After posting my first entry yesterday, I got to thinking. "What are people who read this going to say? Will anyone even read it? I just made reference to Julie and Julia.. I'm going to get remarks the likes of 'idiot, you're copying a movie in real life'. " Well, yes and no..... I am doing the same exact thing as Julie Powell did, but for different reasons.
You see, growing up in my small town, people would always ask me, "Dino, what do you want to be when you grow up?" and I would proudly answer "a cook, like my dad!" Well yeah, there was a point in time where I wanted to be a priest, pilot, lawyer, politician but working in the kitchen was were I felt I did my best work. I felt as if I was creating something. OK, serving up eggs and home fries, burgers and fries, meat loaf, open faced hot sandwiches isn't exactly like painting the Mona Lisa, but it can be. Why shouldn't it be? Anything that comes out of a kitchen can be a work of art, no matter what that item is!!!
So why am I doing this? It's not like I have nothing better to do or because I'm bored. TRUST ME, there's never a dull moment in my life. I work in the social services field, so I'm either putting out fires between us and guardians or I'm constantly answering the countless phone calls I recieve from my staff and/or doctor's offices during and AFTER work. At home you ask? Well then it's spent chasing after my 2 1/2 year old son, a very curious little boy who insists on getting into everything and I mean EVERYTHING!!!!!! In fact, as I was just writing this entry, he decided he was going to climb the bookcase in my office. God I love that little boy, but he is DEFINITELY going to cause me to go either grey or bald before my time.... OK, back on topic.... I guess I'm doing this to fullfill a childhood dream of mine, or maybe I'm doing this because deep down, I still harbor a desire to work in a kitchen and create new things. I may not be a classically trained chef, with a diploma from LCB or CIA or any other culinary institution. In no way am I a Robuchon, one would only pray to attain his level of genius, but the bottom line here is that I love to cook. I love to cook and I want to share those experiences and my passion for cooking. But not just that, I want to hear from you, the reader and share your suggestions, remarks, advice and criticism.
So, I was looking through the cookbook and figured I would start, well, at the beginning. So I'll be starting off with the appetizers and work all the way up to the desserts. First up on the menu is a recipe from Provence; tapenade with an herb aioli and summer vegetables. Part of the recipe calls for 12 quail eggs... where the hell am I going to find quail eggs????? Anyhow, I'll let you all know how it turns out later tonight.
