I don’t know many people who don’t like great food, yet there are a few exceptions. I once had a colleague who viewed the consumption of food as a necessary evil he had to engage in two or three times a day to keep enough fuel in his body so he could think and work. As for the rest of us, we seem to enjoy our favorite foods in earnest.

I’ve recently written about a couple of writing projects on food and restaurants I hope to embark on in the coming months, but tonight I’m going to take another step toward understanding how food is prepared by professional cooks in a professional kitchen. Yes, tonight at 5:30 I’m starting the three-day, “Culinary Basics” cooking course at the Viking Cooking School in Franklin, Tennessee.

Both my Mom and Dad were great southern cooks in their own right. Daddy could grill steaks as good or better than any steakhouse in the country and unfortunately, no one has been able to replicate his barbeque chicken even though we have the recipe. I still need to master Mama’s garlic and cheese grits and Mexican cornbread recipes.

So, with knives ready and sharpened (basic knife skills are first on the evenings agenda) I’ll eagerly forge ahead advancing my new passion. I’ll be tweeting and writing about my experiences and you can keep up with me @authorstanley on Twitter or check back in on my website to read about the class.

Top goal for this evening; come home with all ten digits on both hands (minor cuts notwithstanding).