Let me come clean right at the outset: I am not a trained chef. I’ve never attended culinary school, I don’t own one of those tall white hats, and no one is going to confuse me with Wolfgang Puck.

But I do love to cook.

There is something wonderfully therapeutic about working in the kitchen—chopping, seasoning, sautéing, tasting, adjusting, and ultimately transforming a collection of ingredients into something delicious. And while I enjoy cooking for myself, the real pleasure comes from cooking for someone else.

In fact, I have a dinner guest coming over tonight, and tacos are on the menu. And my tacos, if I may say so myself, are out of this world. To borrow the immortal words of Will Sonnett: “No brag; just fact!”

Part of the fun of cooking is that there is always something new to learn. Trying a new dish involves a little risk. Sometimes you hit a home run; occasionally you strike out. But experimentation is half the adventure. You discover new ingredients, new techniques, new combinations—and, little by little, you become better at the craft.

Recently, my dear friend and colleague Robert Marshall, owner of SCV Audio Video (which you should all check out – SCVAV.com), treated me to dinner at Chi SPACCA, Nancy Silverton’s extraordinary restaurant on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. During dinner I became fascinated with Silverton’s nearly 400-page cookbook, Chi SPACCA: A New Approach to American Cooking. Robert noticed my interest and graciously bought me a copy.

What a treasure trove! I now have hundreds of pages of culinary inspiration waiting for me, and I fully intend to put them to good use.

Maybe that is what being a “culinary connoisseur” means to me. It isn’t about credentials or professional expertise. It is about curiosity. Creativity. Experimentation. And, above all, the sheer pleasure of preparing something wonderful and watching someone else enjoy it.

Food nourishes the body, certainly. But preparing it for people you care about nourishes something else as well.

Tonight, it’s tacos.

Next week? Who knows?

And that’s half the fun.