"Snap" One of my memories of Summer growing up was sitting on my grandparent's back porch, snapping green beans, popping the ends off, snapping the beans themselves twice, and tossing them in a large yellow bucket.

My grandmother would sit across from where I was on the back porch swing, my grandfather next to me, and occasionally their dog, a Boston Bull Terrier named Dolly would grace us with her presense by laying nearby and snorting her way through the afternoon. California Summers were bright, and hot, and on the shaded back porch which my grandfather had partially built, a breeze managed to find us from time to time.

My grandmother would spend the time talking, upbraiding me, my father, my sister, my grandfather, or praising the same. The upbraiding was funnier. She talked with a South Carolina drawl, and could turn a phrase like a ballet dancer could piroette.

I hadn't realized it at the time, but they were teaching me something valuble. They planted a massive amount of beans and zuchinni, some peppers and potatoes, and a few tomatoes. My maternal grandparents were the first ones to introduce me to the fact that you could grow your own food. As I realized what they were doing, I noticed my other grandparents were doing the same thing. And eventually, I realized my parents were doing so too.

Neither my parents or my grandparents embraced local foods like I now do, but it was a good start.

I grow a lot of my own food. Most of the rest, I try to get locally. I'm not perfect, my grandmother has imprinted on me a desire for ramen noodles as comfort food, but I would say at this point, I get about 70 percent of my food from local sources.

Hi. I'm a thirtysomething American from California, living in the Midwest United States. I am a technology geek, a gourmand, and a gourmet. I am a retired Generation Xer, would have been a goth as a kid if I didn't lack the ability to commit to being so depressed all the time, and a confirmed cat person. My purpose for beginning this blog is to talk about the things I've learned about living locally, learning how to cook, and how I'm taking back my birthright, which is American Food Culture. I hope, assuming anyone ever reads this, to entertain, enlighten, and inform. I'm heavily influenced by Alton Brown, Mike McGrath, and Barbara Kingsolver.

Welcome. Lets take a journey together.