Pain is good....Extreme Pain's Extremely Good!

Yep, Pain can be a good thing sometimes. I should know, because it seems like I'm getting a lot of a good thing lately! My ankle was swollen to the size of my head, and we ALL KNOW that's big. It's from old taekwondo injuries. I know....MOST men say "old football injuries", but my was taekwondo and the fact that for many years, I was also a running FREAK. I practiced tkd from a hospital bed when I was a kid. I had just had an operation and my older brother and my tkd instructor sneaked into the hospital to see me. There I was, with my leg going up and down in the middle of the night, not realizing that I could have ripped out my stitches. Then there's the running part: when I was a personal trainer, I ran in the sun, fog, snow, rain, earthquakes, 9/11 (THAT was scary!)...you name it. I had stress fractures, twisted ankles and knees, blisters. I didn't care, I had to be in shape. Well, as your Favorite Cook's Station Chef, I can be an idiot when I'm passionate about something. "NO", you say, "NOT YOU"!! Oh yeah, babe....me. I do the same when I'm cooking. When I have a passion for a new recipe or technique, I'll stop at NOTHING to perfect it. So there ya go....portrait of a Freaky Chef Dude! I'm no longer training, and there's a LITTLE MORE OF ME than used to be, but I'm gonna work on getting healthier and staying there as I have for most of my life. Do I ever want to be the weight I was 10 years ago? No, not at all. I just want to be healthy so I'll be here for my sweet little wife and my awesome family and friends. That's all. So after the holidays, beginning in January, I'm going to do a series on healthy eating, but make it taste like EVIL EATING!! That's the ticket. Be watching for that. In the meantime, Gear up for our remaining cooking classes of the fall. Julie is going to be doing a cookie swap soon, and she has some tremendous recipes to share with all of us. I'm teaching a Thanksgiving class that will be off the hook and I want YOU to join me. If you don't have your reservation for the Ultimate Christmas Cool Dinner, you'd better do that VERY SOON!! It's going fast. Some of you have asked me about this thing I have going with the Food Channel....can't talk about that very much at this time, but I can tell you it's good news! I'll share with you later. That's about all I have to say, except thanks to our Rooster Queen Lisbeth for taking care of our son, Turner the Sub King, at the race in Charlotte this weekend. We love you!!!! Also, to my friend Vance: Son, a restaurant is a place to EAT, NOT read the flippin' comics! Put the paper DOWN and Walk away from it, boy!! Peace out everyone! Chef Mark "Chunkman" Pollard: Father, Friend, Funny Guy and Husband of my AWESOME GORGEOUS PRINCESS!!!!