That's me and my wife, I'm whistling for cab to give us lift back home
After so many years of cooking in a hot kitchen you begin to forget a lot of what you've learned. One day last year I was skiing with some friends. Two used to work for me and one was a husband who has eaten a fair amount of my cooking. On the chairlift up they would start talking about things I have made that were memorable to them. Notice I said memorable, not great or fantastic or some other superlative. Memorable. It seems some of these dishes lasted with them for years. Some get better with age like an old fishing story, some just a little blip that comes up when reminiscing and forgotten again while others have been recreated and turned into their own variations.
A while back I was out of town for a few days. We had company coming and my wife was going to be left alone to do the cooking. We have been married 25 years and she never has had much a reason to cook. She can bake. She can even pull off a couple of decent dishes. Roast Chicken, chili and meatloaf are her go to dishes. This weekend she not only had to cook she had to do it vegetarian style. Eileen loves my tomato sauce and thought she could do a nice ravioli with homemade tomato sauce. The meal was a success and Eileen was quite pleased, not only with the meal but how much she enjoyed the cooking.
What's the point of these two tales? I enjoyed hearing about how my cooking helped others enjoy their lives more. Seeing how our lives intersect and influence each other is a gift. That human touch is essential. What better way to share that human experience than the internet? Irony is hard in print, no raising of the eye brows,tilting the head or other physical indicators. No wonder kids prefer Wii to writing.
On a completly different note. I have an Aga. The finest home cooking stove known to mankind. All my recipes are set up for normal mortal kitchen stoves but some have special Aga instructions in the Aga section. I suggest you start riding your bike to work, sell your rapidly depreciating car and invest in an Aga with a life expectancy of 100 years. How good do you think your beloved Iphone will be in 100 weeks never mind a 100 years?
Besides little rants here's what I hope you will find in my blog
- Recipes nothing new here. Well kind of new, this is not a collection of recipes pulled off of other people's books and blogs. Although to be fair ain't really much new any more. Whole food cooking with good solid professional technique without all the butter cream salt and fat that makes professional cooking so much fun. Maybe sometimes we'll fall into the butter and fat trap.
- An Aga Section for all my fellow aga enthusiast. Tips, techniques and specfic instructions for Aga Heat Retention Cooker owners
- Kitchen Jokes when appropriate I will submit the latest bad joke delivered orally in the kitchen (no forwarding of bad email jokes here)
- Twenty Questions I ask my family and friends to answer 20 or so food related questions and have them submit a recipe. Instant fame, now that's what the internet is all about
- Problems / Solutions I've told my wife many times "I don't care. Do what you think is best". She knows it's code for "oh boy do I have an opinion" After 25 plus years of marriage it's time to let someone else in on all my infinite wisdom. I will attempt to give some solutions to my long winded whining as well. An jack ass can kick a barn down, takes a carpenter to build one.
- Photos I really enjoy digital cameras. Immediate gratification. I look to improve on this aspect of cooking daily. Glad I bought Eileen that nice Canon a few years back.
- Facebook / Feedback You on Facebook? If you see me on line feel free to chat me up with any blog related questions. Feedback? If you are nice enough to contact me you can be sure I will answer or comment.
Thanks for reading to bottom, give yourself a nice shiny penny, Thanks again, Gerry
That's Titan, he is sad because his boy wouldn't take him to Iraq with the 509th Airborne. Maybe he will get lucky and get to go with him to Afganistan in '09
That's our son Sgt Nooney in the center, looks like he didn't take that dog to Afganistan either