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HOW I FELL IN LOVE WITH COOKING

Cooking has always been my spark. When I was a kid I was obsessed with two things: food and magic. My magic consisted of pretzel wands, watermelon-scented potions, and saying a rhyming spell to the moon to make a rainbow come the next day. My magic was colorful and beautiful and happy, and cooking was a gateway to that magic. I could stew in a pot and pretend it’s a cauldron. I could cast a spell over people with homemade treats. Even today, I still believe cooking can bring a little everyday magic into your life.

 

When I was a teenager I struggled a lot in school, and instead of paying attention in class I was jotting down recipe ideas in a notebook. I still have one of my old notebooks from that time and it's so funny to see all of the ideas I had! The kitchen has always been my safe space, for dancing and sprinkling this and that with herbs. It’s my happy place. Testing recipes and experimenting is what I love, and instead of keeping my best recipes under lock and key, I want to share them!

Hannah outside portrait

I would say my philosophy for cooking is “minimum effort, maximum reward”. I am constantly on the hunt for genius shortcuts and streamlined techniques. I do consider myself a foodie but I don’t like snobbery. I like a fine candlelit dinner, and I also like tucking into a McDonalds apple pie on my couch. Because delicious is delicious. I try to focus on seasonal cooking because it means there’s always something to look forward to. In cold weather months, there are pots of meaty chili with cornbread, hearty soups with roasted vegetables and winter greens, and nightly thick hot chocolate with slices of panettone on the side. When it’s sunny, it’s homemade pesto over pasta ribbons, big jugs of iced tea with fresh spearmint, and farmer’s market heirloom tomatoes tucked into BLT’s. There’s always something to celebrate, and there is a peace in cooking that I hope you find as much as I do.

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