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Retirement’s Been Rather Busy
A couple weeks ago, in my lifestories website, I said that after two weeks into retirement I was enjoying the new life. But I never detailed exactly what I was doing.
One of the best things about my chosen activities, is they all seem to blend together at some level. I have been involved with PCs and related technology from the mid-1970s. And 20 years ago, I started learning about and creating websites. But for a much longer period of time, I have been cooking – so I think that you can see where this is going…
SteveDoesFood.com is a site that I created about 5 years ago under the name “Sturdy Chef”, but recently I decided that I didn’t like that name, so I moved it all over to the new domain.

I originally just wanted to have a place to collect and display all of my family’s old recipes, but it soon took on new purposes, and I have been adding recipes that Colleen and I have created (or modified to our liking).
As I mentioned, I’ve been cooking since childhood. I remember watching my dad cooking fried eggs and bacon, and the desire to be like him must have started me going. When I was growing up, food was equated with fun, and we frequently got on the city bus and rode downtown to gramma’s where we always had some kind of feast. I learned about pies, biscuits, gravy and lots of other comfort food from the best. Then when I was 14, I got a summer job at the Colorado Lagoon concession stand and I spent the next 5 summers cooking and serving Hamburgers and Hot Dogs – it was elegant cuisine!

I am definitely not a food or cooking expert, but by nature I am very curious, and learning and discovering the way it all works is important to me. I was surprised later in life to discover that many people were not cooks in the sense that although they could open a box or package and follow the instructions, they wouldn’t be able to go outside those boundaries. I’m not like that at all – I’m all for starting from scratch and seeing what happens. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes not. But I think that throughout the years, you get a feeling for what works and what doesn’t.
SteveDoesFood.com is a hobby that combines the 4 things that I enjoy the most; family, cooking, technology and writing. By linking these posts to Facebook, I’m hoping to make a connection and give us all a few more things to talk about and give us a break from all the other crap that is going on.
Thanks for indulging me!


Old Fashioned Holiday Almond Ring
This recipe has been in my family for many generations and is always a Christmas and Easter treat. It is our tradition to spread on a little Liversausage or Braunsweiger, but we can’t seem to get any outsiders to think that is a good idea. But really, the combination of sweet and salt works really well here. Give it a try!

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