Opinel knives are the shit! I use them exclusively for fletching.

I would move the family to my true home back in the NJ Pine Barrens. We would have a a small log cabin on a remote dirt road and I would work as a forest ranger in Belleplain State Forest. We would have enough land to grow some of our food and few unwelcome intrusions into our life.

During the day, I’d be the steward of an amazing place that holds the vast majority of my few good childhood memories and at night, relax in the light and warmth of a campfire, then sleep with only the sounds of crickets and the odd whippoorwill. I would hike, explore abandoned towns, fish, shoot my bow, make my arrows and maybe even a bow one day, canoe, and camp.

When I think about this, usually it’s not such a clear plan. It comes to me a flashes of feelings, images, sounds and scents. Contentment, the smell of a bed of pine needles after a rain, the white sand tainted grey with the remnants of old forest fires, the snap of picking a fresh blueberry or the taste of a teaberry leaf.

I guess my best life is one out of the main world and inside my own, smaller one.

They do now!

I started with one recipe: split pea soup. I got this recipe from a coworker, followed the instructions exactly and started with a success. This made me want to try other things, and I got turned onto Good Eats with Alton Brown, easily the most entertaining and informative cooking show.

Then I just started collecting and trying recipes. I eventually got enough experience to try modifying recipes and toying around with ideas.

Especially at the start, recipes are your friend. Try a broad array of them, follow them exactly, and get the experience. Also, use tools. Yes, people can punch a steak to see if it’s about done, but that will never beat a thermometer.

If you’re into baking, avoid recipes that don’t use weight as a measure of ingredients. Those recipes get different results every time.

These are the best tips I have for starting out. As you get experience, discard the ones that no longer apply.