KentCooks – He Certainly Does!

Life - with Relish and Mustard

Life – with Relish and Mustard

Last weekend we had the privilege to spend some time with two real entrepreneurs – entrepreneurs in the biggest sense of the word. Tired of corporate life, corporate demands, corporate control, they branched off on their own. Now, though they work hard, they work for themselves, their work makes meaning in their lives, they enjoy the work they do. What a great move.

Gutsy, yes. But talk about quality of life.

Kent is the owner of KentCooks, a personal chef service now in Glendale, Arizona, just a few minutes from Phoenix. He is a man who truly has a loving relationship with the food he prepares. He uses the best  ingredients and we watched him turn them into masterpieces right before our eyes. Some dishes were so simple, it was amazing. But then with a deft flick of his wrist and an added ingredient or two, the simple became special.

I imagined myself eating in a quaint gourmet restaurant instead of around a cozy kitchen table. And the food was damn near perfect. Pork loin stuffed with bleu cheese and figs; hummus so full of flavor and freshness, I will never want to eat another bite from a plastic container; a pear and apple souffle that melted in my mouth.

So are you wondering about the hot dog?

No, Kent didn’t prepare hot dogs for lunch. But we were at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix at noon, and we ate in their outside cafe. Here is Kent’s take on the hot dog.

“Every chef has a favorite junk food. Hot dogs are mine. Not gourmet hot dogs, just plain old hot dogs. Love ’em.”

His wife finds it fascinating that a chef who is meticulous about using fresh ingredients–he raises an eyebrow when she uses frozen veggies instead of fresh–would love hot dogs.

But food is a strong connection with happy memories; a lot of food is about memories. And I am still loving the memories of the many foods Kent shared with us. Ah, the stuff long-lasting memories are surely made from.

If you are in the Phoenix area, check out KentCooks. He provides a wide variety of opportunities to enjoy his food. It’s a great service, and he is simply a nice guy to boot.

Gardens in the Desert

Phoenix Arboretum Entrance

Phoenix Botanical Garden Entrance Way

The Desert Botanical Gardens located between Phoenix and Scottsdale are the perfect primer to desert plant life for someone like me whose mouth drops open and gets wide-eyed at the sight of a mountain with saguaros dotting the terrain. By the looks of the crowd last weekend, it must be as popular with the local crowd.

Papago Mountains

Papago Mountains

This was the view as we sat eating our lunch at the Botanical Gardens cafe. I’m certain that I enjoyed the food, but I can’t quite remember what it was I ate. The scenery was absolutely too distracting.

Jumping Cholla

Jumping Cholla

This cactus has an great story. Seems if you brush too near the plant, a bit will break off and “jump” onto you. It seems a clever means of dispersing the plant to other areas.

Wupatki National Monument

Pueblo Ruins

Pueblo Ruins © 2007

Wupatki National Monument, just twenty minute drive north of Flagstaff, Arizona, was established by the National Park system to preserve Native American archeological sites dating from the 1200s and the surrounding lands.

The area has geological formations and abrupt elevation changes that, within only a few miles, provide six different eco-systems, and a wide variety of habitats for plants and animals.The effects of elevation are visible along the 36 mile loop road connecting Wupatki with Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument to the south.

Desert in Bloom

High Desert Grasslands in Bloom

A drive along this road isa journey from desert grasslands (at less than 5,000’ elevation) to Ponderosa pine forest (near 7,000’). In October, the desert floor springs to life with flowers and new growth. Rabbitbrush glows bright yellow against the black cinders, remains from the nearby volcanic eruption, the red rock in the distance, and the blue sky.

Hanging Pails All in a Row

Metal Pails

Metal Pails © 2008 Bo Mackison

Don’t throw out the old bucket until you know the new one holds water. ~~ Swedish proverb.

These buckets are hanging in the Old General Store at Old World Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Historical Society’s re-creation of Midwestern living in the mid- to late-1800s. An interesting place to visit, but I don’t think I want to live there.

Shrouded Cemetery

Roadside Cemetery in Dane County

Roadside Cemetery © 2008

Cemeteries hold a certain fascination for me. On my travels around the state of Wisconsin and in other parts of the country, too, I often see small cemeteries on private lands. Simple family cemeteries filled with crumbling spires and solid squatty granite blocks. Some are decorated with plastic flowers in every hue and variety, some with teddy bears and pin-wheels, some plain – but not forgotten, I hope.

My favorite grave markers are the ones that incorporate a bench. Not that I will have a bench near my eventual resting place, but I do like the idea of having a place for others to rest a bit, think quiet thoughts, re-consider and make new plans, go on with living. While still taking out a few moments of life to remember and honor.

I’m the cemetery visitor in my immediate family. I think, though, that I am the last in a long line of grave site caretakers. My great-grandmother and both grandmothers with whom I grew up  – they were all Sunday-morning-after-church-services visitors to the cemetery. I often accompanied them as I was the one with the young knees and strong arms. I could run along the gravel paths without fear of turning an ankle or falling. We often brought live plants that required digging holes, setting in, mounding, and watering. In Autumn, we brought rakes so that I could rake leaves off the long line of family plots. Even little clippers to trim the summer’s blades of grass that sprang up in the improper of places.

I still take my mother to the cemetery when I visit my hometown. We now decorate with artificial flowers that can be re-used every year.  And we decorate seasonally – Christmas poinsettias, then red and white carnations for Valentine’s Day, followed in quick procession by spring flowers, Memorial Day in red, white and blue, summer flowers, Fourth of July, and finally fall flowers. In early December we start with Christmas again. And the seasons recycle, each set of flowers returns to the cemetery at just the right time.

I’d rather just wander around, look around, examine. But the flower tradition has been in place for a hundred years in my maternal family. I don’t live near the family site. Hundreds of miles away, actually. So I wonder what will happen when I no longer have living relatives to visit in my hometown.