About

As I started the process of developing this blog, this was a question I often asked myself. Why do I cook? And more particularly, why do I want to blog about cooking, gardening and all things food? It’s a question one of the few food bloggers I follow–Michael Ruhlman–asked in his own blog . Here’s my attempt to answer.

I cook first and foremost because it’s fun. It’s simply an activity I enjoy doing. I cook because I’m curious, because I like to experiment and see what happens when I alter ingredients, formulas or technique. I cook because I like to eat. I cook because it’s healthier than eating processed or fast food, and that’s good for me, my wife, and my daughter. I cook because I like the satisfaction of preparing a delicious meal and seeing the (hopefully positive) reactions of those I cook for. I cook because I want my daughter to grow up knowing how to cook, how to eat, and how to be self-reliant. I cook because I like growing my own ingredients and adding them to a meal.

Cooking these days is a hot topic in many areas–on reality TV, on the news, in politics. And there’s certainly no shortage of food blogs by home cooks out there that have their own point of view. Adding my voice to such a saturated topic is a risk, but hopefully I can rise above all the noise by sticking to my first reason for cooking–make it fun.

Cooked-Uncooked aims to explore further this “why?” question, to examine the inspiration behind what I’ve decided to cook from one day to the next, the ingredients I choose to use and cook, and the techniques and tips used throughout. I address the various health, political and cultural reasons for cooking as I go along, and I’ll encourage anyone reading to add their voice to the same. But I’m not here to make a political statement, or to advance a health agenda, or to impose a cultural point of view. I go into my kitchen–and my garden–to have fun, and the only reason I’d invite others in is to do the same. So with that in mind, welcome to Cooked-Uncooked.