First Post

A small sampling of this year's gorgeous heirloom tomatoes....

Probably the strangest time to start a blog about gardening and cooking fresh from the garden is at the end of August in Missouri. Stranger still might be when my garden is on its last leg - in fact - its last toe might be more appropriate, AND my oven has shot craps.

But...

Life seldom presents the perfect moment when all the stars are in alignment....so proceed we shall.

A little bit about me:

I owned my own restaurant and bar in a small town in mid-Missouri for about three years. Like many business owners, I was not successful, but my reasons for not finding success had little to do with my cooking. After my experience owning my own place, I went to work for other people; working the corporate side of food and beverage. Yes, this career path is absolutely backwards. Perhaps had I done it the other way I would have been more successful in the business aspect of running a restaurant. Regardless, those days are all behind me now. I had always loved food, but doing it for a livelihood really took the fun out of it. Now, I'm not confined by those restraints, and I'm much happier for it. I still cook for people, but I don't charge, which takes the pressure off. No matter how great a cook you are, someone will always dislike your cooking. Now, if I make something that someone doesn't like, well, hell, it's free!

I love growing and cooking my own food. I am not a great gardener. In fact, something of mine is probably dying this very minute. And when Missouri has a late frost, weeks of rain, or goes from 20 to 70 and back again in the course of a day (or a few hours), and my bones start to ache ... or it goes muggy in August, plagued with locusts, brittle brown grass shriveled up in the yard ... well, the truth is, I become a very poor gardener. But I love having way too much fresh off-the-vine something to cook with.

I love to create with food. I'm not a gourmet. I couldn't tell you what the classic sauces are or whip out a pate or terrine. And, at quite an alarming rate, whatever it is I am cooking may have the tendency to turn into a disaster of unmanageable proportions. But on a regular basis I do manage to turn out some pretty tasty food, and, whenever possible, use, or at least become inspired by, homegrown ingredients.

I'll be sharing recipes and experiences in the kitchen (successes and catastrophes), gardening tips and insights (successes and catastrophes), musings on life, thoughts, observations, etc., and occasionally a restaurant review or two as I'm always searching for the perfect BBQ! I also like to do a version of iron chef - where I go find whatever is hiding in the cupboard and freezer and try to make an edible dish out of it.

Blogs are supposed to be of the moment - not literary in nature, but I'm on the fence about publishing some overviews of the last few years of gardens and cooking - most of which I chronicled in another format. If I do it will be kinda like a "Greatest Hits".

Anyway, here endeth my first post. I hope you'll come play along with me as I create......

.......wait for it........

...........Small Batches From Weed Patches!