About

Who am I? I am a food fanatic.  If I had it my way, my days would consist solely of watching the Food Network while playing in the kitchen.  I am fortunate to live in Portland, Oregon.  I find myself surrounded by people with the same passion for food, serving up brilliant food to hungry Portlanders.  Not only am I surrounded by good food, but I am also surrounded by some of the greatest local and organic produce vendors allowing people like myself to play with the freshest ingredients.  So, after spending years to finally finish my degree in Public Health and working as an administrative assistant for 10 years or so, I had one of those WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE moments.  My amazingly patient and understanding Fiance Sam was able to calm me down from my crying hysterics and convinced me that its ok for me to not be the big bread winner in the family if it means I am doing what I love.  I want to cook, I want to cook for other people, I want to show people the infinite possibilities of healthy and fresh ways to eat, and eventually I want to be paid for doing all of these things….eventually.  In the mean-time, I have committed to studying every aspect of food and cooking as I can.

Why have I started this blog?  I could literally talk about food until I am dead.  To preserve my relationships and sanity, I have chosen a blog as my outlet for all the foodie thoughts running through my mind at all times.  For example, I probably have ten different ways to chop garlic in my kitchen.  This includes a completely illogical apparatus that holds ONE (yes only one) clove of garlic in a little cup which then screws onto a handle containing a weight and the blade.  Once the cup is screwed on, you are then supposed to shake the whole apparatus like a martini shaker which throws the weight around, pushing down and pulling up on the blade.  Five minutes of obnoxious sounds, and tired arms and you have something that almost resembles minced garlic, but it really more of a mashed garlic clove and a bunch of garlic oil and chunks that have now gotten stuck into tiny cracks and crevices in the apparatus which then become almost impossible to clean.  As you can tell, it’s not my favorite way to chop garlic.  I actually find something incredibly cathartic about cutting garlic by hand.  Something about taking a big knife, smashing garlic under it, and then pealing and cutting the garlic into tiny bits triggers that same feeling you get when you smash a printer that has decided to stop working just as you are trying to print that term paper that you stayed up all night writing because its due in an hour.  I am also shocked when I am able to avoid slicing the tip of my finger off, which has happened more than once.  Not to mention my fingers smell like garlic for the rest of the day, and who doesn’t like that?  This is what I was thinking about as I was driving home this afternoon, that and where I was going to go for lunch after I take a nap.

As you can see, I have a lot to say about almost everything, and since I have committed to studying everything about food, I NEED a way to share this knowledge with as many people as I can in hopes of beginning some sort of sustainable dialogue about food.  I hope you read my posts and feel as though you can ask questions, give suggestions, and enjoy food with me!