TIME FOR A CURRY

There is not much my mother could ever say to make me physically cringe, except . . .  Now I am not sure why this always fell to me but every night, just before dinner, my mother would raise her voice slightly so she could be heard above the TV and say, “Tom, come make the milk for dinner.” There are two things that I want to say about this. Continue reading “TIME FOR A CURRY”

EL DORADO

The lost city of gold. The first time I heard of El Dorado was from the Howard Hawkes movie with John Wayne and James Caan. A classic shoot-em-up with a drunken sheriff, a grumpy sidekick, a young whipper-snapper and, of course, John Wayne. During an early part of the movie John Wayne and James Caan are riding through a saguaro covered part of the desert to the city of El Dorado, where they will subsequently save the day. I am not giving anything away, the movie was made in 1966 for God’s sake. During this ride, James Caan recites a bit of a poem that ends with “ . . . Continue reading “EL DORADO”

WHAT THE TRUCK?

“Do you have a job yet?” The voice on the other end of the line asked.

The year was 1991, I had recently graduated from the California Culinary Academy and had just, two days prior, returned from a month long driving tour of Europe with my buddy Dale.

“No.” I said, with no apparent alacrity, anticipating the crush of credit card debt that was headed my way.

And so it all began, the call that changed the direction of my life. Within a week’s time I was cooking for none other than Continue reading “WHAT THE TRUCK?”