Written by adam on Jan 19, 2006
Glamorization
Filed Under: Editorial
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Food bloggers do it all. We do it with the lights on and with chocolate! That's right, not only do we cook, experiment, and eat, we also get on our computers and write about when the day is done. There'll be time enough for writin' .... when the eatin's done.
In the spirit of Men in Aprons, I have found a great foodie blog that exemplifies exactly why I am doing what I am doing. Introducing Fumbling Foodie. Dave is a 50-something married man that one day decided he wanted to try cooking. It's a bumpy road as we all know, but he's taking that with a grain of salt.
Note to self: food metaphors are not useful in a food blog.
He's doing it from the ground up and blogging about it along the way. His wife is supportive and encouraging, something that other wives might not be. This is the real deal, folks. This guy is a true Man in an Apron.
In the process I've discovered that there are two kinds of women: Those that for whom the way to their heart is through chocolate, and those that for whom the way to their heart is through potatoes.
This afternoon, I was talking into my voice recorder when I inadvertently went off onto a rant about the glamorizing that television and publishing puts on cooking, chefs, kitchens, and everything in between. Case in point: Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals (a crock). Her meals are statistically impossible to prepare in 30 minutes and it can frustrate those folks who are charmed by the glamour of the show and Rachel's perky ... ahem ... personality. Coincidentally, on the same day I ranted about Rachel, I found a blog post from someone damning the Food Network to Hell.
Seems jacque had some trouble trying to cook a Rachel Ray meal in the allotted 30 minutes. Not only did it turn out bad, it took much longer.
I feel your pain, JacqueG. I really do. And that is one of the reasons I am here and putting on this wonderful web site called Men in Aprons. I want to de-glamorize the food industry, pull back the curtains, and expose the chicken juice for what it is.
Look, food takes time to prepare, sometimes hours. When we get home at the end of the day, we don't have a staff of food preps cutting, dicing, and boiling in the back room. We don't have 3 sous chefs at our beck and call. We have ourselves and maybe a spouse that is willing to help.
You can't get out a three-course meal in 30 minutes by yourself. It's impossible. But you can make some good stuff in that time ... perhaps a little more, though. That's what I'm all about.
Truth. Simplicity. Ease.
Stay tuned.
Since winter of 2004, I have been exploring the world of cooking and helping out my fellow men in their quests to better themselves in the kitchen. My name is Adam Byrd, you can learn more about me and my mission on my