i forgot to say hello!

Hi friends! We recently realized we were so excited to share recipes with you, we forgot to introduce ourselves. You got to read a bit about Shelly this week. Here is a little more about me.

What is this here blog and what are you doing with it?

As Shelly mentioned, we love to cook for our families and friends. We love to eat. We love to talk about food and try new recipes. I’d additionally add that through the blog, I hope I encourage you to cook. Nothing I post is fancy. Nothing is hard. It all starts with a recipe. In fact, if I don’t have a recipe I’m up a creek without a paddle. Anything I post here is an invitation (“try this, you’ll like it!”) or a warning (“I know I posted that on Pinterest, but it was a flop---run!”)

So you think you’re better than me with this fancypants blog?

NO WAY! This is just a way for you to read about what I’m trying out . It’s meant to be a conversation, not a lesson. No, no—don’t take lessons from me! I have cooking flops all the time. I’ve been known to feed my kid a Lean Cuisines when I’m in a pinch. I won’t blog about those things though—ha!

There are a bazillion food blogs out there. Why is yours different?

It’s not much different, honestly. But I personally love a recommendation on a restaurant before I go there. On a product before I try it. Similarly, I love when sweet friends and family say “Oh, man, I made the BEST meatloaf last night. My family loved it!” I immediately ask for the recipe. This is my way of giving you my BESTS and my WARNINGS.

Anything else we should know about you?

I’m glad you asked! Things I am—in order of how it affects my cooking:

A working lady. I leave the house at 7 a.m. to get my kiddo to school and myself to work by 8 a.m. I have after work meetings. I have business lunches. This means a lot of planning to get dinner on the table. Sometimes dinner is cereal.

A wife. I love to cook. I love flavors. The more ingredients the better. My husband prefers things simple. Classic. But he is very sweet to try my dinner experiments and to patiently wait out my kitchen freak outs when a recipe isn’t going so well. I can tell how much he liked a dish by how much he leaves on his plate. He always tells me thank you for making it and that it was good, even when it wasn’t. I’ll keep him.

A mommy. Of a toddler. Who is also learning her tastes. Even when she was small, I tried to give her a deconstructed version of whatever we were eating so she could try a variety of flavors and textures. She’s a pretty good eater, though she is still strange about textures like chicken, tuna, steak, and lettuce. I keep Annie’s instant mac and cheese at the ready on nights I know she’ll just pick and play with her food.

A daughter. Granddaughter. Daughter-in-law. I learn so much from the cooks in my life and am so grateful I come from a family (and married in to one) where meals together matter and family recipes are shared. (And thank you for sharing them!)

Things I am not:

A photographer! All pics here are taken on my phone. No editing. Apologies in advance, because they won’t be improving. (cut things in to hearts = FANCY, right?)

A foodie! It’s a dirty word to me. Foodies judge. Foodies know more than you. Foodies try it first. I am always questioning, rarely know and always need five people to try it first.

A superwoman! I do not make meals most nights to impress anyone. It’s hard. But I want my family to have a nice meal, be together, plus it keeps things organized and on budget. If I can save a few bucks by making pasta instead of ordering it then that’s more money in my budget for a night out with the hubs or a family trip to a local festival—or a nicer bottle of wine.

 (If I WAS a super hero, I have my own costume and theme song picked out. Visual interpretation by my friend, Tony.)

Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting. Thank you for stopping by. Your feedback makes this blog better. Hope you enjoy!