When the Smoke Clears

It’s true. I am engaged in one.
A buddy of mine where I am now has a roommate… a young man from Miami. He had managed a quality restaurant before joining the Army.
Challenges have been thrown down. For the last few weeks we have been engaged in an all-out chef war. Our friends have [...]

I can accept that I am a food pornographer. Dishes that I make, even only for myself, usually turn out to be pretty danged good, and look good as well. The dinner plate is a beautiful canvas, which is why I like white plates when I am going all-out for friends.
However, my desserts are [...]

Perhaps by this weekend when things settle down a bit, I’ll be able to start describing some of the fun I had while away. Right now I only leave little nuggets.
But the days since coming back have been a combination of many things as I try to readjust to my world which is now [...]

Happy Birthday to the incredibly beautiful and talented ArmyWifeToddlerMom!
It would so be overkill for someone like little ole me to tell you about someone as wonderful as she…but I will try. AWTM, all the peoples that I’ve met in this big, bad blodgeworld that mean anything at all to me, all think the world [...]

With all the last minute details to be handled before the big day, I’m running from place to place, purchasing toiletries, last minute copies and faxes to various agencies, even time at the post office to secure some stamps and send of the last round of care packages to my soldier/friends from me for a [...]

Army Wife is over at her place asking folks for recipes for the upcoming Fourth of July. It’s at the end of another one of her experiential posts but the real insult is in the phrasing. She has the unmitigated gall to ask for recipes from the LADIES as if there aren’t a few men [...]

Friend: Watcha doin’ for Memorial Day?
Me: Nothing special. Just got back from West Virginia at 2 am. Yardwork, clean out the Jeep. Fix some lunch.
Friend: What’s for lunch?
Me: Normal food.
Friend: Which means what to you?
Me: Sandwiches, maybe a tomato…
Friend: Which means what to you?
Me: A sandwich and a tomato…
Friend: Which [...]

Friend (walking in, late in the evening): Who were you talking to?
Me: A friend of mine up in New York.
Friend: What was that about food?
Me: Oh, I made some plain country food. She wanted to know what.
Friend: … … … … plain? …
Me: Yeah. Shepherd’s Pie
Friend: …
Me: Alright, so I [...]

Friend: You doing okay? You haven’t seemed quite yourself lately.
Me: Things are a little rough, but I’ll be alright.
Friend: It’s just that there’s a lot of dishes in the sink and the trash has food boxes and stuff. Convenience-food food boxes.
Me: Yeah, I’ve not been eating at home as much but when I have, [...]

Alright, I’ve been experimenting for some time and never been able to quite get it to my satisfaction. It was all in the sauce, I couldn’t quite be satisfied with the sauce. I think I got it today and so I am going to share and write it all down so I don’t forget what [...]

Friend: yeah, I’m thinking it’s about dinner time.
Me: I’m a little hungry but I still have stuff to study so I’m gonna hang around the cabin.
Friend: yeah, some good ole fish sticks and tater tots.
Me: …
Friend: yummy
Me: …
Friend: Well?
Me: You’re just trying to goad me into including you in one of [...]

So I’m a food snob. Big deal. Cooking is both how I relax and it is my form of art. Others dabble in paint, I dabble in flavors, trying to create my own combinations or improve on someone else’s “drawing.”
But yesterday I was pressed for time, so I thought I would give something else [...]

Friend: yay. lunch. Grilled cheese and ramen
Me: um. yeah. raspberry and balsamic vinegars blended with feta & ricotta over pasta and chicken
Friend: you work with what ya got.
Me: Bow chicka bow wow.

Friend: Lunch soon, I think.
Me: I will concur. I still have some leftovers from last night.
Friend: I have little microwave chicken sandwiches only because I didn’t read the box and I thought it was a box of standard chicken patties.
Me: So I guess you don’t want any of this Rhamschnitzel with wine and [...]

Alright, yes, it is a quiet Thanksgiving here in the cabin, and I have been cooking up a storm. I have drop-ins and strandeds coming by for food, but mostly it’s a relaxed place. It’s not the perfect place for Thanksgiving because without TV, there is no football. Mom wanted me to drive down, but [...]