Hi there! I’m Diana!!
I am a mom and a wife, and have a demanding full-time job. All that keeps me very busy, but cooking is what I love to do. Cooking, baking, canning, grilling, mixology, entertaining….I love it all!
I’m well known by my family and friends as a passionate cook and have been known to find just about any reason to throw a party.
To me food is an expression… Food is love, it’s fun, it’s celebration, it’s sympathy, it’s comfort, it’s soothing and it’s festive! It can commemorate any occasion and make it special. I love to cook for people, to show them that I care, to make them happy, or just because…
I also immensely enjoy cooking with friends and sharing new dishes. I’m frequently asked by my friends and family for my recipes. To be honest that is how I started writing and developing recipes. I’ve always been the kind of cook that operates on instinct. I might read a recipe or eat a dish at a restaurant that I want to try do duplicate at home. I start with what I know, add this and that based on instinct and experience, taste, adjust, and most of the time come up with a winner. But when someone would taste my food and ask for the recipe, I had a hard time coming up with the specific amounts of ingredients I used. So, when they tried to make the same dish….it didn’t always work. Over the years I began to take notes as I cook and those notes have developed into recipes.
And…I love to entertain almost as much as I love to cook! Anything from having a few friends over for dinner, hosting a Super Bowl get together, or having a full blown theme party…I’m in! I love the planning, the prepping, the shopping, the decorating, the cooking and the partying!! Everything but the clean-up…I hate that part! But luckily my hubby, Bill, is wonderful about helping me with the dreaded day after party duties. He is my dedicated and expert dish washer, faithful supporter, taste tester, and my biggest fan 😇 . In fact, we don’t go out to eat very often anymore because Bill always says, “This isn’t as good as yours” LOL!
My son, Evan, is a college student and a very adventurous eater. (When I’m in the mood for sushi, he’s my date…Bill is kinda picky) Oh, and he has a very, very big appetite. And he has a lot of friends who also have very, very big appetites. While he was in high-school, and frequently during college breaks, my house is the place where all the guys hang out …partially because I cook yummy food for them….and I love every minute of it! In fact, the older they get, the less they all get together at the same time and I miss having them all here so much!
My brother Mark, is also a great cook and a cast-iron aficionado. He’s got his own special spot on my site. You’ll have to check out the Cast-Iron Cooking page for his awesome recipes made in all sorts of different cast-iron vessels….most of them vintage. He is a wealth of knowledge on the the subject of cast iron…identifying, collecting, cooking, cleaning, seasoning…he knows it all!
The rest of my tribe is a group of wonderful friends who I love to cook for and party with!! I hope you’ll join me to hear about all the great food and festivities going on at my house!!