Background

I have always been obsessed with food.  It was much more evident before I started running - my wicked sweet (or savory, depending on what I was eating...) tooth had given me what some referred to as a "nice layer of insulation."  Basically, I was on the chunky side.  But then one day my my sophomore year of high school, I decided to go for a run.   The rest, as they say, is history.  With family members including former alcoholics, mental patients, and gamblers, it seemed to be my destiny that I would get addicted to SOMETHING.  I just got lucky that it happened to be running.  
Even after logging thousands of miles on the streets of my hometown (and the surrounding towns), completely changing my body and life in the process, I have always maintained that ravenous sweet tooth that has existed since as long as I can remember.  In fact, running has only seemed to make it worse!  Athletes are known for their appetite, but pound for pound, I honestly believe that a runner is the hungriest creature on Earth.  My college team is known throughout campus for "taking over" the cafeteria for hours, doing nothing but endlessly eating; vainly attempting to quell our bottomless hunger.
Meals are undoubtedly my favorite part of the day; I look forward to going to "the caf" after practice hours before practice even begins!  When you are in a constant state of hunger, food is always on your mind.  So when I discovered that there is an entire CHANNEL dedicated to food (the foodnetwork), it instantly became a personal favorite.  Oddly enough, I had no clue how to cook when I started to watch this wonderful network.  But after watching Paula Deen, Ina Garten, Bobby Flay, and company for 2 hours a day,  the knowledge of how to cook somehow seeped into my brain.  So when, this past summer, I one day gathered the courage to fire up the grill and cook dinner, it came naturally to me.  The following month before I went back to college had me experimenting with new and exciting dishes every night - by the end of August I had become fairly comfortable with making food.  But now, as I write this at college, I cook and bake mostly for fun, not out of necessity (I am on a meal plan, after all...)  And I am no pro by any means - this blog is more of a personal "cooking journal" than anything else.  So as I experiment, I will record my successes and inevitable failures here.  And I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!