How it All Began
I started cooking at an early age, but I did not start taking it seriously until after my Mom died in 2002.
Thanksgiving is a big time of year for my family, and my favorite holiday. When my mom died, I wanted the tradition of the Family Gathering to remain. My wife and I decided we would host the first family Thanksgiving post the lost of my mama Rose (Patsy) Phillips. Well my wife was mostly taught to cook by my mama, but she did not have a Passion for cooking. Although she did a heck of job and the family enjoyed it, she was not feeling the full production.
"Sometime a Mistake is all it takes!"
The following holiday my dad was out of town, my brother and sister were doing their on thing, and my wife, daughter and I decided we would just go out to eat. I was so depressed sitting at that little shabby diner and feeling like this can not be what holidays are about.
The next Thanksgiving I implored my wife to host the Family Gather again; she agreed with the admonishment that SHE WAS NOT GOING TO DO IT LIKE MY MAMA!
Wait! What!
My arrogance got the best of me and I rebutted, "If you ain’t gone do it like my mama, don’t do it all!"
Yeah folks that was ‘a mistake’ she chose door number 2.
And Thus We Began
I refused to sit in another shabby diner so I prayed for help and conjured up every memory I could of my mother's cooking, and I went to work. To my, and everyone else's, surprise the cooking gene was passed down to me, and I was able to replicate her dishes very closely.
A few years, and a whole lot of cooking, later I am now feeling myself and I turn my sights on Smoking Meat. After 3 years of research I sought out to design my on smoker (named Big Ruby) we'll tell more about that in a future post.
My good friend and buddy, The Self-Employed Tax Guy, started bugging me about starting a blog. He kept on me until I bought and registered the Create Simple Meals domain, but I still was not ready. In October of 2019 he was at my home (and now the Studio for Create Simple Meals live) and semi secretly recorded me trying out my version of the infamous Popeyes' Fried Chicken sandwich and thus Create Simple Meals was launched.
It continues to be a work in progress, but together we are going to explore our Passions, display our Patience, and Practice . Let's Enjoy the Journey together.
