© KitchenBoy 2008

26 February 2008

Welcome to KitchenBoy.net

Posted by kitchenboy under: About .

First a little about myself, I am someone who loves to cook, bake and talk about all things culinary. I got my real start just over 15 years ago. After I married, I began to take a greater interest in cooking. I was concerned with making healthy food and found the best way to do that was to prepare it myself. Prior to meeting my wife, I did cook, but it was mostly steamed veggies and buttered noodles - single guy food, quick simple preparation. I actually ate quite healthily but it was limited to simpler meals.

As time passed and my interest grew, I began to take over the cooking duties. Being a man, I became interested in tools and gadgets to make food preparation easier and more fun. As I do with most things I enjoy, I became immersed in the details of gadgets and tools. I wanted to know why a certain tool was good or useful and whether it was necessary or just something I call “almost a good idea”.

Since my cooking interest began, I have had only galley kitchens with limited storage space. This has forced me to carefully consider whether the things I used were really necessary. As time passed and my culinary interests grew, I continued to explore the hows and whys of this new world.

My wife and I found ourselves in a position to take some time away from the corporate world, a sabbatical if you will. During this time, we began to explore those things that interested us hoping that our second career would emerge from one of those areas. I took a part time job at a kitchen retailer, who shall remain nameless. As much as I knew about cooking and culinary related things, I learned more as the company provided training on various products. I found that I enjoyed sharing my knowledge with other people. As of this writing I still work at this store, but my interest in all things culinary finds me searching out information to grow personally and to enable me to better assist customers - No Really!

The purpose of this particular Blog is to share my knowledge and opinions on a variety of culinary topics and hopefully help you decide if a product or tool is right for you. I will write about not only cooking and baking tools and resources, but also wine and coffee related items. I believe wine and food are intricately linked and as for coffee, well I just love it so. I will from time to time write about techniques, but will try not to get into recipes, as there are so many really good recipe websites. I want to limit the discussion to things that relate to tools, gadgets and equipment, but I know myself; I will drift into other areas from time to time.

It is not my intention to give ratings or recommendations but to provide the information needed to make informed purchases, to educate really. This is the part of culinary retail that I enjoy most. I love discussing and helping people who are truly interested. While I will of course state my opinions about various products, I don’t want to give thumbs up or stars or forks or other ratings. Everyone has different tastes and experiences and won’t agree with me. That is ok - the exchange of ideas is good and our willingness to listen to each other and consider other views vital to finding our way.

I also don’t want to endorse one company over another, as each one has strengths and weaknesses. To me, the idea of buying all my cookware from one company has never appealed. There are too many good selections in the world to limit myself to one manufacturer. Also, I feel that having tools and appliances from various manufacturers gives you feel for the different approaches and techniques available. You may find that you end up liking a product you would never have considered.

In summary, I hope to become an axis point for good information and the exchange of ideas. I hope to learn from others and to be informative as well.

Enjoy the site and as Jacques Pepin says, “happy cooking”!

ADDENDUM:

I have many foundations that I would like to share with you that may help you understand my culinary identity.

I am a great advocate of eat fresh, eat local and where available organic. To me, organic simply means food grown with no artificial chemical pesticides, fertilizers or other such things that harm the land and adversely affect the food itself.

I believe that simple ingredients and preparations are the key to great food. From time to time, involved preparations and multi-step techniques can elevate food to levels of greatness and can be used for special occasions in the home for friends, family and loved ones. It is not necessary everyday, unless that is how you choose to eat, and if you have the time.

I believe that prepackaged foods, while convenient, should not be used the majority of the time. They are in the end bad for ones health and take us further away from the basics of cooking and therefore further from good food. I believe that cooking from scratch takes little time and planning to prepare good food. And a properly stocked pantry or freezer can make good quick meals for those nights when time is of the essence. The farther removed we are from the basics, the more intimidating food becomes and therefore less likely to be attempted. We rely on take-away, carryout foods and eating out to fill our diets and thus settle for less.
Continual cooking leads to more instinctual cooking and allows one to derive more pleasure from the act. It is like anything: practice makes perfect. And if things don’t turn out exactly as one had hoped, then we can learn from it, making notes and doing it better the next time. We learn the reason that certain flavors and spices go together and others don’t. One learns this in a way that completes the puzzle often missing from simply following a recipe.

I believe in preparing a recipe as written the first time and modifying it during subsequent preparations. Not that we know more than the chef or cook who wrote it, but we adapt it to our tastes.

I don’t as one might assume cook every night in high style. I cook for several days in a row, then eat leftovers (which I love) either straight up or using them in other dishes. I do have a high food budget, but can and have done with less in the past.

I go out to eat less and less, as I feel I have gotten to the point where I can prepare meals as well as many mid-level restaurants, for less money (plus I have the leftovers to eat from). Unless we are trying to give ourselves a rest, we try to eat in and this means having friends over to dinner rather than eating out. I enjoy cooking for others and hopefully they enjoy the results. In the end, it is more intimate and relaxed and I don’t have a dress code for dinner! If I have an off night in the kitchen, we can laugh about it and not feel like we spent a lot of money for something that disappointed. From time to time, it is fun to dress up and be served.

I love to cook and eat. My wife helps in various areas, but I really do enjoy doing the cooking (and yes I clean my own pots and pans…normally). I think that families and couples who cook and eat together - AT THE TABLE - will find they are healthier and happier for it. Yes, my wife and I eat dinner in front of the television sometimes, but chastise ourselves when we do. We have even eaten “fancy” meals on TV trays! But the meal is more enjoyable and relaxed at the table. We talk and share with each other there. We aren’t distracted by technology and find we eat less. No phones, no computers, no TV; this is the way to enjoyment during a meal. It is my opinion that if we ate together and cooked together our families would be stronger. Every culture where communal family eating is practiced has stronger, healthier bonds. And I am not talking about those old black and white movies where the dad and mom sat at the head tables pontificating over an otherwise silent meal. I am talking about eating and talking with each other. The conversation may be slow at first, but it will come. When I was young we even ate Saturday lunch together. Sunday lunch or early dinner together was a given, as was each weeknight. Our lives are too fast and hectic to miss out on it. Technology will always be waiting for us after dinner. Tivo, DVRs, YouTube and downloads allow us to watch television when we are ready. Games and the Internet are always there. Your family won’t always be here so take time to enjoy them.

So now I think you have a good idea of who I am and where I think I want to go with this Blog

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