Say CHEESE!
 
Like Bread, Cheese is Sacred!
There are many golden rules for buying, packaging, storing, and keeping the temperature for cheese correct. With the craving to experiment with tastes and cooking at home, At bon COOK, we have found people prefer small bites of information that are easily read and forever remembered. This simple principal list on cheese explains the top five principles to preserve the life and flavor of your precious cheese.
 
 
Principal 1 – 
 
Buy in Small Quantities:
The French have it right when it comes to buying cheese! When choosing, focus on small quantities. To fully enjoy cheese, the French indulge themselves by devouring their cheeses quickly and often visit their Cheesemonger or market intending to express interest in seasonal cheeses. I love the philosophy of the French: large quantities are for caterers; small amounts are for the home.
 
Principal 2 –
Respect the Temperature:
Your best ally for preservation is your refrigerator. A cold temperature makes it possible to lengthen the lifespan of your cheeses so much so that it slows down the microorganisms responsible for degradation. Once bought, transport your cheese in an insulated bag or cooler (summer months) and place it in the refrigerator. Cheese is stored best in the refrigerator drawer with less cold and more humidity. To maintain the taste and texture do the best not to allow the temperature of the cheese to drop much because this action can alter the taste and texture of the cheese. You can freeze low humidity cheeses after securely wrapping, like how you would freeze and wrap a fresh pie dough. Keep in mind that fresh and soft cheeses are more humid and less resistant to freezing, although they can be frozen and perfectly cooked once thawed. Frozen cheeses need to defrost in the refrigerator, not at room temperature. And therefore, it may take several hours.
 
Principal 3 –
Avoid Contact with Air:
Now let’s talk about the storing principle of cheeses. A well-wrapped cheese is a well-preserved cheese! Wrap properly to protect the cheese and avoid direct contact with air. If not properly packaged, the cheese may reform a hard crust or mold because air causes your cheese to oxidize. A solution for this is reusable beeswax wrapping roll or food wrapping sheets even when stored in an airtight container.
These sheets allow the humidity control around the cheese and still enable the oxygen to circulate. 
 
Principal 4 –
 Save the Date:
Plan your use around the date on your cheese packaging. A good plan is to buy diverse types of cheese with varying end dates, and you will always have a nice cheese to taste or serve. Expiration dates vary and need attention when buying cheese. As with any food, you should check the cheeses you purchase or follow the advice of your cheesemaker. Cheese packaging contains a sell-by, a best-by, or a use-by date. Always check for cheese with the farther date in the cheese category to ensure you are buying the freshest cheese available.
 
Principal 5 – 
 
Know-How to Create the Best Taste for Enjoying:
Lastly, remove cheeses from the refrigerator one-half hour to two hours before serving. Like a fine wine, cheese needs a minute too, which is why removing cheeses from the refrigerator before a meal will allow all the aromas to awaken for best tasting! Those who find themselves stuck when deciding on what cheeses to serve to make an exciting tasting choose wisely to meet every palate. Think one of each – Stinky, Sharp, Hard, Mild, Creamy. Taste is as individual as your cheese and your guests. Following the five principles shared, I am confident you will enjoy hearing your friends say, “pass the cheese, please! 

Cindy Juncaj,
CEO and Partner
bon COOK
 

PARTNERSHIP

With a contemporary recipe for building business partnership, I share how bon COOK has created a collaboration with our leaders and Sales Consultants that shifts beyond digital and throws the corporate attitude of us vs. them out the window!
Gain cooking confidence with our top leaders who grace the pages of our catalog with the taste and flavor of the recipes they prepared after a special invitation to our bon COOk kitchen. We asked, they responded to partner with us and then created what they believe every customer needs and wants available to them through bon COOK. To our Customers, Hosts, and Fans, your voice is heard loud and clear! A dream come true to see this partnership and continuity come alive in our bon COOK kitchen as we meshed our consultants' knowledge and talent in our quest to create the very best.
Bon Cook is not just a cooking business. It is a business of respect for the relationships we create through our cooking and business-building partnership with our bon COOK consultants, clients who host cooking classes and, all customers!
Today you can reach anyone anywhere in the world in a nanosecond and feel for a moment that you've connected, but on what level can we consider that connection? We believe nothing replaces the gathering of people, the laughter of a friend, or the bond built with others.
Even though modern life is rapidly taking hold, we still believe the kitchen is the place to build on what we love, family, friends, and experiences that bring out the best in each other and cement our core relationships.
Be inspired with every recipe achieved, and join us today in our bon COOK community, in the kitchen where gathering and taste meet!

Cheers to Building a Culture of Partnership!

Cindy Juncaj
CEO & Partner

Photo from top left:
Stephanie Murphy, Nicole Schorr, Melissa Edwards, Kari Martens, Teresa Fewel, Cindy Juncaj, Michele Jenkins
Photo Credit: James Wallace, SALT PHOTOGRAPHY

For the love of taste and the passion for great food
 
WHAT IS GOURMET?
 
