Love People. Cook Them Tasty Food.

My partner Jason and I recently went to see the comedian Amy Schumer. Newly married to a chef, she began her routine saying, “so I just married a chef...because that’s right… I’m a genius.” Laughing, Jason and I gave each other a knowing glance, and Jason leaned in and whispered in my ear, “I’M a genius too!”

I love to cook, but I especially love to cook for others. This bumper sticker (see image) from Penzeys (an amazing spice company) sits in the middle of my magnetic kitchen chalkboard and perfectly sums up my attitude toward cooking.

Magnetic Kitchen Chalkboard

While in culinary school my friends begged me to test recipes on them. They went so far as to set up a jar in my kitchen dropping in 5, 10 and 20 dollar bills to supplement my grocery bills in exchange for filet of sole mimi, boeuf borgognone, shrimp souffles, tangerine-coriander ice-cream and much, much more.

Post culinary school I sadly slipped back into the corporate world from which I came. In these pre-Jason days, I cooked a fancy meal for myself every so often and had dinner parties only when I had the energy. Most nights my favorite meal was cereal.

When Jason and I met, I delighted in cooking for him. His profile (yes we met online) said he was trying to eat less meat. Mine said, “no picky eaters, no vegetarians.” I originally passed him over, but he suggested we meet for a Guinness at and Italian restaurant, and well, that was all the encouragement I needed.

For our first Christmas together I made Guinness braised short ribs with maple rosemary glaze. :-)

#penzeysspices #penzeys #amyschumer #kitchendecor #kitcheninspiration #guinness