About

I used to think that I couldn’t cook, or to be more precise, that I couldn’t cook anything that didn’t begin life in a jar or the freezer section of the supermarket. As I got more interested in food and wine, I began experimenting and reading cookbooks — and I discovered the secret that no one tells you: Cooking is easy! All you need to know are a few techniques and feel comfortable with your favorite ingredients, and you’re ready to go. Cooking is fundamentally creative, personal and meditative, and ultimately transitory. That meal only lasts for as long as it takes to get it into your stomach, and each meal brings something new.

Good cooking is ultimately a democratic activity. Despite our culture’s propensity to celebritize chefs as we must celebritize everything else, good cooking is never merely the province of the four-star restaurant. It occurs in homes all over the world. It is what satisfies and sustains us, what bonds the family around the dinner table, what fuels a group of friends gathered on the deck around the grill. Whenever we celebrate, we feast. When we comfort, we bring food.

There is a cook inside all of us. If I can do it, so can you. So, what are we making tonight?

–Shannon (shannon.turlington at gmail.com / sturlington.wordpress.com )