I am determined to not raise a picky eater.

I hear the horror stories all the time. I have seen these kids in the restaurants I’ve worked at over the years. The ones who eat the plainest things or fuss about food on their plates. The teenagers are the worst, with their plain hamburgers and boring pizzas.

I don’t want my son, or any other kids I may have after him, being afraid to try new things, or frustrating other adults because he’s so hard to feed. I want an adventurous eater, who knows what he likes, but braves any new thing with the hopes of adding to that list.

Of course, he’s allowed to not like things. He’s also allowed to like things a certain way. Tastes and taste buds change over time, and i will want him to know he’s allowed to change his mind. What I don’t want him to do is decide before he’s tried. I also don’t want him to never try again. I don’t like brussel sprouts. I went twenty years without eating them. Yet my wife asked me to try again and I did. The verdict is I’m still not a big fan. (I feel they are bitter little baby cabbages plucked before their time.) Yet I was open to the possibility that my tastes had changed.

So I have a plan. I’m tentatively calling it the “3612 Plan”. If the boy doesn’t, for example, like tomatoes the first time he tries them, we’ll come back to them in 3 months, then 6 months, then 1 year, then 2 years. After that, he’s allowed to never try them again. My hope is not to force him to like tomatoes, but to create the habit of being open to revisiting things throughout his life, and to trying new things whenever the opportunity arises. In the end, I want to impart the same adventurous food spirit I have, so he can live an adventurous life, both at the table, and beyond. Enjoy!

I’ve come to believe that there is a huge missed opportunity in the artificial sweetener industry. For the average person already drinking diet soda, they are accustomed to the flavor. However, any efforts to acquire new drinkers is partially sabotaged by the fact that diet sodas are trying to taste sugar-sweetened. For the average non-diet soda drinker, they are used to high fructose corn syrup. By using high fructose corn syrup, the soft drink companies are essentially stuck in a Catch-22.

A non-diet drinker is always going to think diet tastes like diet. Mainly because diet never tastes like regular. No matter what they do in crafting new artificial sweeteners, diet will never taste like regular. And regular drinkers will never switch to diet for the flavor. So unless someone is going to craft an artificial sweetener that tastes like high fructose corn syrup, regular soda drinkers will never switch for the taste.

This is kind of a big day in kind of a big month. Two of my favorite people celebrate their birthdays today, and my most favorite person in the world celebrates later this month.

Today, the young lady who made me an uncle for the first time turns sixteen. She’s been a joy to get to know as she’s grown up into a talented and caring teenager with a bright future. Her mom’s birthday just passed, and she’s an amazing sister-in-law and friend.

Also celebrating today is one of my best friends, who made me believe I could have more than one. She was one of my first subscribers, which is just like her, supportive and involved.

On the 22nd, my wife’s birthday arrives. There won’t be much fanfare this year, but in my heart, there will be fireworks and a parade!

So, to all the ladies in my life who arrived fresh from the oven that is August, I say, “Let them eat cake!” (Gluten-free of course for you, honey.) Have a wonderful birthday, and as always… Enjoy!

“I could talk about this stuff all day.”

That’s the phrase on one of Cathy’s old Apple t-shirts. I feel that way about wine and food. Which helps me tremendously in my job as a server at a winery/restaurant.

While it could be argued that every employee at Cooper’s Hawk is an ambassador of the company, many only focus on food and service. I promote the culture, the brand, wine appreciation and education, and much more. I’m passionate and excited, and with my diverse work history (a nice way of saying I’ve had a lot of jobs), I can honestly say it’s the best company I’ve worked for to date.

So hopefully I’ll find more and better ways to represent the company to more than three tables at a time. In the meantime, I’ll keep talking and see where it leads. Enjoy!

I’ve traditionally been reticent to start blogging because I feel a certain obligation to my subscribers and the public in general, even if there are only currently fourteen people reading my blog with any frequency. Journaling of any kind has never been a habit I’ve successfully achieved with regularity. I think there are several factors that contribute to this.

1. I dislike repetition. I remember as a kid telling with my parents I could eat pizza every meal. They told me they would go to the store and buy a month’s supply of store-brand cheese pizzas to test my resolve. I tried to explain that I didn’t mean one kind of pizza in particular, but the whole wide variety of pizza in general. They didn’t get it. The point is, I crave diversity.

2. I get distracted. Not ADD/ADHD distracted, but I tend to have a number of irons in the fire, and often, the “now” of current events supersedes the “then” of the recently passed. If I don’t blog about something while it’s fresh, the passion to blog about it wanes significantly.

3. I wonder if it matters. As much as I want to say I write for myself, I still suffer the weakness of craving attention like others. I know I’m intelligent enough to express myself with significance, but I’m not arrogant enough to think my expressions are automatically fit for public consumption and should be required reading.

4. I fear irrelevance. If I don’t keep the blog fresh, will I become obsolete? Will I and others lose interest? Will it be just another in a long string of unfinished projects, and is it already doomed to be such by virtue of it being a neverending process?

This all became particularly poignant to me in the last week or so, when over ten days passed between posts. As long as I haven’t decided what this blog will be, I keep entertaining thoughts on what it could be. However, until it can be something else, I need to just let it be what it is and relax. Enjoy!

One of the great things about having such a strong connection with food is that I’m really good at making suggestions to others. This knack is surprisingly helpful at my current job as a server. The joy on my guests’ faces when taking a chance on something I’ve suggested, pushing them out of their menu comfort zones, is particularly rewarding for both parties. That’s why I worked my way through experiencing the entire menu over the course of my first three months working at the Hawk. I wanted to be able to speak openly and honestly about the food.

Because I think a lot people don’t try new things due to fear. It’s scary to put unfamiliar edibles in one’s mouth, to gamble hard earned money on food that is priced beyond nourishment, to put one’s faith in another person’s likes and dislikes. Dining for any reason other than survival becomes an exercise in trust and a quest to satisfy one’s own particular preferences. That makes the job I do so very important to so many people.

Not everyone appreciates the role of server in the workplace, and this holds true on both sides of the apron. This person certainly does. So does this person. The latter is especially committed to preaching the message of respect for the profession. He is committed to speaking on the subject as part of his role as an ambassador of food and wine. Having attended classes he’s conducted for Cooper’s Hawk, I’ve taken up the cause and practice what I preach, by striving to be the best server I can. That includes knowing the food and wine we offer and speaking about it confidently. So if I say something is my favorite and that I’ve eaten it repeatedly, give it a shot. You may not like it, but at least you’ll know it didn’t kill me… yet. Enjoy!

The beauty of the “Myself” category is that it gives me an opportunity to speak my mind on subjects unrelated to food. At the same time, I want to make it easy for my subscribers and visitors to identify my politically and religiously charged posts by giving them The same ongoing theme. So, whenever you see a posted titled, “My Final Word on…”, you’ll know whether you’ll want to skip the post or dive right in.

The main goal of these posts for me is to offer an intelligent perspective on the things I’d rather not argue on Facebook. Too often, people want to argue the left or the right. My hope is to present a lucid argument on the middle. Whether the topic is guns, gay marriage, the economy, or religion, I’m looking to document my beliefs on each subject. As much as I’d love to entertain and challenge others with these posts, it also offers a record of where I stand today to amuse my future self in the years to come. After all, I can’t help but laugh at what I used to think and believe in years past. So that’s my final word on my views… for now. Enjoy!