Holiday Hubbub!
We hope you all are enjoying your family time, or volunteerism or just plain old hibernating. No matter how you celebrate (or don’t) we wish you well as 2012 comes to a close.
For us 2012 has been a crazy, adventure filled, loony time. We are grateful for every moment, every bump, every bruise, and every triumph.
We are looking ahead at 2013 as a year of opportunity and hope to find a way to nurture and nourish every one we meet.
So here is a tidbit to start!
Our winter 2013 schedule is filling up nicely, but there is always room for more bookings and collaboration. If you are interested in classes get in touch, or register with one of our existing public venues!
Classes in Orono and Old Town start the first week of January!
Details under the Chef on Demand tab or from these printable PDF’s…
…and registration at these links.
As well we are keeping with our tradition of volunteer work and continuing our work with the Good Shepherd Food Bank’s Cooking Matter’s program. We will be teaching a free 6 week course for kids at the Bangor Housing Authority. More details on this poster COOKING MATTERS FLYER kids at BHA. We are excited to offer our love of food and fun to the kids in the program and are hoping this experience will assist us in our development of private and rec classes for kids, kids and their parents, and teens.
Cooking Matters is also offering a free course through the Old Town Elementary School. We are NOT the Chef team for that class, but since it is our old stomping grounds we would like to offer you that flyer as well. Cooking Matters OTES Flyer
For more information on the Cooking Matters program check this out. Cooking Matters Maine
And lastly, we have updated our Chef on Demand course list and would love to discuss Corporate Wellness classes or Private In Home classes with you. Chef on Demand Course List
Join us in the New Year for what we plan to be EVEN MORE laughter, food, and fun.
As always, if you see a need we could fill, business or community, always call on us.
Wholeheartedly, TeamRichard Maine sends you all our best wishes for joy & peace during your holiday season.
TeamRichard, 2012
The Perfect Gift!
From Personal Chef Services to Culinary Instruction, Chef Cliff wants to develop something special for you!
Did you know that Chef on Demand offers Gift Certificates!?
Yup! You can give the gift of food, laughter, knowledge, and joy, all at once!
Empower your loved ones to experiment in the kitchen with either monetary denomination toward Chef on Demand’s customizable services, OR by purchasing one of our existing classes to be taught at the recipient’s choice of location.
In home classes is a unique & fun way to learn and celebrate!
Corporate Wellness classes offer a team building experience that empowers your co-workers or employees to have fun with their health!
Personal Chef Services ARE accessible to EVERYONE when you collaborate with Chef on Demand!
So contact us today about how YOU can nourish your loved ones with the gift of culinary services from Chef on Demand this holiday season!
Teamrichardmaine@gmail.com ~ Find us on FaceBook! ~ (207)319-2714.
Busy Busy Bees!
Celebrating Harvest~ A TRM way of life!
Here at the family Richard we are in full swing of fall! Having spent our summer sweating away in a kitchen in the County we feel like the harvest season has come up on us quickly! We have been very lucky to return home and jump right into some awesome projects though, so we wanted to share with you some details of all we have been doing.
We are closing out our first session of culinary classes at the Old Town Rec Dept. We are LOVING the class participants that we have and are enjoying the format of the same students weekly for all 4 weeks. The kitchen has been very easy to navigate and the rec staff has been very accommodating. Last nights soups class was delicious as usual and we think (and hope) that all our participants are learning a lot, laughing a lot, and loving all Chef on Demand wants to offer them. http://www.oldtownrec.com/info/default.aspx
Please keep an eye out for the next round of cooking classes, slated to start at the beginning of the rec departments session III after the holidays. We are thinking knife skills, proteins, and sauces!
