Butter...

There is something about butter that makes everything taste good. Sometimes I put an enormous amount of butter on my toast just because it tastes so good. I tend to cook a lot with butter. I often fry my eggs in it or sautee my vegetables in a combination of butter and olive oil. I ALWAYS bake with butter when a recipe calls for it. Margarine never enters the picture. To me, margarine is the devil when it comes to cooking, baking and eating. Others will beg to differ, I'm sure, but it is in my humble opinion that butter is close to divinity. Can you imagine a beurre blanc made with margarine? Positively sacrilegious. I'll always prefer butter.

"Eat butter first, and eat it last, and live till a hundred years be past."

Old Dutch proverb

Cookies made with butter...

Sometimes...

Sometimes a cup of tea and a bowl of soup are just enough to set you right. I've been writing to several pen pals lately and cooking up a frenzy of home-cooked goodies such as light potato salad, barbecued drumsticks, spaghetti and more. Even so, with all those amazingly good meals and flavors, sometimes I just don't feel like cooking much so a good broth is in order on those days when I just want something simple.

On Friday we went to the farmer's market at the Red Barn Flea Market in Bradenton, FL and got lots of fresh local produce for about $16. I love going to the market to get my vegetables: succulent tomatoes, gorgeous pickling cucumbers, tasty cherries and strawberries, and so much more. There is nothing better than enjoying an array of fresh fruits in the morning and that is what I intend to do tomorrow after I've exercised.

Photographing food has become a new obsession of mine and I will no doubt be sharing many of these subjects with you. Next weekend I hope to go and visit some other farmer's markets in the area. There is one on Anna Maria Island called the Bridge Street Farmer's Market that I am very much interested in checking out. Even with all these farmer's markets around my favorite is still the weekly market in La Candelaria in Caracas, Venezuela. This chapter in my journey is dedicated to them.

Passion...

When one looks up the word passion a great many definitions come up but the one which resounds most with me, particularly when it comes to food, is "boundless enthusiasm". I believe that best sums up the type of passion I have for food. Food is not merely nutrients or vitamins that we need, it is not merely calories to count; food is a journey for the senses, a voyage into foreign lands. Food is simply sublime.

I know there are all sorts of different "foods" out there, if you will; good food, junk food, fast food, and much more but my passion is for the food that contains the freshest ingredients and the love that is found in the preparation of a home cooked meal. Fast food to me can hardly be classified as food but nevertheless, it does exist and I have been known to grab a burger or a hot dog on occasion, though very rarely. We all occasionally gravitate to fast food or junk food but those of us who truly are passionate about food tend to be purists in our flair and enjoy the labor that is cooking at home.

Who else but we purists can look at a zucchini and think it is as beautiful as a poem? We go to the farmer's markets and skillfully seek out only the best and freshest fruits and vegetables. We seek out ingredients from far away lands in order to have that particular flavor we've been looking for. That is the journey of passion we take when we love food. Thus I begin this diary of my own particular journey.

I will strive to share with you the reader everything I have learned, every flavor I've tasted, every memory I've made pertaining to food. I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming days.