Return to your roots... and leafy greens, and cheeses, and breads...

One of my major hobbies is cooking. Like serious style gourmet cooking. My mother was always a fantastic cook and I just took after her and being a vegetarian necessitated that I learn how. And now, my mother and I spend a good deal of our conversations exchanging menus and cooking tips. What really got me into gourmet cooking was when I first read Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating. It opened my eyes to a world of excellent food. I was hooked. I watch food network obssessively. Alton Brown, especially, has changed the way I cook forever. I have two of his books and his Kitchen User's Manual. I have a bookshelf dedicated to cookbooks. I scour the news for mentions of one of my favorite chefs, Wolfgang Puck. My fridge is always full of Greek and Italian ingredients. I've cooked meals for 50+ people by myself. I find Iron Chef more exhilerating than any sport.
And so help me, if you're a guy that cooks well, I'm all over you.
I take so much joy in cooking and it's helped me to develop a better appreciation for food and a better relationship to it.
Not to mention I developed a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that make men weak in the knees.

Which is why I'm so sad when fewer and fewer people really know how to cook.
Families are eating together less, parents have less time to cook with careers, kids are in the kitchen less, basic skills just aren't being passed down.
And I think it's a shame.
There are few things more rewarding than really preparing a delicious, flavorful meal for you and a loved one. For those who cook, you know what I mean. For those who don't, try it. Grab a 'foodie' friend and ask for a lesson. Learn something. Make something. Experience a joy you simply cannot get out of a can.

"The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star."
- Brillat-Savarin