About Me

I'm sure you'd like to know a bit about me and my qualifications before you start reading and believing my babble. After all, one does need a bit of credibility. :-)

I'm a 30-something male with a college degree in computer science and technical communication. I've spent my post-college years working professionally in the technology field. I've always loved food, cooking, entertaining, and, of course, eating. I'm not sure where it came from, as none of these were a main focus in my household while growing up, but my love of food really took hold after college when I acquired my first kitchen and a salary to support my food habits. My college friends and I would take turns hosting weekly dinner gatherings and try out new foods, everything from seafood to cheeses, wines, and artisan bread.

I have no formal culinary training. Everything I know, I've learned from others like family and friends and I attribute a lot of my knowledge to spending way too much time in front of the television. If it weren't for Alton Brown, Emeril Lagasse, Ina Garten, Julia Child, and all of their peers and colleagues, I wouldn't have been encouraged to experiment as I have and continuing to learn. I was also blessed to be able to work for America's Test Kitchen for a short period of time. While I worked on the websites, not in the kitchen, it was a wonderful thing to be around people who live, eat, and breathe food on a daily basis and to be able to wander into the test kitchen and take a taste of what was cooking that day.

Most importantly, I am not a high-society gourmet. I'm a home cook and my dishes reflect that. You won't find me at a fancy french restaurant dining on hundred-dollar bottles of wine and large plates with nickle-sized portions of food excellently arranged. While I occasionally find this to be an interesting cultural experience, food, to me, is more about a table packed with friends with family-style platters filled with hearty, flavorful, stick-to-your-ribs food that gets passed around amongst good conversation and a bottle of good cheap wine (under $20).