I missed my anniversary!

I can't believe I missed my own anniversary! No, not my wedding anniversary, that's in May, but the third anniversary of my first post, August 4, 2006 here on one food guy. Has it really been three years? After one hundred ninety posts, I have eaten a lot! I also have a different job than I did three years ago, one that I really enjoy although still not food related, and I have traveled a lot. I've been to England, France, Germany, India, Jamaica, Scotland, and Switzerland. I've also traveled domestically to Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma, and Miami. I have eaten great food in almost all of those places and have written about many of them.

When I started writing three years ago I had just returned to Boston after a six month consulting contract in New York City. While I did eat VERY well, taking full advantage of my expense account, I had no idea that I would soon eat so well around the world. Then that winter I went to California for a week, visiting friends in and around LA then driving north to Napa and Sonoma Valleys. I ate very well there too. Later in 2007 I began the new job and my worldly travels began.

I ate snails in London, England. I devoured several crepes and some foie gras in Paris, France - I bet a foie gras crepe would be fantastic! In Frankfurt, Germany I bought the most amazing gummy bears, and a beer stein. While in Luzern, Switzerland I ate an ostrich steak, and lots of fondue, although not at the same time. And I ate many buttered pretzels, some with salami, some without. I also discovered that the city has some pretty outstanding sushi. In Edinburgh, Scotland I ate haggis, and liked it, a lot. While in Chennai, India I ate sheeps brain, it wasn't bad although the texture was a little...challenging. I only wish I was able to eat some local jerk chicken while in Jamaica. Alas, I was there on business for just a few days and never got to leave the hotel, what a shame.

So why did I start writing you ask? Fresh from six months of eating well in NYC, I was flipping through the August 2006 issue of Food & Wine Magazine and read about taking perfect food photographs and four Best-Shot Blogs were referenced . I thought, "Wow, what a great idea! I can write and I love to eat, why don't I start my own blog!" So I did. The first few blogs I visited included Chez Pim and 101 Cookbooks but my real inspiration came from some of the west coast writers I would soon come to know. I learned that LA had a burgeoning food blogger scene and Eat Drink & Be Merry, Oishii Eats, Daily Gluttony (now Rants and Craves), and Immaeatchu became regular reads. I started writing more, I came up with Tuesday's Tastings - a once weekly review of products found in Trader Joe's freezer case now currently on hiatus - and I mourned the loss of one of my favorite Trader Joe's products, Spinach and Tofu Egg Rolls.

I also starting making pizzas at home. I have nearly perfected my fig and goat cheese pizza and I owe my sister-in-law a big thanks for sharing her idea for this amazing apple, pear, goat brie and walnut pizza I made a few months ago. I always use sheep or goat milk cheeses and bake my pizzas on a stone at 475-500 degrees fahrenheit. Somes I use red sauce, sometimes pesto, and sometimes no sauce at all, just some good olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano and crushed red pepper. I love making pizza so much that I hope to construct a wood-fired pizza oven in my backyard some day.

Sometimes life can get in the way of writing, but I have always found time to eat, always. I've been to many amazing places on this great earth and have enjoyed many a great meal. As I eat and drink my way through life I will continue to share my plate with you so; I hope you decide to leave a comment every now and then to let me know you're there.

Thank you so much for reading, I'm just one food guy.

A Homemade Anniversary Dinner with Store-bought Desserts

When you need to make something special for someone special, consider making lamb, rack of lamb! It's fairly simple to make and has a big wow factor if done right with sides like the ones I chose to serve. I served the rack of lamb with some garlicky sauteed rainbow chard and some fancy roasted red new potatoes and I made a quick sauce from reduced balsamic vinegar. If you look at the picture below, you might be wondering how I prepped those beautiful potatoes? My food styling might not be that great, but dinner certainly was! Keep scrolling...

To create the beautiful roasted potatoes pictured above, take a wooden spoon and place a small potato in the depression. With your knife, make thin, parallel slices in the potato until you hit the edges of the spoon; the spoon will prevent your knife from cutting all the way through and keep the potato 'chips' held together. Repeat for each potato, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and chopped fresh rosemary, then roast in the oven until cooked through and crispy - about 40 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Having spent all my time preparing and cooking dinner on this night, I totally cheated on dessert. I bought a few of the pre-made tarts at Whole Foods, one blueberry crumble, one key lime pie, and one chocolaty, caramely, nutty turtle-like tart; they were all very good.