My Mission

I am getting old.  I love food and I'm getting old and I can't remember all the great things I've eaten.  I literally have a wall full of recipe books from tv chef celebrities, famous restaurants, topical food books, weight recipe books, grilling books, plating books and books that will teach you how to properly cut off the head of a chicken (yeah, and I've decided not too do that--it involves a traffic cone and a lot of blood).  I've made so many recipes from these books, and yet I have never sat down and tried to write about my experiences.  I've been to dozens of "business casual" restaurants and had food that blew my mind.  I simply rely on my aging memory to tell me what was really good, and what was bad, what mistakes I made.  And my memory fails me.

It wasn't until one night I made something that I thought was "new", and it wasn't until it was in my mouth, that I remembered, "I made this before."   At that point, I had the idea of creating a list where I wrote down everything I made, so I can remember what is good.

And then I think about all the times my wife and I sit down to plan the meals for the week and I go blank.  I can't remember any of the recipes that were both simple to make and delicious.  We ultimately end up going with the same tired recipes we ate when we were first married.  (Not that the quesidillas made with soup are bad, after a while I just want something new).

I thought, if I just made this list it would be great, then I could peruse the list and find the recipe I want.  But then, I'd probably not remember what the recipe looked like and I'd want pictures, and so I thought I'd make a web site.   Then I remembered, I write code all day at work and the last thing I want to do when I get home is more coding.  Then I thought, I'll just write about it and blog my food and let the blog site take care of the technical bits.

So I am setting off to write this blog about my experiences in the kitchen.  I am not a chef, I am simply an amateur, middle-aged man who used to eat nothing but peanut butter sandwiches as a kid, but found much later in life food can be glorious.  (more on that in later posts) Every time I post, I'll be chose a recipe from one of my hundreds of recipe books.  When I cook, I resolve to take photos, write about what I did wrong, and whether the recipe worked or failed.  I'll write about the complexity of it, how long it took, so I can remember if it is something I want as a casual night's dinner, or if it's something I want to serve to guests during the holidays.  I'll probably mention if the wife and kids like it, as her opinion sometimes differs from mine.  (I swear if I even put a dash of cayanne in anything she complains that her mouth is on fire) I will also simply comment about what I think of the recipe, so I can remember if I want this again, or if I should serve it to guests.

That's it.  My mission statement is, "Create a place where I can look back with nostalgia on the things that I have cooked."  I hope you enjoy as much as I enjoy cooking it.