You know her cooking, now meet Jolanda - OCRegister

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You know her cooking, now meet Jolanda - OCRegister

You know her cooking, now meet Jolanda - OCRegister

Posted: 29 May 2021 07:40 PM PDT

Mention the name "Jolanda" in the Village, and chances are, just about everyone will know who you mean.

She's Jolanda Day, caterer extraordinaire, who's been providing feasts for all sorts of Village events — luncheons for Mother's Day, Christmas and other holidays; meals tailored to the Kentucky Derby, Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick's Day and other events; dinners for special club gatherings; even private parties.

She also runs Jolanda's Cafe, a breakfast and lunch place in Lake Forest that is open daily.

All in all, a very busy schedule.

"I tend to work seven days a week — not because I'm a workaholic, but because it is something I have always loved," she says. "I believe that it's most important to do what you love and do it with integrity, and the money will follow. Maybe not a lot of money, but enough to enjoy your life."

  • Jolanda's Cafe and Catering in Lake Forest is open for pickup and free delivery, but its mainstay is catering parties and events in Laguna Woods Village. (Courtesy of Jolanda's Cafe)

  • Croissant sandwiches line a table at Jolanda's Cafe in Lake Forest, a popular restaurant among Laguna Woods residents. (Courtesy of Jolanda Day)

  • A salad at Jolanda's Cafe in Lake Forest. (Courtesy of Jolanda Day)

  • A veggie omelet at Jolanda's Cafe in Lake Forest. (Courtesy of Jolanda Day)

  • Lucy serves up some coffee at Jolanda's Cafe in Lake Forest. (Courtesy of Jolanda Day)

  • Jolanda Day has been providing the feasts for luncheons, special events and club gatherings in Laguna Woods Village for decades. She also runs Jolanda's Cafe in Lake Forest. Here she sits in her cafe. (Courtesy of Jolanda Day)

Jolanda — that's how she prefers to be called, she said, because nobody in the Village knows her by her last name — has been catering for about 35 years. Born and raised in Switzerland, she spent a considerable amount of time in Texas before she came to California in the late 1990s.

"I came to study in America from Switzerland for a year," she said, laughing. "I never went back, other than to visit family."

She came by the catering business just as unexpectedly, after a chance meeting.

"I met a French woman at a swim meet where my kids were competing, and we became good friends," she said. "One day she asked me if I would help her with an upcoming catering event that she had booked at a residence in Laguna Woods."

Jolanda agreed and observed how the woman was preparing the dinner. This gave Jolanda the idea that she would be able to do the same thing, only much better, simply by being more organized.

"My dad was a chef, and he worked in many restaurants and hotels, so as a young child I was always running around in big commercial kitchens," she recalled. "I was familiar and comfortable with all the food terminology, and I always wanted to be in the food business, even as a child. I decided that helping my friend was going to be my future and allowed me to contribute to our household."

For many years, Jolanda catered only in people's homes for small groups of 10 to 30 people.

"My business and my confidence began to grow, and one day someone asked me to cater a dinner for 200 people in a clubhouse in Laguna Woods," she said. "I wasn't sure if I could pull this off. I had never imagined myself catering to this many people."

She was extremely nervous about the prospect, she said, but then she read a passage in a Reader's Digest magazine: "How do you know you can't do something unless you try?"

"Those words resonated with me, and that was it," she said.

Jolanda catered the event, and it went well. Her business grew, with her primary clientele in the Village.

In January 2000, she bought a small, unassuming cafe in Lake Forest where she figured she could prepare the food for her catering business.

"I had never intended to be a restaurant owner, but to my surprise, the cafe took off and has been a cozy breakfast place for many locals," she said.

Along the way, Jolanda has had help from her family. Her husband, Don, was an active participant in the catering business until he died a few years ago. Peter, one of her two sons, is her  "valuable right-hand man in the business," and her daughter is a teacher who lives in Los Angeles. Jolanda is also a proud grandmother of four girls.

