About Katie

Thank you for visiting my website!   One thing you should know about me is that I’m not a professional chef.  In fact, I didn’t even grow up in the kitchen learning from some Italian grandma, though my grams did make a fantastic tomato sauce.  Until I got to college, I could barely cook Macaroni & Cheese right out of the box.

My now-husband came into the picture and I wanted him to think I was some domestic goddess (while that’s far from the truth, something must have worked since we’re married now!)  I started watching the Food Network and realized that this cooking stuff didn’t seem so hard afterall.   So I tried a recipe.  And then another.  And then people started to be really gracious and appreciative when I cooked for them.  I was completely addicted.  It wasn’t long until my aspirations of going to veterinary school morphed into a dream of being a personal chef and caterer.  I catered some big parties including an auction for 130 people!  I’m glad I gave it a try but the stress and management skills that go in hand with catering weren’t my style.

So why did I start this blog?  Well, I had to do something, anything really.  My obsession with food consumes me.  All day long I dream about food, scour the internet for recipes, and read cookbooks to fall asleep at night.  I absolutely love to get other people excited about food, particularly if its an ingredient they don’t normally like.  I started this blog because I realized that I couldn’t wait any longer.  There would be no perfect time where I was jobless with a stocked bank account so that I could have the freedom to pursue my goals.  Actually, our lives probably couldn’t be any busier.  I work a full time job and then help out with my husband’s business in the evenings and on the weekends.  While it doesn’t leave me much time to post on here, I hope you’ll stick with me in hopes that one day I’ll be able to devote more time to this website.

MY FOOD PHILOSOPHY:

In Seattle where I live, we are blessed with a bounty of fresh food (seafood, berries, mushrooms, beef, veggies, you name it!)  So, I try my best to make use of what is locally grown and in season.  Not only is it less expensive to cook that way, but I support my local farmers and economy, and the food doesn’t travel so far to get to my plate.  I’m not perfect by any means, but I try to leave a small carbon footprint where possible.  My philosophy is that it’s all about baby steps when it comes to changing up your eating, cooking and shopping habits.  For my recipes, I tend to use only a few fresh ingredients in a way that will still wow your family or guests.  I hope that you’ll see an ingredient on here that you’ve never cooked before (mussels? oysters?) and that I can give you the confidence to try something new.

MY NON-FOOD LIFE

Aside from being addicted to cooking, I also love dogs, wine, fishing and traveling.  My husband owns a surf/skate shop and we spend lots of time doing all sorts of sports like kiteboarding, wakesurfing, and standup paddleboarding.  We followed our dream of building a little house in southern Baja California, Mexico, and we try to spend about 6 weeks down there in the winter when it’s completely miserable here in Seattle.  I have a 6 year-old mutt named Axl who might creep up on here in a few posts.