About

Every recipe has a story.  This is a place for me to share my stories through food.  Welcome to my recipe and cooking blog!

About the Site

I am asked for recipes all the time.  Sharing my recipes is a way to share part of myself and my history.  I want to give my readers easy,accurate and accessible recipes. To come up with a “clean” recipe you often have to do lots and lots of recipe testing.  It can take A LOT of time to perfect a recipe, and be quite expensive.  I wish that I had endless time and funds to do all of this testing, but I do not.  SO, I am asking you, my readers, to test my recipes for me.  I will post a recipe along with its story once a week.  Send me your feedback!  Let me know what you think!  I welcome your thoughts!  I want to hear how you believe my recipe can be tweaked and modified.   You may find something critical that I missed.  Or I want to hear if you think it is great as is.  I will take all of your comments into consideration and then post a “Final” recipe if I can get enough feedback.  I would love for this blog to be a collaborative community.   I will also post my thoughts on other food related topics.

As a full time working mom I have a limited amount of time to cook meals for my family.  I get home tired from work and need to feed hungry people.  My recipes have to be quick.  Being that I am not a chef, they have to be easy.  Being that I love food, they have to be GOOD.   The recipes that you will find on this site are quick, easy and health conscious.  You will not find a recipe that starts with a stick of butter (except for my chocolate chip cookies which are totally worth it!)  I do keep kosher so all the recipes here are kosher as well.

About Me

I grew up in a house that revolved around food.  At breakfast we planned what we would have for lunch.  At lunch we fantasized about dinner.  I guess it was inevitable that I would develop a love, no passion, for great food.  I love to cook, eat at restaurants, read recipes, write recipes, share recipes….. you get the picture!

I am lucky in that I come from family of great and creative cooks.  The only problem is that everyone in my family (me included) never has a documented recipe for anything that we make.  If I invite you over for dinner and you ask me for my meatball recipe you are totally out of luck.  Why?  We cook with a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.  It is all instinct and feel as opposed to measuring and watching the timer.  Until now….

About the Style of Food

My origin is from Baghdad, but no one in my family has lived in Iraq for many generations.  My parents grew up in India where a large Jewish population thrived.  They had a unique style of cooking Middle Eastern dishes that were influenced by local Indian culture.  My parents’ generation is the last of a very insular and beautiful  community.  This site is one way for me to honor and document my family’s very unique recipes. The recipes and food that my family made have greatly influenced me and my cooking style.  I love using different spices and textures and think that even the simplest recipes can be full of flavor.

Although I am influenced by my family’s recipes I did grow up in the U.S. where I was exposed to every other type of cuisine out there.  I love all types of food and make food from all over the globe!

About the Photography

Food pictures are important. I loooove to look at cookbooks with pretty pictures.  Too bad I am a much better cook than a photographer.  Lucky for me my sister-in-law, Lisa Kramer, is a FABULOUS photographer.  She will be submitting many photos to the site.  When she is not able to photograph the food I will try my best.  You will immediately know if it was Lisa taking the photo or I.

Caveat

I am not a chef.  I have received no formal culinary training.  I am a food enthusiast that learned to cook watching my dad, my grandma and my aunt at the stove.  Plus I also spent many hours (pre having babies) watching the Food Network.  That being said, please do not be too harsh on me or my recipes.  They are not meant to be complex, fussy or gourmet. They are simply meant to be GOOD.

Contact Me

testmyrecipes@gmail.com

or visit my facebook page