I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
Author: ajeanneinthekitchen
I have worked in the restaurant and catering industry for over 35 years. I attended 2 culinary schools in Southern California, and have a degree in culinary arts from the Southern California School of Culinary Arts, as well as a few other degrees in other areas. I love to cook and I love to feed people.
I am almost done editing all my bazillion pictures, which means soon, you will all be hearing about our fabulous trip to the Great North. In the mean time, Chef Jeff is helping me out once more. Thank you Chef. This time we are talking about consistency, honesty and sincerity:) More Insight From My Fell Into Food Podcast; More Insight From My Fell Into Food Podcast – Part 2 – Flexibility. Chef Jeff and I are asking a favor from all of you. He is trying to grow his podcast and would like you all to leave a review and 5 stars on anyone of his platforms after listening or watching. We all like to help out our friends, and see them grow and become successful. 🙂
I have been busy working on other things too, stirring many pots on many fires; more fun things I think you will enjoy. You just need a little more patience and anticipation, and soon you will see them all. 🙂
My friend and fellow blogger Sandy Axlerod, from The Traveling Locovores, is busy touring around the country in her RV she calls Ladybug and is writing cook books for the different states. I am contributing a recipe or two for her from Colorado.
I am also planning and preparing a special birthday dinner for Lauren. We will be celebrating her belated birthday on Saturday. Once again, you will hear all about it very soon. 🙂
So as always, I am keeping busy, but most importantly, still having fun. 🙂
Chef Jeff and I discussing consistency, honesty and sincerity.
You can show up every day. You can post. Publish. Plate. Promote. But if you’re not real… none of it sticks.
Consistency matters — absolutely. But it’s authenticity that builds trust.
Because people don’t just want what you’re selling. They want to know who they’re buying it from. And if they sense it’s a performance? They’ll scroll. They’ll unsubscribe. They’ll forget you.
But if you’re willing to tell the truth — even when it’s uncomfortable — you give people something they can connect to. Something they can believe in.
This is true whether you’re a content creator, a chef, a brand, or a leader.
Consistency is what gets people to notice. Authenticity is what gets them to stay.
Flexibility and having back-up plans are the keys to success in any business, but especially in the food industry. Things will always change and not go as planned. You have to be able to come up with a new plan in the blink of an eye or else. Just like in show business, the show must go on, no matter what.
More words of wisdom from both Chef Jeff and me:
In hospitality, the only thing you can count on… is that things won’t go as planned.
You’ll prep all day for a service that no one shows up to — and then get slammed on a slow night. You’ll lose a dishwasher mid-shift. Run out of a key ingredient with no time to resupply. Get grease on your dress before expo even starts.
It’s not a matter of if something will go sideways — it’s how you respond when it does.
That’s why flexibility is one of the most underrated leadership skills in this business. Not everything needs a meltdown. Not every pivot needs a postmortem.
Sometimes success is just the ability to shift without losing momentum.
Plan B isn’t a failure. It’s proof you know how to keep moving.
I am still editing all my pictures from our trip, as well as just catching up and living normal life at the same time. With Chef Jeff’s help and insight, I am able to still communicate with all of you, and give you wise words of wisdom, and experience, I am also able to focus on catching up too. Once again, thank you Chef Jeff, for a lot of reasons. 🙂
Chef Jeff is so sweet. He is giving me yet another shoutout for some of my insights, that he recognized and I didn’t see myself. This was at the 24:00 minute section, where I was talking about how my blog was born. https://ajeanneinthekitchen.com/2025/10/06/fell-into-food-the-podcast/ Is he giving me more credit than I deserve? I’ll let you decide. 🙂
Chef Jeff’s kind words:
Some of the best ideas don’t start with a strategy. They start with a moment.
Someone throws something away. You say, “Wait—don’t toss that.” And suddenly, you’re thinking differently about food, waste, and creativity.
That’s how Jeanne in the Kitchen started — not with a brand plan or a business model, but with a genuine instinct to use what we already have.
