I dedicate this first post to My Mother, and my Inspiration, Thank You Mom!
I learned many things from my mom. Some things she taught to me directly, and other things such as cooking I picked up through osmosis. Being conservative in thought, and Eastern European in descent, my mom would prepare many traditional Hungarian and Polish dishes as well as classic American food. My taste buds were being nurtured from an early age.

As a young adult I really didn’t cook that much. Aside from making a sandwich, or reheating leftovers, I still relied on mom most of the time. The first time I really needed to cook was when my friend Randell and I went camping for the first time. The year was 1984 and I was 22 years old. I said to myself, “What can I cook”, then I remembered my Moms Chili. It was very simple, 1 Lb. ground beef, 1 can of kidney beans, 1 can stewed tomatoes and 1 white onion, plus 1 packet of chili seasoning. I said to myself, “that’s easy”, and “I can do that”, and I did.

I later went on to preparing dinner once a week for my mom, as well as cooking the holiday turkey.  I became a master of the BBQ , cooking all cuts of meat on the Weber. I was “King Carnivore” and proud of it. Years later, living  alone, I would prepare all of my meals from scratch, rather than to microwave something frozen. My taste buds, and skills, were maturing, and again I had my mom to thank for my gourmet tastes.

This in a nutshell were my humble beginnings.  My kitchen exploits continued for over two decades, cooking my own meals and sharing my food with friends. Living in Cusco Peru for five years, I had to become very creative in the kitchen. I had to do more with less. And it was those last few years in Cusco, where I saw my kitchen skills improving by leaps and bounds.

Being vegetarian now for over ten years, I would like to share with others, the experience, the knowledge  and joy that I have found creating delicious vegetarian meals for myself, my family, and my friends. The story has not ended, the path continues, join me and together we can discover what lies ahead.