Welcome to the Boxcar Cook. An experiment to express my passion for cooking, writing, and imbibing in spirits. I’ll be the first to admit a general lack of experience and knowledge for that first one, but an affinity for the other two.
The fruition of this blog comes from my love of the above.
At the moment, I’m currently working as a marketing writer, but I’ve also had experience in newspaper design & copy-editing, customer service, landscaping, trench digging, pipe painting, train-conducting – you name it. Feel free to check out my professional portfolio.
In my free time I like to write about my love of a good time with good food, good drinks, and good people.
The great sense of communion found in those small moments enjoying a meal. And I hope to spread some of that around.
I use cooking as means of survival. Literally and figuratively. It serves a very therapeutic purpose. Coming from a modest upbringing of a big family of eight siblings, and choosing a journalism career that will keep me well within my class, I’ve had to learn a lot on being resourceful. With food it was no different. From the creative to the bizarre and disgusting, I’ve tried to make the most of the ingredients I’ve had lying around. With more misses than hits, I’ve learned just enough about cooking to start writing about it.
Or at least I think so.
My goal I guess is to enlighten you about how easy and affordable it can be to cook for yourself. Maybe entertain you along the way.
To me there’s nothing more irritating than seeing people eating frozen meals or fast food. The bland cardboard meals, complaining about how it’s cheaper, or quicker, or just a “lol I can’t even boil water” kind of complaint. With just a little commitment and time, it can be just as cheap and even more delicious than your value meal at a McDonalds. If I can do it, you can do it better.
In a perfect world, I would love to have the opportunity to open a restaurant. I have the idea picked out and everything. But I won’t tell anyone except for the guy who signs the bank loan, cause that would just be bad business. I would however keep the restaurant closed on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. I would open it to the lower income families of the neighborhood and provide free cooking lessons to those who want them. Lessons on easy family friendly meals, affordable, quick, fresh and delicious.
My goal would be to bring food back to the people. Away from the fancy cooking shows or snobby foodie hipsters with filtered Instagram pictures.
Cooking should be for everyone, because food is universal. A simple fact of life we all can share and enjoy.
You live, you eat, you drink, you die.