Wolfgang Johannes Puck, born Wolfgang Johannes Topfschnig, was born on July 8, 1949 in Austria.

Puck trained as an apprentice under Raymond Thuilier at L’Oustau de Baumaniere in Provence, at Hotel de Paris in Monaco, and at Maxim’s Paris. Puck did all of this before moving to the United States in 1973 when he was twenty-five. Puck spent two years as a chef at La Tour in Indianapolis. Then he moved to Los Angeles to become chef and part owner at Ma Maison restaurant.

In 1981 Puck published his first cookbook titled Modern French Cooking for the American Kitchen. One year later Puck opened the restaurant Spago on the Sunset Strip. In 1997 Puck opened a second Spago restaurant. The second Spago, an award winning establishment, is in Beverly Hills. Since 2004 Spago has been recognized as one of the Top 40 Restaurants in the United States.
Through the years Puck has published six cookbooks that feature his signature cooking styles.

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I loved to cook in high school, when I lived with my parents and their fully-stocked kitchen. However, when I came to college, I did not have a kitchen during my freshman year because I lived in the dorms and ate every single meal in the school cafeteria. After that first year, I move to an unfurnished apartment, and the real world of cooking came back with a vengeance: how does one survive in a kitchen that has absolutely nothing in it besides a stove?

I tried to survive off noodles that we cooked on the stove top in an aluminum pot that I got at a garage sale for $1.50, but that obviously lost its charm in about two days. So I started going to my local store to pick up some of the must-haves for my first kitchen. Here are some of the things that no college-kid-kitchen should go without:

Microwave. Many apartments come with a microwave, but if not, you are going to want one! Maybe you are thinking that you can cook everything in a stove. While this is mostly true, stoves takes much longer to cook your food than a microwave does. For example, a frozen dinner takes about three minutes in a microwave; in an oven, it takes closer to an hour. I don’t know about you, but when I come home from class and am starving, I want my food now, not later.

1. Measuring cups and spoons. If you are cooking something from scratch, you definitely want to measure how much of each ingredient you are really using. Trust me, a batch of cookies that is accidentally made with a tablespoon of salt tastes much worse than one that is made with the single teaspoon that the recipe calls for.
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Emeril John Lagasse was born on October 15, 1959 in the city of Fall River, Massachusetts. He is the son of Emeril Jr. and Hilda Lagasse.

In 1973 Lagasse enrolled in the culinary arts program at Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School. Lagasse was an accomplished musician and was offered a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music. However, Lagasse decided to pursue a career as a professional chef instead.

Following high school graduation Lagasse studies at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.To refine his course work Lagasse spent time in Paris and Lyon, France. Once Lagasse returned to the United States he spent a few years working in upscale restaurants throughout the Northeast. Lagasse graduated from Johnson and Wales University in 1978. Several years later the university awarded him an honorary doctorate.

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Rachael Domenica Ray was born on August 25, 1968 in Glens Falls, New York. Her parents are James Ray and Elsa Scuder. Ray was raised on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. There, her family owned four restaurants. When Ray was eight years old, the family moved to Lake George, New York.

In 1995 Ray moved to New York City. One of her first jobs in New York City was at the candy counter at Macy’s. Later Ray helped open a New York City market. Eventually Ray moved to upstate New York and managed a hotel pub at The Sagamore, a hotel on Lake George. Ray’s position as a buyer at Cowan & Lobel, a gourmet market in Albany, became the turning point in her career.

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The Freshman Fifteen. We’ve all heard of it. Some of us like to think that it is just another silly rumor about college, but the sad truth is that it does exist, and if you don’t take the necessary steps to avoid it, it will get you. Scary, huh?

When I was in high school, I went to the gym every day for two hours, ate like a rabbit, and took good care of myself. When I went to college for the first time, all of my healthy habits went right out the window and I gained the Freshman 15…and then some. But is there any way to avoid this? Now that I’m way past my freshman year, I have discovered a few tricks of the trade that I will now share with you. You may want to start trying these habits on for size now, so that when your first day of college comes, you’ll be ready for it. Don’t worry, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.
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Sick of eating Hot Pockets and microwavable pizza? Living in a dorm with just a microwave to serve as your only cooking appliance isn’t easy. When you go grocery shopping, you probably go straight to the freezer section, but tonight skip the frozen dinner and prepare this three course meal in your dorm. Heck, you could even host your own dinner party. All recipes yield four servings, and none of them require a stove.

Appetizer: Fruit-topped crackers

• 10 crackers

• 4 table spoons of cream cheese (fruit flavored or plain)

• 1 cup of blueberries and sliced strawberries

Spread cream cheese on crackers and top with fruit.

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My parents warned me that when I went to college, I’d have to learn to cook. The week before freshman year, I went to the grocery store with my mom and picked out all of my favorite foods: popcorn, cereal, sandwich stuff, and a few frozen entrees. I moved into my dorm, set up my mini-fridge and microwave…and didn’t cook a single thing all year long. Why would I? I had a meal plan!

Sophomore year was a completely different story. That year, there was no meal plan. I survived off cereal and Pop-Tarts for the first few weeks, then resorted to Taco Bell and McDonald’s dollar menus to stay alive. They were cheap and easy, but not at all nutritious. If only I’d had The $5 a Meal College Cookbook: Good Cheap Food for When You Need to Eat.

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College is a time for trying new things. You could do something extreme, like taking up skydiving as a hobby, or maybe something a little less extreme, like adopting a vegan lifestyle.

It doesn’t matter if you have never “gone vegan” before or if you are a life-long vegan, if you are a college vegan, then you should give this cookbook a look. From PETA comes The Vegan College Cookbook: 275 Easy, Cheap, and Delicious Recipes to Keep You Vegan at School.

The Vegan College Cookbook teaches you the basics of being vegan, including how to transform your favorite non-vegan dishes into meatless wonders. For example, did you know that you can make a vegan cake with only two ingredients: cake mix and a can of soda. That’s it: simple, cheap, and vegan. Not bad, huh?

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Chef Alton Brown

Alton Brown was named the “Cooking Teacher of the Year” by Bon Appétit magazine and has a series of successful cooking shows and cookbooks. But he didn’t start with a typical culinary education.

Brown attended the University of Georgia in the early 80′s, where he spent five years without earning his bachelor’s degree. When he dropped out, he had only one credit to earn, fourth-quarter French. The University of Georgia did eventually grant him a diploma, but not until 2004, when the curriculum changed, re-distributing credits and dropping the fourth-quarter language requirement. “I outlasted the high standards of the university,” Brown said.

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Being a vegetarian takes a lot more work than switching from pepperoni to cheese pizza. Getting the right balance of protein, fats and vitamins is an important and often overlooked element to staying healthy and succeeding academically. After all, the brain uses 20 times more energy than the same weight in muscle. For the college student who’s new to cooking or new to eating meat-free, having a guide in hand can be extremely valuable.

Here’s a quick round-up of vegetarian and vegan titles to consider:

1. The Starving Students’ Vegetarian Cookbook by Dede Hall
Easy recipes that can often be made in a single pan.

2. The Students’ Vegetarian Cookbook by Carole Raymond
Great for those new to vegetarianism, but many of the recipes require a well-equipped kitchen. Read the rest of this entry »