About me
I grew up around people who could instinctively recognize a recipe that would turn out to be delicious. Mom. Dad. Grandparents. Aunts. Uncles. Family, right? So-- as an adolescent-- when I'd go to dinner at the home of friends and we were fed unimaginative prefab canned/boxed meals and everyone would rave about how delicious the food was... yikes. Red does not equal spicy, people.
Later on, as I got older, girlfriends would invite me over for lunch/ dinner, and what they put in front of me would give me the willies. So I'd offer to "return the favor" by making lunch/dinner for them the following day. Then I'd show them what REAL food tasted like (and everybody tell your sons that GIRLS LIKE GUYS WHO KNOW HOW TO COOK!!! Good food leads to lots of smooch time).
Now, as an adult, I recognize that while fancy, expensive food isn't always good, good food doesn't HAVE to be fancy or all that expensive. If you can wrangle fancy and good at the same time, then good on ya!
A decade ago, for less than a year, I worked as a cook in an Irish-themed Pub in Portland, Oregon. The Pub, sadly, is long gone and was NOT a fancy place. However... I probably learned more about the subtleties and nuances of flavor and presentation from working there, preparing basic, traditional food geared toward the needs of the Celtic cold-weather working-man than I've learned anywhere else in my life.
Don't believe what you see on the cooking channels. Don't believe the hype. You don't need to have the fanciest cooking gear and you don't have to be a pushy, screaming, psychotically melodramatic, foaming-at-the-mouth maniac to be a good cook.
You just have to take your time, pay attention to details, learn from your mistakes and have the guts to take a risk once in a while.
And whatever you do... DON'T drink beer while you're baking oatmeal cookies...
But that's a story for another time.
--Have Fun!--
My Favorite Foods
...too numerous to count.
Groups
Kitchenshark is a member of
Bread Machines and Bread Bakers
