For Love of Food

My interest in food began long ago while as a child I made hard-boiled eggs for breakfast. Then it was on to Julia Child and the "Galloping Gourmet" AKA Graham Kerr. The interest the passion was there, but it took some time to finally make its debut. While in Korea I came across "The Philippine Cookbook" by Reynaldo G. Alejandro shortly after a three week stint in the Philippines. The food in the Philippines had caught my attention and I wanted to be able to recreate the delights upon my return home.

Back on US soil I announced I was cooking from now on and have never looked back. I am no chef and by most standards only a fair cook, but I love the thrill of the chase. I find peace immersing myself in the techniques, joy in discovering something new and relief when the dish actually turns out. While not catering to a five star crowd, it is gratifying that those I have cooked for have always been appreciative.

I started with Oriental style dishes, started haunting the local Chinese market, and own five different types of woks. Since the early days I have traveled more, seen more of the world and discovered the owner of barbecue right in my own back yard. I keep the backyard grill pretty busy.

My style is as haphazard as my life using a recipe the first time, use the palm of my hand to measure spices, and from then on tend to just wing it -- so far the Kitchen God has been watching out for me. I haven’t poisoned anyone nor set the house a blaze so I have that going for me, which is nice.

I always admired those who have a passion for what they do and had hoped that someday I would too, but failed to realize the passion was already there – wondering hope different foods came into use, who figured out which things were good to eat and which weren’t the differences and similarities between dishes of various countries, and trying to replicate the food in my own kitchen, sometimes more successfully than others. The kitchen has become my retreat, shared only with a couple of huskies and a hot stove. Tough to think of any where I’d rather be…