As well we have enjoyed our partnership with OT rec so much we have gotten on board for all their special occasion coordinating & catering. This Friday night from 6-8:30pm Chef Cliff will be donating his time and skill to work with teams of volunteers on the 5th Annual Harvest Dinner. This is a great family oriented event with a full turkey dinner and delicious dessert fundraiser. at $7.00 per person you can’t find a better prepared dinner out anywhere! Chef has revamped the menu and all dishes will follow our fresh is best philosophy! Resident of Old Town or not you are sincerely invited to join us. Come see the great facility, bring the kids, and feast with our family! click here for details and tickets: http://www.oldtownrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=29519
Last weekend we were blessed to be invited to join in on the Maine Harvest Festival event at the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center. In just it’s second year this event has proven that celebrating farm fresh is a valued reason to gather here in Maine. More than 150 vendors, chefs, and artisans exhibited their skill and wares. We were thrilled to partner with our farmer friends from Misty Meadows Organic Farms in Grand Isle, ME. to offer Acadian style pantry item samples and several varieties of organic roasted potatoes with some interesting seasoning combinations created by Chef. All Blue Potatoes with Cajun seasoning was a big hit! you can buy Misty Meadows potatoes at Marden’s across the state and at Whole Foods here is the link to their Facebook page, the offer shipping of all their store items too! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Misty-Meadows-Organic-Farm/527967277220281?fref=ts
We are already super excited for next years Harvest Festival. Check out this years info to get an idea of the event and JOIN US next year, rent a booth, or bring the family, celebrate farm fresh with us! http://maineharvestfestival.com/
We are hoping to start classes back up in Orono in January, the details are still forthcoming but we are missing our home base and want to see you all at some of the new classes we have developed. We will keep you updated, so keep watching!
We have been busy doing some corporate wellness instruction too. Don’t forget we love to come into businesses, offices, break rooms, and teach you and your colleagues how to focus on fresh back to basic ingredients and skills. Chef Cliff’s professional techniques take the guessing out of trying new things in the kitchen. Knowledge is power and we aim to empower and nourish you! If you are interested in learning more about this service, or even about having a private in home class party, just drop us a line and let us know what you are looking for. We are delighted to customize something that fits your need.
As well, Felicia is still offering Practice Management and Billing consultation. If you run a small practice and or sole proprietorship and needs some assistance with efficiency give me a call, I am willing to help anyone with a passion to assist the community in any way I know how.
Please join us December 1st at 7pm in Brewer for the RiverCity Cinema’s screening of Betting The Farm. This documentary film follows a group of dairy farmers as they fight to keep their farms, and families, afloat after losing a national milk contract. Following the farmers for the first two years of the start up of MOO Milk this film is a look at families, farms, small business, and passion to thrive. We are proud to be sponsors of this screening and would love to see all of you take the opportunity for a night out with us. Follow this link for more information and to purchase tickets and we will see you there! http://rivercitycinema.org/betting-the-farm/
and this link to find our more about MOO Milk and how you can help your hometown farmers keep their love alive. http://www.moomilkco.com/
Finally, and most importantly, yesterday we found out that our 15 year old son Kent has been chosen as Orono’s freshman student of the month. He will get his photo in the local town paper. The Penobscot Times (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Penobscot-Times/334398026969?fref=ts) and his folks are swelled with pride. He is a smart, kind, funny young man that works hard for his grades, his family, and his community. Of all the things we are busy doing, our boys are the most rewarding work. 
Happy Harvest and Blissful Holidays from our Team to yours!
~Felicia & peeps.
Chasing Adventure
Hello! It seems we should have entitled this blog ”I’m sorry” since every time I go to post I realized how neglectful I have been! We did it again, neglected our posting to chase an adventure. Some days our adventure is a sick child, or a soccer game, or just a movie night. This summer our plans changed suddenly and drastically… we returned last week and I, for one, still need a nap!
In June we were all set for a summer of farm shares and teaching classes, canoe rides and road trips. Instead we were offered the opportunity of a lifetime. One of our amazing FB fans, and a lifetime friend of mine, tipped us off to an amazing project. Negotiations were a whirlwind and by July 8th we had relocated to Frenchville, Maine on the Canadian border for 3 months of non-stop kitchen work and movie magic.
Hired as the Chef team for the Blue Potato movie we were living 24/7 with cast and crew members for the production of a major film. Written and directed by Aron Gaudet (a fellow Old Town bred Mainer) and his wife Gita Pullapilly, the film is set during potato harvest in Van Buren. If you know them from their success with The Way We Get By, a brilliant documentary about troop greeters (and so much more) at BIA, you might be thinking “a film about potatoes!? These guys DO love farms!”…and while we really do love farms, this is a drama, coming of age fiction, and definitely brilliant. Check out more about the film at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2313896/
The project grew immediately and we suddenly had a communal crew family, living together, working constantly, in the gorgeous St. John Valley. With the encouragement of my newest friend for life, producer Kavita Pullapilly, Our Blue Potato family embraced our kiddos and soon enough they were moved up there too, working with us, and learning more about life and opportunity than I could have hoped for.
