AMUSE BOUCHE                 by Chef Chip Desormeaux

/ah-mooz boosh/ def: A small complimentary appetizer offered at fine restaurants. From French, literally, "it entertains the mouth."

Food & Entertaining Tips from Chef Chip

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Hi there! Bet you thought I forgot about you, didn't you? Well, no, I didn't. I've been itching to get back to my newsletter for three months now! But it's not without good reason that you haven't heard from me. As of December 1st last year, Kimberly and I took over a small café in Brookhaven! It's been a lot of hard work and it's really paying off!

We'd love to have you stop by next time you're in the area. The theme is "traditional foods prepared in a more healthy way." We serve the lunch crowd. Our menu is FANTASTIC and we're gaining quite a following in the few months we've owned it.

The name is The Café at Nuts N Berries. If you're familiar with Brookhaven, it's on Peachtree Rd. between Capital City Golf Club and Oglethorpe University.

I just put up a simple website for the café. In the coming weeks I'll be putting more work into it so you can see what we're up to. Don't worry, I'll keep y'all updated! Today I thought I'd write about something just slightly off the subject of food. Enjoy!

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On Health & Happiness

As we grow a little older, most of us begin to have more and more attention on our health. We buy books, see our doctors, consult friends, scour the Internet.

There's a tremendous volume of information floating around, each one approaching health from a different angle. And there's so much conflicting information out there that even our doctors are just making a best guess based on the information made available to them.

And some of us get so caught up in the whole thing, nearly to the point of hypochondria! I think some of us forget that our body is but one part of what we carry around with us.

It's very easy to get a feeling of doom & gloom after hearing from a friend about some new cause of cancer or maybe a new book you just read or seeing a news report on the Internet. I know I do. It seems like every week I hear about another food we shouldn't eat because a new report says it causes some sort of "lumbosis" or other.

But what we all should remember is that there is no substitute for living a happy, productive life. Hard work and exercise will cure just about anything. Being productive and pursuing a worthwhile goal produces happiness. Constant worry about sickness produces just exactly that—more sickness!

I'm sure you can remember a time when you lost something or someone valuable to you. You probably actually felt just a little sick, right? Well, you were. At that moment you were just a little bit more susceptible to ill health.

And I'm sure you can also remember a time when you succeeded at something you worked very hard at. Or maybe a time when someone let you know how much they appreciated having you around. Bet you didn't feel sick then, right? In fact, I bet you felt a little bit invincible! Indeed, you were.

Yes, please do eat good quality produce from a reputable farmer. Please do try to eliminate the junk that you put into your body. Please do cut back on food-from-a-box and learn to cook for yourself. Yes, please do consult a nutritionist to help put you on track to better physical health. That's all very important stuff.

But if you find yourself becoming "all-consumed" in transforming your entire diet into the next big thing that will allow us all to live to 150, please remember that there is still no substitute for simply being productive. Please don't forget that putting a smile on your face even when you feel like something else is usually the best preventive medicine!

If all your focus is centered on your body and what you're going to do with it, then that's really what you've become: just a body.

Take good care of yourself. Be an asset of strength to your family. Set a good example amongst your friends. Work hard. And be kind to your planet.

And eat well.

Bon Appetit!

Chef Chip Desormeaux

Lagniappe!

/lahn-yop/ def: A Cajun term for "a little something extra, more than what you paid for."

Recipe. We have a lot of great things on the menu at our café. But I was really surprised to find out how popular our soups are with our customers.

Flu season seems to be making an extended stay this year. And our Grandma's Chicken Soup is one great weapon against whatever ails ya.

For chicken soup to be most effective, it needs to be prepared with a whole chicken—bones and all. The bone marrow is where the body produces blood cells and the antibodies needed to fight off disease. And when a soup is prepared with the whole bird, all those antibodies from the chicken get pulled right out into the broth. Our chicken soup is super easy to make. Only six ingredients, if you don't count water, salt and pepper!

Be sure to prepare your soup with all natural or organic chicken only—any other chicken was probably raised on hormones and antibiotics, all of which will end up in the broth, too.

Recipe here.


Quote. "All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast." ~John Gunther

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