Jeffrey Whalen lived in Yorktown Heights, NY with his wife and two sons. He grew up in Katonah, NY.
Jeffrey Whalen graduated from John Jay High School in Cross River, NY. He went on to Boston, MA to receive dual undergraduate degrees in performance and music education from Berklee College of Music. Friends in high school and college affectionately called him “Al”. He also earned a master’s degree in performance with a concentration in jazz at SUNY Purchase College in Purchase, NY.
Jeffrey had so many interests and hobbies. He often listened to:
and read:
Over the years, Jeffrey taught himself a lot about carpentry and gardening:
Here he is building a raised garden bed:
One carpentry project was a tree house. It took a long time to build because he was determined to build around the trees not putting a single nail into the living structures. The extensive root systems made for a challenge as well. Jeff created plans as he went, one step forward two steps back! But the final result was complete with an indoor table, benches, windows as well as a side pulley delivery bucket system that his boys helped to build.
Jeff loved cooking and eating!
In the beginning, he developed his culinary skills with trial and error and Cooks Illustrated magazine:
Cook’s Illustrated | Recipes That Work | We Test It All
His most recent favorite magazine was:
One of his favorite cooking shows was:
Like a lot of people, Jeff made full use of the popular site:
Here are a few of his favorite Recipes:
Being outdoors was something that Jeff cherished. Some of his favorite activities were following soccer, biking, running, swimming, and traveling.
The Katonah Swim Team was something Jeff participated in while growing up. They celebrated their 50th reunion recently.
Here are some links to the Katonah Swim Team: