SAUCE
All About Sauce
Maryland born, sassy and full of flavor
When people ask what makes someone a Chef Vs. a Cook:
Some would say you must be classically trained BUT this is no longer necessarily true.
Plenty of self taught Chefs can cook just as well as some of the classically trained.
What is true though is the following, it is the absolute rule of thumb:
A COOK NEEDS AND RELIES UPON RECIPES, OR HAS JUST A FEW THINGS THEY ARE GREAT AT COOKING.
A CHEF CREATES DISHES, CHANGES AND PERSONALIZES RECIPES, AND KNOWS WHAT WORKS WELL TOGETHER AND EXPERIMENTS.. WITH
THE END RESULT BEING A GREAT AND DELICIOUS CULINARY EXPERIENCE.
I am Charlene also known as Sauce. A loving nickname given to me by my Longtime partner due to my love of sauces and extra sauce on everything I eat. I am a youthful, family loving 50 year old woman who is a self taught Chef. I first found I had a natural knack for making great recipes and foods around age 17ish. I was pregnant and a senior in High School and my grandmother who raised me didn’t cook some of the types of food I like or wanted to eat.
So I began with some recipes for spaghetti, and a neat lemon based tuna salad. Next I moved on to Chili and seafood. By the time I was 21 and living with my first fiance ( we didn’t get married) and my then 3 yr old, I was cooking chicken alfredo breasts and rice with alfredo sauce etc.
Fast forward to now and I am a 50 yr old mother and grand mom who has raised 5 kids and now enjoys stuffing 2 grandkids when they visit. So now my recipes and food experiments and success stories are as bountiful as the amount of sauce I love.
I incorporate my Maryland girl taste buds along with different foods I have tasted in my travels and journey of life. You will see as we go along on this food journey together that I have a love of seafood, Old Bay and well flavored meats and dishes. Portion size is also something very important to me as a Maryland girl. If you know Maryland, you know we love our large portions. You better not serve a small plate in Maryland, unless its at a very fancy restaurant, that is different. But when it comes to comfort food, family or gatherings… the plate better be good and it better be big.
I wanted to take the time to thank all the women and one man who influenced my cooking and these are people who I often think of when I cook certain things. Sometimes it feels like they are in the kitchen with me and it’s something that does my spirit good. Some are still with us and others have moved on to the heavens.
"Charlene Sauce"
charlene Strayhon
ceo & chef
Cooking for me is about more than just money. Of course it is also about money but mainly its a further expression of who I always have been. Which is an artist.
I could always draw and paint anything. At one time fashion design was my goal till I became a mom ..again and again lol. I think Chefs are people who cook with a real passion, not just for money, not just for need but because they truly love what they create. Chefs aren’t scared to experiment to push your palette and to push your visual senses.
That’s what I love about it.
It’s what excites me. I cook with a love for the craft. I hope you’ll try some of my food soon.
