Confession: I'm a food nerd.

There you have it.  I'm a food nerd.

Ya, ya, ya...everyone likes food.  Some even love it.  Some people like to bake.  Some like to cook.   Some really like to.  But I'd suggest that doesn't make you a true food nerd.

I, on the other hand, am.  It's not that I like to cook, it's not a hobby---we crossed over that line long ago.  I am obsessed.  But it's not just the cooking, the baking, the creation---it's the how it works, the mechanics, the molecules.  I dig the science behind it.

I don't really know when this happened, perhaps it was an inherited trait that's evolved over time--my grandmothers were both amazing cooks.  My dad could lay it down and my mom's top-notch.  Perhaps I was born to do it--and the natural progression was for my generation to be full-blown crazy about cooking?  Whatever it is, I find myself living, breathing and googling all things food related.

My idea of a smashing night out is the market for grocery shopping.

I am inspired by the role food plays in our lives.  It's the staple of our days. We use it to celebrate, comfort, rejoice and mourn.  Food is passed down for generations and if you look back at your memories--food has surely played a role in the most significant times in your life.  I can remember what I ate when I graduated Graduate School, the night my father passed and how the food at my wedding tasted.  All my memories are wrapped up in a perfect filet, a cup of soup or the perfect wedding cake.

With so much of life dedicated to food--my quest is to build a plate that changes, entices and is perfect every time it hits the table.