| About the Chef |
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Karen McGinn has embarked on a new and exciting chapter in her life. Karen left her ‘comfort zone’ as a Special Education Teacher in the Council Rock School District to pursue her passion for cooking, entertaining, and trying new recipes. HEAVEN ON A PLATE Personal Chef Service LLC has served Bucks and Montgomery County and the surrounding areas since 2007 by providing healthy, nutritious solutions to the “What's For Dinner?” question asked nightly by busy households. Customized quality meals are created and made available and re-establish the family dinner hour which has disappeared due to hectic schedules. Families can now save time and money while enjoying healthy selections and putting solid nutrition back into their daily routine. Chef Karen's meals are best described as "rustic home style with earthy flavors." In June, 2010, Chef McGinn joined the all volunteer project titled 'Chefs Move to Schools', spearheaded by Michelle Obama. This program affords an opportunity for Chef Karen to adopt a local school where she can work with school food service employees, teachers, and students to help solve the childhood obesity epidemic. She hopes to bring fun to fruits and vegetables and to teach kids about food, nutrition, and cooking in an engaging way. In addition to creating quality dinners for busy families, Chef McGinn is a chef instructor with The Community School of New Hope-Solebury, affiliated with Bucks County Community College. In the fall of 2010, she hopes to begin a series of classes for parents and children focusing on eating healthy and using locally grown ingredients. Chef Karen has teamed with the Bucks County Housing Group, a private nonprofit that works with the local homeless population, and the Bucks County Food Shed Alliance in a new initiative. Karen will be teaching the clients of a local shelter how to cook with locally grown ingredients. Karen gives back to her community by volunteering in the commercial kitchen of Aid For Friends, an organization that provides weekly meals for needy, isolated shut-ins, primarily the frail elderly. Along with her team, Karen creates anywhere from 200-400 meals a day for their clients. Chef Karen has had the pleasure of being Chef's Assistant to several local celebrity chefs. She has assisted Christina Pirello, author and Emmy Award-Winning host of public television's show Christina Cooks. In addition, Karen was Chef’s Assistant to Chef Tell, until his unfortunate passing away in November, 2007. Karen received her professional training under the tutelage of Chef Tell Erdhart, The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College, and the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. Karen has lived in the Bucks County area for more than twenty-five years. She is involved with the Bucks County Foodshed Alliance and works hard to increase awareness of the importance of local agriculture by conducting cooking demonstrations at local farmers markets and purchasing her ingredients from area farms and farmer’s markets. Having spent many summers of her childhood on her aunt and uncle’s dairy farm in New Hope, Karen understands the value of local farms and supporting sustainable agriculture. Chef McGinn's professional affiliations include membership in the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce, where she is the Chairperson of Gourmet Getaway, the major fund raiser for the Women In Business committee. She is also a member of the United States Personal Chef Association, Secretary of the USPCA Philadelphia Chapter, recipe developer for America’s Test Kitchen, and ServeSafe Certified.
Delicious and Healthy Meals for Your Busy Lifestyle
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