My Obsession with Food
My wife says I am obsessed with food, it doesn't help that just about anything we do, anywhere we go, my first instinct is to think about the food involved! I have often wondered what it would be like to be a food critic but the problem is, other than a few things I don't like, I'd more than like rate everything as PERFECT. I like food that much!
That's not to say I am not critical, I definitely have my likes and dislikes and can be critical if things are not done correctly. But for the most part, I like most things I eat and if I don't, chances are will not being going back there again.
Whenever I plan a trip, generally I think about the restaurants I can visit while there (usually something I cannot have else where). Believe me when I say, I really do have a different place everywhere I go that I must have! For a time, I studied culinary arts and really got to know food well. I know what works well together, I know what quality means, I know how to make most things I can find in most restaurants. But there are some places that I really enjoy to visit (maybe it is my knowledge of food which brings me back).
When I visit the San Francisco Bay Area, I must go to The Rose Garden in Union City (The best Chinese food I've ever had!) If I visit the LA area then it is for sure Red's BBQ (if you go on monday nights you get all you can eat beef ribs) I crave Red's BBQ year round and have even come up with a system to get their BBQ sauce (which they wont ship to you.) Before I moved to San Diego I would ship my sister (who lives in LA) a box full of empty bottles, I'd buy a bunch of Red's BBQ Sauce, bottle it and then ship it back to me. Talk about Obsessed.
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- Homemade Brocolli and Chicken Fettucini Alfredo
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- Thanksgiving Dinner
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- Cinnamon Rolls fresh out of the oven
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- All ready to eat!
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- Orange Chicken W/Snow Peas
And for all I may talk about how much I hate Utah, that place does have one redeeming quality: Chanon Thai. Best Thai food. Never met anyone who was disappointed by it. Perfect blend of flavors and spice and you can spice it just the way you like it. When I lived there I went quite often with a group from work and we've gotten cozy with the owners.
Food has always not only been a sense of comfort but also something that brings me pure happiness. I know many who eat to live, but I truly live to eat. Now I know this sounds really really bad!! And some of you are probably saying, "no wonder he is so fat". Well I am sure that is part of it. Although I know plenty who eat as much as I (if not more) and yet weigh a good 100+ lbs less. So while my obsession with food undoubtedly contributes to my poor health it is not the underlying cause.
For me I don't see much point in living life if I am not going to live it. And part of living life is eating good food. It is an experience of which I will never grow tired. The feeling of putting the perfect flavors into my mouth, savoring them on my tongue and then the happiness I feel as I fill my belly with the goodness.
Our family traditions are largely centered around food as well. My wife often thinks there is something wrong with me. Every tradition we participate in includes food in one way or another. Birthday cakes, Watermelon, BBQ Ribs, Turkey, Christmas Ham, Cinnamon Rolls. This must just be the way I was raised but I am not complaining as I really quite enjoy this part of the traditions. Now when I think about Christmas I think about Cinnamon Rolls. Similarly, when I watch movies (that I have seen in the past) often times I can remember better the foods they will eat than I can various parts of the plot.
So is it really that bad?? The benefit my wife gets is she never has to go out to a restaurant to get a great meal. My cooking experience through culinary school has allowed me to learn how to prepare just about anything. She enjoys that quite a bit. And even she, who was raised to eat to live, has now started to see the joy in living to Eat!
Gift Cards or Cash as Gifts??
This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me well, but I am really not a big fan of gifts that involve giving me money or Gift Cards. No offense to anyone who has and believe me your gifts have been appreciated. I just don't really understand that type of a gift. So if you are the type that likes to give (or receive) this type of gift, please enlighten me as to the virtue. But first I want to give my case against it.
Now I can understand a specialty gift certificate or something specific. For example last year for Father's Day we gave my father a gift card to Best Buy specifically to buy his iPhone. We didn't buy the iPhone because that would require his presence (because of the shear nature of buying a cell phone) and we were unable to take him to the store to buy it. But we wanted to get him an iPhone, so we gave him a gift card and said 'here, this is for your iPhone'. Maybe I am being a bit hypocritical and justifying doing exactly what I am complain about... I too have plenty of times given gift cards or gift certificates. Like when my wife wants an nice massage or other such thing, I will often get her a gift card for that. But I really feel that in general this idea of just getting a gift card or giving cash isn't the same thing.
This is not to offend anyone who has ever done that or to say that your gift is not appreciated. But often times in my wife's family (particularly from her parents) it seems to me that gift giving is a time to as what someone wants, give them exactly that and if you cannot then give them cash and forget about it. To me, thats not what gift giving is. When I give a gift, it is something I have put a lot of thought and energy into. It is not something I picked out because you implicitly told me to but rather something that I had the opportunity to put my heart into.
So here is my real issue: Nothing says I dont know you very well like cash. Anyone who knows me should know that I am easy to shop for. I am very easy to please and even just a hand drawn picture from my niece or nephew would be wonderful!
Anyway, that's my rant. May not be a very well thought out statement. But this has always been on my mind. I hope I dont offend anyone but just wanted to speak my peace 
It’s the end Mr. Monk!
As some of you may know (if you know who Mr. Monk is and are a regular viewer) Monk, the television series that is on the USA Network had its series finale a few nights ago, after 7 years.
Monk for me has always been a show I can closely relate to, perhaps the main character (Adrian Monk) the most as he has a lot of oddities that (while mine may be different) remind me of myself. That's not to say I am anywhere near as brilliant as he, but maybe as messed up as he.
It was a very sad night to see the final episode of Monk and realize that I will no longer get to watch these episodes as a regular part of my Friday nights with my wife. It was good to get some closure on the series and come to an understanding of events which created the series. It will be forever a series that I miss.
So here is a tribute from the final episode (SPOILER ALERT!):
This series and the character Adrian Monk have always been a sense of hope. Hope that despite the fact I feel so different, so out of place, so odd compared to everyone else, that I can still make something of myself. Hope that when everything seems to go wrong I too can make it go right. I have watched for years as Monk has struggled through one issue after another all the while chasing down an impossible goal of finding his wife's killer. I think about the sad loss he faced and realize in my heart that I could never survive losing my wife the way Monk lost his. Yet he continued on some how. Although not a real person, he has been an inspiration to me and I am sad to see you go Mr. Monk!
Our First Post
Welcome to Paul and Melina's Video Blog.
This is our second attempt at a blog and although our first attempt wasn't a failure, we never took the time to keep it up and running like we should have. Although both of us consistently use Facebook and/or Twitter amongst other Social Networking platforms, for some reason we've had a real struggle keeping up with our blog.
I (Paul) work in a field that provides online video hosting for websites such as blogs and yet for some reason I have yet to incorporate this into my regular habbits. If I blogged as much as I tweet then I would be able to keep this thing going pretty well. While I cannot guarantee these blog posts will always be inspiring or exactly what you are looking for, I have a lot to say and a lot to write. I have many thoughts and ideas bouncing around in my head that I'd like to get out and share with the world. And if I can get Melina to participate then you'll hear from her as well.
In the coming days I will be adding more information about us (Paul and Melina) as well as plenty of pictures and videos as we live our lives and reach out to include you as part of it!
So, this is our next attempt at getting this going again and I personally will be working hard to keep up on it. I have created the domain name Viddle.Me (do you Viddle??) which is a play on words based on Video Blogging.. I know perhaps a bit cheesy, but it works! I'll be incorporating videos (using Sorenson 360) into the blog. Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts and ideas with us. Please be nice and constructive.
Thanks,
The Yorke Family
