About the Journey

"The journey is part of the experience - an expression of the seriousness of one's intent. One doesn't take the A train to Mecca."          -Anthony Bourdain 

Food is Memory...
It's happened to all of us. We are somewhere – a restaurant, a friend's home, or just anywhere. We take a taste and suddenly a flood of memory fills the senses with the flavor of a moment from our past. With each bite we remember that moment. Sometimes we pursue the memories – searching every possible recipe or food vendor for that one special something that Mom made. We give of ourselves when we cook something. It's more than nourishment - it's history. It's who we are, and who our ancestors were.

I thought of this all one day as I was serving my daughters a bowl of something made from box and packet of powder. Is this what they will remember from me? Will they eat McCheez o' Mush and have fond memories of me? Eeeek! I better get cooking! I have all the world to show them, and not enough time. I carry the history of women they have yet to meet. And so I cooked. Some was good, some sucked. Sometimes I just didn't have the time, and regretted the lost opportunity.

The recipes on this site come from many places. I was lucky to inherit all of the recipes of my Grandma and my Great Grandmother, as well as the few recipes left by my own mother. I will cook them and post them to remember and celebrate the memories they have left me. And it's only fitting that I create my own history and add those recipes too, as they also say something about who I am.

And who am I? I am Karen. I work, I cook, I read and I am on a journey. I have a job that I love, even as frustrating and aggravating as it can be. I have two beautiful daughters who I share a love of music and adventure with. I am a world traveler in my vivid imagination, awaiting the opportunity some day to see the places I have imagined. Be it India or Uzbekistan, the 1930s or 1800s, I am going. 

All I need is that portal to take me through time and space...