@Chef Wayne in Memph
I grew up in a Boarding House in Little Rock, Arkansas owned by my family. We had the "Army Contract" for 17 years. Every new recruit in AR had to spend a week at the induction center in Little Rock. They were provided with a meal ticket which they brought to us for their meals and we turned these in once a month. We also served the general public. By the time I could see over a 10-burner gas stove I could cook about anything there was. We served four vegetables in bowls, hot cornbread and buttermilk biscuits, tea, coffee or milk along with one meat and one desert. The rest was "Pitch until you Win" - 60 cents. Over seventeen years we had to raise the price to 70 cents. Those days are gone. My Grandmother, Uncle and Aunt owned "Mrs. Sullivan's Dining Room" and we also rented some rooms upstairs. My mother worked for them for $10 a week and our room and board. Big house, bit family and big fun - but lots of work. I have spent much of my adult live cooking on offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and on ships and boats. The last eight years of my working life were spent in Alaska where I cooked on a large (185') tug escorting the giant oil tankers in and out of Valdez. Eight years ago I blew my mitral valve out of my heart, was flown to Seattle on a jet ambulance after being rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter and managed to live after being told I would not. I had another two surgeries in Memphis in January of this year to put my heart back into proper rhythm and to get a pacemaker/defibulator implant. With these, I have managed to regain most of my old vigor. I love to cook! Probably because it is a highly creative endeavor. My two sons were so close they bought a large Victorian home together and flipped a coin to see who would get what side of the house. The oldest, James and his wife, Jennifer live in one side and Mark lives in the other. I have what I like to think of as "The Carriage House" out back. We are all very close, but can maintain our privacy as well. I was married for 20 years and have been divorced for an equal number. My ex-wife and her husband are my closest friend. We all spend weekends at the lake house where we fish and cruse on the new 24' party barge and spend every holiday together. My greatest challenge is my tiny kitchen, but I am managing to cope very well. I am also redecorating my house in the Victorian style. I think I like that style because it represents a time to me I find much more rewarding than this new Liberal word we live in. There was a time when every girl was born a Princess and every boy a Gentleman. That is now a fantasy world, but it is the world I choose to live in. I still want a linen napkin and a china cup and saucer served by a vantage tea set, even if it is only just for me. Although retired, I still consider myself a Songwriter, Screenwriter, Novelist and Poet, having won acclaim in all of these areas. I am currently working on a new book, "The Bachelor's Cook Book" that provides an instruction manual for young men. It teaches how to cook great meals, even if they don't know how to cook, in fifteen minutes or less, how to manage a budget, the value and methods of acquiring good credit and managing money. Starting from a job at McDonalds, the book tells how anyone can, in ten years, own their own home free and clear, have over $100,000.00 in the bank and work for themselves three days a week earning over $50,000.00 a year. This book can be thought of as having a Grandfather by their side for advice in almost every subject by someone who has been there before and made most of the mistakes. I welcome all correspondence and look forward to sharing recipes I have gained over a lifetime. My Politics? I am a strong conservative, why should you ask?