About us

We are not Celebrity Chefs, Professional Cooks or common household names when it comes to cooking and menu planning. Who are we? We are everyday people just like you, dealing with that age-old question “What am I going to eat?”. And we are here to lend a helping hand in the kitchen by providing you with new, exciting and easy flavor combinations to spice up your palate!

BEHIND PINCH-DASH-DONE

Bio

The Story Behind Pinch-Dash-Done

We met in January 1976. It was the beginning of the Spring semester at Prairie View A&M University. As eager freshmen, we checked into dorm on a Saturday afternoon. Other than the dorm officials, we were the only residents for the evening. It was both of ours first semester in college. Starting in the springs is a little awkward from starting with the other freshmen in the fall. We shared the same English 101 class and to this date, I wonder if Ms. Arnold is watching over me. We quickly made acquittances on that Saturday, 44 years and a whole lot of life later, we decided to go into business. We are completely different in personalities and our approach to cooking.

THE PASSIONATE COOKBea Moore

Bea is a passionate cook that has everything you need to make a delicious meal and serve in style. Her herb garden is also a major part of her cooking repertoire. She revels in hosting dinner parties for as many as 50 people-and she prepares all the food from scratch! There will be no plastic cups or paper plates. She believes fine dining is not restricted to expensive restaurants (or intricate preparation) and honors many traditional recipes but takes liberty to create new twists on old favorites. There is no pretense, just good food, fellowship and fun. Bea is a proud business owner who always looks for opportunities to support the community.

THE RELUCTANT COOKVernita Harris

Vernita on the other hand, the reluctant cook specialized in making reservations and dissecting recipes from worldwide travel and living abroad. “I was too busy being busy to cook, hence this book will be a huge surprise to many in my circle”. However, improvising during this past year became the norm. I thought through my favorites recipes and practiced until I perfected. I experimented and made changes to basic recipes. The real challenge was documenting the final outcomes in a sharable comprehensible recipe that others could easily follow.

A serial entrepreneur, Vernita has been a business owner since 1999 and self-employed since May 2006. She has been devoted to supporting small and underserved businesses for years.

As the two collegiate friends started discussions in regards to the project, they quickly realized they wanted the cookbook to serve as a positive influence within the community. Pinch-Dash-Done, A Gateway to Flavorful Recipes is more than a cookbook! It is a vehicle to give back to the community by addressing food insecurity head on and creating an outlet that showcases the talents of small businesses in need of support as a result of the events in 2020.

Our objectives for this first edition of Pinch-Dash-Done series is to bring families back together at the kitchen table to fellowship and create memories. We also would like to see cooking come to forefront and provide flavorful options to anyone who wants to prepare a meal or lite bite at home without concerns for their level of cooking skills.

Create an additional weapon to combat food insecurity on a short and long-term basis while researching inadequacies in the domestic and global food supply chain through two institutions, Houston Food Bank and Prairie View Agricultural & Mechanical University

Provide support to small businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19.

OUR PURPOSE

Fighting Food Insecurity

Bea and Vernita are both community advocates. After watching the negative impact on the food supplies during the spring of 2020, they felt compelled to find a way to serve the community and address food insecurity on a long- and short-term basis. Subsequently, they decided to invest their stimulus checks into the creation of Pinch-Dash-Done. Their desire for this cookbook is to serve as a vehicle to provide funding to the following institutions that directly impact food insecurity: Founded in 1982, Houston Food Bank is America’s largest food bank in distribution, leading hunger relief in 18 southeast Texas counties. Donations from sales of Pinch-Dash-Done will help with addressing the short-term issue of food shortages. For more information on Houston Food Bank, please go to www.houstonfoodbank.org.

Both authors are proud alums of Prairie View A&M University, where they met during the spring semester of 1976. Established in 1876, Prairie View A&M University is the second-oldest university in the state of Texas. Because of its agricultural and mechanical focus, Bea and Vernita plan to establish a scholarship endowment to assist students that are economically challenged in safeguarding a quality education for all. The newly-created scholarships will support students majoring in Agribusiness and will promote domestic and international food systems and supply chains. These donations will contribute to the long-term goal of overcoming food insecurity. For more information on Prairie View Agricultural & Mechanical University, please go to www.pvamu.edu.