Dinner Tool & Top Chef Ariane Duarte

No matter who you are, where in the world you live or what your beliefs are...we all have one thing in common...the need eat, its necessary for our survival...right? Some of us cook because we have to; some of us cook because we love to.

Answer this...How many times a week, a month or a year do you ask yourself "What should I make for dinner?"

Recently I was fortunate enough to be invited to an event hosted by Dinner Tool at former Top Chef Contestant Ariane Duarte's restaraunt CulinAriane in Montclaire, NJ. Where I learned about Dinner Tool, spent time in the kitchen with Ariane, and shared an incredible meal prepared by her, with her and some new friends.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit CulinAriane, do it!!! See if you can reserve the chefs table in her kitchen for both a fantastic meal as well as a behind the scenes experience!!

Ariane is part of the Dinner Tool family, she contributes both videos and recipes as well as blogs for the site. Recently she recreated and announced Dinner Tools $1000.00 winning, reader submitted, crock pot recipe - check it out here.

It was incredibly cool for me to get a chance to spend some time in the kitchen at CulinAriane. In addition to seeing behind the scenes of a Top Chef's restaurant, Arianne showed us how to cook scallops perfectly, how to prepare ramps, the proper way to mince shallots and gave us a visual tour of the incredible mushrooms she has delivered from Kennett Square, PA. (The mushroom capital of the world!!)

Here is something I never knew!! You know how you salt your blanching water...did you know you also need to salt your ice bath or the water will remove the flavor picked up while blanching. I NEVER knew that...ooops! Thanks Arianne!

A meal prepared by Chef Ariane Duarte...lucky me!!

Dinner Tool is a comprehensive website in which you can easily organize yourself and your meals. It has a large recipe database, a meal planning tool, a grocery list creator and how to videos. They focus on easy, fast, budget, healthy and make ahead meals. You can even share your recipes for others to enjoy. They have contest too! What's not to love!!

Here are a few things I found on the Dinner Tool you may want to check out:

Mediterranean Chicken Ragu with Orecchiette Pasta (This needs to get in my belly asap!)

Ariane shares what to do with your produce once you are home from the store (Time saving and produce storage tips!)

20 dinner ideas under $10.00 (Gotta love it!)

So...until the replicator from Star Trek or The Jetsons finally becomes a reality and you find yourself asking once again..."what can I make for dinner". Why not check out Dinner Tool to see if it will make your life a little bit easier!

**Note: Dinner Tool did invite me to CulinAriane as well as give me a great bag with some fun products, however the above are my own thoughts on the day as well as the Dinner Tool website.