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…

Passion

I am not going to address anything that goes on in the bedroom, this is not about that type of passion, but rather about a passion for things we find in life, whether it be vocation or avocation. I have met many passionate people. My brother has a passion for bicycles, Jin for Bakery, Gnat for glass, Jewels for beading, SHE AKA K9 for painting, Ruela, GT3, and /t. for art, FairScape, unfortunatley no longer with us and Dianne for poetry. I knwo I haveleft some of you out, don;t feel disappointed - your links wouldn;t appear on my page if I didn;t feel a apssionwihtin you. but I own a piece of Gnat's glass work, one of SHE's paintings, have tasted Jin's bakery first hand, and have seen examples of Jewels beading and Ruela and /t.'s art is available to everyone. You can see their passion in their work, each piece is a piece of their soul, they have put their love of their craft, their heart if you will, into everything they produce and you can see it. Gnat and Jewels work look as though they belong in a museum, SHE's work should be hanging in galleries, Ruela's is, and /t.'s pieces are exquisite. Pink and Foam have have photo's that should grace the pages of magazines and Little Lamb is coming up fast on the inside track with her pictures. Jin's bakery tastes of the love she has put into it and if your bike is broken or you need a new one my brother will put his all into ensuring you receive only the best. Dainne and FairScape produce poetry that should be on bookshelves everywhere. Every one wiht a link here has somethign special that deserves recognition, I am writing thies hurridly so I have may have lef ta lot of you out, and the mispellngs are probably legion, but I wanted to strike while the iron was hot - I will fix things later. I also realize this may be coming off as an ad for their work and I suppose in a way it is, however, I wanted to take time to encourage you to visit their sites. Gnat in particular is holding a contest to advance his glass art, that is how I came by my piece of his work. Though a simple paper weight it sits in my front room display cabinet brcasue I can see his passion, his heart, his love of his work in the piece. He is charging nothing, seeks no monetary gain in his contest, but rather wants to share his passion wiht you, so I encourafe you to visit his site and give it a shot, if nothign else scroll through some of his past posts ot see delicate flowers, pumpkins, shells, and other fine glass work. I will insert links ot all these sites later, but for now please use the ones on my side bar.

I unfortuantely haev attained only dabbler status. I'm am intereste in many things but aside fomr Mrs. Phos have yet to find my one true passion. Perhaps it will come to me one day, perhaps not. If I ahve a passion at all it woudl be curiosity as I harbor a strong desire to know about everything, yete xcel at nothing in particular. Please check out all the links on my sidebar, meet the interesting peopel I ahve come across who each have a passion about somethign whther it be philosiphy or hadicrafts. Once again forgive the sloppiness of this post, I am writing before I go to work and will try to ammend the mess when I get home. Meanwhile search your heart, listne to that innner voice that leads you to smethign that you cna put your soul inot - it will show in the finished piece, belive me...

Passion

People need passion in their lives or they are not really living. We can be passionate about a person, a cause, an avocation, even our job. It is possible to be passionate about several things, and I have even known some who are passionate about life in general – that type of person is to be envied.

This devotion gives us purpose without which we are empty shells, just plodding along until whatever end comes, so it is important to find some higher purpose. The object of this focused energy can change over time as well, even vanish whether because of loss of interest or outside influeneces. There is also a dark side to passion when people become passionate about destructive or harmful things, such as the “one true god syndrome” where anyone believing anything else must be eliminated. That being said the most enjoyable part of this enthusiasm is sharing it with others, trying to ignite their interest, bring them along for the ride so they can feel the same excitement.

I am passionate about several things, my wife, huskies, and food. Lucky for me my other two passions enjoy the spin-off from my fascination with food – they dovetail nicely. I have always been a nuts and bolts kind of guy, I like to see how things work and try to replicate it myself so my actual interest in the techniques, the chemistry, and history behind different foods. What a particular people eat, how they prepare it, how they eat it, and why they eat the food they do can tell you a lot about a particular culture. I have tried to bring the wisdom of those other cultures into my cooking, and am eager to see and try more. This desire to explore further goes a long way in keeping the passion alive as does the favorable reviews from my other two passions.

So what are you passionate about??