Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Welcome!

Should I be starting a new blog? Probably not. Especially considering I haven't been able to really keep my first one going very well lately (at least not the way I would like). Do I have the time? Probably not. Still, this is something I've been thinking about for a while now, so I might as well go for it. So without further ado...Cooking 4 Four

What is this about?
Well, clearly it's about cooking. But more than that as well. It's about eating (and drinking) and food and recipes and family and tradition and being responsible and s-l-o-w-i-n-g down and paying attention to (and enjoying) the details. It's about taking control on what get's put in our kitchen, on our stove, plates, and table, and in ourselves. And it's about why taking control over these things is so important. It's about the process of providing a healthy lifestyle for me and my family. More so, it's about the process of engaging us in this healthy lifestyle.

What will be found here?
Recipes. Rants. Ideas. Tips. Soapbox diatribes. Personal reflections. General musings. Venting. And family stories. All food-related of course.

Why me?
Actually, the idea of me writing about food is rather ironic. Anyone who knew me growing up would laugh at the thought that I might have something to say concerning eating. I didn't eat anything. Vegetables? Not even ketchup. Peanut butter and jelly? No, just the peanut butter. Macaroni and gravy? Hold the gravy (and the meatballs). But, somehow, I came to my senses and began realizing what I was missing and have progressed beyond hot dogs, pepperoni pizza, Twix bars, and coke. I still don't eat everything, but I'm about a million times better now than I was 10 years ago and billion times better than I was 20 years ago. I see now that I was lucky enough to grow up in a family environment where food and cooking and eating were enjoyed and deemed important beyond mere sustenance. Now I have a family and I want to make sure that I do the best that I can for them, which means paying attention to what I cook for them. So I pay attention. And in the process I hope that I am instilling in my kids the idea that food and eating and family are all important. That's why.

I've been putting off starting this blog for months now - I didn't want to start something I wasn't going to keep going and I never seemed to have the time to write this opening post. But now that I have, I'll be sure to keep it up. As is the nature of most blogs, this will be a constantly evolving site and I will be filling in the sidebar with a variety of resources as time goes by. Stay tuned, and enjoy! And please comment away.

7 comments:

Doug Taron said...

This is a great idea for a blog, I'll be sure to visit. This has become an increasingly important issue for me (I've been reading Michael Pollen of late). It makes me glad that I grow a lot of my own veggies and started doing home cheese making.

>I hope that I am instilling in my kids the idea that food and eating and family are all important.

Preach it, brother!

Eric Heupel said...

Brew recipes too?
Looing forward to the first recipe!

Anonymous said...

We just started getting strange green things in our CSA. (Getting green things in February is really the only thing that soothes the New England homesickness.) I look forward to seeing what you do with this!

Jim Lemire said...

Doug - Michael Pollan's writings definitely gave me the final nudge I needed to move more strongly in this direction - I was already leaning, but "Omnivore's Dilemma" made up my mind

Eric - Brew recipes too! My second batch is already in the fermenter. I think I'll be trying a batch of cider soon too.

Miriam - amazingly, I still have some lettuce and swiss chard growing in the cold frame - just a few small sprigs - nothing worth picking and eating, but it has encouraged me to see if I can get a winter harvest next year!

Linda B. said...

So, when I met Jim, all he ate was hotdogs and Domino's pepperoni pizza. In his words, he was "out to prove modern nutrition wrong". I'm glad he/you came around.

Jim Lemire said...

Linda - would you still be here if I hadn't? ;)

Kevin Zelnio said...

Thats hilarious! I have nearly exactly the same thing in mind too! I was going to call mine The Drunken Scientist or something like it. But work is kicking my butt these days too and haven't had time for all the online activities anymore. Probably a good thing, don't want to be online junkie and neglect my children and love life lol.