I'm excited to announce the release of the first volume of my new cookbook series: So You Think You Can Cook: Every Recipe Has A Story!  It's available now by clicking above.  There has been overwhelming positive feedback among the first customers who've purchased it, and they are all excited about Volume 2, coming very soon!

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to benstarr.com.  I'm really excited you stopped by.  Whether you found me by watching the Rachael Ray Show, or have been a regular visitor to this site over the past ten years, you are very welcome here.  If you've been to benstarr.com before, you'll notice that it looks a lot different.  We're slowly incorporating all the great travel blogs and photos from the old site onto this one, so you'll see it change a lot in the coming weeks as we add tons of content.

 

The most exciting thing I have to share with you at the moment is the publication of my series of cookbooks, "Food for Thought: Every Recipe Has A Story."  You can also subscribe to my monthly recipe newsletter by filling out the form to the right.  I'll send it out early each month with loads of info and pictures... mostly recipes, but also home improvement projects and recent trip reports.  It's a great way to escape from your life for a few minutes each month.

 

You can also become a member of the site by registering with the form on the left.  While we don't yet have the forums up and running, we will very soon, and there will be forums for you to share recipes, travel information, home improvement projects, and any kind of stories you want.

 

Again, welcome to benstarr.com.  Please email me with comments and suggestions.  I want this to be a place where you can come to be entertained, be informed, and have a ball.  Have a great day!

Ben appeared in November on The Rachael Ray Show's "So You Think You Can Cook?!" competition.

 

Watch the episodes online!

The net is an incredible place, because 10 years ago, if I wanted to make "calaveras," which are those sugar skulls that kids and lovers give each other for the Mexican holiday El Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), how on earth would I have figured out how to do that without going to Mexico and hanging out in some grandma's kitchen? So I was all excited a couple of weeks back when I ordered my sugar skull mold (just a cheap piece of polystyrene that looks like the containers that things like Ipods and flash drives come in...that stuff thats practically impossible to cut open without slicing your hands) and got ready to make 40 calaveras for my fall dinner party.