Bienvenidos!

Greetings from an aspiring chef.

I have started this blog as a platform for chronicling my journey to become a better cook, using cookbooks, online recipes, trial and error, my own two hands, and my very tiny kitchen in my very small apartment in Dallas, Texas.

I have always loved food, and have always felt at home in the kitchen.My family has always told me I have a "knack" for cooking, urging me to pursue it as a career. Culinary art school, maybe, then onward into the real world of professional cooking. But, I'm told, the culinary art school path is not necessarily the best or only option toward achieving professional status.

I currently work in a casual Tex-Mex restaurant, where I started as a server and now primarily work as an expo, traying up orders and sending them on their way to the dining room. Working in this environment has given me a more realistic view of what it takes to work in a kitchen. It's hard, messy, fast-pace, and dangerous. Really good cooks can be found working as line cooks in kitchens the world over, pumping out the same plates day-in and day-out, creating a human assembly line to feed the masses. There is little art in this work, though there are certainly standards and an expectation of taking pride in the food you sell.

Having spent some time on the line, and I can tell you it is not easy. And though it may not be art, there is a good deal of skill required. In order to work in any kitchen, you've got to earn your stripes. Often, this means working your way up from dishwasher, to prep cook, to line cook, then maybe on up to sous chef in a fine dining environment. Then maybe, MAYBE, one day, you may earn the title of chef. This, to me, is indicative of having transformed your culinary skills into an art.

I hope to get there one day. But, for now, I'm just a small-time, wanna-be cook looking to brush up on my skills, and to spend more time doing what I love. To achieve these ends, I've picked up a few cookbooks from the library, and am excited to dive in and start trying some new recipes.

First up is an exploration into Mexican cuisine with The Essential Cuisines of Mexico and The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diana Kennedy. Should be fun! Thanks for reading.

-Little Chef TX