The Opening Salvo

I'm not really sure why I started this blog.  Maybe it's because I'm becoming forgetful and need to write stuff down.  Maybe it's because I have thoughts and ideas I want to share, even though nobody may really be paying attention - but it feels better if I do.

Maybe it's because I love to write, and I love to create things with my hands, and a blog lets me do the former about the latter.

Anyway.  Here it is.

Not sure what this will eventually morph into, if anything.  For all I know I may get bored with this whole thing in a few weeks and find something else to occupy my brain cells for a few minutes each day.  That's typically what happens anyway.

What about the name of the blog?  I'm glad you asked. I love to cook.  I'm what you might call a "foodie."  Not necessarily going out to eat... unless it's to get new ideas to try myself, but I love to experiment with new foods, new recipes and new cooking methods.

At this very moment (and when I say "at this very moment " I mean "over the last several weeks") I have been experimenting with all sorts of new recipes for my grill and smoker.  Trying new recipes is nothing new for me, I pretty much cook dinner for my family six days a week, but I got hooked on playing with my smoker, and started reading posts on a forum called smokingmeatforums.com, and, well, the rest is history - or at least current events.  More on this later.

And speaking of history, that's what takes us to the second part of the name.  At this very moment (and when I say "at this very moment" I mean "for the past six months and for the next six months") my daughter - I'll call her Rachel (because, well, that's what it says on her birth certificate) is a senior in high school.  She also happens to be really smart, if not somewhat introverted.  Anyway, Rachel belongs to Rho Kappa, which is the National High School Social Studies Honor Society.  Kinda makes her a history nerd like her old man.  Her chapter of Rho Kappa is holding a "History Fair" in March.  From what I gather, this is like the dreaded "Science Fairs" of years-gone-by, but themed in history.  So guess what Rachel and her pals decided they were going to make for their history project.

Yup.

We're in the build stage now.  I'll post some comments and photos later.

So there you go.  Creative Cooking and Catapults.

Oh, my wife and I also recently bought some property in the Tennessee River Valley/Cumberland Plateau area.  A little town called Dunlap.  We've got dreams of building a nice home for our retirement, with a mountain view, surrounded by acres of hardwoods and the occasional wildlife endemic to the area.  Here's the view from what will be the back porch of the new house:

We've been looking at floor plans and decorating and landscaping ideas, and Brenda has already started a scrapbook of articles and images from various books and magazines. 


So I'm sure - if I get into the habit of updating this blog - that I'll be making mention of that on occasion as well.

Bon Appetit... and Have Fun Storming the Castle!

-Steven