Hi, I’m Larry. Welcome to my kitchen.
For many years, #larryskitchen has lived on social media, creating delight and drool with every food and meal picture attached to it.
It is easy to say I’ve been cooking my whole life since I was just a youngster. It is probably more accurate to say the cooking gene has been in my family for more than a century and still lives strong in me.
Cooking has always been fun for me. As a boy, I would spend time with my mom, learning the nuances of what I would call farm cooking – hearty, feel good dishes that she learned to cook from her grandmother and passed down to me, along with a cast iron skillet (more about that later).
As I grew older, my tastes began to evolve as did my culinary pursuits. But I never stopped wanting to make good food that people would enjoy and that I would love to cook.
I’ve been inspired by many people and encouraged by even more. I found a kindred spirit in Alton Brown, who, like myself, loved to experiment in the kitchen and take something and make it, hopefully, even better.
Throughout the years, I dabbled, tweaked, and experimented with recipes and food combinations. Not to try to perfect a dish. But to see how it could be made better.
In sharing my culinary creations on social media, friends wanted to know how I put together my dishes. A restaurant was out of the question. A cookbook never seemed to come together. But why not create a place where anyone could find what was in my mind.
#LarrysKitchen was born as a place to talk and create good food. The recipes you will find here are comfort food, homestyle dishes, and some exotic treats. All have been tested in my kitchen and probably someone else’s kitchen.
They are NOT the definitive recipe for that dish. Most of the recipes will have a Variant section, an opportunity for you to make the dish your own.
Beyond the recipes, I will share techniques, kitchen discoveries, and videos on how I put things together. Hopefully, you will find some things you like, and create and share with others.
Above all, feel free to let me know what you think, ideas you have, questions that are lingering. Food is about bringing people together. Let’s get cooking.
Enjoy!
THANK YOU!!
There are so many people over the years who have encouraged, helped, tested, tasted, commented, liked, and prompted me to get me to this point. I could not have done it without each and every one of these wonderful and creative people.
First and foremost, my wife, Kim, who gets to try all the new recipes and make immediate recommendations. She has the patience of a saint and the taste buds of an angel. She will absolutely try anything I put in front of her.
My inspirations: my parents and Alton Brown. Each has influenced me dramatically in my cooking, my ability to try, and my creativity.
My recipe testers: J. Scott Wilson, Joe Stevens, Lisa Morrison, Audrey Epple, Amanda Norwig, Marti Baer, Caroline Treiber, Cindy Dietz, Ellen Baker, Topher Kohan. It is easy to cook for myself. It is harder to make it available for others to cook. These people made it a joy.
My support crew: Scott Pytlik for nudging me to finally make #larryskitchen a reality; Jen Bosier for making me laugh at really bad recipes and coining the #notquitelarryskitchen tag.
My best friend: Joe, who has seen me at my best and worst and still pushes me forward to be greater than I was the day before.
And you for visiting and being interested in what is in my culinary mind. I hope you find a recipe or two you like and share with others. Because food is my idea of bringing people together — even while you are cooking it.