Ponderings

I’ve never taught anybody how to cook But I’ve been cooking for 20 years at this point. Sometimes more seriously than others. But especially for the last 12 years I’ve been the sole source of home cooking for myself or my family. I am a decent cook, however I am not a Chef, Chef is a title a little bit like Jedi Master. You are not a Chef until a Chef calls you a Chef… That statement didn’t really turn out the way I wanted it. I wish I was a good enough writer to make it read more declarative rather than prescriptive. But it is my honest opinion and also words mean things and I think specificity is good. ...

This post has a preamble that grew to be much longer than I intended. If you don’t care about how I came to write this post or any of the context skip to below the fold A small bit of context here first: This…diatribe was originally written as a post for Facebook. I haven’t posted anything on Facebook in over 18 months, and longer than that since there was anything of substance. So, this was written as my “triumphant” return. ...

I’m going to say something slightly inflammatory designed to grab your attention but I will bring it back around. Give me just a moment. This is also going to be rambling and probably not make much sense. I will likely make several logical fallacies and/or errors. I am not prefect. Anyway… I do not love working. I reject this idiom that we grew up with that. “If you find a way to get paid to do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” ...

So, this was kinda genesis in some ways…this was one of the very first long format writings I did. It’s probably 15 years old as of this point and I had stronger opinions about things back then. I probably don’t even agree with the points I made in this “article” anymore. I’m gonna be super honest. I barely reread it before sharing it here on this new blog. I was too afraid of the cringe but I thought it would be a good thing to share because its car related and it kinda shows how far (or not) I’ve come. Anyways, enjoy: ...

This writing was a review I left on Google Maps after a particularly good experience I had at this establishment. Enjoy The mark of any good restaurant is delicious food and accommodating staff. At a James Beard award winner excellent food, wonderful cocktails, beautiful presentation, and professional, knowledgeable, personable staff are literally table stakes. At 1010 I have found the mark of true greatness. Tonight, I sat at the bar and was greeted by my new super hero’s BB (spelling?) and Derick. I treated myself to an absolutely fabulous Manhattan made by Derick, some really stellar blistered shishitos, and a lovely ramp salad. Afterwards I let Derick “talk me into” a fabulous glass of wine from Cotes De Rhone my absolute favorite wine region in the world, with wine that instantly bring back memories of my late father. ...

When we were buying our house we looked for a bunch of different houses, put down a lot of different offers on a lot of properties that frankly I liked a lot better than the one we ended up with. This is, or was (depending on when you’re reading this), just kind of the way house buying is. This would have been in 2024 and for those who may not have known or weren’t around the house buying market was insane at this time. People were waving inspections bringing cash offers 10% over asking, and scooping up properties within hours of them being on the market. So we were just playing the game. None of this truly upset me… With one exception ...

I believe this one was spawned from a response to a friend of mine who makes and collects things on the internet. He was talking openly about struggling with keeping things that probably should have just been thrown out. Especially hoarding parts and pieces of old things because “it could be useful someday”. That started a whole conversation and, as this is something that I have struggled with for a long time, I felt I had some insight. From that conversation came this reply of mine: ...

This came about when a group of my friends and I were talking about grilled cheese sandwiches and what we do when we’re makin ’em at night. The conversation quickly turned into something much more than a discussion of bread, butter, and cheese. I realized that this starts to get into a broader theory of all cooking really quickly. I haven’t fully thought through every aspect of this but my working theory right now is: ...

Welcome to my new blog This is just a landing page… Tip Browse Recent Posts on the left side (or at the bottom on mobile) I am working on it… I am still trying to figure all this out… I am not a smart man… Also, a blog? What year is it? Who knows. But I’m trying something new. Join me while I smash my head with a hammer. ...