Kent picked up a guitar and reignited his love for music with encouragement from the films composer Dustin Hamman. An amazing musician and even better friend, you can check more out about him at http://runonsentencemusic.com/
Kent also was a recurring extra in the film, a kitchen help extraordinaire a life saver with his younger brother, a great friend to the cast on boring days of waiting. He took the chance to work incredibly hard and get incredibly dirty during potato harvest at an organic farm. He impressed everyone with his charm, kindness, intelligence, maturity, and work ethic. It is amazing to believe he will be only 15 on his birthday tomorrow.
Misty Meadows Organic Farm is located in Grand Isle, Maine. We stumbled upon them while looking for suppliers and found not only an unbelievable network of organic veggies, but an amazing farm stand diner and store, chock full of some of the best things in life. James “Chub” Dionne and his wife & partner Sharon were somehow missing family for us. It was immediate, our connection and mutual respect, and they are gift enough to make all our hard work worth it. They, along with their children and friends, became a lifeline for us. Chub is a brilliant cook, impressing even Chef Cliff ‘s discriminating tastes and Sharon is a rock, graceful in her ability to be wife, mother, business owner, farmer, and all around inspiration to all I wish to be. The children are amazing, hard workers, smart, kind, and full of the best kind of spirit. I adore them all. They offer locally made goods, and will ship their delicious Acadian style canned goods, such as pickled beets and jams, anywhere you wish. You can find out more about them or contact them with inquiries here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Misty-Meadows-Organic-Farm/527967277220281?fref=ts. They are closing the stand for the season soon, but will be packaging harvest all winter, so don’t be shy- they aim to please. When the farm stand opens again in the spring we encourage you to make it a destination in your summer plans. You will not be sorry, and most likely will see us there as often as is possible. It is a haven for us, and we can’t wait for you to share it.
Gerard too was a great help, and often would carry items, count with me, did all shopping with me, and provided a great sense of family connectivity to our little movie community. He attended a local kindergarten and offered great insight and entertainment. He was cast in the film as the sibling of a main character and was a pro for his acting debut. I am his mother, I know he is brilliant, but I also know all his flaws, and I was beyond impressed with his performance, his spirit, and his joy. So were his fellow actors and even the casting director made it a point to tell me how well he did. I hope you will all go see the film, because it is amazing, but also to see my boys having the time of their lives & helping their friends Aron and Gita tell this story.
This summer we made a rushed decision to run off with a circus, to spend all those sunny days working, to learn more about ourselves & our business than we knew we wanted. Now we are home, recovering and rejoicing and reflecting. We are proud to work hard, to promote art and community, and to celebrate our amazing state of Maine and all it’s beauty and brilliance.
We are excited to see you all and happy to answer any questions we can about our experience. Please seek us out, join our celebrations, comment and share with us how you all learned and grew this summer. We missed you and are interested in what we missed.
We can’t thank the cast and crew, the St. John Valley, the volunteers, the local business suppliers, or the new lifelong friends we have made enough. We can’t thank our local home supporters enough either. Not often does a little family in Maine get the chance to challenge themselves and experience new adventures on this level. We are better for it, we are exhausted, and we are grateful.
For all the new info about our fun offerings this fall-check out the Chef on Demand tab for new info on classes and services. We hope to feed you soon!
For some local businesses that supported us personally and professionally to make this all happen check out some links here:
Higher Ground Services employs me and encourages my life and family beyond words. They are by far the best counseling center I have ever worked with. No judgement, just support. http://www.hgscounseling.com/
Murray’s Service Center, automotive service with heart, they understand life has deadlines and were informative and helpful while cheering us on, call them for automotive services and plowing https://plus.google.com/107766415947263945756/about?gl=us&hl=en
Fringe Hair Salon, Sarah Finch is not only an amazing hairdresser but a lifetime friend. The entire salon has been cheering for us since day one and treats us like family, great rates, lots of experience, highly recommended. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fringe-Hair-Salon/115389258550091
Many others supported us and cheered for us, and our thanks can’t be expressed enough. Thanks for the love! We felt it and it helped us shine!
Best~ Felicia Richard.
