Fight 4 Taste

  I was asked to provide a lunch for a group of executives where I work. With nine people attending, they would be ready to eat around 1:00 PM on a Thursday afternoon. I did not hesitate when I was asked if this was something that I would be willing to do.  I knew that I was capable. Almost a week went by before I received an official ask from the president of our company if I would provide this lunch.  I casually stepped up with a cool, "I could do that." For the last 4 weeks on Fridays, I have produced a light lunch for 12-16 people in the office without any previous notice. Because of that, for some people, it was lunch, for others a snack, and for others something to take home for dinner. From gourmet popcorn, Korean street toast, lomein, and fried rice, I have had the opportunity to share with coworkers. It has been fun for me, for them, and overall a great life experience for all. In 2019, I cooked at 2 summer lunchtime cookout events, with up to 165 people attendin...

 The General is coming. This is an announcement I have heard many times. From the moment these words were spoken, intensive repetition commenced. Hours of duplicating every step taken, every word shouted, every head turn and every order to present arms. It was out of this, that a large group of many would become one synchronized machine. Every heel hitting the ground would sharply thunder. Every move made would snap with precision. Words became one voice. The General would arrive, and in a 60-second choreographed production, the hours of work would meet their goal. He expected nothing less. Nothing could ever go wrong. This is the art and curse of Drill and Ceremony. I have pulled my fair share of fire-guard too. In a military barracks, no one dies in a fire because there is never a chance for the fire to go undetected. Beginning at 9 PM, 1-hour shifts begin, in which one person per floor is assigned to walk the halls, making sure that no dangers arise as the rest of the unit sleep...

 Remember those wonderful Bob Ross shows we used to watch on PBS? When Bob decided that the scene needed some "happy little trees" in the background, he seemingly waved the brush over the canvas with a scribble motion and the trees came to life. It was always a joy to watch.  I never aspired to paint,  sparing myself from wondering if I could reach such a pinnacle. But there were things in my life that I did wish to achieve such proficiency.  Playing guitar was one of those things, but the time commitment that takes is significant. The last time I had that kind of time was in 1986. I am ok with this. In fact, I feel I am not done with that side of my creativity. In 1999, in Junction City, Kansas I experienced my first most amazing meal ever. As I sat there with five of my friends, I never imagined that I could reach any kind of culinary achievement. Three years later, on a completely different planet, I set out to make my first spinach artichoke dip. This Saturday-ki...

 It's coming from the feel That it ain't exactly real Or it's real, but it ain't exactly there -Leonard Cohen, Democracy 1992 It has been like that lately. There are many points of focus and there are distractions too. Echos of Another Earth seem normal these days. I hesitated to make popcorn one day because I knew where that could lead. I knew it needed to be done, and that symbolically, it represents my whole business plan.  Like Ike and Tina knocking out Proud Mary, it starts out nice and easy, and then...well you know. I heard others talk about it. They got their cooking out into the open and then it took on a life of its own. I acknowledge that what I have is just a small flame that could easily be blown out with a gust of wind, and I also understand that it could start a wildfire. It is the escalation that I want to understand. I know that in any undiscovered country, there are things that simply do not count. It is through the making of simple mistakes that the g...

   I knew I should have prepped the cabbage last night. Instead of razor-thin shavings of bright green cabbage, I opened the cooler and there they were, two green bowling balls without the holes. But, hey, I am good with a knife. I am not stupid-fast, more like efficient. I got this. My one-hour lunch excursion into the culinary burst of what I view Fight4Taste to mean could happen. Right? All along there was a song playing in the background, come on Gen-X sing it if you know it..."A THREE HOUR TOURRRRRRRR!" Once the cabbage is shredded, it is evident I am in that episode of the Twilight Zone in which time is moving at 6 times its natural speed. I note to myself, that the next time my hands are clean, there is an important call that I need to make. I step off the curb to work on the rest of the build and then, I am again transported 37 minutes into the future. If I were home, the projections meet the reality and simply translate into a hungry family eating later, a kitchen be...

  When I thought yesterday was tough, I had no idea that it was only the beginning. As I rode into Thursday, I had no idea what was next. No inspiration, no direction, and no clue. I brought 2 books on Korean cooking to work with me, but I was too busy to read them. There they sat on my desk, the works of Eric Kim, Taekyung Chung, and Debra Samuels taunting me. It was a reminder, that I had planned nothing in this Korean theme week.  I have been winging it. It was looking like I was out of ideas. I chose denial as the precious hours of the day passed. We are in a state of physical transition at work which provides the perfect opportunity to hide my head in the sand on dinner ideas. I was sure of one thing, I had missed a few important household items when grocery shopping early yesterday morning, so I was stopping at Walmart before heading back over the river to go home tonight. I work well under pressure, so staring down the barrel of the imminent family requiring dinner, I j...

 There is always that time when we just don't know what it is we are going to make for dinner. Add this to a theme week and that is culinary paralysis. It is Wednesday. Liam and Haylie are coming for dinner. In my mind I saw us all sitting around the table, with a Korean barbeque cooker in the center of the table, super hot, around it were different vegetables and meats for us to place on the hot cast surface, searing up savory little bites to place into lettuce wraps with fermented bean paste, kimchi, samjan, chili crisp and beautiful banchan. The reality was I had no time to prep.  I did an early morning, before-work grocery shopping which then rolled right into a full workday, then right into dinner time. So there were no meats thawed and finely sliced. The banchan prep has not even started. I had bought 2 pounds of salmon at the fish counter earlier. That is usually our go-to easy meal, salt, pepper, olive oil, and out onto the hot grill on the porch, then topped with a le...