Michael T. Smith
In 2009 we had some house guests who stayed over one weekend. Apparently they liked to watch Food Network and Sunday when they left the tv was still set to the Food Network. Before this time I thought that the food channel was mostly boring. But that evening when getting ready to put my kid to bed I realized the beauty of the food channel: it was the perfect channel to change to after she watched her kids show and when I was ready to start bedtime business. First, I can have confidence that nothing is going to come on the screen that her little eyes shouldn’t see. And second, she’s mostly bored by it and therefore is more willing to walk away from the TV and head towards bed. But that’s where it all started.
(Aside: Why not just turn off the TV you ask? Well I’m a gadget geek and have a front projector for a TV and believe that it’s harder on the lamp to be turned off and back on than to just be left on for an extra hour. So if I’m walking away from the tv less than 30 or 60 minutes, I just mute it and leave it on.)
Michael and "G"
So that is where it all started. After a few days of using the Food Network as a vehicle to motivate “G” to head towards bed, I started getting in to a couple of the shows. My favorite show is of course Good Eats with Alton Brown. The way he explains things completely fits my nerdy personality. Then one week while my wife was out of town I snuck out to Bed Bath and Beyond and picked up a souffle dish and made his cheese souffle. I wasn’t going to start with something easy – that just wouldn’t interest me. Then the next day I made a chocolate souffle using a recipe I found online. The rest is history. Now I’m experimenting all the time with cooking and trying to replicate some of my favorite nice restaurant eats.
I’ve already mentioned Good Eats. My first venture into cooking was following a recipe (and a procedure) from a Good Eats episode. And I have to admit that many of my ‘experiments’ are based on Alton Brown’s advice or other things I see on the food channel. So don’t be too annoyed if I over do the ‘well, Alton Brown says…’ thing. He’s my Julia. My other favorite food shows are Iron Chef America, Next Iron Chef, Chopped, and Throw Down with Bobby Flay.
I started this site basically just to house all the recipes that I use the most often – so I can easily find them, and to journal about my experiences with cooking. I also invite close friends and family to do the same here as well – just email me if you’re interested. I also have another blog called tomorrowland.com, which is about all the technology that makes our lives more futuristic and fun. Enjoy!
