Jan 8, 2015 4 min read

With 2015 in full swing, I would like to take a moment to revisit the past.

I feel that the beginning a new year is a good time for reflection. Let’s take a quick moment to reflect on where we are, how we got here, and how we can make things better moving forward.

I hear from readers of my column on a regular basis, whether it’s through my website after they read the column or in person when I run into someone in town. I hear a lot of great feedback and it is very nice to hear and very helpful moving forward.

The world of food and cooking is so vast and covers so many different ideas and topics that it’s really difficult for me to just pick one thing out of the air and hope that it helps some of the readers. So far it’s worked out well, but the issue that I am wrestling with is that I don’t write this column for me – I write this column to bring value and entertainment to you the reader.

That being said, I would like to field food or cooking questions from you the reader and answer as many of them as possible each week in this column.

Is there an item that you see often at the supermarket but you just can’t bring yourself to buy it because you are unsure of how to prepare it? Maybe there’s a dish that you order from a restaurant regularly and you’d like to learn how to make something similar at home? Maybe you’re hosting a dinner party and would like menu ideas to prepare for your guests? Then again, maybe you have an old recipe or a new recipe that you would like some input with or a fresh professional perspective?

Whatever your question or comment is, I’d love to use my professional expertise to bring you value and help you in any way that I can. If for some reason I don’t know the answer to one of your questions, I promise that I will do my best and reach out to my network to try and find someone who does know the answer so that I can be become better educated myself and in turn bring the answer to you.

Don’t look at it entirely as asking for yourself. Look at it as asking to help me out by giving me subject matter that you would like to read about and also look at it as helping other readers. They may have a question that they don’t even realize yet and your question may spark a curiosity in them and teach them something that they can use to make their lives in the kitchen better.

It is my hope that this column becomes a trusted resource for everyone who reads it either locally in the Herald-Standard each week or globally online at HeraldStandard.com. Take ownership of it and submit some questions that you’d like answered that will help you in your kitchen.

You don’t have to just submit questions. You can send statements and comments that I can add commentary to as well. With my background being from the professional kitchen, I have a lot of opinions and ideas that differ from someone who is exclusively a home cook. Sometimes a new and professional perspective on an old recipe or cooking technique is just what it needs to become fresh, new, and exciting again.

I promise that I will answer as many questions as the room on the page permits. I can only answer them though if you submit them. Submitting a question for this column is easy.

Let’s start 2015 with a bang and get those questions rolling in! Now that you’re a little more familiar with me and I know you a little better, we can get a fun and exciting dialogue going each and every week.

Send your questions, comments, or anything else you would like to discuss with Mario in this column to features@heraldstandard.com.

Mario Porreca of Belle Vernon is an entrepreneur, author, lifestyle solutions expert, and the host of Just Cook It Radio. He can be reached via his website at: www.MarioPLS.com. Twitter: @MarioPorreca