Anybody who knows me knows a few things:
- I have depression!
- I really like being a dad.
- Food is one of the most important things in my life.
- My dog’s boner sometimes gets stuck out of his penis sheath and we have to spray it with coconut oil and try to slide it back in to avoid a two-hundred dollar vet bill.
As for number one and number three, I decided to start writing about the thing that has provided me so much free therapy over the years. Food is an experience unlike anything else in this world. You get to taste it, smell it, feel nostalgia through it, and share it with people.
A good meal is a god damn miracle. A good meal brings out laughter and joy and tears and memories.
Give me a Philly cheese steak and a glass of white zinfandel, and I immediately think of my mom. Drive me to an Outback Steakhouse and ask for extra dipping sauce for the bloomin’ onion, and my mind starts to play back every great conversation I’ve had with my dad. Order a Mina’s Pizza buffalo chicken calzone and I’m transported back to college, gorging down on 4,500 calories while drunk and trying to play Tenacious D songs on winamp.
When I’m in my deepest depressions, I seek out new meals to make.
The small, attainable steps that light the path. The rote joy of chopping and peeling and building towards your goal. The scent and the sound as the ingredients start sizzling in the hot oil of a cast iron pan. And being able to enjoy the fruits of my own labor at the end of the process. It really is like a crash course for jump-starting my better brain.
So, in the coming days, weeks, and months, my plan is to start a channel dedicated to food. There will be articles, recipes, and blog posts here. There will be pictures and videos with friends, chefs, and other guests at @foodernatch on instagram. And there will be some longer form content that I’m working on that hopefully won’t suck.
If you have any interest, feel free to subscribe, follow the instagram (@foodernatch), and reach out.
In the meantime, I’ve made myself hungry, so I’m going to go eat a burger or taco or pierogi.
And please no follow up questions about my dog.