Mariooch's Kitchen

Although I have a strong background in financial services and business & sales development, I am also a certified Elementary School teacher.  I had the pleasure of working for Merrill Lynch in  sales, but at some point early on in my career I decided to pursue teaching to make a difference. I was hired to work in an inner city school located in a very tough neighborhood. I was greatly impacted by that job. I had kids who came to school hungry quite often, some were well fed.  Some kids came to school in below 30 degree weather with no hats, or gloves and that influenced me. It was heartbreaking.

Going to work every day knowing I could directly impact someone’s life was very meaningful.  Also, when you have kids who have tough home lives you also tend to see a good amount of behavioral issues. I had a few kids like this. My strategy was to work with their strengths. For example, we decided to have a class play and I made the one most disruptive child in the class have a lead role. It empowered her and she really shined.  I decided at the end of the play the kids would sing a song, “Lean on Me”.  They had a tremendous sense of musicality and rhythm. I remember having the school principal in to see the play and listen to the song, and she couldn’t get through even part of the song. She was so moved by it.

Virginia was one special teacher who I had the pleasure of working with.  She served as a great role model to me in my early twenties. I had just started this job, and lost my mom a few weeks later. I had been visiting the hospital every day since August.  Thankfully, she was a great support system. But truth be told you cannot let your guard down with these kids.  So after one week, I was back working and dealing with the loss of the most influencial person in my life. 

I had never met anyone in my life who was as caring and loving as Virginia. She was in her sixties and drove to work every day and had some ailments too. She would buy gloves, hats and have cookies and food for the kids. I learned a lot from her and did what I could to support the kids struggling in my class. I gained a sense of compassion from this experience which has influenced my entire life.  I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have taught with such kind-hearted teachers, and such sweet kids who truly appreciated me every day.

Over the past few years I have been a volunteer chef at a local pre-school in my community. A large percentage of the pre-schoolers are homeless and in need of a warm, nutritious meal. They are provided with a daily warm breakfast, and lunch.  Multiple groups/businesses take part in feeding the kids. Some dishes I have prepared in the past are: baked potatoes with all the fixings, pasta, chicken soup, Sweet Meatballs & Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes, and many other nutritious meals.  The sweet meatballs they especially loved. I provided you with the link to the recipe. Using my skills as a chef to feed and nourish these kids gave me great joy. The school has since closed, but I cherish those memories. 

Remember to bring food to your local food pantry, drop off baked goods at the local senior center, serve a meal at a soup kitchen.  There are so many ways to give back.  Here is a link to Feeding America which will give you a list of your Local Food Banks . What you will receive will be beyond measure.  

Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year! 

xo  Mariooch

Did you know that former professional Soccer player, David Beckham loves pie! He says it is right up there with snails and mash! I actually love escargot aka snails as well, prepared in a puff pastry. They can be a bit rubbery though. Read what other movie stars love to eat. Here is a link movie stars favorite eats. I mean really who doesn’t love pie?! There are so many options: cherry, blueberry, peach, apple, pecan, and how can we forget pumpkin. When I worked as a teacher in the inner city, I had the pleasure of trying sweet potato pie. It was fabulous. Unfortunately, I never got any recipes.

This is the time of year I start pulling out the pie recipes. At the very first sight of apples on my apple trees, I start getting excited about apple pie. I have a wonderful recipe that was shared with me by my mom’s friend, Betty. It will not disappoint. The crust is melt-in-your-mouth-goodness. It is so crumbly and delish.  I like using gala apples, but you can use any apples you like. But try to stick to the ones that will hold their shape like gala, golden delicious or red apples – you can even mix them! Here is a picture of the apple pie and a link to Betty’s Apple Pie recipe.

Another yummy pie recipe is my pumpkin pie. It is just the right combination of sweet and spicy. The cream cheese gives it an added creaminess. Many pumpkin pie recipes call for evaporated milk or heavy cream (very high in calories!), I opted instead to just add a few heaping tablespoons of cream cheese. The taste is really smooth, and very delicious. I often omit egg from recipes, but this pie has one egg. However, you can skip it!

When you are responsible to prepare the Thanksgiving meal, you have to cut corners. This pie incorporates a boxed pie crust (shhhh don’t tell!). It’s delicious! Here is the pie crust that I pressed into the pan. I cut off all the excess with a knife and pinched all around to create a nice design along the top edges as you see in this photo. After all these photos your mouth will be watering, so here is the link to the Pumpkin Pie recipe. Enjoy!