Patrick

I admit to being very male—I worship my grill. Anything grilled is fantastic. Especially pork, salmon or chicken. And though Vermont winter temperatures drop well below 10 degrees at night, my grill continues to crank all winter.

To boot, I am a marinade fanatic, mainly because I don't have time to concoct my own. But if I did, it would be with simple ingredients—garlic, olive oil and fresh herbs. Which is why I love our selection of "simple" marinades versus the ones that get too complex with their flavors. I love Nancy's Vinaigrette and Vermont Hills Teryaki. These are the epitome of simple and versatile; they make your meal 100% better by using them in as many different ways as possible.

I also think in my previous life I must have been born in the Islands, though with my Irish white skin, you'd never know it. But I love all food from the Carribbean or from Mexico—even the real traditional foods from these regions don't scare me. It's the earthy spiciness, the simple ingredients, the bright flavors that attract me to these foods. It's ginger, tumeric, cardamum, cinnamon, coriander that I love. Fresh sautéed greens like collards, chards or callaloo. One of my favorite things to do in the summer time is braise locally grown organic greens with fresh garlic, ginger, salt and olive oil. Oh man!

And finally what I think I am passionate about most is the firm belief that anyone can make great food. We all just need a little coaching and access to great ingredients.

A great example of this is years ago when I took a road bicycling trip with my buddies along the US 1 of the California coast. Packing all our gear—stoves, pots, pans, tents—on our bikes, we would pull into a camp site having purchased whatever meat and vegetables available at the local general store, set up camp and cook away like mad men. It wasn't like we knew what we were doing but would end up with a fantastic meal every night just by being a little creative. Before long we got known as the Gourmet Bikers, because we'd always pull into camp with something new for dinner—much to the envy of the others who were reluctantly finishing their cans of Dinty Moore canned chili. Feeling sorry for our neighbors, we would always invite them over for wine and dessert.