Colby Cooks: Meet My Brother, The Chef

Is the love for cooking embedded deep within your DNA? Are you the type of person who watches cooking shows for fun? Does a trip to the grocery store feel relaxing and more like a leisurely stroll through the park? If you said yes to any of those questions, you are REALLY going to like my brother. Have you ever met him? His name is Colby, and he cooks. Oh my, you better be prepared, because he’s a character, and I can’t wait to introduce you to him. 

Okay, so let me give you some great info first. Colby is my BABY brother. I was the only child for twelve years, and then BAM, he came along. I was kind of like a second mother, and you better believe there are some good stories I will share about him as we spend more time together. They will be highly entertaining, I promise. When my brother was growing up, my grandmother lived with our family. She LOVED to cook AND watch cooking shows. I can’t tell you how many times I would walk into the room when Colby was in his pre-teens, and he would be watching a cooking show with her, and because he WANTED to. It’s the first time I realized, ummmm, something is not right here. I kid. I kid. It was normal for him to be infatuated with Paula Deen and Emeril Lagasse. Totally. 

Once Colby got out of high school, he did what many kids do, he went to college. When he realized that wasn’t his jam, he ventured on to a top comedy school in Chicago. Hey, I’ll admit, he is funny. When that ship sailed, he decided to come home and get a new focus. I will never forget the day he told me he wanted to be a nurse. Listen. I was a nurse at this point. I also knew my brother. He did NOT need to go into nursing. Because big sisters are clueless, and his mind was set on it, I went with him to register and get going on this journey. It lasted MAYBE two weeks. (The first round of human anatomy classes will do that to you for sure.) I’m not sure if I have the story right in my head, but I like to think that’s when he finally listened to me screaming, “HOLY COW BOY, GO TO CULINARY SCHOOL”. I mean, hello, a perfect date for you would be taking a girl for a walk around the grocery store. You were made for this. You would be living your best life.

At this point, Colby proceeds to move up to New York and go to one of the top Culinary Schools in the nation, CIA. Culinary Institute of America. I would like to sit here and act like I understand how prestigious that is, but I will own up to it, I must take his word for it. I’ve never heard of the place, but remember, cooking is nowhere on my radar. The number of phone calls I received from my brother when he was in school, well, they were endless. He would talk for HOURS, and I would be giving the courtesy, oh wow, hmmmm, that’s cool, interesting. I couldn’t grasp how he could talk so passionately about different meat temperatures and how to cool down a dish properly. That’s when I realized it. Every ounce of “cooking” DNA (because I’m confident there’s such a thing), skipped me when I was formed, and Colby got a double portion. That had to be what happened. 

In all seriousness though, I love watching someone embrace fully who they were designed and created to be. Colby has done that, and it makes me smile. What would the world look like, if everyone understood how they were wired and stepped into it with confidence and boldness? Not only is Colby going to teach us about cooking, but I’m also confident he will teach us how to passionately embrace who we were created to be. I’m excited for you to get to know him more. He will be hijacking the blog here at Love, The McLeans giving us all kinds of cooking goodness. Oh, and he may even have a course or two up his sleeve that will be launching this Spring. I am pretty positive it is going to rock your world. 

Before we part ways, we need YOUR help. Will you tell us in the comments what you would like to learn from Colby? The sky’s the limit. Simple cooking techniques to bougie meals, he’s here for it!!! Maybe I will even grow fond of cooking. I’m not sure he can pull off that miracle, but we shall see. Oh, and one more final thing to think about, because I like to leave you thinking. Is there something you are passionate about, love, and are gifted in that you need to pursue a bit more in your life? I am going to ask you this often during our time together. Yep, I will probably sound like a broken record, but I want to get that question on a loop in your mind. You need that thing you are wired to do in your life and the world needs it too.

 Okay, hope your day rocks. Will see you back here soon!