About Me

I am an amateur cook. I love cooking, but I love eating more. I started cooking for myself in college, but limited myself to things in boxes with recipes on them. After meeting my boyfriend's mother, who is a wonderful cook, I thought - hey I can do that! So I started off trying recipes from Food Network TV - especially Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals. I started to grow out of her style and started watching Alton Brown, Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa), Giada De Laurentiis and Tyler Florence instead. I liked their simple and fresh approach to food. I started grabbing magazines like Food and Wine and Cooks Illustrated when I needed inspiration and finally, started watching Top Chef. I love watching the chefs in action, working on their toes and coming up with such delicious looking food. I guess that brings me to where I am today - cooking for fun, but not afraid to try something advanced or out of my comfort zone. Living in Portland, OR has such great advantages for a budding cook; like our wonderful farmer's markets that have helped shaped my outlook on food being fresh, local (when possible!) and simple. I also LOVE to eat out - and I wanted to start this blog to give some of my favorite restaurants a shout-out!

I also have a new found interest in food photography and hope this blog showcases what I love to do - cook, eat and take pictures!

I have two dogs, two cats, one boyfriend and one business - Pawsitively Clean.