Providing practical, engaging, and nourishing cooking tips focusing on utilizing what produce is available to us year round.
Prior to choosing to spend my days in a kitchen, I spent 6 years as a freelance creative producer. I worked with brands and agencies, often managing teams of designers and copywriters and helping clients reach their full creative potentials. I would moonlight as a journalist and on-camera reporter, working with publications and news stations covering anything from the arts to sports.
My culinary passion truly began when I responded to an on-camera talent role for Conde Nast's Epicurious. I was featured as a "home chef", but during that time I felt myself falling in love with the art of cooking. In September 2020 I applied to be a student at the Institute of Culinary Education to earn a certificate in their Health Supportive program (formerly Natural Gourmet Institute aka hippie vegan cooking school).
As I've grown into the culinary industry I feel that my upbringing was a big part of my passion for feeding people. I grew up in a rural town in Central Pennsylvania surrounded by woodlands, forests, and farms. This has largely inspired me to look toward utilizing local resources for ingredients, as well as a large appreciation for the agricultural industry.
In addition to my surroundings, I attribute a lot of my interest in the kitchen to my family, especially my grandparents. From canning, to bread baking, to cooking traditional Slovak/Lithuanian meals, there was a lot of time gathered around the table.
I now cherish those memories of being together to make a meal, or to preserve food to eat throughout the year.
It really is true that nothing can beat your grandma's cooking, no matter how many Michelin stars.
My hope is for us all to gather intentionally, to relish moments of enjoyment around food, and to learn a few kitchen tricks along the way.
Gather Intentionally.
The fuel behind the fire
CONNECTION
Community is at the core of living intentionally. Coming together to enjoy a meal and celebrate life is believed to be the secret sauce for maintaining joy in some cultures. I highly encourage the opportunity to learn from our ancestors or bygone eras. I find joy in inspiring others to connect with the process of sourcing, cooking, and sharing meals. Family style is my favorite style.
SUSTAINABILITY
Work in a way that supports local farmers and the environment, with an emphasis on indigenous practices and native species. By exploring unconventionally grown ingredients, there is an opportunity to create more demand, whilst working toward navigating away from factory farming methods.
CREATIVITY
Sometimes all your food needs is "a little of this, and a little of that". This is my dad's favorite way to answer my question of "what did you put in this?" To this day, I describe my cooking style in that way. I want people to feel comfortable veering off the recipe and riffing. Produce picked at its peak does not need a lot of fussing, just a little creative juice to make the flavors shine.