Weight: 271 lbs.
Mood: Exhausted
Water Consumed: 2 Nalgenes
Breakfast: 2 Hard Boiled Eggs
Lunch: Peanut Butter celery, Blueberries
Dinner: Jambalya
Hangry Thought of the Day: Leo is sick...again!?!
I LOVE to cook. We have a strong family history of cooks. No one in my immediate family made it big onto the cooking scene, but my cousin Gwen did. No, we were just dabblers, passionate armatures with nothing but our taste-buds, and a direction to Penzey's.
It all started with my Dad. My Dad was an amazing cook. Beef Stroganoff, Chicken and Rice, and a plethora of soups to his name, my Dad tinkered in the kitchen like no other. He had a mastery of what he called "Peasant Food", I liked to call it rural cooking. My Dad was raised on a farm up near Staples, MN and cooking was a large part of everyday life, and was a and even larger part of the social experience of rural life. My Dad's flavor pallet was very heavy in cream/milk/butter sauces, and heavy in potatoes. He ventured a little bit in Chinese and Mexican cooking. But my Dad excelled at baking. He was a profesional baker for years, and I swear he could through a cake together without ever digging out a measuring tool. It was safe to say if a stove/cooking fire/oven/grill was lit, my Dad was loitering around somewhere...
Both my sister, Kerry, and I inherited this bug. After our parents split up we would have a Thanksgiving with my Mom, which was a great social experience. But on the following Saturday we had what I dubbed as T2 with my Dad. Their the social experience happend in the kitchen, and when we did the dishes. The food was TOO GOOD to take the time to talk during dinner. Today I still help celebrate this by making two stuffings for every Thanksgiving. And although there would only be four of us at the beginning of T2, there was enough food to feed twenty. Which brings up another good point, my Dad also loved to feed people. At his wake and funeral he left a large part of his budget to feeding everyone. It was THAT important to him that he fed everyone one last time before going into the ground.
My Dad taught us all the basics, and Boy Scouts gave me the early outlet I needed to cook for an audience. I loved cook detail. I would happily volunteer for us much cooking time as I could get. I LOVED it. Not so much the clean up, but that is a story for another day. The trick was to get the food to pull out of the kitchen all at the same time, and you were cooking for twenty people, no small feet! But this was only the beginning for me. One night after came home late, my Dad was up watching a show with these Japanese Chef's combating each other in the most ridiculous outfits a chef could wear....
These were the original Iron Chefs. And they mesmerized me. Night after night my Dad and I would watch these chefs take what seemed like a random set of ingredients and turn them into the most lavish dishes in under an hour. This pushed me to look beyond the "rural cooking" style my Dad has mastered. I started to replicate their dishes, and even started making my own Asian themed sauces. And yes, I even set up a couple of my own Iron Chef matches with my local Boy Scout Troop (complete with crazy costumes):
I guess this was another part of the inspiration that led me to the path of Project Table for One. I love to challenge myself in cooking. I think it makes me a better cook to only be limited in what I have on hand. And I bet if one of those Iron Chef's had MY pantry for cooking, I bet I could take them! The thought of taking just $30 worth of ingredients and turning them into healthy nutritious, AND TASTY meals just make me giddy!
And now it's my turn to be the Papa, and hopefully I can inspire a little bit about a passion for cooking unto my kids as well!
So tell us a little bit about your passion for cooking!? Leave us a comment below!
So tell us a little bit about your passion for cooking!? Leave us a comment below!
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