Welcome

So where to begin with this?  As someone who has tried to find his creative calling, I have always been torn in two directions.  I discovered in my 20's that I really enjoyed cooking (and eating of course) and earlier this decade I discovered and subsequently became obsessed with the Nigella Bites tv series.  I had watched cooking shows of all kinds on PBS growing up, including Julia Child and Yan Can Cook, but I was never really drawn to the shows; the food, equipment and techniques all seemed out of my league.  With Nigella, it all made sense.  It appealed to my desire to see patterns and look at things from a general, almost scientific, point of view.  I started making a lot of her recipes as the Food Network blossomed.  Shows like Everyday Italian and Barefoot Contessa became regulars on my DVR and I would watch them at night when I wanted to relax.  I started making more elaborate dishes and throwing small dinner parties and doing Thanksgiving every year.

I felt trapped in my office job and started  thinking that maybe, somehow, I could make cooking into a career.  However, I realized while owning a restaurant sounded appealing, I could never afford to do that in Washington, DC.  I still have a dream of a small cafe in a small, progressive town somewhere, but that's on hold for now.   I switched jobs, my partner spent a few years clerking for a judge, and we moved.

In that time, my interest and love of photography took over and in a small way, kind of took off for me.  I began shooting documentaries and short films, including videos for a huge social event here in DC.  I was hired to take photographs of women's fashion for a local boutique (now fashion line).  I even had an exhibition of my photography at a store that showcases local DC artists.  And, thankfully, I actually started earning some money for my photography and video work, which was great!  [My work can be seen at Space Division Photography if you are curious btw.]

But in all that, I sort of lost my way a bit with food.  After many weekends of debating what to do, my partner came up with an idea: combine them.  I know it sounds obvious, but it didn't to me.  I had seen a lot of my friends do something similar and either they stopped their blogs or gave up on cooking school.  Facebook and Instagram had made snapping photos of your meal more important than the preparation of the food.  I wanted to do something unique and different.  So what to do?  Well, he came up with the idea of throwing a dinner party where we invite some friends, but with an added twist: our invited guests have to bring two friends we don't know.  You Pick Two was born.  It's sort of a riff on the you pick two menus at some of the chain restaurants.  I had always wanted to have my own chef's table and here was a way to do it.

My partner and I own a rowhouse in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of DC and spent a bit of savings to renovate and make it into our dream house, complete with a true cook's kitchen for me.  So, now we had a venue where I could do something special.  I had been able to use my photography earnings to get a nicer camera and lens.  All the pieces were there, I just needed to start it.  So, that's what we did.  I would come up with a menu and table setting of sorts, document my efforts to do that in a blog, take great photos of the prep, the meal, and the people.  And then post the recipes, lessons learned, and whatever we talked about or laughed about during the meal.  Our first event is November 2nd and I am really excited.  In my next post, I will talk about the theme, draft menu, and who we got to come to our premiere You Pick Two table.  It's actually a really neat group, with an interesting twist.  I will explain more as we get that group firmed up.  'Til then...