Present day
I got married in 1998 at the age of 23, and three years later became an official member of Allrecipes! I couldn't cook much of anything--definitely nothing completely from scratch. Jarred pasta sauce and noodles were my friends,
as well as our standing Friday night date with Wendy's (yes, we lived like that for three years). My mother-in-law had always worked hard to cook for her boys, and my husband vowed that "no one" would be able to cook like his mother. I knew I had to do something
or else we would both suffer for all of our days.......Game on!
We had just gotten a computer and the internet, and I loved that you could search for anything your heart desired, and some things it didn't. I started searching for recipes, healthy recipes, chicken recipes, vegetarian recipes,
chili recipes, any recipe I could think of and somehow landed on a very early version of allrecipes.com. One of the first recipes I ever made from this site was
I made it so long ago I didn't even rate it. I remember my husband disliking the celery AND the fact that it was vegetarian. He worked out daily so I was trying to feed him something that was healthy and filling, so that's what
caught my eye about this recipe. I didn't give up, and this recipe was eventually adapted and changed into my own vegetarian chili, which, by the way, is now my husband's favorite meal. He wouldn't remember where it started, but I do.
I tried more and more, and became increasingly confident in the kitchen to where I began sharing the items I would make. Chocolate chip cheesecake and broccoli salad at a family reunion, cookies and muffins with coworkers, breakfast
casseroles with friends, cakes for birthdays, and best of all, the successful meals I was able to create at home ALL come from Allrecipes.
Chocolate Chip Cheesecake I
The rating told me whether or not a recipe would be a 5 star winner, and the photos helped as well. I became known as "the dinner invite to get" because whoever was coming knew they would be well-fed and happy. All because of this
wonderful site.
I am now responsible for Christmas dinner for the family (including my mother-in-law) and I cherish the planning and execution every year. It takes me weeks to perfect the menu. No two years are the same, and they don't have to
be thanks to the variety of dishes I can now make because of this site. Here is last year's menu, and it may have been the best so far. But, we say that every year ; )
Another perk from using this site (in addition to my cooking ability evolving exponentially over the years thanks to the many foolproof recipes) is that I also discovered a LOVE for food photography. There is something satisfying
about creating not only a delicious food, but also beautiful food. It's my favorite hobby! See some of my food pictures below.
**Thank you, Allrecipes--from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of my husband's stomach! Not only have you coached me into the best cook he knows, but you have a fan for life**
