And so it begins...

So, here's the deal. I'm a middle-aged guy, single, gay, and for lack of something better to do with my time (curing cancer or solving the ongoing problem of poverty being beyond my particular skill-set) I decided to start cooking.

 It's a selfish pursuit, one could say. I prefer to cook alone. I don't work well with other people in my kitchen. I actually don't work well with other people in my house, period. (See: 'single', above). What I do have is an upbringing informed by my very hard working Mom who, as much as I love her, was not the world's best cook. She's absolutely OK with this and will tell anyone and everyone that she's always hated cooking and never wanted to be good at it. I admire her for that. But as a result, I was always the "eat to live" rather than the "live to eat" type. I could get through mealtime at the college cafeteria in less than 6 minutes, including the time it took to clear my tray.

 Sometime in the last 2 or 3 years, though, I started thinking about what I was putting into my body, food-wise. In 2009 I suffered a (very thankfully) minor heart attack, quickly followed by a bypass. Heart disease is rampant in both sides of my family (neither of my grandfathers ever saw age 60) and it quickly became apparent that continuing my usual diet (most of which was restaurant and/or fast food because I just couldn't be arsed to cook for myself) would have to have a major overhaul.

 I'll admit, immediately following the health scare, I went off the deep end. I bought a rice steamer and for about 6 months all I ate was rice, steamed salmon and brussels sprouts. The less said about that period of my life the better.

 I've since come to my senses. I've also started taking lots of medications to control blood pressure and cholesterol. So you will not see any recipes for steamed millet or edamame fritters.

 What I like to do is take recipes as I find them - whether they're in cookbooks, food magazines, or (my current obsession) cooking shows on the "Create" PBS channel, and tweak them so that they're 1) something I'd be willing to eat and 2) Not completely in the "coronary-on-a-plate" category.

 I'm not a nutritionist, I'm not trained in food science and I certainly wouldn't set myself up as a food expert. I'm just a cranky guy who found out rather late in life that he likes to cook. So. With that said, what I'll be posting here are recipes, links to recipes I like, general information, probably some bitching and moaning and general assholery. You're welcome to join me for the ride.