About me
I started out cooking at age 6, standing on a chair and frying my first egg....and I've been cooking ever since. I don't know if I would consider myself a professional since I've never been to culinary school, but I do love to cook.
My passion for cooking comes a lot from my Mother (and some from my Father) and her Mother was an influence on her....generations to generation. My Father can cook, but seldom does. When he does, it is so good. I just wished he would cook more. (Update on Dad: He passed away in March of 2018).
Mom is 84 years old now and still cooks up a storm. Family, and friends alike, love to sit down to what she has created in the kitchen. She never went to culinary school either but I consider her to be a professional home-cook. She came from a long line of great home-cooks. Cooking for a crowd from each generation wasn't anything new because there were 16 in her home growing up as was many in other generations. Mother was born and raised in Virginia and her recipes reflect the Virginian cuisine. Old time recipes is what I love and I am thankful to be part of the history of cooking from my ancestors.
Mother and I love to sit down and look through cookbooks and get an idea of something new to fix. We love looking at new recipes (and especially the old ones) and most of the time we add to the recipe to make it our own. When we cook, we usually don't go by a recipe unless it is to bake or unless it is a new recipe we have never heard of. After that first time making a recipe, we taste it to see how it is and to see what needs to be added.
I love to watch cooking shows and I learn a great deal. I am the type of person who learns by watching. There are some amazing chefs out there with some great ideas.
I have always wanted to make a cook book, maybe one day it will happen. Until then, I'll keep cooking.
Cooking Influences
I've tried several cuisines, and I don't know if I could say I preferred one over the other. I love some of the German food. I actually started eating German food when I was in kindergarten at the age of 5 and learned some German as well. I loved the German cuisine then and never have gotten away from it. I worked in a German restaurant at the age of 15 and the food was awesome! I am still good friends with the German owners even after all these years.
I also worked in an Italian restaurant and the food was also excellent. This is where I first had Veal Marsala and homemade Canolli. Wow!
I guess most of my cooking influences lean more toward the Southern style of cooking with the Appalachian Mountains also. My Father was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina and the food is simple and tasty.
Mother and Father
Grandmothers,
Cooks Country
Friends
Family
Old timey recipes
Cookbooks
and many, many more!
United States Chef
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