Chasing a Passion

My memory certainly isn’t my best trait, but one thing I do vividly remember is my first day of school. I was six years old and dressed to the nines in my dinosaur shoes and red backpack. I lived right around the corner from my elementary school, so my Mom walked me past our neighbor’s house (the Vance’s) alongside their overgrown, ivy-laden chainlink fence to Mrs. Jettie’s kindergarten class.

Nearly twenty years have gone by, but here I am again gathering my things for the first day of school. Instead of shoes that left a T-Rex footprint in the dirt and a boxy red backpack, I am suiting up with a pair of black pinstripe pants and a knife case filled with my Henckels. My school supply list now features things like meat thermometers and fish spatulas instead of protractors and trapper-keepers.

Before this blog goes on too much further, let me give you a little introduction to myself. For starters, I’m a guy who is not much different than any other guy. I’m certain that the story of my life shares a couple of shades of similarity with your own. The only reason that I decided to write a blog about it and the reason why I think you will read it (and hopefully enjoy it), is because I am chasing after something that a lot of us dismiss as something that we don’t have time for anymore, a passion.

After I finished college in 2006, I went back to set some roots in South Florida, started a career in the IT industry, and married the girl I sat next to on the first day of college Spanish class. I have been living that life for a while now and I am thrilled my life has played out the way it has. The city is beautiful, the work is challenging/enjoyable and my wife brings out the best version of myself. The only thing that is missing is that feeling of going after something in your life that you love to do. That thing for me is cooking and starting next week, I am going to culinary school!

Now it should be noted that I am not going to school for a career change. In fact, I don’t even care if I finish the program. I made it clear to everyone involved that the only reason I am doing this is to have fun and if the moment comes that I am not finding pleasure in this adventure, then I am packing up my knives and heading home.

A couple of years ago, I made the bold move of labeling myself as a foodie. I noticed that my TV habits were transitioning from MTV to the Food Network and my bookshelf was filling up with cookbooks instead of old unread Men’s Health magazines. It has only expanded from there as I now have a Wednesday night tradition of watching Top Chef with my wife. I find myself wanting to replicate the dishes after each episode, but not knowing how.

Over the years I have compiled a long list of questions that I am dying to ask someone in a chef’s coat, like what the hell a confit is and how to cook it? And what is so impressive about tartare (a trendy dish, which is simply thin-sliced raw beef)?
That is kind of the point of this blog. I want this to be a soundboard for anyone who loves food, anyone who wants to track my progress during this journey and anyone who hopes to live vicariously through this adventure.

I can’t wait for next week, as I’ve already convinced myself to treat each day there as if it were an episode of Top Chef. It's my competitive drive to show these folks that even though I am here for fun, I am going to set the bar pretty high. Granted, my first class is Food Sanitation, so I am not sure how I will go about that. Let's just say that those other students better watch out, because I am certain they will be giving themselves food poisoning before I do :)

 Ready to take on the world