I come from a family that loves to cook. And...we're a little unorthodox about it.
My dad was (and is) the day-to-day cook in the house, and if he sometimes gets a little carried away with ingredients (we won't talk about the great Cayenne Pepper Debacle that occurred after he attended an academic conference in Louisiana) he also taught me to cook from the gut, and to rely on recipes only as starting points.
My mom is the quintessential entertainer. She can put together a dinner party menu that will knock your socks off, and sets tables that should be featured in Martha Stuart Living. I've got two sisters who are also great cooks, but again - a little unorthodox. One is a vegetarian surrounded by familial omnivores (including this younger brother, who constantly attempts to get her to eat of the flesh) and the other is a gluten-free, all-organic sort of cook. The former produces baked goods (and fried chicken for the omnivores) that are indescribably delicious, and the latter makes incredibly flavorful food out of simple ingredients, while dodging a variety of verboten foodstuffs.
And then there's me. I'm the quintessential omnivore. There is almost nothing I won't eat. The list of foods I don't like can be summed up pretty simply: Okra (yeah, I'm a bad Southerner), Melons (shut up with the ironic jokes, people that know me)... umm...yeah, that's pretty much it. Well...ok, I'm not a huge fan of chicken livers in their unadulterated form, but they aren't bad in some preparations!
I love cooking - and I love being adventurous. Thanks to shows like Top Chef and Iron Chef, I've learned the value of experimentation and lateral thinking where food is concerned. When I think about what to cook, I think "What can I do differently today...".
So, this blog is all about my adventures with food. I want to share my techniques and experiments, and hear about yours as well. It's all about tips and tries and being daring. Not everything is going to work, but hey - that's what it's all about!
So...tuck in!
No comments:
Post a Comment