The Gourmet in Me.

Cooking and baking have always been something that I've enjoyed doing. I can't give Mom credit for that one; sorry woman, Daddy gets the title of Cook in our family. My mom did bake, and she was decent at it, but her daughter, my sister Linda, is the ESSENCE of awesome! She really does "take the cake"...OMG, I went there. Did you see that? Yeah, OK, that was dumb, but she really is great at what she does. I think Lin should write a book and she should show you just how wonderful she is. Mom and Linda both were cake makers in the 80s and although they have slowed down their work in that area, it still remains that they are both really gifted and talented people when it comes to making and decorating cakes. I am not that kind of a baker. Nothing I make will be baked for a wedding, anniversary, or birthday. I just bake it, and then I eat it.

    What I decided to do is to write my own recipe book since everyone seems to think that recipe books are the way to express yourself.  I mean, I get that, but mine won't be just a book with recipes in it, it will have to be a storytelling type of book as well. I'm thinking something along the lines of a blog book with 100 recipes and stories in it. I'll likely tell a story, share a recipe, and add a photo of what it turned out to look like rather than what it SHOULD have looked like. No one, including myself, is going to call me a gourmet chef. Nope. I cook. I will add that I cook well, but I am not a true gourmet. I use great ingredients.

    My culinary experiences began as a kid when my dad cooked and I helped. I can't remember my siblings helping Dad. I don't know why I can't remember that. I'm pretty sure they had to. Andie (my big big sister) always brought the green bean casserole to the family dinners, so I know she can cook that. Linda (my little big sister, she's under Andie and before Mike. I'm the baby.) was in charge of all the good stuff. She put herself in charge, and we didn't argue. She was really good at it, so yeah, we let that happen.  She brought the sweets and jello stuff. Mike brought the ice...and that tells you a bit about his kitchen skills.  I brought the sweet potatoes and occasionally I'd step over the boundaries and bring a cake or something. 

    When I really got serious about learning to cook well I was really super old. I had already earned my Masters at Oklahoma City University, and I was teaching at the Platt School of Culinary Arts in their General Education department.  I won't say it was the best job out there, but it had its perks that is for sure. All of my students were culinary chefs in the making.  They made us lunch EVERY day, and often they made something in the afternoon that I could pick up and take home with me for dinner or dessert. One student, in particular, decided to teach me the tricks of the trade and he took me in as his personal student since I was giving him extra credit to make up for his lack of writing skills.  It worked out.  He learned not to plagiarize and I learned how to cook really well! Thank you, Patrick.

    The one thing I remember about the school was Master Chef saying to the students, and I was present when he did, that there should always be a party in your mouth when you make something worth eating. You mix salsa and you think it's great, but did you add apples and cayenne to that salsa? Did you add bacon to your taco? He would throw out things that made you think. He had written at least two successful recipe books and he had more than 30 years of culinary experience in Dallas, so I think the man had a bit of experience for the students as well as myself, to glean from -- so we did.  He was a true Artisan with the creations he made. It was mostly about the presentation; the quality of the food, he said, could be secondary. I didn't really like that concept.

    I told myself that I didn't need to present the food in a way that made my dinners memorable, I wanted the guests to say it was good, they liked it, they wished they could do that, you know  -- that's the concept I was hoping for. When it comes to food and anything else, it's OK to disagree with someone. It doesn't change the way we love it. Presentation is definitely a good thing; but not the most important; to me, the person I'm serving is the most important. Does that person like the food? That's what I'm interested in, so that's what I try to achieve. I use my kids as guinea pigs all the time. They usually don't seem to mind. If they do, they've never said so. I like my kids.

    I'll end up going to Pinterest and finding breakfast ideas, lunch ideas, dinner ideas, snacks, appetizers, and dessert ideas. I'll end up taking photos of them and giving credit to the photographer if I can, and then I'll end up making the dish(es) and taking photos of what my food actually looks like. I may need to set up a cool corner in the dining or kitchen to show off the dish(es) before I devour them. I also want my book to be a book that suits a single person or maybe only two people. I'm not into making a lot of food anymore. Those days are very long gone for me. I'm just out there making a good meal for me and my daughter. If I ever do move out, which I hope is sooner than later, she can come over to eat. I can see her that way. 

    There you go. There will be ANOTHER Blog book and it will be the Gourmet Book. So, it will be "Jude's Almost Daily Blog: The Gourmet in Me"  No one can steal that idea because that would be the gourmet in them, not me. I'm the only me there is. Ha! Some are really happy about that fact.  I know I am. So, what's for dinner tonight? Well, I think I'll make Grilled Cheese Brie sandwiches with bacon, spinach, and a tangy avocado balsamic drizzle on top!  Sounds good. Here's a photo of what the Pinterest suggestion is. I'll add spinach and avocado to mine.

Photo Credit: Pinterest. (Yammie's Noshery)