About
I created cooking.janicek.com because my wife asked me one evening: “Are you writing any of these recipes down?”
I recently began posting a lot of entries of the culinary variety on Janicek.com and it seemed like every other post was about what I cooked for dinner the night before. I didn’t want our personal website to become a repository of recipes and culinary endeavors that friends, family and random visitors might find boring.
I was lucky and grew up in a household where my mom was able to stay at home while my dad worked. That meant that we all sat together at dinner and had a home cooked meal. I learned to bake cakes and cookies when I was a kid. When I got older my dad showed me how to grill. I didn’t take a keen interest in cooking but the basic knowledge I attained kept me alive during my years in college.
While at college I worked as a banquet captain at the Austin Country Club. It was there that I befriended the chefs and mostly everyone in the kitchen. I helped out in the back of the house whenever I could, albeit it was usually limited to plating food and garnishing.
I was always very interested in the food that was prepared. Since it was a country club, the entrees were generally high end. I was able to try everything that guests were served. I asked a lot of questions. I observed. I became intrigued. Since I was a front of the house manager, I was able to see and hear the reactions of our customers and relay the compliments to my friends in the kitchen.
I don’t think I came home with any recipes on paper. My friend Ron (who is now ACC’s Executive Chef) would tell me how to prepare certain foods. After work I would go home and try these meals in my own kitchen. I tried making more difficult recipes from my cookbooks.
I started substituting ingredients. I constantly seek inspiration. I rarely measure. I don’t screw up as much as I used to.
I’d like to be a chef when I grow up.