It’s a lesson we forget sometimes in this industry: You don’t always need new ingredients, new tech, or new ideas. You just need to look at what’s right in front of you… differently.
Whether it’s product development, menu design, or just feeding your family — creativity doesn’t come from having more. It comes from reimagining what’s already there.
Thank you once again Chef Jeff for this fun and fabulous opportunity. 🙂
Right before I left for my Canadian vacation, I did a podcast interview with Chef Jeff Fell. https://ajeanneinthekitchen.com/2025/09/17/fell-into-food/ Chef Jeff and I had a lot of fun and it felt like I was talking to an old friend I had known forever. And here it is! The live podcast with Chef Jeff and I. There are a lot of ways you can listen. Just click on any or all of the links below and see it for yourselves. 🙂
Fell Into Food With Chef Jeff Fell
This week, I sit down with JEANNE JONES — a lifelong culinary pro turned food blogger behind A Jeannie in the Kitchen. We talk about everything from cutting onions in goggles to working 18-hour days in catering, why she left the restaurant industry, and how she found new purpose in writing. Jeanne’s journey is filled with honesty, grit, and a deep love for food — whether she’s whipping up “first overs” or crafting a whole new recipe from leftovers. We also chat about staying real in a world full of filters, learning to pivot, and why creativity (not perfection) wins every time.
Links & Resources Jeanne’s Blog: https://lnkd.in/gESrcneg Cookbook Mentioned: Mediterranean: The Ultimate Cookbook Culinary School Shoutout: Southern California School of Culinary Arts The Raisins Commercials (Yes, Those Ones): California Raisin Board
00:00 – Intro & Jeanne’s blog origin story 04:00 – Falling into food at 15 08:30 – Culinary school hustle & hands-on learning 12:00 – Working with Chevron’s multicultural catering 17:30 – The chaos (and beauty) of catering 22:00 – Stepping away from the industry 24:00 – How blog topics are born 27:00 – Ditching video for what feels authentic 30:00 – Writing as therapy & artistic expression 33:00 – Authenticity in a filtered world 36:00 – Cooking from the fridge: Jeanne’s approach 38:00 – First overs & leftovers explained 40:00 – Cookbook dreams and marketing roadblocks 43:00 – Jeanne’s dream meal with her dad 45:00 – Wrap-up & how to follow Jeanne
I hope you like it. 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thank you so much Chef Jeff for this fantastic opportunity. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to you and sharing our passion for food together.
I am still editing all my pictures and catching up with everything, but I will be back in business again before you know it. Stay safe and stay well.’Til next time.
I like to vary my walks, so I am always trying out new places. This time I went to nearby Anthem. Anthem is an upscale residential neighborhood in Broomfield. Broomfield and Westminster border each other, and we live right on the border between them. I walked around the Anthem Lake. It was a beautiful walk, but the most impressive find was a gorgeous Red-Tailed Hawk who was up in a tree. He let me take so many great shots of him. He and I made fast friends. I was just happily clicking away with my camera, getting one great shot after another.
I tried to get him in flight, but wasn’t able to. This shot is almost better though. I love this shot. it was just pure luck. He was flying from one tree to another, where he still let me get some more great shots of him.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well ‘Til next time.
We leave for Eastern Canada early, early in the morning tomorrow. No diving this time; just taking in the sights. Once again, I will be out of touch for a couple of weeks. Don’t touch that dial. Stay tuned and don’t go anywhere. I will be back before you even have a chance to miss me. 🙂
I haven’t seen nearly as many turtles this year as I normally do. But when I do see them, they are out sunning themselves, enjoying their day in the sun. This year I have mostly seen Red-Eared Sliders, and not very many Snapping Turtles. Usually, I see a lot of both.
TRIGGER – There is a picture of a snake at the end.
Snapping Turtle
Red-Eared Slider
I’ve also only seen a couple of frogs/toads this season too.
