Tonight was my last turn cooking here at Cole Street house before I move back to LA to spend time with my family before chaperoning A WYD trip and reporting for Novitiate in early August.

I really got a kick with how much you guys enjoyed the recipes I cooked up over the year.  The reason is that I’ve never really cooked before.  Sure I’d make hamburger helpers, basic pastas, things like that.  But when I cook for myself basically all I want to do is get it over with and eat as quickly as possible.  Plus cooking properly is pricey and I never had much cash.

This was the first opportunity I had to cook for others (Fr. Tom & Br. Bobby and occasional guests) and have a budget to do it with.  Cooking for others gave me a goal to do my best.  Suddenly I had no issues spending an hour or two prepping a meal.  I got to try new things, pretty much every recipe was something I had never cooked before.  Many of them were my Mom’s recipes that gave me a taste of home despite being away.  One of the main things I’m going to take out of Cole Street house, looking back years from now, is that I’ll be able to say that this house is where I learned how to cook.

The encouragement of my many followers always motivated me to push the envelope and always do my best.  This helped to make cooking fun for me!  Thank you all :)

I may cook while I’m in LA this summer, and I’ll be sure to share those recipes.  But I thought that tonight was a neat milestone to commemorate.  You all are awesome!  God bless you!