About Me

I grew up around great food.  My mom is the best cook I know, and the vast majority of our family friends love food and cooking - some of them even had their own restaurants.   I learned how to  cook over the years from practice as well as observing these fine individuals.  I knew it was something I wanted to do after years of seeing everybody cooking and eating, and having so much fun in the process!

It all started with carrots.  I tried to make glazed carrots as a five year old, unsuccessfully, and almost cut my thumb off in the process.  Then, maybe a year later. I tried to recreate what I referred to as "peanut noodles" - out of rinsed Spaghetti-O's and peanut butter. Again, unsuccessful.  

my career as a sailor-captain-bartender had a limited run.

Fast forward four years to the day that I cooked my mom a surprise garden lunch while she was out running errands - no occasion, but why not? I rode my bike up to the local fishmonger and bought swordfish fillets - paid for all in quarters.  Green beans were tossed in a light dijon vinaigrette and the ice cubes had violets in them.  I followed the steps in our old Weber Grill "how-to-use" guide book and grilled the swordfish until "opaque". I had no idea what that word meant.  And the rest is history. Boy, have I come a long way! 

Cooking for me is therapeutic and exhilarating all at once - I love seeing how flavors, spices and ingredients can all transform and come together to create a beautiful and delicious final product.  Some may say I'm a bit haphazard in the kitchen - I move very quickly, quasi-throwing ingredients around, yet somehow everything gets in it's place - and I have a heck of a lot of fun in the process!  I believe that my first cookbooks are to blame -  Klutz's Kids Cooking: A Very Slightly Messy Manual, and Disney's Mickey Mouse Cookbook.

This blog is a way for me to share my passions with everyone. It's for friends, family, and strangers alike to see what tricks I have up my sleeve.  It also poses a challenge to me, in my tiny little kitchen, to see just what I can come up with next.

I'll leave you with a final note: get in the kitchen! Don't be afraid to cook.  Pick up ingredients you've never seen or heard of before.  Get in there, use your hands, and get messy. Most importantly, have fun!