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Like many guys out there I pride myself on my grill work and BBQ skills. Like most Americans, many of my best childhood memories involve a grill, briquettes, and some sort of meat (usually nothing like you see on the Food Network – mostly hamburgers, hot dogs, and the occasional cheap steak.) As I got older, I started taking on more and more of the Grill Master role – first it was taking control at the Boy Scout campfire, then wrestling the tongs from my old man in the backyard, then finally buying my own first grill (which for me was a used Weber bought at a garage sale.)

My love of cooking (and eating) can be laid right at the feet of my parents. My dad grew up on the banks of the Snake River on the border between Washington and Idaho – he had a childhood filled with camping, hunting, fishing, and all of the other outdoor activities inherent in living in the great northwest. Part of spending all that time outside was cooking over a zillion fires – fires he built, cooking meat he caught, killed, or trapped.

He left the great Northwest to join the U.S. Air Force – where he learned the joys of sleeping on white sheets, eating fresh food, and grilling over controlled fires. He passed as much of that legacy on to me as I was willing to listen to. He spent hours showing me how to stack it, damp it, slow cook over it, grill over it, even bury food deep into the coals for a long slow heat … all without burning too many of my fingers.

Mom, on the other hand, spent her entire life working in restaurants. She waitressed, managed, and even owned every type of eatery you could imagine. From greasy spoon diners (ah, Chickland in Oak Creek – the absolute best buttermilk pancakes in America!) to 4 star gourmet supper clubs (I remember her struggling to learn how to debone a trout at the table while her customers watched.) My folks owned a little restaurant after my old man got out of the service – and my mom was in charge of quality control. I can remember going with her to the slaughterhouse and watching her pick a steer, and walk it through the entire processing – the guys used to scatter when ever our old Plymouth Fury pulled into the lot – no one wanted to deal with her and her exacting standards.

I started working in that restaurant when I was nine – washing dishes, waiting tables, running the cashier, and, of course, learning how to cook. I worked in the “biz” off and on ‘till I was in my late 20’s. I’ve since move on to the computer industry, but I’ve never lost my first love – cooking. 

Now I'm a computer geek - specifically a Senior Technical Instructor for VMware, Inc. I spend my days talking about the wonders of server virtualization, and the great VMware products that can make a geeks life so much easier ... and my spare time talking about grilling and BBQ. Hopefully you're here for the BBQ - if you want stuff about the hottest technology in town (VMware and server virtualization) I’ll soon have another site up where we can get out geek on (watch here for more info.)