Meet the Cook: Jim in Colorado

Feb
11

Post by community member:

Say hello to Jim!


Q. What are your favorite things to cook?

I really like outdoor cooking–barbecue/smoking, grilling, cooking with a campfire. Mostly breakfast and dinner food. . . well, and anything in between!

Q. How/when did you learn to cook?

I probably started learning how to cook things at home when I was 11 or 12, though I started learning to cook outdoors and over a campfire when I was as young as 6 or 7. I learned from Pappy (my grandfather) how to make (fried) pancakes. These were regular pancakes he did in a skillet, and I gave him a bad time about them being fried because (as with everything) he used bacon grease. Lots of it.

I learned from my dad and from reading westerns to cook outdoors. Then I would try to make the food on my own when I was out camping. If it was good, I ate it. If not, I left it for the critters. (And sometimes they wouldn’t even eat it!)

Q. Tell us about some of your cooking triumphs.

The first time I made perfect homemade biscuits cooked in a cast iron skillet with a lid was my first triumph. Then perfect pancakes, also made over a campfire.

Q. What was your most memorable cooking tragedy?

I had been fishing and caught 5 or 6 brook trout. They were beauties and sure to be tasty. The tragedy is, I never got to cook them. As I was coming back to camp with my fish, I heard a strange noise coming from camp. As I walked into camp, I saw my tent was moving away from the campsite on its own. Of course, I dropped my fish and ran to see why my tent was moving. All of a sudden, here came a mama bear and she was NOT happy. She proceeded to attack my tent, tearing it to shreds, releasing her two baby cubs from inside. As I was retreating and finding a place to hide, they snagged my stringer of fish and carried them off into the woods with them. A tragedy for me, not so much for them. I found the empty stringer a couple days later about 400 yards from camp, nothing but a few fish bones.

You can read the whole story on my blog.

Q. Describe your kitchen. Do you love it, hate it, and why?

My kitchen is too small. I don’t hate it, but I can’t like it either. I dream of having a huge kitchen with a built-in grill, a fireplace for hanging a dutch oven over, and a big oven and range, as well as place to hang all my cast iron. Someday. . .

Q. Is your pantry organized and are your kitchen drawers tidy? We need to know.

Depends on what you consider organized (drawers and pantry). I pretty much know where things are and what I can’t find, my wife knows where it’s at (or I don’t need it). When she needs something and can’t find it, then I usually know where it’s at. As far as being “organized” — we’re not.

Q. Do you have any favorite family cooking traditions?

There are a lot. One of my favorites is the holiday food we have year after year after year after year. . . such as green bean casserole, some type of fruit pie (preferably blueberry). My grandmother used to make a fine Sunday fried chicken dinner, but that’s something we don’t do anymore. A new tradition we have started, though, is my smoking turkey or pork or brisket (some type of meat) for the holidays for our families.

Q. What is the one gadget (or ten) you couldn’t do without in your kitchen?

I couldn’t live without a cheese grater, can opener, or sharp knives.

Q. If you had to take one food to a deserted island, what would it be?

Beans. It would have to be beans. (Shall I sing about them?)

Q. What is your go-to comfort food?

I would say homemade bread with butter and homemade grape or chokecherry jelly. That whooshes me back to Grandma’s house faster than anything. The other thing would be Dinty Moore Stew with pork-n-beans. (Which goes well with the bread and jelly.) Those are my two favorite comfort foods.




Find all of Jim’s recipes and blog posts here.


Jim blogs at Granddad’s Corner.


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Comments

  1. CindyP says:

    Hi Jim! Nice to meet you!

    Would love for you to share some of your great outdoor cooking recipes–you know the time is getting close! The grill category is now Grill & Outdoor Cooking….

  2. Pete says:

    Very nice to make your acquaintance, Jim! Keep up the good work!!

  3. Jessica Tibbetts says:

    HELLO Jim in Colorado!
    I agree with CindP, please share your outdoor cooking recipes. I was just dreaming of a smokehouse this morning. Do you think an old tobacco curing barn would make a good convert?
    Glad you are here.

  4. Tow Lady says:

    Hi Jim!!! I agree…share those recipes, lol!!! I love to smoke things, too, and am always looking for great recipes! I think I’ve smoked almost everything I can get my hands on…from cheese, to fish, to…well, any kind of meat…you name it. I have some wild hog in my freezer right now that I’m contemplating putting on the smoker. Any ideas for a good rub or marinade?

  5. Kathi N says:

    I know you have a lot of recipes you could post, and I hope you do! (I can help if you want any)

    I’m hungry for ribs made with your rib rub.

    And that smoked roast you made was to-die-for.

    Okay, now I’m hungry. Feed me!

  6. Astrid says:

    I’m very very interested in smoking and to learn how to smoke.
    So keep the info coming please.

  7. rileysmom says:

    A pleasure to meet you Jim!
    I also hope you’ll tell us more about smoking items. Hubby got a smoker and all we’ve managed is salmon so far! It’s wonderful but some variety would be nice.

  8. brookdale says:

    Hi Jim! Looking forward to more of your outdoor recipes. We stay at a campground for 2 months in the summer and do a lot of outdoor cooking & grilling.

  9. Toto's Mom says:

    Hi, Jim! You remind me of the head guard on The Wizard of Oz – “oh-we-oh”. Last fall I judged my first BBQ contest. Meat overload, but fun! Please share BBQ tips with us!

    Martha in KS

  10. Jim in Colorado says:

    Thank you all. Kathi and I were talking about getting things ready for BBQ season. would be glad to share some outdoor cooking recipes with everyone. I have never seen a tobacco curing barn before so I really couldn’t say how it would do for smoking meat.

    So, get out your BBQ aprons, and start dusting off them BBQ utensils. Start thinking about cleaning that grill. I just may start the BBQ season a month or so early!

  11. lisabetholson says:

    Hey Jim, BBQing is my favorite. If it can be cooked it belongs on a BBQ as far as I am concerned.
    Sounds like a fun time to me.

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