I decided to start a blog because I talk about food so much it drives my friends and family crazy. You can't get down a street with me without my pointing out some restaurant I have been to or heard about. Sometimes I'll be in the middle of a conversation with a group of people, and I'll realize that we've all been talking about food . . . and it's my fault! I can't help it. Think Catherine Zeta-Jones in No Reservations.
If someone says, "I'm going to Philly," I'll say, "You have to go to Jim's at the corner of South and 4th! And don't forget to check out the Reading Terminal Market. The pork dumplings are amazing!"
If someone mentions apple picking, I start rattling off pies, cakes, cookies, muffins, and cupcakes. When I think about throwing a party, I think first about what sort of food I can serve. Am I going to make finger foods? Should there be desserts? (Wait, what kind of question is that? Always dessert!) How will everything fit together? Can I create some sort of food theme?
The running joke in my family is that I always show up at my parents' house right when a meal is being put on the table. I take that to mean I have impeccable timing. I think they just think I'm a crazy foodie. But my dad was a professional chef for years and my mom cooks incredibly well, so who wouldn't show up at dinnertime?
I had to see Ratatouille as soon as it came out. A Disney movie . . . about food! Who can pass that up? And what's more, when I got home, like so many others, I had to make ratatouille. "Anyone can cook!"
So I don't just talk about food; I cook too. I love trying out new recipes. I have shelves full of cookbooks, a box filled with recipe cards from various family members and other sources, and subscriptions to numerous food magazines. I consume books about food. Garlic and Sapphires quickly became one of my favorites. Julie & Julia partly inspired me to start this blog. Orangette, a food blog that I read quite frequently, also motivated me to start my own.
I have this passion for food. I love to cook it, to talk about it, and of course to eat it. I hope this blog will become a catalog of my successes and failures in the kitchen, a place to keep track of restaurant visits I've enjoyed, and a collection of my thoughts on various cookbooks and recipes, and, most important, just somewhere to chat about food.
Welcome.