We are choosing SUMMER
Rain, rain, rain RAIN. Spoiled aren’t we, no amount of sunny days would please us really, but the rain-ugh, let’s all just take a nap.
Try telling that to a 5 year-old boy. I will tell you what his response would be…let’s do something FUN!
Since we build our lives around our kiddos we often have to remind ourselves to choose fun. With our oldest having graduated 8th grade, and the little one finishing up T-ball, we have been prepping for a summer of canoeing, cooking, and community.
This Thursday evening we debut the first of our summer inspired “Fresh is Best” culinary courses through the Orono Rec department.
Join us from 6:30-8pm at the Treadwell building on Bennoch road for our first ever Herbs class.
The class focuses on fresh herbs, complimentary seasonings, making dressings, and choosing, prepping, and using herbs in your cooking.
Anyone who has studied with us knows about Chef Cliff’s enthusiasm for flavor profiles in his cooking, and this class will be an extension of that focus, but with a light summer twist.
Head to http://www.oronorec.com/info/activities/ to register, call Orono Rec department at 866-5065, or give us a call at 319-2714 and catch this class at the introductory rate! $10 for residents/$15 non-residents.
Leave with recipes, instructions, and a smile from laughing and tasting. We also hope to offer some basic tips and tricks on planting your own herb garden from our dear friend and favorite professional backyard gardener.
So to quote our little guy’s favorite song:
“Let’s get moving into action
If your life’s too slow, no satisfaction
Find something out there, there’s an attraction
If you hesitate now, that’s a subtraction
So, let’s get moving girl into action”
~Tim Armstrong
Whenever he is having a blah day he asks to hear this song, it inspires him to choose fun, rain or shine, and that’s the motivation behind our summer courses.
Starting this Thursday evening we choose Summer….We hope you will join us!
A fresh course…in Culinary Instruction!
We have been offering our classic, basic, cooking classes for almost 8 months now!
We find that hard to believe and while we are thrilled to be moving ahead into summer and all the deliciousness our newer classes will have to offer, we don’t want to forget our standbys.
We have always offered in home or on site culinary instruction, but had never really made a “menu” of our classes. We sat down, did some math (yuck) and developed the most cost efficient, best rate course list around!
Please feel free to print it, share it, and drool over it. Gourmet Cooking Made Easy Course List
If you are interested in classes, or even one on one instruction, we encourage you to contact us. We are almost completely portable for these classes and you would be surprised just how meek of a kitchen we can utilize to create a wonderful learning experience, that tastes great to boot!
As well, please check out our summer Orono Rec course list. We debut all of our classes through the Orono Rec as a gift to our home community members, but also as a great jumping off point for any fine tuning. This venue is the best deal you will get on these classes and we encourage you to join us in a no-frills fun evening of learning and tasting. Orono summer course description 2012
As always, we are customizable, if you want something but don’t see it listed feel free to comment, email, or call and we will get into the lab to whip you up something fresh!
Thanks for all the support! Now treat yourself to a class with Chef on Demand!
Chef on Demand finds a home!
Joyful News!
After a long time of working completely mobile, Chef on Demand has entered into a collaborative partnership with the Kenduskeag Golf Course and Country Club.
Just 30 minutes from our home in Orono, and located right on the Kenduskeag Stream at 947 Grant Rd in Kenduskeag, this golf club is also the home of the Wrong Turn Pub.
If you haven’t heard of them, trust us when we say it is worth the short trip out of Bangor to visit, eat, golf, and maybe hear a band on a Saturday night.
Check out their website for their existing services and keep an eye out for all the great additions we hope to bring as we move in. http://www.kenduskeaggolf.com/Home/tabid/71/Default.aspx
Starting right away TeamRichard will be pulling our weight in the kitchen and behind the bar to learn the ropes, revamp the menu, and bring our specialized expertise to the existing businesses there.
Chef on Demand will continue to offer all our services and expand into catering, on and off the club premises, using the gorgeous commercial kitchen as our home base. Feel free to contact us right away to host your event at the club, or for any catering need! We offer all price ranges and skill levels to customize to your specific event.
We still offer personal chef services, in home class parties, and all our classes at our existing venues. We are thrilled to be looking into all kinds of exciting possibilities with the addition of a reliable kitchen space and partners that share our family oriented values.
Subscribe to these blog posts, or like us at facebook.com/TeamRichardMaine, to stay in the loop.
