Following that undeniable pull toward something that lights you up means saying yes to what moves you. In today's Feed Your Fire podcast episode, we push past the barriers and move courageously toward fullfllment - with you, me, and a side of marinara. Bring your dreams and your cravings. It’s time to go for it, to feel the spark of your spirit burn brightly, and enjoy a fabuous cheese pull, together.
Listen to the Feed Your Fire podcast episode on Apple and Spotify.
Episode Transcript:
Hello and welcome to Feed Your Fire. I'm Kim Baker, founder of Kim Baker Foods. Today, we're pulling out all the stops, tapping into that sweet spot where aspiration becomes reality.
What is it that you want out of your life? And what are you waiting for? This isn't about checking off boxes. It's about pushing past the resistance and enjoying our heart's desire. And it comes with a tasting menu that can only be described by hell yeah.
What is that thing that you say you'll do someday? We all have a list of things like that, things we're curious about, aspirations, things we wanna try, but maybe we're a little scared. Today, we're breaking through those barriers, making that someday, today.
I was lucky enough to have a mom that encouraged us to dream. She would always tell us to go for it. She encouraged not only our independence, but our expansion. Encouragement provides both confidence and comfort. It can provide a momentary lift, or it can impact a lifetime. We all need those cheerleaders in our lives.
Now, whether or not you grew up in that type of environment, we're here to share it with you. One of the best “things I ever did for myself was going to culinary school as an adult. It was not glamorous.
And traveling back and forth from Virginia to New York every weekend was grueling. On the outside of that experience, I was doing something I had always wanted to do. I was breaking barriers in my own life. But on the inside, I was healing, and I was building a new foundation of resilience. My mother was no longer there to provide, encouragement. I had to find it for myself.
And what's most powerful when we bet on ourselves and do something that fills us, is that it leads us to the next thing that takes it even further. It's like steps on a ladder. Culinary school was not the final destination.
It was just step one, taking me to a version of myself that I didn't even know existed. And what a loss that would have been to not have met the person I am today. Who is it that you would meet if you took that first step?
I remember when I left my corporate job, and I was feeling pretty anxious. And I remember feeling this tension between what “practical and realistic, and what felt kind of fanciful. I had this vision of me walking along a tightrope without a net under me.
But that was just the fear talking. The experience was more like I had been swimming in a pool and had moved from the shallow end to the deep end. But I had all of the skills I needed to swim. Yes, of course, there was more inherent danger if my feet couldn't touch the ground. But I was prepared, and if I needed to, I could move to the side, hold on, and catch my breath. And today's episode is dedicated to the question, what is it that you want to do?
What is it within you that you've cloaked in an armor of practicality? Or put on a shelf because you're afraid to open it. Giving yourself the freedom to explore that curiosity will open a pathway to your heart.
And then when you see that doorway, say yes. Today's menu is going to be practice for that word, yes. Today we're not just making a meal, we're making a homemade mozzarella stick station.
We're talking cheese pulls with all the accoutrements, tomato confit, tapenade, pesto, you name it, we got it. Now, the first thing we're going to do is prepare our mozzarella sticks. You'll want to start with a pasteurized cheese. Fresh mozzarella is too watery, so take that block of cheese and cut it into batons. Then we're going to set up a breading station. You've seen this before.
Take your mozzarella batons, dredge them in flour, then dip them in the eggs, then cover them with breadcrumbs. Then pop them on a parchment lined baking sheet and put them in the freezer. That's important before you fry them, so that the breadcrumbs can turn brown and golden before the cheese melts.
Now, while those are in the freezer, we're going to make all our condiments. There are limitless options here. We're going to make a few that I think are really fabulous and fun, but feel free to put your own spin on this.
I'm going to start by making some tomato confit, which is essentially tomatoes cooked at a really low temperature in an olive oil. So preheat your oven to about 275 and slice some cherry or grape tomatoes in half. Add thin slices of garlic and some thyme, “and then douse everything generously in olive oil.
You're going to want to let that roast for like an hour and a half, maybe even two hours, until the tomatoes really become jammy. And when they're done, I'm going to scoop out the tomatoes, leaving a bit of that oil behind. And I'm going to put them in a bowl and drizzle it with balsamic glaze.
Then I'm going to make a pesto. I'm going to take a lot of fresh basil and some preserved lemon, and I'm going to put that in a food processor. I'm going to add in a little bit of walnuts and then some parmesan cheese.
I'm going to pulse all of that together as I drizzle in some olive oil until it makes a smooth mixture, and then I'm going to season it with salt and pepper. Put that into a bowl and give the food processor a quick rinse. We're going to use it to make an olive tapenade.
We're going to take a variety of olives. I've got some green ones and some kalmata olives here that are all pitted. I'm going to put them into the food processor along with just “a handful of rinsed capers, some fresh parsley, a little bit more of that preserved lemon, and the chilled garlic. And I'm going to add in a splash of olive oil. Give that a good pulsing until it's really finely chopped. Then pop that in a small bowl as well.
Now I want you to take a board and put all of the condiments that you just made in bowls on a beautiful display. I like to put some prosciutto, maybe even some pepperoni, some focaccia. This is a mozzarella stick station, so build it out to make it something really exciting and fun.
Right before you're ready to serve, we're going to fry up the mozzarella sticks. Grab a nice big saute pan and let it heat up on the stove. Then add in an oil that could withstand a high heat, like an avocado oil.
The oil should fill the pan about a half an inch deep. Once the oil starts getting kind of ripply, you're ready to start frying. So grab those frozen mozzarella sticks and pop them in that hot oil.
And then using tongs, turn them until they're golden on all sides. You'll start to “see the cheese begin to melt, and that's when you need to take them out of the heat. Place them on the board with all your other accoutrements. Taste them with all of the toppings, like they're a flight of drinks. And don't forget to do an amazing cheese pull. Please post that on social if you do, and tag us.
I would love for us to start a cheese pull community. This meal is intended to be life-changing. Truly, it's about dreaming big and seeing what's possible.
Deconstructing our preconceived notions, and replacing them with something delicious. There is no better time to dream than right now. Not only because the present is really all we have, but because we need to collectively create positive energy, and experiences that counteract the new cycle we're all being bombarded with.
If you go back to the origin of the word encouragement, you'll see that it literally means to strengthen the heart. And what more could feed our fire than to do that for one another? The odds of any one of us having been born is one in 400 trillion.
Let that miracle sink in. You are the scarce resource The world around you is full of abundance. So go for it. And we can all share in the echo of my mother's words, daring us to dream. Until our next episode, I say so long.
Feed Your Fire, where food nourishes growth.