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2002-11-26 - 12:21 p.m.

So I have been made an honorary �one of the girls� at work, so I thought it fitting that I find out what kind of girl that would be�

Earth%20girl
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Today is the Turkey-Day party at work. Simple potluck rules, everyone signs up to bring a few things�yall know how this works. But what made this dinner special for me was that I finally got the opportunity to cook for my co-workers. For almost a year now I have had to weather the jibs and taunts. �What do you know about cooking, your just a guy�men can�t cook unless it involves meat and fire�I bet your just going to buy something, cause you can�t get your wife to make it for you�� and the jokes go on and on. Now I know they are all in good fun, but on some level�deep inside me�their comments irritate me.

I credit all of my skill at cooking to 4 folks, my Mother, my Grandmother Grimm, my Aunt Cindy, and my Pop. All of who are amazing cooks, all who have radically different cooking styles, and all who have taken the time to teach me what they know.

From my mother I learned from a very early age to have confidence in the kitchen. She taught me when to follow recipes and when to ignore them. She taught me to follow my nose and my taste buds, for these two senses would ensure that whatever I made turned out well. She taught me to experiment in the kitchen, to take chances on new ideas, and she taught me how much fun and how satisfying a good ole fashioned formal dinner can be. From her I learned the importance of presentation.

From my Grandmother Grimm I learned how to put down a good old fashioned country spread. 3 meats, 4 veggies, bread, pan fried this and gravy covered that, and most important�the deserts. Cookies, cakes, pies, cobblers�you name it. When that lady cooked�she took out all the stops. If there was 4 people seated at the table, there was food enough for 6 or even 8. No one ever walked away hungry from her table. Nobody ever walked away unsatisfied from her table and She never rested until everyone was finished. From her I learned how to feed people.

My Aunt was the �different� one. But if you knew her you would understand. She was not satisfied with standard fare. She taught me to look to other cultures for cooking ideas, she taught me that good for you doesn�t have to taste bad. She taught me that fancy doesn�t mean hours spent in the kitchen. She taught me to push the envelope of what I knew and try things�just to try them. Her�s was the one bite rule. You were not allowed to dislike something until you tried it. Though I STILL can�t stand tabouli. I always saw my Aunt as the gourmet. She was always cooking something that you would expect to see on TV. Perhaps that is where she got her ideas. She would see something and think�hmm, that looks good, and next thing you knew she was serving it. From her I learned how to cook smarter�not harder.

My pop taught me that even guys (who aren�t chefs) can be good�I mean really good cooks. I learned that it is important to really pay attention to the little details when baking. I learned that it is ok (and most often a big hit) to bring good ole country fare to a fancy dinner party, cause ya know, most people didn�t grow up on a farm. I learned that it is also important to be able to balance your good simple stuff with the fancy complicated stuff as well. But most of all I learned from him that homemade is always preferable to taking �shortcuts�. Take the extra little time to make the crust or bake that bread. Cause nothing says wow to your guests (and taste buds) like made from scratch.

So I stayed up till midnight last night finishing my apple pies for work today (making sure that they came out perfect�which they did) and getting the casserole ready for the oven today. Yeah I could have taken the easy way out like most folks did and buy something�but this was my chance to show to them what kind of cook I really am. To show them that yes I am a guy�but I can cook a hell of a pie.




My pies have been the talk of the building today. I have had folks asking if the could pay me to make some for em. I have had folks ask me again and again if I really made them myself. Folks who couldn�t believe that I made the crust from scratch. It is kinda satisfying really�but now I worry that they wont taste as good as they look. I know that is crazy�but that is the way I am. I see every flaw in my cooking. I taste every off flavor. I worry that t won�t be good enough. Bah�I will know soon enough I guess.




So today I learned that people think that because I am the computer guy, I can work miracles. I can teach you to use a computer in a few minutes, I can find missing pension checks, I can fix dmv records�Sigh�crazy people�

So what have you learned today?

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