Though I haven’t seen nearly as many turtles as I normally do, I have seen MORE THAN my share of snakes this year. They’ve been slithering around all over, including inside and outside my garage and on my front porch and in my backyard. They’ve been EVERYWHERE!!!! YIKES!!!!! I have seen both Garter and Bull snakes all around.
I am going through the fridge, using up what I can before we leave. I am not buying anymore groceries, especially not vegetables until we get back. I was thinking, what do I have that needs to be used up. HMMMMM! Plus, I was making a Greek casserole and wanted a Mediterranean/Greek vegetable to serve along side of it.
Olives have been a part of the Mediterranean region since the beginning of time. Peppers were brought over to the area in the 16th century, after the Spanish settled the New World. Peppers have been a part of the Mediterranean diet ever since. This salad originally comes from Naples, Italy, where it is known as peperoni in padella con capperi e olive, or peppers with capers and olives. I found what I wanted to make. I found what I was looking for. 🙂
Roasted Pepper & Olive Salad
This salad is best when served warm or room temperature. Of course I did what I normally do. I had a recipe, but changed it and made it my own. I think my version was much better too. 🙂 The original salad cooks the peppers in a pan. I roasted mine instead. It also only called for red bell peppers. I had a variety of peppers, so as always, I mixed and matched. I made other changes too. That’s just what I do.
1 red bell pepper, roasted and sliced into thin strips
1 yellow bell pepper, roasted and sliced into thin strips
1 TBSP garlic
1 TBSP capers
1/2 cup mixed olives, sliced
2 TBSP parsley, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 TBSP lemon olive oil, optional
1-2 TBSP white balsamic or Prosecco vinegar
salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
Combine the garlic, oil(s), vinegar, capers, olives, salt, pepper and parsley together and mix well, then set aside.
Roast the peppers until completely charred on the outside. Let them sweat in a plastic bag for about 30 minutes, then peel away the skin and rinse. Remove the seeds and slice into thin strips.
Toss the peppers together then spread the olive mixture on top and serve.
This colorful salad is so tasty and versatile. You can use it next to anything you want to serve it with. It is an easy-peasy Mediterranean classic.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
Yesterday I gave you all a little teaser, OK, maybe a BIG teaser, about a surprise I was working on for you. It is all done now, and it was a big success. What is it? What is this big surprise I have in store?
Well ….. I have just been a guest on the Podcast Fell Into Food, with Chef Jeff Fell. This was my first podcast.
The Fell Into Food Podcast,https://www.youtube.com/@FellIntoFood, is a media project focused on food trends and kitchen innovations. The Fell Into Food podcast features conversations with culinary experts, covering topics like food trends, new kitchen technologies, innovative cooking techniques, and industrial food systems. Welcome to the deliciously informative world of the Fell Into Food Podcast! Each week, we serve up piping-hot conversations with industry experts, shedding light on the latest food trends and … much more. Perfect for home cooks and food enthusiasts alike, this content is an invitation to bring excitement back into the kitchen. You can find episodes on platforms like Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Chef Jeff says he “grew up in the middle of a corn field outside of Chicago. He went to the Windy City of Chicago, where his crazy culinary journey and crazy ride began, and then took it back to the corn field”. He has been doing his podcast, Fell Into Food, about everything food related for about 2 years now, and he is already making quite the name for himself. He is definitely in the know, and everyone who is anyone knows of Chef Jeff. And now I do too. 🙂
I was scared about all the technical stuff, because unfortunately, I am NOT very technical or tech savvy, but everything went off without a hitch. It was a lot of fun. Jeff and I got along very well and have a lot in common.
My podcast interview will be available for everyone to see and hear on Monday, October 6. As soon as it goes live, I will send everyone the link(s) so you can click on it and see it for yourselves. Chef Jeff and I spoke for about 45 minutes, about all kinds of good stuff. So ….. STAY TUNED! There is a lot of fun stuff coming your way very soon. 🙂
Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
Once again, we are gearing down, getting ready to go on another trip, so not much new cooking right now. We are using up all of our leftovers, so we have an empty fridge before we go. We will be heading up for another Canadian road trip. We will be covering Eastern Canada this time.
