No. 50: A Great Taco and a Milestone

This is Column Number 50.

When I started this column I wasn't sure if I would be able to sustain it or where it would take me. I love telling stories through a mix of graphics and writing. It's been my profession for fifteen years, and I had always used my skills at media organizations to tell news stories. I also love to cook. The column is the combination of the two.

Instead of covering news events and what was happening in the world, I made the decision to cover what was happening in my kitchen. I was sick of the news business. It was time to try something new. I decided to do something radical with my career.

I wanted to create an original dish each week and feature it in a visual food column.

I believed then, as I do now, that there is nothing out there like this. I left my job, cut all my expenses and relocated to my hometown of Churubusco, Indiana.

I started with the hope that I could do it. I had no idea if I could. It was a leap of faith. If I failed, I was going to grad school. That was the plan.

I offered some samples to Dave Crabil, the editor of the Churubusco News. He could have it for free, if he would just run it. He agreed. It would be called "Busco Bites." I did five columns before it launched and then it took another few weeks for it to really sink in. The response from people who read it each week was amazing and more important, the amount of enjoyment that I got out of creating it was incredible. I was (and still am) having the time of my life with it.

It was then that I started telling people my goal is 50 columns and a cookbook.

One recipe a week for one year, that should be enough for a book. That is what I have been telling people. And that has been my mission for the last year. Writing a cookbook.

Well, this is No. 50. (And not the last) I have done enough of these to create a 100-page book. (Each column is redesigned to cover a full two-page spread.)

A sample from the book.

I left a lucrative career that has allowed me to work for some of the most prestigious news organizations in the world. It has taken me to the Olympics in Australia, the shootings at Columbine High School, the rubble at Ground Zero and a front row seat to the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression.

This is where my career is now. And I am more proud of this than anything I have ever done professionally.

This one is special to me. Number 50. I now have a book.

A new adventure awaits: Getting it published.

HOW DO YOU DO THAT?!?!?!

Stay tuned.

Eat well, cook often ...