Welcome!

Welcome to my new cooking blog. I am a novice cook at best. Most of my life I made pretty basic food.  Spaghetti sauce out of a jar, Shake & Bake for chicken, etc.. About three years ago I started watching America's Test Kitchen on PBS and said to myself "I can do that".  I began teaching myself the fundamentals of cooking, food preparation and flavor. I would try a recipe as written and then experiment by adding my own personal touch to it.

Besides cooking I enjoy watching cooking shows, especially Top Chef, Kitchen Nightmares, Secrets of A Restaurant Chef, Chopped and The Next Food Network Star.

I am going to use this space to share my culinary journey with whom ever wants to read it. It won't be about fancy cooking. I already realize that I enjoy basic homey, comfort foods the best. My favorite type of cooking is probably grilling. I have always been a pretty good BBQ guy, but now I consider myself a Grill Master. I own both a gas grill and a charcoal one and this summer I began exploring smoked meats. Yum!

The name Mr. Joe is a nickname I picked up. I have three other friends named Joe and we are always looking for ways to tell us apart. One day a friend was asking me a favor and he called me Joe and I said "It's Mr. Joe to you" and the nickname stuck. Last Christmas I was given an apron with "Mr. Joe" embroidered on it and that's how Mr. Joe's Kitchen came about.