But, I have something in the works that if everything goes right, should be ready for you tomorrow. You’ll just have to be patient a little longer though. If it doesn’t work out, I will still let you know all about it. But hopefully I will have a nice surprise for all of you. 🙂
Bananas are some of the most popular “fruits” in the whole world. They are also some of the oldest and healthiest foods on the planet as well. Everyone loves bananas. I know I sure do.
Bananas originated in Southeast Asia, likely New Guinea, around 10,000 years ago, with early domestication focusing on wild, seedy fruits. Wild bananas were small, seedy, and not very palatable. Wild bananas from their native tropical regions of Southeast Asia, Australia and parts of Africa, are quite different from the cultivated varieties we buy at the store today. They are small, have hard peels, and are full of large, hard seeds. Modern edible bananas have been selectively bred by humans to have larger, seedless fruits with thin, easy-to-peel skins.
Starting around 7,000 years ago in places like Papua New Guinea, humans began domesticating bananas through a process of selective breeding. Through genetic accidents and human cultivation, seedless, fleshy varieties emerged. Early farmers encountered “happy genetic accidents,” such as spontaneous mutations that produced plants with fewer, or no seeds. They crossbred these wild species, combining genes to produce more desirable traits. Through this selective process, humans developed seedless, fleshy bananas that could be propagated by replanting suckers (offshoots) from the parent plant. This was a crucial step in the domestication of bananas.
Today bananas are grown in about 100 countries all over the world and come in many different varieties, from large to small, from red to blue to green to yellow. Today, there are over 1000 types of bananas, but we mostly eat just one type. The most popular banana variety is called the Cavendish, named after the Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish. In the 19th century, Cavendish successfully grew bananas that were imported from Mauritius, in his hothouse. The edible Cavendish is a sterile triploid (three sets of genes) that does not produce viable seeds. Instead, new plants are created as clones from the stems of existing plants, making the Cavendish population genetically uniform. The Cavendish banana is the only type commonly sold in supermarkets today, but before the 1960s, a different variety called the Gros Michel was popular. The Gros Michel was wiped out by a disease known as Panama disease. Bananas are the 4th largest staple food crop in the world today, following wheat, rice and maize (corn).
We all think bananas are fruit. I even just referenced them as fruit above. But bananas are actually a type of berry instead. Bananas are classified as berries because their flesh contains seeds (though they are very small and sterile in cultivated bananas), not on the outside. The seeds are on the inside. “They are formed in big bunches from a large, purple or red teardrop-shaped flower” (p. 12 -The Story of Food) from the banana plant. The edible parts of the banana plants are not grown on the trunk but on the root structure. What looks like a banana tree is actually a giant herb with a trunk made of tightly wrapped leafstalks, not wood. Because the edible parts are grown on the root structure, that makes them technically and biologically an herb.
Bananas are very healthy for both humans ands animals too. In fact, they are some of the healthiest foods around. They are loaded with all kinds of nutrients and are low in calories. Eating a banana will cure just about whatever ails you. If you are not feeling well, for any reason, just peel a banana.
Some more fun facts about bananas.
Bananas are radioactive.
Bananas contain small amounts of the radioactive isotope potassium-40, but the levels are so low and natural that they pose no health risk.
Bananas float.
Bananas are less dense than water, which is why they float when placed in a liquid.
Bananas can be black, red and blue!
Red and blue, long and thin, fat and short, round or softly squared, there are more than 1000 varieties of the Banana, which is in the Musa family. The classic yellow banana found in supermarkets is called the Cavendish, after a British duke found a way to grow them in greenhouses in England, making it possible for Iceland to be one of the biggest exporters of bananas. Mostly people who leave Rancho Mastatal and who live outside of the tropics, stop eating bananas because the supermarket ones (grown in monocultures far away or in greenhouses) are just not worth eating anymore.
You can eat the flower.
