Since this is the first of what I hope to be continuing missives from my kitchen, I thought it might be a good idea to try to find an explanation for my decision to embark on a new culinary adventure. Thinking about what I might say that would properly introduce me to you I kept returning to food, the one thing that, when I talk about it, most explains who I am. I did not plan to write about food nor, in fact, did I decide to be a cook. Like Topsy, herself, my career just grew. 

I have always loved to eat and, for as long as I can remember, I have also loved to cook. Beyond these two very comforting pastimes, I have also loved to talk about food, mainly with friends and family sitting around the table. I have wanted to know the hows and whys, the history and folklore, the sources and the creators. It is these enthusiasms all coming together that have allowed me the pleasure of a wonderfully nourishing career. And now here I am, many years older, still loving what I do, just wanting a new way to do it.

Although I have written many cookbooks – as author, co-author or ghostwriter – it is often difficult – within the confines of a specific topic, a co-author’s focus, the demands of a publisher, or the dictates of the marketplace – to philosophize, meander and generally free-associate about all things culinary just for the fun of it. It has been the urge to talk about food – growing it, cooking it, sharing it, eating it, and writing about it without restriction – that has brought me to the web. It is my hope that you, the reader/browser will come into these pages finding the same nourishment that has sustained me.