take 5 with... #t5w

Take 5 With (T5W) is a weekly series I hope to implement to the blog starting this year. There's a lot of blog entries out there with interviews from famous chefs and food personnel but not a lot highlighting the great food bloggers that contribute to our niche. I also hope to find the unsung heroes of our community that people may not be aware of through this series.

The format, as of now, is pretty rough so I'll adjust it accordingly as I go along. That being said...I'll be the lab mice this week (aka you can stop reading now if you want).

I'll be contacting bloggers via e-mail next week for volunteers but please go ahead and shoot me an e-mail (tkthoufood [at] gmail [dot] com) if you want to participate or have nominations. If you have Twitter, the hashtag will be #T5W. So without further ado...

Take 5 With...Sean from take thou food

1. How did you start food blogging?

- Started mostly out of boredom my first year of pharmacy school. I wanted to keep a track of my culinary adventures and meet others (o who were passionate about food.

2. What do you enjoy most about blogging?

- Being able to meet and communicate with other people who like cooking/eating/learning about food. Cracking a smile on reader(s) faces, if that occurs, is pretty rewarding. My ultimate goal is to inspire others to cook and get in the kitchen.

3. What do you enjoy least about blogging?

- Trying to write/finish the posts. They're so much more difficult than cooking and being a perfectionist doesn't help. It's probably because I'm such a shitty writer but sometimes it takes me hours if not days to finish one post. My entry on the Athens Farmer's Market? Yeah, I stared at that one for awhile.

4. What's your favorite kitchen tool...besides your knife

- A wooden spoon

5. What's your favorite ingredient to work with? Least favorite?

- My favorite is probably onions...I actually like prepping them. Don't ask why. I like ingredients that smell nice too. I love durian but I'm not sure I could stand the stench for extended periods of time. Least favorite? Anything that requires peeling. I absolutely hate peeling stuff like potatoes, carrots and fruit - especially fruit. I love oranges man but they're such a freaking hassle to eat.

6. One ingredient you couldn't live without?

- Eggs. Was it Tony [Bourdain] who said eggs are sluts of the culinary world or something? I was trying to come up with something to cook when I was out of eggs one day (+ an empty pantry) and I think I sat in a chair for an hour drawing blanks - I was stumped.

7. Any weird kitchen habits?

- When I'm stirring stuff like soups, stews or whatever for long periods of time, I tend to stand on one leg with one foot placed on top of my other foot. I'm weird - I know.

8. Favorite curse word?

- I don't have a favorite but the F word comes out when I start getting aggitated. My British friend Hameed got me saying bollocks a lot this past summer but I haven't had much opportunity to use it last semester.

9. Death row meal?

- This constantly changes but as of now - Mom's Korean fried chicken, assortment of tempura for my veggies, finished off with a creme brulee and everything downed with a Dr. Pepper.

10. Food that evokes the greatest childhood memory.
- Fire roasted Korean sweet potatoes on the streets during winter. Nothing fancy but I still remember waiting in line for these as a kid in South Korea. It probably evokes the greatest memory because I thought cooking stuff in a barrel lit on fire was pretty cool at the time (and it still is)

11. Any particular food you hate/won't eat?
- I'll still eat it but I hate okra. Unless they're fried (and sometimes even when they are) they're tasteless, slimy and disgusting.

12. One thing you'd ban from all food blogs

- Flash photography. I'm not saying I know everything when it comes to taking photos but I'm convinced that flash photography should be banned in all restaurants and blogs alike.

13. How many years till you graduate?

- 2.5 years till my Pharm D. What I'll do after that - I'm not sure yet. I have no plans on stopping the blog however.

14. Are you gonna have any pharmacy related stuff on the blog in the future?

- Most likely, no. I've posted in the past what you shouldn't do at a retail pharmacy unless you want to get shitlisted but for the most part, I want to stay focused on just food. Not sure if malpractice covers online blogging and I'm definitely not trying to get sued anytime soon.

15. Any hobbies outside of food blogging?

- I like playing my various guitars (a JS, Les Paul, G&L SB-2) but I want to buy a nice acoustic to add to the collection. I guess I'm getting old but I can only handle so much Megadeth, Iron Maiden and Ozzy nowadays. I do enjoy my video games and getting extremely frustrated at Madden on All-Madden difficulty. It's a love hate relationship.

16. Anything you'd like to say to your readers?

- (If I have readers) I'd like to say thank you for taking precious time out of your day to read my posts and your continued support. I'll continue to work hard and improve upon myself and the blog to make take thou food even better. Have a fantastic, blessed new year!