Like so many wonders of the world, it is both beautiful and edible! A popular choice is when it is cooked into a picadillo: chopped fine and cooked down with a bit of oil, salt and farm to table pepper. It is delicious. Especially if you’re a lover of the consistency of artichoke or mushroom!
The “trunk” can be turned into weaving material.
Peel the skin of the “trunk” from top to bottom, dry the strips in the sun and you’ll have very strong fiber material to make baskets, mats or belts out of. Banana fibers can be woven into an attractive silk like fabric, which in Japan and Indochina are used for clothes and hats. In Tahiti the leaves and “trunk” of the fe’i variety is used as weaving material and turned into thongs, lashings and fans!
You can eat the trunk.
If you are actively managing your bananas you probably cut away younger ones in the clump, only keeping the three generations (grandmother, mother and daughter) growing. In south East Asia they eat the young “trunks” as commonly as lettuce! Very thinly sliced, and then soaked in water and vinegar for a while, they add it as a fresh garnish in their soups, or turn it into a salad adding herbs, fish-sauce and toasted peanuts.
Green bananas are a perennial staple.
They can be used in cooking like we use the potato, simply boil them in water – the whole thing with its skin – and do as you please! You can also cut them into smaller pieces to add to a delicious stew, blend them with herbs and fry them into fritters, grate them and make a green banana hash, slice them thin and dehydrate to make banana flour. We enjoy all these creative ways to use a local food as a staple in our diets.
Plantains are similar to the green bananas and are used in similar ways. Plantains are used in many different tropical cultures and recipes. A plantain to the untrained eye could easily be mistaken for a banana. In fact, it belongs to Musaceae, the banana family of plants, and it’s closely related to the common banana. Believed to be native to Southeast Asia, plantains are grown in tropical regions around the world and in a variety of cuisines. Unripe plantains are green to yellow, difficult to peel, and the fruit is hard with a starchy flavor—this is the perfect stage for boiling and frying them. They are technically fruits, but much like the tomato and unlike the banana, they are eaten and cooked as if they were a vegetable. When fully ripe, plantains are black, with a flavor that some people describe as similar to a banana but not as sweet. Most people prefer them cooked even at this stage.
Banana skin helps reduce itching.
The plant itself flourishes in tropical, hot and damp environments, mostly filled with mosquitoes – fortunately the banana skin eases the itch.
Bananas are also very good to eat when you have an upset stomach. They help to stabilize the stomach and digestive problems and help with quelling the nauseous feelings, as well as so many other diseases and disorders. Bananas and their peels are effective in curing and alleviating all kinds of simple health issues.
Dirt or ash helps remove its sticky juice.
Harvesting bananas gives off all kinds of juices, especially when you process the green banana and flower. You can clean the machete, knifes or cutting boards by rubbing dirt or ash on it. It may sound crazy but it works.
When harvesting, rub the stem in dirt; when processing/cooking them green, use as much banana leaves/paper to protect table and other material from the juice. But once you have it on a knife or cutting board, it helps to rub any kind of dirt or ash and then wash.
Once they are too ripe, you can turn them into wine or vinegar!
You can never have too many bananas. Well maybe you can have too many to eat out of hand, which happens to use often. That’s when we make homemade banana vinegar! The super ripe, falling off the bunch-juicy-black-kinda ripe, means loads of sugar, which is an opportunity for yeast to have a big feast, eating the sugars and making alcohol! Permaculture principle– produce no waste.
PACKED with potassium that reduces muscle spasms very efficiently.
The average daily banana intake is about 3 to 5 bananas, which for many, they find that their muscle spasms has completely disappeared. Bananas also contain the neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin that lifts up the mood.
The stages of the banana. They are edible in all stages, and every stage has a different flavor and texture. I like them and eat and use them in most stages. The only stages I am not overly fond of are the immature and barely ripe stages. I use the very ripe and over ripe bananas for baking. They are perfect for baking purposes when they are really soft.
Here are some other uses for banana peels too that you might not have known about.
So peel a banana and kick back. It will help keep you healthy and well, and you can use them for many other things too. Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.
A Jeanne in the Kitchen 