Fight 4 Taste

   I need to create classic recipes. It is the avalanche in me that cannot be stopped. I love seafood. I make excellent mussels. Sweet vermouth, PEI mussels, cream, portabello mushrooms, shallots, garlic, cilantro, bacon. Maybe a Thai chili or two if I want to cook on the wild side.  My oh my! But now, I NEEEEEEEED to make a lobster thermidor, a favorite back in1960s-70s entertaining. The food from those old black-tie dinner party meals is rising into view once again. I know there can be wild spins on what we can do with a meal that Julia Child championed us out of our collective trepidation. 60 years later we are tampering with the maverick. But take your rest here for a moment to cook at the station of that wonderful woman who brought the housewives out of the dark ages, showing us all that family dinner had no limits. Even more so, Julia showed us that ambition and creativity were not owned by men alone. She like my grandmother, did so in a world that said otherwise. B...

  Sometimes I think I’m so smart... Come on now! 24 years of constantly cooking, experimenting, tasting, burning, succeeding, winning, and losing! You would think, I would have this thing pretty much in the bag, wouldn’t you? Let me tell you though, I am still only learning.  There is so much inspiration out there to glean yet never enough time in a day to take it in with any coherency. I want to learn, apply, and feed my people good and delicious food. I want to do it without unnecessary steps or waste.  I want every moment to count in a meaningful way. Tina Choi's Doobydobap, Samin Nosrat's Salt Fat Acid Heat, Mike Greenfield's Life by MikeG, and of course the one who does not even know she has the force within her, June as in junelikethemonth are all part of this Swiss army knife of innovation and experience that I wish to fold into my own, go-with-the-flow technique. It is a whole universe floating around in my brain. Then there is the fact that the more I learn, the ...

 Sometimes, I wonder what is up with me. I have taken the food business thing further than I ever have before. I absolutely am pushing forward too. I was all set to apply for my catering license which will allow me to produce and sell food made at home, but I do need to take the Serv Safe Managers Certification. That is the big one, and once I have that, apply for the license, undergo an inspection. Because I have not had the time to study for the test which is actually administered live on video with a real person, I have not moved forward in a month. I had an early morning meeting at work yesterday which caused me to skip breakfast. At around 11, I ran up to a local gas and convenience store that had a food kitchen with a drive-up window and dared to call itself a "Bistro", desperate for something to eat. I knew it would not be good, but how bad could it be?  As I looked at the warming bin's offerings and its ridiculous prices, I knew I was in trouble. I ignored what I ...

For some reason, I am the type of person who needs a return on investment for all aspects of my life. This includes going on vacation. Vacations are not something that I do often or easily. I know that I am wrong in this, so I do try to break the cycle.   If I go out to eat at a restaurant, it is a disappointment if I am not inspired to add a recipe to my portfolio. It doesn’t have to be the exact meal that I had at the restaurant, but I do like it when it sparks something and made to create something that I would not have otherwise.  Seeing what someone can create in a dish can be an artistic expression about is in there her and soul. It is very much like reading a poem or a paragraph in a novel that brings tears to your eyes, food is the same way. It fascinates me that food being something that we all have in common, that we must eat every day, that there is not nearly enough awareness of its power to heal, celebrate, nourish, and elevate. Please don’t get me wrong here. I a...

 A bowl of ramen. It is a beautiful thing. When you find an excellent one, the appreciation in your heart can overflow like the flavors that bowl delivers. There was a movie starring the late great Brittany Murphy called Ramen Girl. In it, there was a ramen that would make people cry, as if the sadness of the maker connected to the sadness of the diner and took it away somehow, lovingly, and gently. While I saw the movie as an obvious caricature, there is something to that idea of carrying a connection through these savory bowls of art. Photo by Cody Chan on Unsplash  Over the weekend I had the privilege of attending a ramen class. To call it "learning how to make ramen" is perhaps too strong. One class of ramen making is like finding an ice cube on a frozen ground. The ice beneath that is connected to that lone cube is the size of the continent of Antarctica. That contrasts one class of ramen making and the vast knowledge contained within. This class teaches Japanese cooki...

  I sure do! In fact, stories happen to be how I communicate regularly. It is interesting though that back in the 70s when my Mom would take my sisters Brooke and Amy and me to the library on a midweek night, I would always choose reference books. My pre-digital need for the internet I suppose. Assimilation of information has always been a reward for me. On a recent gloomy Saturday, Donna and I went to the local used book store. I am always on the hunt for May Pang's book Loving John, an incredibly detailed account of a year and a half of one of the most creative periods of the life of John Lennon. The book has been out of print for decades, so it is hard to find for under $100. Like always, it was not there. From there, I go to the food section. Cookbooks are great and all, but it would have to be exceptional for me to let one take up space on my kitchen shelf. This I do not find either. I do know however, there is a small spring of refreshing source of information that can quench...

 Within me lies a great desire to allow people to take back their lives. Since the end of the Second World War, there has been a war of a different kind and we as individuals, families, and society all together are losing. The OP4 whispered their way into the kitchens of women like Margaret Anderson, June Cleaver, Donna Reed, and those like them. They used soothing words of praise and comfort for weary wives and moms who worked harder than anyone acknowledged, at least for another 30 to 40 years.  There was an A&P Market in Forestville, Connecticut that we used to shop at around 1970-ish. Not too many aisles, and hardwood floors, and my goodness, at any moment, I was always expecting to see Mr. Whipple guarding the Charmin display. Poor man. He took his responsibility so seriously. He must be turning in his grave every time that stupid bear commercial airs now. The dumbed-down vernacular that it is. The reason that there were not so many middle aisles in the stores back th...