About the Geek
I want to share my passion for farm to table cooking in suburbia. I am a self-taught home cook with an almost dangerous love of cooking shows, recipe books, food blogs, and food science. I have a strong background in biology, food science, and agriculture. I grew up watching amazing TV chefs and even have a great chef in the family. I have been fortunate to be surrounded by very diverse food selections in the many places I have lived. My recipes reflect an almost schizophrenic diversity of cuisines. To enjoy the greatest selection of ingredients possible, I try to grow my own food, even though I live just outside a large city in a fairly urban environment. Some of my favorite things to make were inspired by cooking competition shows or a particular ginger, hard-metal chef. I try to use a diverse spice profile and fresh ingredients from a slue of different regions to make the meals that I want to try or happen to have ingredients for.
I am also a major geek. Yup, a total nerd. And gamer. I have an extensive knowledge of useless facts, an ever-growing tech wish list, and a bunch of dailies to complete, shiny versions to collect, and new civs to conquer the world. The same geeky love of all things science and tech, has lead me to create recipes based on science experiments (microwave baking, removing an eggshell, yogurt in marinades, etc.), to try food substitutions like avocado for mayo or making my own baking soda, understanding why we cook the way we do, and to make meals for all types of diets and restrictions.
My goal is to help and encourage people to try new things in the kitchen. To take pride in growing your own food, cooking it, and enjoying the meal with the ones you love. A part of that joy is also doing something easy and responsible by reducing food waste (and stretch my very limited budget). I love coming up with recipes for remaking leftovers into a totally different meal! I also use my own food scraps for composting to go right back into my garden. My newest adventure is learning to forage for local ingredients like mushrooms and berries. In the end a huge part of stretching any budget and preventing waste is learning to preserve what I grow and cook through canning, sealing, drying, and smoking.
I am also a major geek. Yup, a total nerd. And gamer. I have an extensive knowledge of useless facts, an ever-growing tech wish list, and a bunch of dailies to complete, shiny versions to collect, and new civs to conquer the world. The same geeky love of all things science and tech, has lead me to create recipes based on science experiments (microwave baking, removing an eggshell, yogurt in marinades, etc.), to try food substitutions like avocado for mayo or making my own baking soda, understanding why we cook the way we do, and to make meals for all types of diets and restrictions.
My goal is to help and encourage people to try new things in the kitchen. To take pride in growing your own food, cooking it, and enjoying the meal with the ones you love. A part of that joy is also doing something easy and responsible by reducing food waste (and stretch my very limited budget). I love coming up with recipes for remaking leftovers into a totally different meal! I also use my own food scraps for composting to go right back into my garden. My newest adventure is learning to forage for local ingredients like mushrooms and berries. In the end a huge part of stretching any budget and preventing waste is learning to preserve what I grow and cook through canning, sealing, drying, and smoking.
