GrandpaAndycooks: imagination and a sharp knife

Some years ago when we were both working full tilt, I quit cooking! I had done it for so long, and I had no more imagination left for this task that happened every day. I hung up the pots and pans and that was it! I was up for the clean-up, but I no longer had any interest in the preparation of food. I had cooked through the infancy of my kids (Happy Baby Grinders), picky eaters, kids who had to eat on athletic schedules, and having to think of meals I would do after work that would accommodate the huge caloric needs of teenagers. I was done.

So, enter Grandpa. Here was a person who had intense interest in the joys of food. Soon he was doing the grocery shopping. He cheerfully accommodated the vegetarian needs of our last child and our family needs for only fresh whole foods.

We retired from our usual work and came to live in the country where we have an expansive vegetable garden -fodder for the chef!

The most amazing and cosseting thing to me is having someone cook for me and our friends. Sometime in the afternoon Grandpa asks me what I can harvest from the garden. Maybe it is beets, or kale, or carrots. Always greens for a salad. Maybe peapods. Whatever it is, that's great,( even turnips) he'll use it. When I go up to the main house from where I work in my studio at the end of the afternoon, I never know what's for dinner. Often I bring the salad greens, always different from day to day.

I wander into the kitchen full of wonderful smells. And I have no idea what's for dinner tonight! Heaven. I set the table with candles and flowers, paying attention to the table setting.

Tonight we are having a frittata with baby artichokes, garden salad with mostly baby spinach and some cucumbers and the last of our garden tomatoes. Left-over bread has become toasted delicious nuggets brushed with good olive oil and garlic. Just an ordinary supper.

What Grandpa Andy cooks is what anyone can cook. In this blog you'll get some recipes and suggestions about how anyone can make really good meals from scratch and imagination.

You'll learn how to cook healthy meals from scratch without relying on tedious recipes.

Stay tuned. Eating is a great adventure!