Does the world need yet another food blog? Well, I guess that depends on how much time you've got on your hands. Me, I have almost none. But I guess that's why I find it significant that every spare moment I do have, all I want to do is think about food.
I'm not a chef, I'm really only a novice cook, but I'm a pretty darn experienced eater. In a sense, of course, we all are, but I'm continually surprised to find that people around me consider me a "foodie." First of all, I find that word ridiculous - is someone who likes books a bookie? - but also, I never used to think that my obsession with food was anything unusual. Who doesn't like to eat? Isn't that like saying that you don't like to breathe? Or sleep? All of which are wonderful things?
Still, despite my trying to brush off the title, I can't help but notice that my co-workers and friends sometimes turn to me in restaurants to ask for an interpretation of phrases on the menu. I get asked for restaurant recommendations. Sometimes when I cook for people, I get asked for recipes. (My favorite thing to get asked for, of course, is seconds.)
The point of all this is not to say that I'm something truly unique or special. I don't think that I am. I have just come to realize that for a Washington DC-area professional whose career has nothing whatsoever to do with the kitchen, I ingest - and digest - not only an unusual quantity of food, but an unusual quantity of food knowledge. It really is my principal hobby, and to be honest, my singular obsession. And I want a place to talk about what I've learned, even if it's only to myself.
For those who care about source material, I do have a fairly extensive list of influences. I consider myself a student of multiple wonderful cooking teachers, none of whom, unfortunately, I have ever actually met - my dearest favorites being Alton Brown of The Food Network and Molly Wizenberg of Bon Appetit, also the author of the blog Orangette, which is clearly an inspiration (and I have linked it, above). I also love Dorie Greenspan, M.F.K. Fisher, Alice Waters, Gourmet, Michael Pollan, Cooking Light, Food & Wine, The New York Times on Wednesdays, Southern Living, Cook's Illustrated, Cook's Country, and any other publication by the fabulously fastidious Christopher Kimball... okay, this is getting embarassing. But the point is, I devour food writing, horrific pun intended. So to the extent that I can chime in, just a little - even if it is just to point out little tidbits of what these other luminaries have already made available, I think that this is worth my while.
