Welcome!

Dear Friends and Family,

I’m so happy you’re here. I’ve been eating, cooking, and collecting photos of my food filled journey for a while now and could not be more excited to share them with you. Thanks to Instagram stories, I’ve been posting my cooking adventures and was receiving more and more questions and comments… “how’d you make that, where’d you get that recipe, what is that, where are you eating…” You get the point.

Thanks to the nudging of friends and family, I decided to finally share what I’m cooking, eating, and learning in this “official” shiny, new blog. It took much longer than I anticipated to compile all my notes and photos and then write up the recipes but it’s been such a fulfilling experience and something I’m so excited to continue. I’m now at a place where I feel comfortable launching and I can’t wait to hear what you all think. More content will be posted weekly and this website will continue to evolve. I’m really interested in hearing what works and what doesn’t so I can make this as helpful and useful, as a home cook and foodie, to you all.

You’ll find recipes, many of which are near and dear to my heart, that have been passed down through my family members in the “Cook” section. I’ve come from a long line of people who love to eat good food and a lot of it. Instead of receiving restaurant email recommendations from me, when you ask me where to eat when you travel, I’ve put all my favorite places (arranged geographically) in the “Eat” section. This includes my famous spreadsheet of over 300 recipes, sorted by location, type of food, rating etc. Lastly, I’ll share helpful tips and tricks that have made a difference in my cooking along the way in “Learn”. I’m hoping you’ll all comment, like and share the recipes, restaurants, and tips you love the most. And, don’t forget to tag me on social media if you use one of my recipes! I could not be more excited to see you guys cooking the recipes I’ve been working on. Exciting things to come include guest posts where I’ll include recipes from friends and family members who are cooking amazing dishes in their own homes.

Finally and most importantly, I am eternally grateful for the amazing people in my life that have been helping me along the way. A very special shout out to my talented cousin Thao for taking my photos, documenting some of my cooking, and for always answering my blogging questions (no matter what time of day). I probably wouldn’t have done this without the nudging of my cousins Chad and Kim (and the rest of my family) who have been telling me to do this forever. Thank you, Mom, for always answering your phone when I call with questions or need help with recipes. Many thanks to my dad for sending me his recipes as well, and digging up old photos and videos that I’ve included on this site, whenever I asked him. I’m so very grateful to my fellow foodie friend Lydia, for her constant support and always appreciated creative touches, advice, and editing help. And, of course, thank you to Elliott for patiently waiting for me to take photos of our food before he can dig in and being my number 1 taste tester and sous chef.

Itadakimasu,

Kelsey

Behind the scenes look at what fueled my late night blogging sessions. Boba and basil popcorn chicken from iTea.

How cool is my apron, it matches with my mom and aunties. Many, many nights and days of testing and refining recipes!

Me in my natural habitat about to snap a photo of the best meal at Benu!