I'm a retired AF Veteran who has traveled and eaten all over the world. My love for cooking is only over shadowed by my love for my family. I cook for the simple joy that it brings. BBQ - Low and Slow. It brings me great pleasure when people eat my BBQ and their faces light up when they take that first bite. Mexican Food - Spicy and Savory..more than just tacos or burritos...it's all good. My mother raised 4 children on a factory workers pay. We ate a lot what is called "filler food" which is rice, beans, tortillas, etc. She could turn a fryer chicken into a complete and filling meal by just adding the "fillers". In New Mexico, late August and early September mean two things..Chilies coming off the vine and apple harvest. In the fall all you could smell were roasting chilies or baking apples. Both are comfort foods for me now and when I roast chilies or apples on the grill, that little wiff takes me back to all things chilie and mom's fresh baked cinnamon-apple pie. My first smoked Beef Brisket, it was perfect...it looked good, smelled good and melted in your mouth. No BBQ sauce was needed. My family made short work of it and there was hardly enough to make a sandwich the next day. My first attempt at BBQ chicken quarters. When I pulled them off the smoker after a couple hours, they were beautiful...a dab of sauce on them and they could have won World Championship. But when I cut into it..they were still undercooked inside. Nothing worse than biting into an undercooked piece of chicken. Thankfully, I was not at a World Championship, but at home and the microwave saved the day. I now always check the internal temp of chicken and am getting better at it.