I got into cooking, I had a degree in geology and I was doing outdoor related consulting stuff and that’s how I got up to Vermont. I was looking for work up here in a similar field – engineering, geology, electrical engineering type-stuff and I got laid off and then came up here, just to see what was up. I ended up working part-time in recreation, that kinda work, like I just said, and part-time cooking and cooking won out. So, but I do spend a lot of time outdoors. Skiing this past winter, did a lot of cross-country skiing. Probably skied in every month in the last 6 months. November, December, January, February, March and April and so on.

So, this is the place for you then?

Yeah, I mean this part of New England, it’s been pretty fun this year.

How did you get into cooking?

I was working. Many years ago, I was working at, actually skiing and working up at Trapp Family lodge and they have…sort of like a snack bar cabin up in the woods and I started serving some food up there and I sorta got into it up there. And then I, a few years later went over to work at Sugarbush in the winters. So, then I really wanted to learn, if I was going to do this, learn to do it right. So, I got an associate’s degree in food service and dining and then I went to various assorted places and places and ended up doing academic stuff. So, I’ve been doing, since probably about 2000 almost, working in various schools in the area and just this part of Vermont anyway. I was up at St. Michael’s College for a number of years and came back down here. So, I got into it, yeah, I got into it. Later in life, so I’ve been cooking for about 20 years and started when I was in my mid 30s and just sort of picked it up and this is what I can do I think. And it’s worked out pretty well.

Do you have a favorite dish or meal that you like to cook?

Well, I make good risotto. But I haven’t done that here in a while…The latest one I made up was a toasted almond and apple risotto. Not that we do it here, but, it’s difficult to do it in big quantities. Is it like a dessert? Not really, it’s sort of tart because I use tarter apples and crispy apples – stuff I had one day at home. It’s pretty nice, pretty nice flavor, kinda cheesy, nutty, apply…all in one. So that, you know, keeps me busy here.