My name is Eric Escalante

Hi Steemit,

My name is Eric Escalante and I'm a former reporter for TurlockCityNews.com and a current freelance reporter/writer. I'm from California's Central Valley where almonds, water, and farming are some biggest drivers of the local economic engines.

As a former local news reporter, I've come to know a lot about my town, the water issues, economic issues, and political issues that are always lingering behind decisions and the direction of the City.

Working at TCN, I impacted a local City Council election, a controversial farmers market decision, road funding, and I also revealed new information on the growing confusion with the Convention and Visitor's Bureau for the City of Turlock.

My work tends to consume a lot of what I do. I would sleep with the police scanner on to bring breaking news at any time of day and work from day until night to be sure all content was accurate and useful to my community.

Beyond that, I'm a culinary enthusiast. I don't do anything to fancy; I prefer to stick to a budget and make food that I can share with others. That being said, I also enjoy eating out when I'm alone. It's not as much fun cooking for myself as it is cooking for others who can tell me that they love my food. I love cooking, but its possible I like the compliments even more.

Chef knives are also a fancy of mine. My collection includes Victorinox, Dexter Russell, Messermeister, Cutco, J.A. Henckels, Lamsonsharp, Global, Shun, Mercer, and Wusthof. I'm always looking for new knives to try out, and I've even gotten interested in knife sharpening with whetstones.

Other hobbies include console gaming, Yugioh! (Legacy of the Duelist), tabletop (Pathfinder), and some movies, good TV, and a few animes. However, the biggest hobby I have is with WWE, professional wrestling. I get some chides for liking this (in good fun, of course), but I've always proudly addressed myself as a wrestling fan.

I'm hoping to do some posts regarding knives, cooking, wrestling, product reviews, and various other topics that may interest the Steemit community.