Hi, I'm Pete and I love to cook, I love to eat, I love to travel and I love to write about all three. One of my favourite things is to cook for family and friends, it can be a very rewarding experience and one of the things I want this site to do is to help people find enjoyment in cooking and not be intimidated by it, especially young people, many of whom had parents that both went to work and didn't have time to teach their kids about the joys of a good Sunday roast or Tuesday night tacos.
I believe it was benjamin franklin who said 'we eat to live, not live to eat'. sorry ben, but i beg to differ. Cooking is an art form like any other, we need art to live, we need to read books, look at paintings, watch movies, tv, operas, scooby doo, whatever. if we just ate to live we'd be eating nothing but soylent green and the world would be an awful place.
the recipes i've put on this site are not be followed meticulously, they are guides rather than rules. You may not have all the ingredients or you might not like all the ingredients, thats absolutely fine, use whatever you like, it's all about experimenting and playing around until you find something that suits your taste. I don't think i've ever cooked a dish the same way twice, it's not like we're cooking in a restaurant, thats different, this is not cooking for a living, it's cooking for fun. I'm a cook, not a chef. If you like one of my recipes but think it would work better with carrots instead of tomatoes then fair play, have a go, and if it works really well then go to the contact page and let me know, or not, as you wish.
I have travelled a fair bit, mostly for work, and i've eaten in quite a few restaurants and stayed in a lot of hotels many of which I have reviewed on Trip Advisor.com where I've had over 100,000 readers. I've included these on the Reviews page. I found that while travelling around, especially on your own, a site like tripadvisor is a godsend. I can't tell you how many times i've found myself in a strange city wondering where to go for dinner or where to stay. once i realised that reading a bunch of reviews about some local tapas bar or hotel could change everything I started doing it myself. It's a great way to find new places and it's fun to write reviews about places that you like, or don't like!
The travel page is a kind of blog about some of places I've visited and what to do if and when you get there. I think travel is one of the most important things we can do. I've always encouraged my kids to travel as much as possible, it's the best thing ever and if more people owned passports and actually used them they may find that their world expanding and silly things like racism and bigotry decreasing, It's not a complicated thing. I think most racists probably haven't travelled much, maybe they should give it a try.
Email: pbinla@mac.com
Planes, Trains & Sunday Roast
These recipes are some of my personal favourites that I've come across since I first began cooking with my Father when I was a young lad. Some I've made up myself but most are just my take on some classics. None of them are for the faint-hearted as I am a firm believer in the benefits of animal fat. If you are vegetarian or vegan don't worry, there's a section especially for you coming soon, otherwise please enjoy.
I've done a bit of travelling over the years and i love to try out different restaurants sampling the local flavour. I started using trip advisor to help me find local spots and began reviewing on their site a few years ago. I've had over 100,000 readers so far and hopefully that number will continue to grow. i hope you enjoy them and find them useful.
on and off the beaten path, places I've been that I found interesting, fun, beautiful, ugly, cheap, expensive and worth a mention on my very own blog.
I don't know how many hotels I've stayed in over the years but its quite a long list. Most of them I don't even remember but the one's that i've reviewed here left a lasting impression, for one reason or another
Planes, Trains and Sunday Roasts
Email: pbinla@.com
feel free to get in touch with any comments
