My name is Nikki, and my journey to the kitchen began as a child, but my husband was the catalyst to get back to real food. He and I went to high school together. He went off to culinary school while I learned to be a journalist. We were friends, and he sent me cookies which I could never seem to copy, but hated waiting for a new batch.
I started the quest to make a better chocolate chip cookie (at least, better than his, which were in my opinion, the best I had ever had). After three years, I found it, and he agrees that they are a masterpiece. Fast forward a courtship and wedding after he decided to leave a great job at a renown Manhattan restaurant to join the the U.S. Army's field artillery, (which is why you won't see our last name up here or photos of our faces, so it never spills into his work) and I am now trying to handle a chef's kitchen with a novice's knowledge.
Being in the army keeps my husband hungry, and makes it hard for me to stay employed at a place longer than a couple years (we are always moving). This has taught me to just go with the flow and focus more on the home. He's often busy with the "work," so it's up to me to do most of the cooking. So with a part-time job with time to cook after, I find myself trying to cook like my husband can.
I want to cook from scratch, and I want my ingredients to be local and organic if possible. I dislike buying processed things, even as ingredients. I would rather use butter over crisco, for example, and while I love my grandma's recipe's I don't want to have to add chemicals in the form of a "whip" to add. I recently broke down a whole turkey and have plans to continue in the same path.
I've found recipes and ideas on other people's blogs, and will credit them when I use them. I decided put my ideas out there and maybe get some feedback and possibly help some other people out in the process. Basically this blog is to document my adventures and mis-adventures in the kitchen. Here's to happy eating!
