the kitchen and my mom

as you may know, as a kid, i loved to bake. just about anything, but especially apple pie. my apple pie was known throughout the tri-state area. and now, i have my perfected apple pie recipe and maybe one day, i'll post that recipe. then post-college, my oldest cousin (chef, entrepreneur) taught me how to make the most delicious scalloped potatoes. and if you're really nice to me i'll post that recipe. it's a recipe that has made me famous outside of the tri-state area. it requires heavy cream and lots of it -- have no fear, it WILL stick to your thighs, but it's so very delicious.

back on topic. my mother reads cookbooks. you may be thinking, "i read cookbooks too". but no, she READS cookbooks. she cooks from them occasionally, but mostly, she gets ideas from cookbooks and then makes her own dish -- a conglomeration of what she just read. ask her to make a dish the same way twice, she can't do it. we have learned that in order to get a recipe out of her, we need to have her write it down and then you're still not guaranteed to replicate what she created. what i'm attempting to establish here is that she's an expert in the kitchen (did you get that?!). needless to say, she "gets it" -- the kitchen that is. she understands the chemistry behind what happens in the kitchen. how all those chemicals work together to create a dish that's de-lish.

growing up i'm sure i was in the kitchen with her, but i really didn't pick up all that much. especially in the chemistry area. so this begins my first in a series of cooking posts where i will attempt to learn (and educate you if you're interested) some of the mysteries of the kitchen. if there's a mystery you would like solved, let me know and i'll add it to the list that's accumulating in my head.