Hello

[rustwood]

Hello,

 

After a 20 year hiatus, my interest in cooking has been rekindled over the past few years. 

 

I worked in several pizza/sandwich shops during high school and college so after I graduated I ended up making pizza and/or bread at home almost every week (one of my old bosses used to sell me buckets of high gluten flour).  Around the same time I became friendly with the proprietor of a Thai restaurant who showed me how to make several of my favorite dishes.  We then bought some Thai cookbooks and started making Thai food at home.  One of those cookbooks, Thai Home Cooking from Kamolmal's Kitchen, is easily the most dog-eared, water damaged, food-stained book we own.  I don’t know how it compares to what is available now, but we loved it and made dishes from it 2-3 times a week for years. That trailed off as it got less convenient to pick up ingredients and as I got busy with other things. Eventually I stopped actively participating in the kitchen - until dietary changes and restrictions caused us to take separate culinary paths (only culinary).  We probably haven't made any of those Thai dishes for at least 15 years now, maybe 20.

 

A number of things have led to my rekindled interest in cooking, but technology/cooking “toys” seem to be a recurring theme.  Somehow I ended up buying a kamado grill (AKA big green egg), hanging out with competition BBQ enthusiasts (IRL), and cooking a lot of meat.  I realized I really needed to be able to eat/make more than just meat so I began exploring a wider variety of food sites.  I also picked up an outdoor pizza oven and started making pizza again.  I knew someone who had been using a sous vide cooker for years, but I wasn't interested in trying it until they started popping up in discussions on BBQ sites at the current prices.  That eventually led me to start exploring modernist cuisine, find this site, and to buy a pressure cooker (another "toy").

For the past month or so I’ve been lurking and reading old posts.  I’ve read a lot of forums, but this one appears to have a very high signal to noise ratio - chock full of great information, intelligent discussion, and humor, but with relatively few (if any) of the problems that sometimes plague other forums.  I have thoroughly enjoyed many of the posts and threads.  I am generally not shy about asking questions or sharing my experiences and knowledge, but most of you are far ahead of my bumbling in the kitchen so I may be more of a fly on the wall.  If so, that is OK with me - I will happily soak up as much information as I can.

 

[Kim Shook]

rustwood - welcome to eGullet.  It sounds like you have varied interests.  I think that you will find this an excellent place to be!  Lots of interest and expertise here!  

[rustwood]

I just found the moderation thread and realize I was being rather naive in thinking I had stumbled on an internet forum nirvana here.  With that said, it would seem the site moderation and curation is yielding the intended effect.  Kudos.

[Shelby]

Welcome to EG!

 

You won't be a fly on the wall  Sounds like you have a lot to offer and I can't wait to see and read about some of your creations!

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Hi rustwood, and welcome!

 

There's a lot of enthusiasm for all the areas you mentioned, and I think you will be right at home here. I'm looking forward to hearing about your adventures in food.

 

I'm jealous of your pizza oven, and I'd love to hear more about it and what you make with it.