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Success Stories  |
Jennifer Bucko Graduation: 2002 Describe what you do: I have co-authored a healthy cookbook for the American Diabetes Association with registered dietitian Lara Rondinelli, who is also my best friend of nearly 20 years. The book is called Healthy Calendar Diabetic Cooking and is a unique book in that it plans out all of your dinners for each weekday for the entire year. Each month's recipes are based around a theme and each week has a grocery list. All of the menu planning is done for you and it's really for anyone who wants to eat healthy, not just for people with Diabetes Reason she chose to attend The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago: I've always loved to cook but initially chose to go to school for Journalism. I worked as a reporter for a while and then in corporate communications for a company in the Loop. I used to ride past The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago everyday on the "el" and was always curious about it. I loved seeing the students outside in their Chef whites and wanted to be one of them! I was contemplating a Master's Degree and when I really thought about what I wanted to do I realized that it was to be a Chef. That's when I contacted the school and set up an appointment. I fell absolutely in love with the place and the rest, as they say! First job in the industry: My parents owned a Dairy Queen when I was growing up so I started there when I was 12 years old making Dilly Bars because I was too young to work the counter. Biggest influence: My mom. She is an amazing cook and always comes up with the most wonderful dishes, using such interesting ingredients and always with a delicious outcome. Mentors/favorite chefs and writers: I have had several mentors throughout the years. My writing mentor was my high school journalism teacher, Theresa Proctor. She is the one who really influenced me to go to Journalism school and pursue a career as a writer. My culinary mentor, besides my mom, was Chef Alisa Sattler at The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. She was a huge influence on me when I was a student and when I worked as a teaching assistant for her in the CHIC CafĂ©. Most fulfilling part of the job: The most fulfilling part of writing a cookbook is the feedback from the people who use it and love it. It is so gratifying to know that I've taken my two greatest passions, writing and cooking, and created a product that really helps people live healthier and better lives. We've also been doing a lot of publicity for the book like cooking demos on local television news stations. That's been a blast! Worst part of the job: Waiting to see the book in my hands. It took almost two years after we finished writing it to actually see the book finished. Most challenging part of the job: The most challenging part of writing the cookbook was managing my time. I was working full time on top of writing the book and it was a tough balance. Future goals for her career: I'd certainly like to write another book but for now I am just enjoying this one (it just came out in December 2004). What did it take to get published: A lot of hard work! My co-author and I knew we had a great idea with this cookbook and when we approached the publishers at the American Diabetes Association we knew we'd have to prove it. We wrote a book proposal and submitted sample recipes. They loved the idea and that's how we got our contract. Then that's when all of the really hard work started. We developed 340 recipes over a period of one year, wrote tips for each recipe, wrote the grocery lists, edited and edited and re-edited each chapter and still had to work full time and try to have a life. Luckily we had more than enough friends and family who were very supportive and more than happy to act as official taste-testers! A piece of advice to another chef who is planning on becoming a writer: Find a niche and unique idea. There are a million other cookbooks and food books out there. Come up with an idea that will make yours stick out from the crowd. Is there anything you want to tell current students? Learn as much as you can from your instructors. They are a wealth of knowledge. Volunteer to work as a teaching assistant or to help them with events, you will learn so much. What can young chefs do today to reach their goals? Always be up for anything. You may be completely exhausted and feel like you just can't volunteer at another event or cook another morsel of food but find that thing inside of you that pushes you to excel and do it. You never know who you are going to meet and what opportunities may arise. Favorite ingredient: Onions Favorite Kitchen Tools: 8" French Knife, Oven Safe Sauté Pan and an Immersion Blender Favorite Thing to Eat When Nobody is Watching: Doritos Favorite person to cook for: My boyfriend Mike. He loves anything I make. Favorite dish to prepare: I take great pleasure in making any kind of soup. It's pure comfort in a bowl. If you were not a chef, what would you be? I am actually living my dream right now so I can't answer that question. |
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