Thanksgiving - Thank you

During this holiday of giving thanks and personal reflection, I realize I have much to be thankful for even during a year of turmoil and difficulty. I enjoy reflecting on the memories of past events and looking at them with a fresh perspective for the future.

First, I am thankful for my health, my wife’s health and my family’s health. I am thankful for having the most supportive wife that any husband could want. I know these pandemic times have caused everyone to change their everyday lives, and I thankful for being able to work at home, able to play tennis with my wife and friends as well as spend time supporting our favorite neighborhood restaurant, Chianti’s.

Secondly, I am very thankful for my culinary team support for our charity events that are supporting the less fortunate with food. This team is made up of some of the very best people that you could surround yourself with and I so enjoy working with them. These people are like family, we always enjoy catching up while we work and spending some time afterwards to talk.

Thirdly, I want to thank three people specifically for my culinary journey. There have been numerous people who have supported or encouraged me along the way, but these three people have made the largest influence in my culinary exploration. First, I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. George Pirrie for making an aspiring athlete realize there is more to life than sports. I vividly remember standing in their kitchen and Bobbie saying “You can either cook or clean-up?” and my first thought was “I know how to clean-up.” I think the first thing I made was salad dressing (which was always made from scratch) with toasted pine nuts. I remember learning grilling techniques from Mr. Pirrie, specifically fresh salmon and whole chickens. Secondly, I want to thank my mom because she always made great food and her culinary excursions to France and Italy for training really inspired me to realize that I can do that as well. Two things my mother always use to say were “you always have to try first, if you don’t like it, then that is ok!“ as well as ”I think you missed your calling by not going to culinary school.” Well mom, I was able to attend a culinary school and my culinary education is going to continue throughout the rest of my life. Finally, about 11 or 12 years ago, I had the great fortune to meet Certified Master Chef Paul Ebling here is Richmond. Chef Paul as we affectionately love to call him, is a culinary icon who really helped to establish food preparation as a real profession here in the United States. My fortune began about a decade ago when I was asked to help with several charity events which further ignited my culinary passion. Over the next decade of charity events that ranged from 10,000+ festivals to 20-person 5-course plated meals, I received the best “on the job training” that anyone could ever dream of as well as acquiring a good friend. All of this “on the job training” led me to attend the University of Richmond’s Culinary School. These three people laid the foundation that has led my culinary trail to where I am today as well as to where it will take me in the future.

Lastly, I want to thank the supporters of this blog. This blog is a positive by-product of the pandemic. There are several people I want to thank for helping me with this adventure. First, I want to thank my wife, who plays several very important roles. She is my food photographer and really has discovered an eye for photography. She is also my blog editor and I really need that desperately! Lastly, she is my taste tester, who helps adjust flavors. The next person I want to thank is Joe Niesz for handling the social media marketing aspect of the blog. He understands this world better than I do. Lastly, I want to thank Megan Sumrell for showing/inspiring me to start this blog. Megan has a blog on “Work Life Balance.” Her guidance has been invaluable during this rollout phase.

I want to thank everyone who has viewed, left a comment, asked a question or told a friend about this venture. Please stay tuned for future culinary creations and exiting new ventures.

Bon Appetit!