The Diary of a Mad Chef: "A Collection of Culinary Treasures and Short Stories"

This family cookbook morphed into much more for me during the writing process. It began by contacting friends and family to collect recipes for what I thought would be a simple process. During those conversations and with my own memories, a flood of personal history evolved in my mind. What began as a repository of food recipes became much more to me, and I decided to collect the process in the form of this book, The Diary of a Mad Chef, to also include photos of those people and selected short stories. Food has always been the center of our family's common narrative thread, and I attempted to place the face and the stories of my friends and family with the recipes as I remember them. Along with the feedback and photos from my friends and family, it became a two-year-long effort to compile, edit, and publish this book. The journey has been a magnificent experience for me, and I am grateful to have had the time and opportunity to write this book.

During my 56 years I collected many things along the way. Some of those experiences are outlined and described in this book and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did collecting and writing them. As for me, and the person I was and have become I believe the following song lyrics written by Kris Kristofferson contain a pretty good description of the author. The Pilgrim And he keeps right on a changin' for the better or the worse Searchin' for a shrine he has never found Never known' if believin' is a blessin' or a curse Or if the going up was worth the comin' down He's a poet, he's a picker, he's a prophet, he's a pusher He's a pilgrim and a preacher and a problem when he's stoned He's a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home