Do you remember when people heard the word gourmet and ran the other way? Or, when you had to drive thirty miles to find a gourmet shop? Those days are OVER!
 
Gourmet is no longer a small niche and following. Gourmet is a global enterprise—one of the most notable conversations around food. The interest in gourmet food is at an all-time high internationally and here in the US.

Bon COOK is about creating a gourmet boutique right at home in your Pantry. No need to spend a day in one market after the other! We have done the work for you and curated the best from France. We understand the demand placed on you to find the suitable components of sauces, condiments, herbs, oils, and blends vital to cooking for experiencing the perfect marriage of ingredients and enhancing the overall cooking experience.
 
Today, we find gourmet corners in farmers' markets stocked with traditional and non-traditional gourmet ingredients. The norm has shifted, and even the largest and most commercial supermarkets house not one but several gourmet stations and sections at every turn. Even with this exposure, we have found that most shoppers are unsure of flavor combinations and how to marry flavors to achieve the best taste.
 
When we speak of gourmet ingredients, we discover that it is no longer an unusual request in everyday cooking, nor is it an occasional ingredient stop very few people make. The new gourmet is every day! Gourmet is the conversation of the times. The twenty-something food enthusiast has us all jumping for gourmet ingredients with a raised level of awareness and the introduction of new foods! The statistics of gourmet shoppers have a significant growth alongside this new learning curve. They are shedding light on why people are always talking, photographing, taste testing, and enjoying new profiles of ingredients and tastes.
 
An article I read by A. Elizabeth Sloan titled Demographic Disruptors in IFT.org July 2019 is fascinating and explains the shift perfectly. While older Gen Zers aged 18–24—the first generation of foodie parents—had the highest proportion of specialty/gourmet food buyers last year, the older demographic subsets are keeping pace. In 2018, 67% of Millennials bought gourmet foods, 65% of Gen X, and 60% of Boomers (SFA 2018).
 
People are increasing their level of awareness around ingredients and are trying new ways to improve quality and overall taste.

It is the kitchen ability and knowledge that people are craving to increase their success in cooking. With a desire to learn, build their knowledge and elevate their everyday experience around taste, cooking has become something people want to master!
 
Everyone has experienced a new world at home. In it, the aspiration to gather, discover new tastes, and enjoy the company of friends has taken on a whole new meaning.

Gourmet is delicate with fine ingredients curated to satisfy the expectation of challenging the palette without being complicated or extravagant.
Making a conscious effort of not masking one flavor by another, a simple way of enhancing flavor not overwhelming the taste buds. A simple form, an enhancement that brings out the best in every bite!
 
Gourmet is no longer trendy. It is trending! A new way of life, a bon life!
To use simple ingredients and create extraordinary taste, one must explore how to bring each element together for excellent tasting food.
 
I believe that challenging the palette is about alluring and romancing to define a taste like none other. For me, the ultimate gourmet experience is one you cannot stop reminiscing about, much like a great love, never forgotten.
 
Now, may I ask, what is gourmet to you?
 
French Pantry inspires every cook and entices the palate at every bite. To explore quality ingredients imported from France, visit bon COOK at www.boncook.com
 
Cindy Juncaj
CEO /Partner
bon COOK

Photo Credit Lindrik dreamstime.com
French Inspired Dinner Party
What is it that sets a French Dinner Party at the top of many wish lists? Immediately you may believe it would be the food, though not necessarily so. Because no two dinner parties are alike, the experience speaks for itself! So, would you like to create your very own French-inspired dinner party this holiday season? With a few tips and a simple plan, you'll share the words bon Appetit!

FIRST THINGS FIRST:

1. Choose a menu that allows you to prepare before your guests arrive
2. Shop farm to table no trend; it is a way of life, simple and chic
3. A chic table is a scape that exemplifies effortless beauty
4. Use fresh flowers from your garden if unavailable, choose from your local florist or market, make your bouquet small, and put it together using what you have at home, whether it's a bottle or container, make it simple, and it becomes chic!
5. A favorite is to start with table linen (I prefer white). Easy to clean.
6. Add anything as your POC (Pop of Color), napkin, flowers, a ribbon down the center of the table. Keep it simple!
7. The best dinner party consists of 10 to 12 guests and, most importantly, choose people from different groups of friends and different walks of life, this keeps the interest high and the conversation rich.
8.  A French dinner party guests are people from different professions, ages, and interests. This mix keeps the party exciting and full of new conversations and experiences.

APERITIF:

1. What is(Aperitif)? - A French aperitif contains small bites accompanied almost always by Champagne. An Aperitif teases the senses to ready guests for the main course, which means not moving from hungry to full!
2. Keep your guests hungry! Don't overdo the small bites. Less is more! One mistake made is preparing too much, because guests will eat what you serve, and if it is too much, they won't enjoy the fantastic simple meal you've prepared.

