Hi

Hi all. Just found this site with direction from Historic Foodie who I ran into over on the Camp Cook forum.

I was fortunate to grow up with a mother who was intensely curious. When visiting the grocery store with her it was fairly easy to get her to spring for all kinds of 'new' stuff.

Later on I went away to high school and met a lot of people from outside my rural, German-American background. I still remember going home with a kid from St. Louis and eating Chinese for the first time. Didn't know food could taste like that! And when one of my best friends introduced me to potica--his father was Yugoslavian. I grew up with pastries and home cooking but this was something extraordinary. And the first time tacos were served in the dining hall. Can you imagine a high schooler these days who has never had a taco?

You can guess I'm always up to try something new. Or old. My current food emphasis is learning about cured meats and pickled foods. For the last few years I've been making my own corned beef. Lately that has branched out into Canadian bacon, cottage bacon, and pastrami. Last summer was an exploration of pickled vegies and kimchi.

I'm really looking forward to looking around here. The little bit I've seen is somewhat intimidation--in a good way, that is.

Hi Tom! FWIW, even though I'm not much of a cook, I've found everyone here to be very nice and helpful.

Tom Kurth wrote: Hi all. Just found this site with direction from Historic Foodie who I ran into over on the Camp Cook forum. I was fortunate to grow up with a mother who was intensely curious. When visiting the grocery store with her it was fairly easy to get her to spring for all kinds of 'new' stuff. Later on I went away to high school and met a lot of people from outside my rural, German-American background. I still remember going home with a kid from St. Louis and eating Chinese for the first time. Didn't know food could taste like that! And when one of my best friends introduced me to potica--his father was Yugoslavian. I grew up with pastries and home cooking but this was something extraordinary. And the first time tacos were served in the dining hall. Can you imagine a high schooler these days who has never had a taco? You can guess I'm always up to try something new. Or old. My current food emphasis is learning about cured meats and pickled foods. For the last few years I've been making my own corned beef. Lately that has branched out into Canadian bacon, cottage bacon, and pastrami. Last summer was an exploration of pickled vegies and kimchi. I'm really looking forward to looking around here. The little bit I've seen is somewhat intimidation--in a good way, that is.

Welcome to our little corner of the culinary world, marriasharma.

Why don't you tell us a little about yourself; your cooking and culinary interests, where you live, and so forth.

And don't be afraid to jump right in and join existing discussions, or start a few of your own.