new. I love tofu so much now that I can eat it even without adding anything to it. A complete 180 from my first encounter with it. I encourage you to give it a try and hey, if you don’t like it, you just don’t like it and that is okay too.

I have a ton a tofu recipes that I would love to share with you! I can even make a Tofu 101 post if you guys are interested. Just let me know! In all, never let fear get in the way of you trying something new, every journey begins with a clear mind and an open heart.

-T.L Cannon

blog post, food blogger

Story Time: My Veg-Out Journey

tlkitchen

Becoming a vegetarian is easily one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life! I have learned so much about food, flavor and even discovered a passion that I never knew I had. The journey of becoming a vegetarian, for me at least, wasn’t as hard as you would think but trust me, things did get a little weird for a while. I figured I could share with you how my now 8 year journey has been and hopefully encourage you to either stay strong or give vegetarianism a try! (Even if it’s just meat-less Mondays).

It all started in February of 2011, two boring teenagers (My best friend and I) had absolutely nothing to do with ourselves, so we decided to be random and say we were going to be vegetarians for a week…because why not. I’ll never forget my last meat meal was a Jamaican chicken wrap from Tropical smoothie (I worked there at the time and it was one of my favorites). Finally the day came, February 7th, 2011, Super bowl Sunday and it was time to start this “one week” journey of randomness. Sadly, my best friend tapped out on me only after a few hours but in her defense, her mom made grilled chicken and steak and ribs and burgers for the Super bowl and she broke immediately ( 8 years and I still have not let her live this down). I however, was super determined to stay the course, so that I could prove that I could do it. I’ll never forget the first thing I cooked. I made some weird spicy cream spinach and homemade tortilla chips that I sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on. I know what you are thinking but it was actually really good and that was the first time I discovered that I really liked that sweet and spicy flavor profile. My interest was peaked and I decided to do research on what it really meant to be a vegetarian. I read books and articles and even watched documentaries. One documentary in particular that I watched was Food Inc……Yeah, that one. I just remember staring blankly at the computer once it was over and stating ‘I will never get meat again.’

Needless to say, my one week journey of being a vegetarian has now stretched out to 8 years , 3 months and counting. It was a bit of a roller coaster in the beginning. I was always hungry and as a result, I ate carb, after carb, after carb and after 1 year and 50lbs later, I knew I needed to make a change. That is when I learned to trade my carbs for protein instead. I also go back and forth between being vegetarian and vegan. I love the idea of veganism but seriously, have you even had Gouda cheese!! To this day, I still do a vegan month from time to time but I realized being 100% vegan was just not me for. Honestly, the craziest part of becoming a vegetarian (besides the fact that my family and friends did not believe me until I was almost 2 years in) was the dreams! I had meat nightmares guys!! Do not laugh because it was serious. I would get chased my hot dogs and cooked chicken, BBQ ribs forcing me to eat mac-n-cheese but the dream that I had more frequently and that scared me the most, was drowning in a pool of pork chops! I literally would wake up screaming or drenched in sweat. The dreams lasted for about 2 years, more in the first year and then on and off in the second year before they completely stopped. You don’t know fear until a rotisserie chicken and chasing you down the street.

I believe compared to others, I kind of lucked out when it came to my journey. Almost like, it was destined for me to be a vegetarian because I did not find it extremely difficult. I tell people all the time, it is 100% mental and you have to be ready mentally in order to start the journey because if not, you will be just like my best friend on day one….or hour 3, haha. I have so many stories and so much more to tell but I don’t want to post be any longer than it already is. So in closing, I hope that there is at least one person out there that can relate to my story or my post has lighten my mood a bit for anyone who may be scared to start vegetarianism. There is no perfect way to start or some secret formula, everyone’s journey will have different flowers, so take yours for what it is and allow it to bloom in it’s own way.

Best,

T.L Cannon