They are lemon rosemary mascarpone cookies and they are making my mouth water just thinking of them.
And after I heard Scott talking about some vodka infusions and posting some menu ideas on Facebook and seeing the jams and jellies that were being put up in his kitchen, I knew I had to know more about his experiments and about him.
I asked a stranger if he had time to talk. He did. We ate. He sent me home with fun samples.
I am totally going to make him be my friend.
***
Me: You grew up in a world of high volume family meals and preserving. Were there any shrinking pains as you transitioned to smaller, high quality meals and lower production preserving?
Scott: Oh, most definitely. I can't tell you how many times I've had to freeze or toss leftovers. Growing up in a large, not-so-wealthy family I learned to be a bargain shopper and my grocery list was based on sales and quantity pricing. Now, it's much more driven by the events in my life, recipes, the seasons and individual ingredients. Over the last 3 years, I've grown quite accustomed to using fresh ingredients, focusing on local, seasonal, organic and sustainable products where I can. I'm not perfect, nor do I think anyone has to be. In my opinion, cooking--and life for that matter--is all about striving for something better, thinking bigger than yourself, experiencing something new, incorporating your community and slowing down enough to enjoy the ride. Food is a requirement of human life so why not enjoy it?
Me: When did you start offering private cooking/nutrition classes?
Scott: It was the spring/summer of 2010 during the transition time between passing my state nursing boards and starting my first job at Nationwide Children's Hospital. I kicked around the idea after a few friends suggested it. Then, I threw it out to the world of social media and got a pretty good response. It's tough since my kitchen is small and therefore the classes are as well. I've spoken with a few people about cooking in other locations so we'll see where that goes. For now, I'm not putting a schedule of classes out, but I expect to do so in the late fall--after the wedding. ;o) In the mean time, I'm available for classes based on whatever people want to learn.
Me: What does perfection look like in your kitchen?
Scott: In my kitchen, I don't think it exists. I'm actually quite pleased with imperfection as it's a sign of being home made, of being personal and of leaving room for personalized interpretation. With respect to food, perfection lies in the eyes, in the nose and on the tongue of the beholder. A lot of the truly magnificent things I've created have been complete and total accidents. I look forward to making many more.
Me: What does it mean to you to be a "foodie"?
Scott: I think it means only that I have a deep passion for food--how it's grown, where it comes from, how it's prepared and how it tastes to me and those to whom I'm serving it. I'm not in the camp of thinking that my own tastes and preferences are superior to anyone else's. That's a good way to turn people off of caring about food.
Me: You don't have a blog, but you should. Discuss.
Scott: Ugh, I have been told this soooo many times. In sum, I'm great at starting things, but keeping them going is most certainly not my strong suit. I think it's part of my Generation XY short attention span. Plus, while I occasionally have great things to share with the food world there are so many other food & gardening blogs that I see as more interesting and/or important. All that said, I could definitely use a recommendation or two on a simple, easy-to-manage, free blog site.
Me: What are you currently experimenting with in your kitchen (or bar)?
Scott: Ha! Chad would tell you I'm ALWAYS experimenting with something! Goes back to my relatively short attention span. Vodka infusions were a recent project, inspired by the peach-cucumber one I tried at Surly Girl. Canteloupe-mint was my favorite with strawberry-basil a close second. Sweet corn-blueberry wasn't the greatest success, but I'm still playing with ways to use it. We had a grilled pizza dinner party for Memorial Day and the vodka infusions were quite the hit. Now that my herbs are proliferating like mad, I plan to play with ways to incorporate them in recipes in an effort to reduce or eliminate the salt as a way of helping the families of my patients--kids with congenital heart defects/disease.
