Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Foreword

Thinking back on my earliest memories in life I can say that I have always loved to eat.  This passion for food always made me curious about cooking and trying new things.  I always wanted to cook homemade, elaborate dishes with things I never had access to.  Going from a chubby teen living in mid Missouri to an athletic twenty-something living in Spain, I feel that I am finally fulfilling my dream.  I am a cooking and baking machine who is living his lifelong aspiration.

Growing up in the Midwest region of the United States I was always sheltered from a truly eclectic mix of international and even national dishes.  Although I do like some Midwestern cuisine, I still see it as a modest, modernized version of something that was once delicious and traditional.  As a child I would beg to eat Chinese or Mexican food because it was the only 'exotic' alimentation I could get my chubby little hands on.  This lifelong search for new flavors put me on the right track for adolescent obesity.

As an obese teen, and later obese college student, I started experimenting with cooking.  As a teen I experimented with Chinese food, and what I thought were Chinese ingredients, but this adventure almost always ended in failure.  Years later, in my college days, I started eating even more due to my access to even more international flavors.  I also started developing my first real cooking techniques.  I went from sandwiches to pasta to salads and finally to desserts.

Then a trip to Spain in 2008 would change me forever.  I discovered a very traditional gastronomy and a healthy new lifestyle.  I returned to the states a few pounds lighter, and decided to change my life.  I became more confident and started losing my baby fat.  Now almost five years later I am living in Madrid, Spain, and I have left over a hundred pounds (50 kilograms) in the past.

Living on the Iberian Peninsula I have become accustomed to a more Mediterranean diet and an active lifestyle.  After residing here for almost four years I can narrow my cooking pleasures into two categories: traditional Spanish dishes and American desserts.  With this blog I would like to share many of those recipes that my American family, Spanish students and international friends continue to ask for.  

Please enjoy!  ¡Buen provecho!





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