A quick look at me and you’ll realize that my relationship has perhaps not been the healthiest, but I am proud to say that it has been improving quite a bit. Needless to say, I have always loved food and have been primarily focuses on how it tastes and how it smells.

I went through a period of my life few years ago where I was exploring the best restaurants like there was no tomorrow. I am honestly afraid to accurately tally up just how much money I spent (read charged to credit cards) to indulge in this fine-dining decadence. The experience was second to none. Everything–from the the decor of these restaurants, to the customer service, to the presentation of the food–was heaven. The tastes, textures, and smells of food were exquisite. The greatest irony in all of this is that I when a waiter would provide the obligatory description of the dish I was unable to comprehend half the things they said. I was just as clueless when it came to tasting the food. I could appreciate a good flavor, but I couldn’t provide a description of what I was tasting.

Then I started going out to all these restaurants a lot less: partly it was time to be more financially responsible, and partly I wasn’t a fan of this “foodie” culture that was just chasing the next instagram post. So in this time of less dining out, I have been cooking far more which has forced me to learn and practice new technique go to the grocery store and learn how to pick the best produce, meats, spices, etc; and it gave me new appreciation for the work that goes into these dishes.

The above was a little dessert I had earlier this evening. It was something simple at home, but I wanted to take a picture with my camera like old times.