An introduction; Or, why blog at all?

I've always thought that blogs were rather self-indulgent things to have. They always seemed to be a platform for the worst kind of narcissistic ramblings that my generation (and others) are capable of. However, as I got out of graduate school and leapt into this dazzling economy, I found myself at first unemployed, then underemployed. I live with my girlfriend who thankfully has a full-time job, so I'm often alone with the cat during the day. Thus, I started baking. I thought it'd be a good skill have. I've always been a cook, but not a baker. I thought I'd actually go culinary school for a little while when I was younger. Baking was never my strong point- but I was determined to change that. So, I just started reading recipes online, and went for it. I found out quickly that I could make non-rising sweetbreads just fine, but the typical bread eluded me. So I just kept baking until I found recipes and techniques that worked. Now, I try to cook every night and bake at least once a week. I talked to lot of friends about cooking and baking. We trade recipes, cookbooks, techniques and try to go out and try new restaurants. We're all foodies, to one degree or another. Hence the “Epicure” in the title.

As stated above, I'm underemployed. I work two jobs- one as a freelance consultant for museums (not as glamorous as it sounds), the other as a cashier at a drugstore (even less glamorous than it sounds). I started thinking as I sat around between my two jobs, neither of which have lots of hours at this point. Why not try and share my attempts at better baking and cooking with the wider world? I figured other people out there might be baking and cooking on a budget not dissimilar from mine- one that leaves me “Underfunded” as my title suggests.

I intended to use this blog as a way to share progress in baking and cooking, share recipes and maybe even post reviews of restaurants here in the Brandywine valley region if people desire. I hope anyone who reads this will be interested in sharing hints and recipes that they might have run across in their efforts at better eating.

Heck, if this goes well, I might even start another blog, one for my other passion: Historical reenacting and material culture.

As Always- The Underfunded Epicure