THE MAN BEHIND THE MUPPET.
Brendan McCann, aka #MangiaMcCann, is a newly married father of 2 lovely little girls (9 & 12), who thought it would be a great idea to start blogging about food while simultaneously overlording remote learning, watching daily coverage of the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia, conducting related food and regional historical research, and somehow maintaining regular employment at his day job. He also plays hockey in a beer league on the weekends, is a musician and vocalist, and loves to watch many sports and drive his wife crazy with impossible website deadlines and directives during hastily-arranged photo shoots. Most of his delicious meals are now enjoyed cold, well after they should’ve been eaten, and only after he posts about them on social media. He is obviously also a great planner and time manager.
So, why am I doing this? Well, for starters, I love food and cooking new things. Whenever I have guests over, I always try out something new – because, why not panic and fret? It all started as I grew up, trying desperately to avoid my homework, watching my mother prepare daily dinners. She didn’t miss a beat and was very good at stirring whatever was in the pot and then surreptitiously smacking me with her wooden spoon, a skill well-honed in Italian motherhood. Of course, from-time-to-time, the wooden spoon would break, typically on my elbow as I was fleeing the scene and my mother would cry out “look at what you did to my spoon!” But, while not disciplining me she would make magic happen in whatever she was whipping up.
Early on in the pandemic, I was seeing all of these sleek millennials gush over “struggle meals” where you make soup by using leftovers from the week; amateur hour. My mom would use stuff that had been sitting in the back of the fridge, long forgotten, or that had been in the freezer since the year prior. Unfortunately, her sense of smell is not great. Often I was the guinea pig that had to smell out the good-from-the-bad leftover ingredients. But, after an hour or so of using the unspoiled items, it all came out fantastic and soul warming. I also witnessed how our dinner guests eyes would light up when seeing her dishes come out of the kitchen and onto the dining room table. I guess that kind of hooked me, too.
Growing up in a conservative, Italian and Irish household (hence “Mangia” & “McCann”), outward displays of affection were extremely rare. But, the meals were when we all dropped everything, came together and witnessed love’s labor on a plate and gathered around the table with convivial conversations about whatever was going on in our daily lives. My dad would always add in a good curse word, or two, to spice things up from time-to-time.
So, if I love cooking so much, why didn’t I go to culinary school or work in a kitchen or open a restaurant? I hear this A LOT yet I don’t have a solid answer; but like any Italian worth his salt, I got an alibi! I really, really, really love sports and music. What time are games on? When are concerts? Right in the middle of dinner rush. Did I want to be cloistered away in a hot room with no tv or access to my favorite teams? No way – always cheer local and stay loyal by the way, even if it kills you. So, the thing that may have kept me out of a commercial kitchen is what helped start this blog. I was bored to tears during the pandemic, especially with no sports. I needed a creative outlet after a while and the vehicle was sports. I don’t know if that is solely where this blog is going. As my wife says: “It can’t be sports all the time”…a phrase uttered in most every domestic relationship, I’m sure, but she’s right. I have more to offer and that which I want to explore. None of us can really travel at this given moment, and I was never really rolling in funds to be a world traveler, anyway. But, I have the internet, resourceful cookbooks, an Amazon Prime membership, some decent grocery stores within an hour’s drive, and a healthy appetite to learn new ideas and cultures, and some pretty decent kitchen skills that I’ve picked up over the years through watching some great chefs on public television and cooking channels, and through my own trial and error. So, this is a way I can bring the world to me. Who knows, maybe someone with deep pockets will swoop in and decide to give me a show. We can all dream, right? But, for now, I hope you all enjoy what I have to offer, learning about the inspiration behind my meals, discovering what I learn through the research process, and my point of view.
Warm dishes,
Brendan aka #MangiaMcCann