SoHomade.com
Lifestylist® Suzanne Felber shares her ideas on making cooking easy, affordable, and tasty
Lifestylist® Designed Restaurant Has a Bobby Flay Throwdown
Aug 13th
I am so excited! I just learned that Bobby Flay traveled to Tucson and had a “throwdown” with the Matias family at Teresa’s Mosaic Cafe. This is a restaurant that we did the interior of, and as with all Lifestylist® Designed challenges we spent a lot of time getting to know the family and their needs before we came up with a plan.
Teresa’s is all about family and the wonderful handmade food so the interior had to have as much personality as the family does. To do this we designed tables made of handmade tiles – over 20,000 of them all that we made by hand. It was an extensive amount of work but the results were definitely worth it.
The episode airs on the Food Network - check out dates and times for your area.
Robins Bite
Aug 2nd
Something that is very important to this Lifestylist® is cooking with kids, and teaching them from the beginning how to eat well and delight in the food that they eat. As part of this passion I’ve gotten involved in Days of Taste and met Robin Plotkin – an amazing Licensed Dietitian, communications consultant and Mom. She has given her time to the Days of Taste program for years and truly understands the importance of teaching kids about nutrition and making it fun.
Tomorrow is a day I’m really excited about – I get to work with Robin and Lisa Stewart Photography on a project to spread the word about Robins Bite. Lots of food, styling and great information. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to share the results with you here.
Where’s The Beef?
Jul 26th
I’ll be the first to admit it. Unless I’m getting ready to enter the cooking contests at the State Fair of Texas I tend to be a lazy cook. Whatever takes the least amount of time to make with the least cleanup works for me. Because of this, my grilling time is very limited, and I love a great burger but usually I’m too lazy to make one.
Last year the Central Market near my home on Lovers Lane started grilling outdoors on weekends. It was fantastic – their great fresh burgers and cooked over a wood fired grill, and usually live music to enjoy your burger or fish taco with. They also provided lettuce, red onions, gourmet pickles and vine ripened tomatoes sliced perfectly to dress your burger with that didn’t taste like cardboard. It became my favorite weekend thing to do, and it got me into the store to do my weekly shopping while I was there.
This year they were out there one weekend grilling up sliders, but it wasn’t the same. Since then no sign of my favorite weekend pastime. Come on, Central Market – help a lazy cook out!
Til Midnight at the Nasher Sculpture Center
Jul 17th
Sometimes it’s just to hot to cook at home, so last night I decided to let the Wolfgang Puck team at the Nasher Sculpture Center do it for me. They have a wonderful series titled ‘Til Midnight at the Nasher, and as part of that you can order an amazing picnic basket of goodies and then enjoy it under the stars and amazing works of art. This was my second time to attend, and it’s quickly a must attend event that I’m looking forward to every month. If you aren’t a member of the Nasher you should be – besides getting invitations to special events it also gives you access to the members tent where this month they hosted an organic wine tasting that was wonderful.
Being a Lifestylist® is all about helping people live their lives with style, and I can’t think of a better place to do that than here!
Culinary Comeback in the Works for Previous Next Food Network Star Contestant
Jul 12th
We just read on our favorite foodie blog - SideDish – that Lisa Garza has been seen around town in Dallas and is poised to make a culinary comeback. Nancy Nichols seems to always get the inside scoop so we’ll be anxiously awaiting more details and report them here as soon as we find out more!
You might remember Lisa from her appearance on The Next Food Network Star a few seasons ago. For some reason the judges never warmed up to her, but she was the one talent on the show that prepared anything I’d ever want to eat. Plus she always had lots of style and was a delight to watch and learn from. I still think about the marmalade she prepared, and here’s hoping there will be a place we can purchase some of that soon!
Do You Yelp?
