About

Oh, hello! I didn’t see you there. I’m the creator of Fancy-Ass Food, and I’m very grateful that you've decided to visit my tiny little corner of the internet. If you’re on this page, it probably means that you’re curious about who I am, what it is I’m trying to do here, and why the heck I stand around taking pictures of my food while it goes cold, instead of just eating it like any sane person. Take a seat.

Pleasantries first. My name is Colin Judge, I’m 25 years old, and I’m a foodaholic. I’ve been eating food for as long as I can remember, and I’m fairly sure it would be inadvisable to stop. Luckily for me, I’ll eat pretty much anything you can stick a fork in. But thanks to being exposed from a young age to the delights of genuine culinary arts via my grandmother, I know a thing or two about the difference between good food, and just fuel. With that in mind, I’ve taken to eating the good stuff.

I also learned fairly early on that the best (and cheapest) way to eat good food, is to learn how to make it yourself. It’s a lot like meth in that way. So I learned how to cook.

Meth?

No, wiseass. Food.

And in time, I got pretty okay at it. The thing I love about cooking, is that it’s mostly about the basics. Once you’ve got the feel for it, you can just make stuff up as you go. One of my life’s little satisfactions is throwing together some unnamed concoction just from what I’ve got lying around in the fridge, and finding out that it actually tastes damn good.

It took a while for me to realise that what I was essentially doing was creating recipes. That’s all there is to it. Well, that and replicability. Which… was my problem. By the time I was finished eating, I wouldn’t remember how I’d made the bloody thing. So all these recipes became nothing more than delicious memories.

And then I got a camera.

I started taking photos of anything and everything, and that included my dinner. I’d stick ‘em on Facebook (like a good little narcissist) and someone suggested I post the recipes too. It was as good an excuse as any to finally start writing them down. So one night (literally while I was waiting for my ice cream to set), I set up this blog and posted my first two recipes. Which, when I look at now… yeah. I’ve definitely learned a lot since then. Yikes.

True. The recent photos suck a little less. But what the hell is up with your recipe format?

Yeah, that probably does need some explaining…

When I looked at recipes I often found that they told me more than I needed to know. Most of the time, I just checked a recipe to give me a guideline. To give me inspiration. Exact quantities, exact times… Didn’t need ‘em. They were just clutter, getting in the way of the concept.

But then other recipes failed to tell me things that I really wanted to know. They wouldn’t explain why something needed to be done. Or they’d seem to leave out an important step, assuming it to be understood.

It struck me that the problem wasn’t necessarily the recipes, the problem was me. Or more specifically, it was down to what mood I was in. Sometimes I just needed something short and snappy, but sometimes I wanted a tutorial, to teach me something new.

So I decided to do both, because I’m crazy like that. Recipes start with the bare minimum, and if that’s enough for you, awesome! But if you want a blow by blow explanation, just keep reading. Simple.

Okay, that actually kinda makes sense. Why choose Fancy-Ass Food though?

Honestly? Because it’s more fun. Nobody needs an excuse to cook something fancy. I’m living on a pretty tight budget, and I still manage to eat great food by cooking for myself.

These meals are just for you?!

Yuuuuuup. This blog was originally called Ridiculously Over-Elaborate Meals For One. Which had its charms. But the way I cook for one is actually the same as cooking for four. There’s just more leftovers. So I changed the name to, what I hope is, something better. Or more to the point, at least.

At the end of the day, I just hope you enjoy what I’m doing! Feel free to let me know what you think by leaving a comment. I’m always looking for ways to improve the blog, so seriously, any and all feedback is welcome. And if you do make something by following one of my recipes, I’d love to hear how it went!

Cheers
Colin