What, no food yet?

Here I am, three virginal entries in the can already, and I have yet to touch on one of my favorite subjects: food. Waiting is no longer an option.

I love to cook. There; I said it. Some cook for adventure, or a sense of culture, or even for a job. I do it simply because I love to eat. (I suspect that if I did it for a living, it would cease being as enjoyable.)

As a cash-strapped college student, I learned that it was much cheaper to cook foods at home that I couldn't afford to enjoy in restaurants. So I taught myself. I have a great photo somewhere -- I wish I could find it! -- that shows me with one of my ball-capped college roommates, sitting in the living room of our party-manse on a yellow-striped velour couch with too many burn holes and mystery stains -- in front of two dilapidated TV trays bearing filet mignon, lobster tails, and a bottle of 1974 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. My credibility is shot for that conversation I will inevitably have with my son, somewhere around 2021, telling him that he doesn't know how rough dad had it in college.

At any rate, I still enjoy cooking. Upscale bistro fare, low-country Southern cookin', and anywhere in between, I love to cook and I love to eat. The picture above was tonight's throw-down: Sauteed medallions of pork tenderloin with a slightly sweet pan sauce made from tawny Port, dried Rainier cherries and rosemary; wilted spinach with an earthy combination of cannellini beans, pancetta, and garlic; and a walnut brown rice pilaf. I love meals like this. Simple, elegant, and it came together in about an hour. The pilaf was so-so but the spinach was flat-out unbelievable; it could be a meal in itself. Mmmm.