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• November 2006
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Hello Everyone.

I want to welcome you to our inaugural segment of Cooking Corner with Craig M. Here is a little background on me.

I was one of those little kids that always wondered what was in kool-aid. I tried many experiments (mostly disastrous) with the ingredients at our home.

I remember one time when I was 6 years old, I and a friend of mine decided to pick some of the plums from their family’s tree and try to sell it to the people in our neighborhood.

We picked the fruit when it was very sour ( I would learn patience later in my life) and attempted to sell it.. Needless to say we didn’t have very many takers. I then came up with the idea to soak the fruit in sugar water after we poked it with forks. Now imagine a small ragamuffin holding this poked plum at your front door and giving his best sales pitch. We sold a couple but it was strictly a mercy sale, The plums were AWFUL.

For as long as I can remember making and cooking food has been a part of my life.

As a child I would spend time watching my Mother cook our family meals helping out were I could.

I had my first real job in a restaurant at age 14 at Chins Chinese restaurant as a dishwasher. I worked in and out of restaurants through high school and into my college years. After attending the University of Oregon I decided to make food my career.

I spent the next year attending the cooking school at our local community college.

That is where I heard about the Culinary Institute of America. It was, and still is considered to be the training ground for the finest Chefs in the United States and the world.

So in 1987 I packed my bags and headed off to Hyde Park New York were I would spend the next two years getting the finest training in cooking techniques. At the school it was 24 X 7 food.

We would spend 10 hours in class, finish our homework, then go to the pub were we would argue if hollandaise sauce had a reduction of shallots or not. It was a great time in my life and I had the opportunity to train under some of the finest Chefs in the world.

After I graduated in 1989 I moved to Seattle and worked for the Four Seasons Hotel.

I continued to work in the industry until 2001. That is when I decided that I wanted a change. I still wanted to be in the food industry, but I didn’t want to be in the trenches anymore

That is when Gingerich Farms and I crossed paths. I didn’t know much about blueberries at that time but I knew what good ingredients looked like. I felt that Verne Gingerich shared the same passion about blueberries and agriculture that I shared in food.

Verne has and continues to teach me a lot about the produce industry, though it seems that the longer I am in the industry the more I realize there is to learn.

In the following segments of Cooking Corner with Craig M. I will pass on techniques and recipes that I have learned that will help you with cooking. I want to show you that cooking really is easy though there are a few rules you have to pay attention to.

I look forward to answering your questions ( if I can, If not I can point you in the right direction) and helping make the most of this wide open world of food.

Happy Cooking ~ Craig M.

If you have a question or thought on what you would like to see in this column, email me and I will see what I can come up with.