ABOUT THIS COOK:

I grew up in the suburbs of Texas, with a family hailed from Missouri. Which is to say I am deeply conflicted about what the "best" region is for BBQ, and whether I like Jazz or Blues the most. I am not, however, conflicted about anything with pork (my great aunt and uncle had a pig farm, where I spent summers) or dairy (my great grandmother had a dairy farm but my summers there were spent mostly amazed that she made biscuits fresh every morning for us). Almost everybody in our family is a terrific cook. Definitely everybody is a terrific eater. I have had numerous little jobs and excursions in the food industry and have found that doing it permanently, and for a living, keeps me from wanting to be curious about it. Everything in my own kitchen feels like work if it's my "day job." So I'm a professional, part-time dabbler, and full-time curiosity fulfiller. At various times I've worked in a pastry kitchen, written and tested recipes, run a portion of a successful cooking school, taught privately, worked as a cheesemonger, and consulted with clients on marketing issues. I'm thinking I want to REALLY learn about wine next, and after our renovation project is over and done that will be my next endeavor. We are also thinking of ways to cure and store meat in our house, and for the first year ever I'm pulling out the canning equipment, going to the farmer's market, and it's game on!

• What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
  Bread in a Can

• What do you cook when home alone?
  I love scrambled eggs, or a composed salad. And bacon.

• Your most treasured kitchen possession:
  My grandmother's old cookbook stuffed full with handwritten recipes

• The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
  10 -- or at least that's what I say because I'm aiming to get a dining room table to fit that number. Six is probably more ideal to keep conversation lively but not too many to feel un-intimate.