My life in food

I love cooking because food is everything, if you really think about it.

Food is memories. Food makes up tradition and ties generations together. Food evokes strong feelings. Food gathers the people you love around your table. Food promotes community and togetherness. Food gives sustenance. Food gives comfort. Food gives energy. Food is essential. Food can be whatever you want it to be. Food is art. Food is culture.

I just love that food has the ability to be powerful, exotic, sexy, and spicy without the judgment you would get if you were that way!

And in a nutshell, good food is the result of cooking.

Food is many things to many people, but mostly to me, food is love. It is how I express and show love. If I need to tell you thank you, chances are a big plate of peanut butter swirl brownies are in your future. If you just had a baby, I’ll probably show up with a big pot of tender, beef stew, baguette, brie and wine (because I happen to know that wine, especially more than one glass, does wonders for everything after pushing out a baby). Even if it’s just a casual Wednesday night at home with a run-of-the-mill potato soup bubbling on the stove…I have made it with love. I have said this before, but I feel honored to be the wife to my husband and the mother of my children. It is a privilege I have always wanted and so I try take care of my family with purpose and love. Luckily, that includes dinner. Not so luckily, it also includes laundry.

Call me crazy, but I truly love how a dish comes together. Chopping onions, celery and carrots is very methodical and calming to me. Sautéing, roasting, caramelizing, braising, baking…everything has it’s own science, rhyme and reason. I get a thrill out of uncovering secrets to getting great results out of food every time.

I tend to search for “the ultimate”. Like, for example, If I make the absolute, ultimate chicken and dumplings, at least in my mind, then the buck stops there. I’m not making it another way again unless there is some crazy hybrid variation with surprising and intriguing ingredients that I read about 5 years down the road. Then, in that overly dramatic scenario, I would of course have to try it out. I kid myself. Really, all it would take is the mention of adding dill and the promise of fluffier dumplings and I'd be all over it, trying it out asap. While I do tend to search for these ultimate finds, I also love trying new dishes, so I am always cooking something different.

I could sit here and try to explain exactly why food makes me tick all day long, but it wouldn’t do any good. I’ll never define it. I’ll never be able to put it in a box. It is an art, so it is always changing and so is my view of it. Maybe that is why it never loses it’s appeal.

Gosh, I just love that too.

My name is Krysta.

I grew up in southern California and, fun fact alert, I am an actual, bonafide "valley girl". I was astonished when I learned that we really do abuse the word "like"and talk in a distinct sing songy way even though we think it's normal. I have stopped. Sort of.

I moved to Colorado in 2002, lived with my grandparents, went to community college, joined a church, fell in love, got married, had kids and never left. I have the best husband in the world, Jeremy, three gorgeous kids (Isabella, Jeremiah and Olivia) and a chihuahua mix named Ham. Yes, Ham, like the meat.

Although I live in a ski resort, I don't ski, snowboard or snowshoe. I'd like to learn in theory but I hate being cold. It's going to be the promise of hot chocolate and cocktails after that will finally get me out there.

I realized I had an interest in cooking around the age of 21. I used to watch the Food Network in my free time and really liked Ina Garten. Still do. I grew up around great cooks like my Mom, Grandma Burgos, Aunt Kellie and Aunt Colleen, but it was Ina who really taught me what was what. She has the basics down pat which is what I needed to learn. And as with anything, if you do something long enough, you improve and get better. So did my cooking.

I started blogging in January 2010 as a way to keep track of what I cooked and when. To document recipes and write down the stories co-mingled with them for my kids to read someday. It started out as a diary of food and that's still what it is today, although it has taken shape and form and a life of its own. I like writing even though it started out as a discipline. I'd sit at the computer without a clue as to what to say, but somehow, posts got written, stories got told, recipes got recorded and some of my awkwardness went away. It feels right now and I love doing it. My writing has improved but I still haven't gone back and edited my earlier posts. I think it's important to realize everyone starts somewhere.

My husband got me an awesome camera a while ago and I started to learn how to take pictures of food. Actually, I don't know the first thing about taking pictures, but they looked better than they did to start with, and I am improving, slowly. Taking pictures of food is no small feat. I apologize for some of the pictures that go with early posts. They are exceptional hot messes. All of them.

My family eats very healthfully most of the time, but we have our indulgences too. I'm about good food. Period. On my blog you'll find a lot of vegetarian and vegan fare mixed with the not-so-good-for-you stuff. The one thing they have in common is that everything is delicious.

Aside from just cooking, I love old, classic music like Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Cole Porter. Nothing can quite thrill me more than a Broadway play or live theatre. I have a sweet tooth that can't often be ignored. I love dessert, French onion soup, shrimp cocktail and champagne, although not at the same time...well maybe. Also, chili cheese fries. It didn't fit in with the other food so I had to give it it's own sentence. I own an Italian restaurant. I don't cook with a lot of meat, although I love it, I stick to mostly vegetarian and seafood for health reasons. Also, I am truly blessed with great friends in which to share all the food I make. Thank goodness we don't have to finish it all ourselves as I would prefer to keep my figure!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

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