I absolutely love food and cooking! Cooking is one of the few things that I can honestly say that I'm really good at. It's one of the few things that makes me want to dive in head first to learn everything I can. There really isn't a place I'd rather be then in a kitchen.
With that being said, I am a father and husband first, and my family is the most important thing I have and their needs trump my wants. When I graduated culinary school in 2009, I wanted to go work in a restaurant and grow my skills under the direction of quality chef, but with a wife and two children to provide for, I couldn't really afford to take the decrease in pay and increase in hours if I transitioned from a Systems Engineer to a Line Cook in a restaurant.
The only way that I could utilize my training was to start my own business, and Troy's Taste was born. Over the last 5 years I have done small to mid-size catering, taught cooking classes, and even started writing my first cookbook. I have explored many different avenues where I could continue to pursue my dream of providing for family by doing what I love, but I found that in order to really make this happen, I would need to dive in head first. My hesitation in making this move is my fear that I wouldn't be able to provide for my family while I grow the business. With our third child joining our family last Thanksgiving, I pretty much put my business goals on hold. My 9 to 5 provides very well for my family, which makes it that much harder to really walk away.
I have talked to many of my Chef friends who are caterers or Executive Chefs and they all have told me to be successful in this industry comes at the sacrifice of your family and friends. Two years ago, I offered a Living Social Promotion which sold out in 2 days. During that time I was working 40+ hours a week in IT and then another 20+ hours teach cooking classes. Thank goodness my wife was very supportive, because I really didn't spend much time with my family during that year. I got small snippet of what it would be like to be a full time caterer, working every weekend and multiple days during the week. Honestly, I didn't really like the amount of time I was away from my family.
When my third child was born, I took a hiatus from my business and focused on spending time with my family. Over the last year, I have come to the realization that there will be a time when I will be able to give 100% of myself to doing what I love, but with a young family, right now is not that time. This doesn't mean that I will stop cooking, stop learning, or will not take a catering gig from time to time, but ultimately I have to fit cooking into my life and not the other way around.
I have decided to re-focus this blog and my cooking about My Family, Our Food, Our Way!
