Nice to meet you,

My name is T.J. Connolly and I love food.

Cheers to you for stumbling upon my blog. I'd like to introduce myself in order for you to understand how I became a gastronome. Firstly the name of this blog - you guessed it I'm a Ginger!I grew up on the north shore of Long Island (no not Hawaii) and I am the second of four children. My mom still praises me to this day for being her only child that would "eat whatever I put in front of him", and would "try anything".

My first memory of my exploration into the food world was on a group family ski trip to the catskill mountains. I was 7, and we all went out for dinner. At the table next to me a man was eating little things with tentacles and red sauce, I had to have them. I ate an appetizer and main course of Grilled Calamari that night, and brought a bag home with me to "freak out" my friends. I've been hooked ever since.

What started as a desire to eat things that would make my older sister cringe developed quickly into a full blown love affair with food. The pleasant surprise and sense of enlightenment that accompanies trying a new food and realizing you enjoy it is matched by few other feelings in this world. (If your still reading then you understand exactly what I am trying to convey). The same can be said about trying things and realizing you would never want to eat it again. In my opinion, as long as you are exploring what is out there, you are living. Ive tried a lot of strange food in my day, some delicacies treasured by other cultures and some treasured by none - all of which delicious experiences.

Turtle, Camel, Water Buffalo, Snake, Scorpion, Tripe, Kangaroo, Crocodile, Possum (pause for "ewww") are some of the oddities to top my list. I will try anything once and will be honest about it. After college, traveling, and now living in Manhattan for 3 years I have become a connoisseur of restaurants and food. My friends turn to me for advice on restaurants, my family turns to me for recipes and reviews all of which I hope to share with you in gingergrub.

I look forward to pouring my passion for food into this blog and I hope that you enjoy.

-gingergrubmaster