We encourage you to visit us & hope to see you soon!
Orono Summer Classes open for registration!
With the wacky weather lately it seems we are skipping spring and heading for summer! While there is still some time left for rain showers and blossoming flowers we have started to schedule our busy summer season. G will start T-ball soon, Kent is busy finding ways to make (and spend) money, and we are knee deep in yard work and spring cleaning.
Chef on Demand has been cooking up some tasty classes for this summer. We have been inspired by daydreams of farm fresh veggies, home gardens, backyard cookouts, and lazy days in the kitchen. We are still actively looking for more venues to offer all the Chef on Demand classes, so if you have a space get in touch!
Summer classes sponsored by Orono Rec are all debut classes, join us!
June 7th –Herbs! Join Chef Cliff Richard for a class on herb basics, using herbs, complimentary seasonings, and how to make dressings and dishes using fresh herbs. Discussion will include making a vinaigrette dressing, knife skills to prepare herbs, and how to substitute dried herbs.
July 12th- The Seasonable Harvest Series Part I. This Series will discuss how to choose, prepare, cook, and store produce from your garden or local farmer’s market/farm share. Join us in July for a look at the May-July harvest and flavorful ways to enjoy all the goodies it has to offer.
August 2nd- Summer Salads and Appetizers- Mix up that salad and try new flavors and ideas to keep enjoying your summer foods into fall. Need a new appetizer to bring to that lazy day BBQ? This is your class.
September 13th- The Seasonable Harvest Series Part II. This Series will discuss how to choose, prepare, cook, and store produce from your garden or local farmer’s market/farm share. Join us in September for a look at the August-October harvest and how to enjoy the delicious ways summer melts into fall.
Head over to http://www.oronorec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=26674 to register, or contact us directly at TeamRichardMaine@gmail.com or 319-2714.
Don’t forget we are the Orono drop off location for the Happytown Farm CSA this year! If you are interested in a farm share we encourage you to contact Alix at alix@foodandmedicine.org or call (207) 989-5860. They have many other drop off locations too!
In general we encourage taking advantage of the summer season’s local offerings. This link is a great way to find local foods in your area! http://www.mofga.org/Resources/FindLocalFoods/tabid/221/Default.aspx
Hooray for Summer in Maine!
Chef on Demand Homestead to be a farm share drop off location!
We are pleased to announce that we will be an Orono drop off location for Happytown Farm summer shares! If you are interested in summer farm shares please see the attached info!
Happytown Farm Summer Share Info
We encourage all of you to look into your local Community Supported Agriculture shares, and to seek out your farmer’s markets and local harvest vendors.
Chef on Demand is developing classes on how to choose and use local seasonable harvest items in Maine and would love to hear your suggestions, requests and input on what you would like to learn and where you would like us to teach.
As always please feel free to contact us at 207-319-2714, TeamRichardMaine@gmail.com or find us at Facebook.com/TeamRichardMaine.
Summer is coming, YUM!
Gourmet Cooking Made Easy series Expands!
"A Customizable Culinary Experience"
We can’t believe it is almost MARCH! Wow, we have just about survived winter, and moving, and holidays………the list could go on.
We are excited and grateful for so much! We are settling in nicely at the new house and are prepped and ready for a spring of amazing Chef on Demand classes.
As well we are beyond thrilled to start teaching in Downtown Bangor! That’s right, we have been having so much fun teaching in Orono, we are expanding!
Sponsored by Mass Mutual Financial Group we have our first class February 29, 2012 at their location on Main St. Classes will be monthly with our full curriculum being presented. If you haven’t taken the chocolate class you are missing out on a delicious good time! See the link for details and sign up! Chocolate Class sponsored by mass mutual Financial Group
As well we have been using our downtime (yeah, right To develop a great new course. Knife skills! We will debut the first of 3 classes in this course March 1st in Orono, sponsored by Orono Rec. Chef Cliff has been hard at work finding creative, delicious, and informative ways to share his professional knife skills. See this link for details Orono Rec Knife Courses
Of course we still offer our in home classes, personal chef services, and one on one instruction. We LOVE to collaborate and hope to hear ideas for more fun adventures in food from you!
Contact us anytime at 207-319-2174 or teamrichardmaine@gmail.com. You can also find us at Facebook.com/TeamRichardMaine.
