I now live in Springfield, Missouri as a transplant from Seattle. I actually have two GREAT passions. One is restoring a sport model BMW from the late 70's and the other is cooking. For me, cooking is very theraputic just as gardening is to a horticulturist. I love coming up with new ideas and watching as the people I care about smile and show their approval and appreciation for the meals I provide. I learned at an early age that I hated, (for lack of a better word) bachelor food. If I was going to get to eat some of the same good tasting food I grew up on, I was going to have to learn to cook! So I rounded up my curiosity from so many hours of watching Graham Kerr's Galloping Gourmet as a small child in the 60's to endless Saturday mornings watching as many cooking shows as I could find even before FOOD NETWORK and set out on a mission to learn to cook. Well thirty years later and I still have that firey passion for cooking. I never cook from a prepared box or package. I make all my own sauces, gravies and marinades from scratch. Inclusive of cooking, I bake, grill, use crocks and roasters and even do a fair amount of smoking in the warmer weather. Just when I thought life wasn't going to get any better, I met my wife and quickly found that she shares the same passions as I do. I've truly been Blessed!