Fight 4 Taste!

I have become better about it over the past few years. But there was a time where I really loved watching infomercials about interesting cooking gadgets. I think Alton Brown help me to get over it. The first one I ever bought was the Runco dehydrator and let's face it the dehydrator is a very useful device. I bought mine back in 1993. It was crude by today's standards but did the job. Because it the old dehydrator did not make any noise cuz there was no fan and then I had cats and they would knock it over and eat the beef jerky that I was making. I created a wooden plywood deck with eye hooks on it and which I would criss-cross bungee strap the dehydrator down so they couldn't knock it over. My next irresistible cooking gimmick was the brown and crisp bags of the late 1990s. The infomercials would show chef Tony and some ditzy brunette woman cooking gourmet meals in the little pouches that are paper on the outside and had soil residue on the inside. Tony would nuke up this...

How did I learn to cook? This is a question that I am frequently asked. Some even ask if I went to culinary school. First of all, I AM TOTALLY flattered about that question! If only my Father could have heard that one. I too am very disbelieving of how the kid who "hated everything except hot dogs and the skin off Kentucky Fried Chicken" (Joe Jackson's words) could have ended up knowing how to make all of this incredible food, let alone EAT IT! Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a person inspired by associative reference. You say something to me, it reminds me of something I know, heard, done or a place I have been, and then I tell you about that. Let me say up front that you are very kind for indulging me as sometimes my thought process stretches that connection far enough that I need to explain how I associate these subjects. Food is no exception. It means something to me and is part of my history. Not at first though. Growing up, I ate an average assortme...