Jul 7th
One of my favorite new resources is yelp.com – an online resource that can help you find restaurants, hotels, nightlife and shopping in your local area, or wherever you are traveling to. Members review and talk about stores and services and help you find where “the locals” go. I’ve tried this in several cities and have gotten great suggestions. One of the great things about traveling is getting to try new things, and with the yelp app on my iphone I’m good to go! It will also help you find the closest gas station and emergency services if you ever need them.
You can also also go directly to the reviews of a member you like or trust – please check out this Lifestylist’s reviews on Yelp here.
This is another great resource that can help you save money and time when you are making your travel plans. Let me know what your profile is and I’ll follow you as well!
Jr Chef Camp is a Wonderland at the Gaylord Texan
Jun 26th
Looking for something fun but educational to do with the kids this summer? The Gaylord Texan is hosting their Jr Chef Camp again this summer, and this year the theme is Alice in Wonderland. I can’t think of a better theme for this unique experience, because getting to work side by side with the very talented professional chefs and staff in the kitchens at the Old Hickory Steakhouse is a chance of a lifetime for the lucky participants.
Chef Joanne Bondy has come up with another great series of menus including “Smoke the Monster Out!”, “Bread and Butterflies Brunch” and “A Very Merry Birthday”. The kids learn about what goes on behind the scenes in a restaurant and get to prepare the meal from prepping to serving it to their parents and friends at the end of class. They also receive copies of the recipes so they can make the dishes at home and a commemorative chef’s hat, apron and photo of the class and the chefs.
My very own Jr Lifestylist® Jenna and her cousin Sam took the class last year and they absolutely loved it. Jenna went home with a new love of cooking – she even helped make her birthday cake this year and is now talking about being a chef when she grows up.
My only complaint is that they don’t have a class for adults – I’d love to take every class!
For more information contact the Gaylord Texan at: 817-722-9423.
I’m in Love with Anthony Bourdain
Jun 17th
There is something about a person who is passionate about food that you have to fall in love with. And when it’s a person who is eloquent with words and food… what can I say?
This morning I tuned into the Today Show just in time to catch Anthony Bourdain being interviewed by Matt Lauer, and what a great way to start the week! Chef Bourdain just released his latest book, Medium Raw and I can’t wait to get a copy and read it cover to cover – it sounds like the perfect pool side reading.
Lifestylist Advisory – It’s Free!
Jun 8th
We are starting a new blog – Lifestylist® Advisory Services. As Lifestylists® we are out in the trenches every day finding new sources, great foodie destinations and traveling from coast to coast truly experiencing life and style. On our new blog we will share the best and the worst of customer experiences, and we already have some experiences that might surprise you. The best part is that all of this is at no charge to you – please just let the businesses that you learned about here know where you found out about them.
Have you had some experiences you would like to share with us? Email us at: answers@lifestylist.com and we’ll share the best ones on the Lifestylist® Advisory.
Sohomade Peach Ice Cream
May 31st
Summer is definitely here, and I decided to celebrate this Memorial Day weekend by trying out my Lifestylist® skills making something I’ve been craving – homemade ice cream. Lucky for me JC Penney had a great sale on so I got a great deal on my new Cuisinart Flavor Duo and it’s exactly what I wanted – easy prep and cleanup and you don’t need a bunch of items that you already wouldn’t have around the house. No rock salt needed – this uses two freezer bowls that easily fit and can stay in your freezer. I LOVE that it has the two separate bowls so you can make two different flavors at the same time without making more than you can eat in a weekend.
For my test run I opted for a fresh peach ice cream using peaches grown at the wonderful Lemley Farms in Tyler. They have a stall at our local Farmers Market and I couldn’t pass them up. I like a custard style ice cream which means you have to do some cooking but it was well worth it. There are some recipes in the instruction manual for ice cream where you just add ingredients – no cooking necessary.
The entire process could not have been easier, and sitting on the porch eating fresh ice cream brought back such great memories of the times our family shared when we all got together of all of the holidays. Now I can’t wait for my grandkids to visit so I can make some ice cream and memories with them as well.