New Beginnings

The story goes that a young man sat under a tree somewhere in India. He dozed off and woke up 49 days later with an idea. This man is known as Gautama Buddha. Yes, that Buddha. His idea was an awakening, a realization or more commonly known as the Enlightenment. Why you might ask am I telling you this. I may not be Buddha but like everyone else I'm capable of my own awakening. I didn't sit under a tree for a lengthy period of time to realize is it either.

You might have noticed that I had left JeremyCooks. Turns out he's a hard guy to get rid of. That's because I am JeremyCooks (this is when you hit me over the head with a frying pan). I turned my back to JeremyCooks because I didn't want to be remembered as "the boy who interviewed Paula Dean and other Celebrity chefs". I was so afraid of my role models frowning upon me for being gimmicky or childish. I wanted others to see a serious passionate side to me. I wanted them to look at all the other things I had done, not just what some people had written about me. So in response I created Jeremy's Heirloom.

I didn't think much of it until the weekend of my eighteenth birthday. I was invited to host the Food Network SoBe Festival Kidz Food Labs again. Honestly, I had no intention of associating myself with it this year but after some persistence and motivation I did. I had planned on going only as Jeremy Salamon not JeremyCooks. At the first demonstration with Chef Rocco Dispirtio I had begun to introduce myself to an audience of kids, teens, young adults and families. As I started to talk I said "Hi my name is Jeremy Salamon from..." I wanted to say Jeremy's Heirloom instead a familiar phrase had made its way out. "from JeremyCooks.com, a website I created to follow my journey to becoming a chef and along the way hopefully inspire kids just like you to embark on your own culinary journey". The next demonstration I had managed to say something about Jeremy's Heirloom but it suddenly became about JeremyCooks. It was if my brain and my heart were having a fierce battle for control, turns out my heart was winning. So instead of sitting under a tree for 49 days it only took 48 hours of standing and talking to an audience for a total of six demonstrations to grasp the idea that JeremyCooks is apart of who I am.

I realize now that inspiring and encouraging others like you to cook and to set sail on your own culinary adventure has always been my passion. I guess what I'm trying to say is that JeremyCooks is back, in fact it never left. This website may not be around when I'm of old age but you can sure find me if you ask around for JeremyCooks, it's my past, present and future. Please join me on my journey wherever it may lead us... and come this fall it's finally taking us to culinary school.

Join the Journey & Keep on Cooking!

Jeremy