New Year, new journey?

Tonight I find myself home alone, thinking of things to cook. Again. And thinking about my journey through life. I'm not so sure that it is a journey so much as a search, and I never really know what it is I'm searching for- just browsing, really. Different things, of course, but one constant is food. Maybe it's a journey through food, maybe I just like to eat, maybe it's LOVE.

My family is food. From my Greek grandmother's family, chocolatiers; my Greek grandfather, self-taught, accomplished chef and, as local legend has it, owner of a "World-famous restaurant"; and my Alabama Grandmother who cooked elaborate country feasts every Sunday and made the best Chicken and Dumplings and Red Velvet Cake you'll ever eat. My father has carried on in the family tradition of professional chefing, and loves to share his recipes and his TV cooking segments with his mini-me. He tells me I'm a "healthy eater", I hope that means I have a finely tuned appreciation for the divine. My mother was a talented home cook, with hot meals every evening and adventurous lunch boxes. I can't tell you how many "Ewwwww's" I got over my Cream cheese, Carrot, and Raisin sandwiches on Whole Wheat when my friends were eating Bologna on White. Sheesh.

So, back to my food journeys, these have mostly come in the cooked-for-me form rather than the I-cooked form. My father still won't let me cut anything in his kitchen. "Sweetheart, let me do that for you", he says. Throughout the years I've put it to the test, cooking, and I believe the most growth I've seen in my skills and abilities have been in the past 2 years. Significant changes in my life have made this possible. Gone are the days College, drinking PBR and mac-n-cheese. Sayonara to my tiny Tokyo kitchen, with dorm-sized fridge, and 2-burner stove (no oven). Over are the 16 hour grad school days. And, utmost, I now have someone else in my life who will eat what I cook, no matter how disastrous it turns out! (and there have been some disasters).

I started this blog more than a year ago to chronicle my culinary journey. Imagining that this would be culled from my dining-out experiences, rather than my kitchen adventures. I had just moved to L.A. and the culinary landscape was awe inspiring. It never happened. Looking back now, I realize all of the missed opportunities to immortalize my kitchen creations and mishaps. It's like watching a child grow! All of those awkward and embarrassing moments captured, in digital format, for eternity. Well, no longer! I am here to post! New Year, New Journey!

As a side-note, I am a terrible journalizer. I Yelp!, that is fairly constant. That's how I keep track of where and what I eat- good or bad. This will be my forum for keeping track of what I cook. When the mood strikes, when I remember.