odds and ends

two posts in one day, i promise this won't be a regular phenomenon.

First things first. Some people may wonder why this blog doesn't have beautiful pictures or fancy links to other blogs and stuff like that. The truth is, it's a miracle that I have a blog at all. Honestly.

I don't have an ipod, i don't have a camera, i don't even have a wallet. i have my knives for cooking, shirts, socks, underwear, pants, and a rain jacket. and i like existing this way. i feel refreshed and light, simple and glad. now, it's true that I did have intentions of buying some new clothes, some nicer clothes, before leaving for italy, and it's true that I still might in fact try and go shopping tomorrow morning before I get on a plane tomorrow evening. and that's fine. nice even. But, am I glad to be leaving tomorrow with just a duffel bag, a backpack, and myself? yes i am glad.

For dinner tonight, I had a slice of pizza and four garlic knots. Then I texted a friend, saying that it's rare nowadays to find four garlic knots for a dollar. You'll see three for a dollar now, or maybe five for a dollar fifty.

A really good, regular new york slice of pizza, and some back-in-the-day-style four for a dollar moist and oil-soaked garlic knots. fantastic. We all have our foundations, the base that our very being exists upon. And I think that that new york slice and those garlic knots are a significant part of my base. The core of who I am. and it meant a lot to have that meal, in brooklyn, right before departing to foreign lands. it reminded me of who i am, where i come from, and the pride i feel for this place i call home.

hi

So, here I am.

I'm writing this blog so that family and friends will know where I am and what I've been doing. A few months ago I decided to try and make a life for myself as a cook. I'm very glad to be pursuing this life.

I want to celebrate the connections between food and community. I want to explore and magnify these connections. I want to live within these connections.

Through cooking, I hope to share joy, love, and enthusiasm. I am dedicated to using local, seasonal, organic ingredients as much as possible, and creating relationships with the farmers who grow our food. I am committed to cooking food that is wholesome, delicious, and fantastically accessible to all.

Tomorrow I leave for Italy.