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| Chef Bretto proud of his homemade Chocolate Hazelnut spread. So I removed it from him after using the “excalibur butter knife on him,” which only the greatest cook/chef, Alton Brown, can remove. 🙂 |
My son, Chef Bretto, is responsible for me blossoming in the kitchen, (outside of desserts, something I have always excelled in thanks to my mamma). He started watching Food Network and would quiz me as to why I did not use certain spices, oils, etc in my cooking. Honestly, up until that point, my spice rack consisted of garlic powder, onion powder, iodized table salt, pepper, cinnamon, and parsley flakes. If one could not make a meal out of those, we were out of luck. 😉
I am not going to lie. Chef Bretto began saying to me, “Why does Rachel Ray use EVOO and you use vegetable oil?” or “Why does Giada use fresh garlic and you use powder? Jealousy owned me. My son thought other women were better in the kitchen than his own mamma. So I went to the store and bought some fresh herbs, EVOO, garlic cloves, etc and started cooking with them.
What a difference. Not only in the quality of my cooking, but even in my enjoyment, as the scents would invigorate me. Brett began joining me in my cooking adventures and he is a natural in the kitchen. I started calling him Chef Bretto, as he needed a good Italiano name! 😉
As time went on, Chef Bretto became a huge fan of Alton Brown. Sure he still loves Rachel Ray and Giada De Laurentiis, but Alton is hands down his favorite. He loves how Alton goes into history, teaches cooking techniques, and solves mysteries.
When Chef Bretto found out Alton is going on tour, he asked me if we could go see him. Knowing that our budget is too tight (because we all have to make a lot of sacrifices in this family when I chose to give up my career for the time being to educate/care for my son, Levi, with autism), I told him to creatively think of a way to meet Alton.
So while making homemade chocolate hazelnut spread the other day, he decided to “find a way to get Alton’s attention” and he’s hoping that others will help him make it come true by posting or linking to this photo and tagging Alton in it. His dream is to train under Alton someday and I hope for his sake it comes true. Chef Bretto is truly an awesome son and a chivalrous young man! At 12 years old, he is a better man than most grown men. 🙂