 
CHAMPAGNE or COCKTAIL
Kir Royale is a traditional French favorite, made with Champagne or sparkling white wine mixed with Crème de Cassis. Another French Favorite is the Apero Spritz, a mix of Apero, Perrier and, Champagne.

What to Serve:

1. Your French Inspired main course is simple and good, never fussy, and you always serve wine and water with dinner. Not a time to over impress with a one-of-a-kind bottle of wine. Choose red and white wines that are good everyday wines that compliment your meal.
2.  Prepare as much as possible beforehand, not a time for new recipes. Do what you know well.
3.  Choose a dessert that is your signature. Homemade is best, and store-bought is acceptable.

GUESTS ARRIVING:

1.  Greet everyone with a smile! A pleasant greeting sets the tone for the evening. Overwhelmed, Please don't show it; you are the host and must enjoy the time with friends to set the tone, so all guests enjoy the dinner party!
2. As people arrive, don't wait for the latecomers to serve the small bites and Champagne; start immediately with your very first guest.
3. Play relaxing music, I suggest a "French Cooking" Playlist.
4. Focus on enjoying your guest and keeping the conversation going
5.  Be the host everyone connects with and enjoy the dinner party because you are not overwhelmed in the kitchen.

Don't overthink or underestimate yourself: 
You can hold an inspiring dinner party and create an experience like none other because it is you, simply Chic YOU!

bon COOK would love to hear from you, comment on your dinner party, or share your love of cooking where it counts, at your table where you cook to gather and gather to cook!
Cheers to your success!

Cindy Juncaj
Partner, bon COOK

 

Newly concepted cooking community and bakeware company launches in Birmingham, MI.

bon COOK™ is the essence of the kitchen, born to influence and inspire meaningful cooking experiences at home and within community networks.

(Birmingham, MI) October 2017 – bon COOK, Inc. today announced the launch of their new company with its corporate headquarters located in downtown Birmingham, Michigan. bon COOK is an authentically European-inspired community that is passionate about cooking. The mission is to create confidence in the kitchen and to enthuse cooks of every level from professional to at-home. Founded on the belief in the power of connecting through food, the company focuses on creating opportunities where people gather together to rediscover the true meaning of getting social. The bon COOK merchandise assortment includes flexible bakeware, innovative tools and custom solutions, each thoughtfully designed to simplify life in the kitchen. To further their mission, the company also offers private cooking classes on a variety of topics and within various levels of expertise to provide education on a range of subjects including: 1) how to establish a better relationship with the kitchen, 2) teach practical tips on improving skills and saving time, and 3) how to encourage purposeful connection amongst family and friends. bon COOK is as much a cooking company as it is a spirit within us all; a place where everyone is welcome to join in living what the organization refers to as a bon LIFE!

Through their shared vision to build the best entrepreneurial business for people, business partners, Patrice Jacquelin and Cindy Juncaj, combined their knowledge and skills to realize their global desire: make cooking easier and healthier, all while giving people a better way, and reason, to cook. “Whatever your level of expertise, we have a chair for you at our table. We encourage you to keep it simple, choose tools that make life easy and experience how cooking with us will inspire a bon LIFE,” said Mrs. Juncaj, the company’s CEO.  “How each of us relates to our kitchen determines whether it’s a place of work or cooking pleasure. While we can’t promise you miracles, we can give you the go-ahead to embrace the kitchen as the heart of the home, where gatherings become a culture, where healthy meals are prepared and where a bon LIFE happens on purpose.”

The business originated in the United States in 2002, under the name Demarle At Home, Inc. In a re-branding effort to modernize, the company name was recently changed to bon COOK to connect more to the act of cooking and to celebrate its European influence. Much of the company’s bakeware products continue to be manufactured in Northern France.  

bon COOK will begin holding private cooking classes at its new corporate headquarters located at 34901 Woodward Avenue, Suite 201, Birmingham, Michigan, 48009, starting in October 2017. Contact them today to plan your next Girls/Guys or Couples Night Out, Holiday Party, Corporate Networking or Fund-Raising event. bon COOK is seeking individuals to join their team as bontrepreneurs, or Independent Consultants.  To learn about this opportunity and discover more ways to join the bon COOK community, visit boncook.com and follow them on social media at:

Facebook:@ThebonCOOK
 

Twitter:@bonCOOK
 

Instagram:@ThebonCOOK
 

You Tube:bonCOOK
 

Pinterest:ThebonCOOK

---

 

# # #

For more information, please contact a press representative.

Press Contacts:

Kellie McCormick

Director of Marketing, bon COOK

kmc@boncook.com

248.245.9683

Jess White

Brand Manager, bon COOK

jw@boncook.com

248.520.7573