06/07/2026
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If you want to keep track of my poker playing, video games and cooking show along with all my wellness ventures like liquor and beer tastings you can do that at Robert Gardner Vice.
I was thinking the other day that of all the things I've done in my life when I consider what good ideas I had it was learning to cook. Most of my life has revolved around good food and hanging out with people over meals.
Growing up in Louisiana I was steeped in gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, boudin and a host of southern meals. As I grew and later decided to be vegetarian for a stint I kept going to restaurants around town and exploring things like India, Thai, Chinese, Ethiopian, Jamaican, Vietnamese and beyond.
My palette expanded and I started drawing connections between west African cuisine the food I grew up with and then beyond. Post college I'd often bring a loaf of banana bread or something I'd made so folks had something to snack on when we were hanging out on a Saturday night.
As per usual in Baton Rouge on a Saturday we'd drink pass joints around and talk the night away. Around Christmas I'd been buying cookie cutters at thrift stores. They came in all shapes and sizes. I grabbed a handful and someone told me they wanted gingerbread cookies. The kind you make the gingerbread houses with.
I remember it was ginger, flour, molasses, sugar, salt and a few other ingredients I think maybe some nutmeg. After I made the dough I realized I could roll up a bunch of it in parchment paper in the freezer to use at a later time. Since our friends were hanging out that Saturday I grabbed the roll....slices off some dough, rolled it out and used those cookie cutters to make all the standard shapes. Xmas trees, Reindeer or whatever.
After I baked them I needed frosting. I figured powdered sugar and some milk/water would do but as always...I wanted to push the boundaries. The gingerbread isn't overwhelmingly sweet. The frosting is a nice touch and since it had ginger, hey..what about wasabi?
The powdered sugar is extremely fine as is wasabi powder. If I put wasabi in the powdered sugar it'll likely blend and turn slightly green and that slight wasabi horseradish kick will be a pleasant spiciness.
Done! Iron chef be damned. Roll that joint I'll be there Saturday.
As I decorated I tried making shapes or following the edges and doing it like you're supposed to but after so much L*d and mushrooms as a philosophy student in college I decided to make it more Phish. More Salvador Dali...more Basquiat.
I'd clipped the edge of a ziploc to use as a piping tool and start making abstract shapes and swirls. Lines on an edge that faded off into nothingness like a good tweezer jam.
I played. I had a good time.
Everyone at the party oohed and aahed over just a little creativity. It's a small gesture but food brings people together. Being able to stack art on top? Oh that's self expression. All my friends loved them and the best part was no one had ever had anything like it.
How the hell did you think to add wasabi?
I don't know. I just do. I do the same with health and wellness. Nothing is more fun than expansion. A new idea expressed in a unique way even if that's through a piping bag.
