About Me

I am a native Texan who in 2010, escaped from the Houston area to Kerrville in the Texas Hill Country with my wife, Donna to build the retirement home of our dreams. It’s called Monte San Quirico, named after a beautiful, serene area near Lucca in Tuscany. It is a very rustic villa on a hilltop overlooking a peaceful valley. The exterior and some of the interior is built with scavenged random local rock masonry poked with wine bottles grouted in interesting places and salvaged wood. It has modern, energy efficient features with a full Viking kitchen and an 1100 bottle climate-controlled wine room.

In 2012, we sold our industrial equipment company I and my brother founded in 1971. Since I really enjoy working with people, I agreed to work for the new owners as a traveling peddler until I decide to retire. One big benefit is working a few days every other week in the Texas Coastal Bend area that gives me the opportunity to enjoy and buy fresh seafood to bring home. We also owned a similar company in northern California in the 1990’s where I spent more time than I probably should have exploring the wine valleys, discovering some great food, wine and new friendships.

My interest in cooking began when I was a teenager when my mother went to work. Not liking the store bought, frozen, and aluminum foil wrapped heat and eat prepared meals, I took a real interest in cooking. I was tutored by my German aunt and grandmother since there was no Cooking Channel back then. My wife and I married in 1969 and I have been the only cook in our kitchen. She cleans up after me very well. As a bit of a joke, for Christmas one year, our insurance agent gave me an eight-week evening cooking school taught by famous restaurateur, Tony Vallone. Food and drink would never be the same for me again. Tony taught me the simple ways to make fresh gourmet food and gave me a newfound appreciation of wine instead of beer. I also participated in cooking classes by chef Mary Nell Reck and other  professional chefs and food educators. 

I participated in the first Flavors of the Napa Valley, Food Enthusiast course at the Culinary Institute of America in the Napa Valley. I have also enjoyed classes, learning new skills recently, at the new CIA location in the Pearl Market in San Antonio. I have also completed the first three weeks of classes working towards a certification as a CIA Certified Wine Professional. 

I was the Flavors Editor for Lifestyle Magazine for travel and the great gourmet finds of the Texas Hill Country. Believing and being told by friends that the very best food in the hill country is prepared and served from my own kitchen, we don’t eat out often. I wrote about the hard to find or unknown, hill country places for food and drink and for items to enhance the readers’ meals at home. We tour the cheese makers, artisan bakers, the wineries, butcher shops, specialty markets, delis, farmer’s markets scattered about Texas and a few more of my favorites across the USA. We also visit notable chef owned and operated restaurants that offer something worth making it a destination.