In March 2020, the pandemic changed everything in her business. All the clubhouses shut down, and there have been no events to cater for more than a year.

"My cafe came to a point where I was afraid that I would have to close the doors and lay off my employees who have been so loyal to me for 20 years," Jolanda said.

To survive, she started delivering boxed lunches and dinners.

That June, she was asked to participate in a state program called Great Plates Delivered, administered through Age Well Senior Services, to deliver food to eligible seniors. The program was a lifesaver.

"It kept me afloat financially," she said, "and I was able to retain all my employees."

The program ended in late November, but the cafe's doors are open again, and Jolanda and her crew have resumed regular daily food deliveries.

Despite the rough times, the principles Jolanda started out with have never wavered: "My philosophy has always been to give my customers their money's worth, to always keep my word no matter what, and to always provide what I promised, even if it meant losing money on the job," she said.

"I conducted my business with no contracts to be signed and my word was all that was needed. In all these years, I never had a customer skip on the payment."

And she can look back on her accomplishments with pride.

"The cafe, although it wasn't what I ever thought I'd own, has grown to be a very charming place where people can gather and feel comfortable knowing that the food, taste and quality will be great, and they will never go away hungry," she said.

Jolanda's Cafe, at 23615 El Toro Road, Suite T, in Lake Forest,  is open seven days a week, from 7:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. Call 949-951-8675 or go to jolandascatering.com.

Therapeutic cooking classes for individuals with disabilities coming to Ocala - Ocala News

Posted: 29 May 2021 07:06 AM PDT

Individuals with disabilities are being encouraged to participate in a new series of therapeutic cooking classes coming to west Ocala. 

The Ocala Recreation and Parks department will host a "Please Pass the Peas" cooking class starting Thursday, June 3, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Barbara G. Washington Center, located at 210 NW 12th Avenue. 

The class is aimed at helping those individuals with disabilities looking for hands-on opportunities to learn some new skills and make some new friends. 

This week's class will focus on making Asian lettuce wraps. 

Participants will learn about nutrition, meal planning, budgeting and safe food handling. 

Anyone interested in attending may either do so online via Zoom, or in person at the center. The cost to participate is $5 per class. Zoom participants will be emailed the access code and recipe after registration. 

Classes will be held the first Thursday of each month, and participants are encouraged to register a week in advance for each class. For more information or to register for this program, visit the "Please Pass the Peas" event page. 

To read about additional upcoming events and programs, visit the Ocala Recreation and Parks website.

Vienna native enters Hell's Kitchen armed with a passion for cooking - Tysons Reporter

Posted: 25 May 2021 08:00 AM PDT

When the new season of the FOX cooking competition series Hell's Kitchen premieres next Monday, Vienna native Brynn Gibson will be one of 18 chefs competing for the title. This season's theme is "Young Guns," meaning the chefs were all 24 years old or younger at the time of filming.

Gibson grew up in Vienna, just a bike ride away from Tysons. Her love of cooking stems from seeing how food brought her family and friends together and how it creates a very personal connection between the chef and the customer.

"When we'd eat lunch at school and stuff, we would all sit together, and I saw that food has the power to bring people together," Gibson told Tysons Reporter. "And that was something that I deeply cared about, just being able to share a part of myself through my food with other people, because I think it's a very personal way of sharing, you know, almost intimately with other people."

Gibson's path to Hell's Kitchen started in a Facebook group, where she was discovered by a recruiter for the show. After some skepticism, she agreed to audition. She is now grateful she took the opportunity, summing up her experience on the show as "life-changing."

"Not in the sense of the rewards and everything," she clarified. "It was just being in such a high-intensity environment, and everyone was so passionate, especially Chef Ramsay…That was kind of my 'make it or break it' moment, and it really helped me focus on the fact that this is something that I want to do for my career and for the rest of my life."

