Macheesmo

Macheesmo has been humming along nicely for a few months now and every time I tell someone about the site they are always ask one question: What does Macheesmo mean?

I thought it would be worthwhile to spend a post elaborating on the information I have in my About page.

What is Macheesmo?

When people ask me this question my short definition is: Empowerment in the kitchen. If I’m being honest with myself though, that is a bit of a cop-out. There is such a broad range of things one can do in the kitchen, it is unrealistic to be knowledgeable about all preparations and foods. That is, of course, unless you devote your life to culinary school and work in various restaurants at a variety of positions. Maybe at some point then, when you are like 80 and on your death bed, you will say that you feel completely empowered in the kitchen.

The reality is that even though I cook dinner almost every night, read about food, write about food, and try new things, I’m constantly humbled in the kitchen. Sure, I occasionally make very tasty dishes, but I also make some disasters (which I post). If dishes do come out nice, I usually mess up a step or two along the way (example). I very often make mistakes that would get me fired in any professional kitchen on the spot.

So am I really empowered? I think so. Or at least I can say that I am more knowledgeable than I was yesterday. I can generally open somebody’s pantry, take a look at ingredients and with maybe just a few additions think up something tasty. I can brew my own beer and bake my own bread. Depending on my mood, I can make something healthy. Or something not.

But there is much more that I can’t do. For a fantastic example, be sure to check back tomorrow when I post my “borderline failure tart.”

So if pressed I would have to say that more than empowerment in the kitchen, Macheesmo is about doing something small today in order to know more than you did the day before about what you eat, how you prepare it, and how it affects you

Macheesmo is learning that cooking can be fun

Another goal of this site is to show that cooking doesn’t have to be a stressful ordeal. While sometimes it can be fun and rewarding to slave away for two days over a dish, most days I don’t do that. Most nights I cook something simple and basic which takes maybe 30 minutes of my time and is incredibly rewarding.

Does every dish I make turn out perfect? No way, dude. In fact, some turn out down right horrible. But after you mess up a few dishes and realize that the world didn’t end, you stop fearing failure and you can just get in there and cook something!

This site will help you get Macheesmo

I say that not to sound cocky, because trust me, I do not know everything about cooking and have very little formal training. But I will be here, every day, talking about food, showing photos of good dishes, and bad. And while some may disagree, I think it is very important to present the bad dishes along with the good because hopefully it will give you some level of confidence by seeing me botch things.

The easiest way to feel comfortable around food is to expose yourself to it every day. That doesn’t mean that you have to physically cook something everyday. It can be as simple as taking a few minutes to check out a few recipes, read about a technique, or even stroll through a market you are unfamiliar with. All of those things will leave you better off than eating the same pre-prepared fast food day after day.

Not only will I try to provide some of that stuff here, but I also link to a ton of other websites throughout the week that you can explore. You can check out some of these other sites by using the links to the right of this paragraph!

Do you have any questions or suggestions about this site?

This site is always a work in progress and is here solely because I believe in making cooking accessible to everybody. One part of this goal is that I will try my hardest to be very responsive to answer your questions! And I would love to hear from you.

Ways to Contact Me:
– E-mail: I just got an iPhone and I’m pretty obsessed. I compulsively answer emails. Please send me some! nick @ macheesmo dot com.
– Leave a Comment: Write something on any post. Ask a follow up question if something is unclear or wrong! I read them all.
– Tweet tweet! If you have a Twitter Account, you can follow me here. If you don’t have a twitter account you should check it out. It is a super-easy way to stay in touch with people: www.twitter.com.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check back tomorrow for one last recipe before Thanksgiving!