Gibson is a self-taught cook, aside from a few cooking classes in Vienna when she was 12. Before the show, she had worked as a prep cook, but with just a couple of years of college experience under her belt, she admits feeling "extremely intimidated" before filming, since she had to quickly adapt to new situations, such as running a brigade system.

Part of that intimidation also came from internationally renowned chef and Hell's Kitchen host Gordon Ramsey, who is as known for his tempermental, profane media persona as his cooking.

"I was extremely intimidated by him just because he exuded this passion," Gibson said. "But after the initial intimidation, I was in awe constantly when I was around him just because he exuded this greatness and this excellence and this…love for the craft."

Since the show filmed in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Gibson has been focused on pursuing her passion in Providence, Rhode Island. She opened her own business called The Dumpling Den in 2020 and runs a blog called The Nugget Box.

"I made dumplings here and there," Gibson said. "And more recently, with this whole pandemic situation, I decided to leave one of my jobs in the industry and pursue [my passion] full time. I've been doing pop-ups in downtown Providence, and it's been amazing."

Gibson says that, thanks to the "Young Guns" theme, she has been able to cultivate friendships with other chefs who are also starting their own businesses right now, and they have been able to lean on each other for support.

"It was just so amazing to be able to be around a bunch of young people that were just as passionate as I was, and I am still in contact with a couple of them," said Gibson. "And having that support system and seeing how everyone is doing is just amazing."

Hell's Kitchen: Young Guns will premiere on Monday, May 31 at 8 p.m. on FOX.

Photo via Michael Becker/FOX

How to turn cooked spinach into saag paneer – recipe - The Guardian

Posted: 28 May 2021 10:02 PM PDT

Unless you're cooking with a particularly robust bunch of spinach, the stalks can be cooked alongside the more tender leaves. To cook spinach whole, lay the stalks in the bottom of a thick-based pan and fold the leaves over the top. Smash a clove or two of garlic in its skin, nestle it in among the stalks, then drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Put the pot on a medium heat, pop a lid on top and cook without stirring for a few minutes, until sizzling, steamy and cooked through. By this point, the stems and garlic will be tender and a touch caramelised, while the leaves will be perfectly steamed, tasty and oily. Season to taste, dress with an optional squeeze of lemon juice and serve. And if you do have some tougher stalks, separate them from the leaves, slice finely and start them off in the pot a few minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients, to soften them up. Upcycle any cooked spinach leftovers into this satisfying saag paneer.

Twice-cooked spinach paneer

Saag paneer is a favourite in our household, not least because it works really well when made with leftover or/and frozen spinach. The same approach works with almost any type of leafy green, really, including mustard, cauliflower, beetroot and turnip leaves. At home, I preserve leafy greens before they "turn" by frying or steaming them, then I freeze them until we have enough in store to turn into dishes such as this one. Leftover cooked spinach can be added to all sorts of savoury dishes, from soups and stews to salads and stir-fries. If you ever have an abundance of cooked spinach, try upcycling it into classics such as creamed spinach simply by reheating with a dash of cream and a pinch of nutmeg, or serve at room temperature or cold and dressed with toasted pine nuts, raisins and lemon zest.

2 tbsp ghee or oil
1 small onion, peeled and finely sliced
½ tbsp grated ginger
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1 fresh green chilli (or more or less, to taste; optional)
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp turmeric
140g cooked spinach, or other leafy greens, chopped
20g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks roughly chopped
1 tbsp tomato puree
190g paneer, cut into cubes
Sea salt, to taste

Heat the ghee in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the onion, saute for five minutes, or until it softens, then add the ginger,garlic green chilli, if using.

Cook for another few minutes, then stir in the ground coriander, cumin and turmeric. Add the cooked spinach and fresh coriander to the pot, stir in the tomato puree and heat through, stirring regularly.

Add 300-400ml boiling water (or whey, if you've made your own paneer) to loosen the mixture, then boil for five minutes. Stir in the paneer cubes, simmer for a final five minutes, stirring occasionally, then season to taste and enjoy.


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