Hey! My name is Erica. I am Tennessee-born, Georgia-raised and I am currently a college student in Washington, DC, our nation's beautiful capitol. I am studying public health and really think I have found my passion, well one of my passions. Another one of my passions is cooking. This blog allows me to express this passion and share it with other people. What could be better?
A little background about my love affair with the kitchen...
The thing is I am not really sure when my passion for cooking began. No one really taught me to enjoy cooking. No one in my family really finds pleasure in it, but for some reason I always have. I think it may have started with my easy bake oven. Oh, how I loved that easy bake oven, even despite the fact you bake with a lightbulb and everything ends up tasting like rubber. The next step in my culinary journey would be middle school when I asked for a toaster for my birthday. A toaster. What 6th grader asks for a toaster? Well we didn't have one and I found it absolutely ludicrous. Ever since that birthday I have asked for kitchen appliances for almost every holiday. And then came college. Baking became my stress-coping mechanism. No one in my dorm seemed to mind- every midterm and final week they were all well fed. Then last year I started this blog, which has encouraged me to become more daring in the kitchen and try to create my own recipes that I can share.
Then in May 2010, I was diagnosed with a dairy allergy and gluten intolerance. Luckily for me, I had already had friends and family with the same diagnosis so I was not completely new to the world of allergy-free cooking. In fact, most of the time I see it as a challenge rather than a limitation. I love that cooking is like the perfect blend between art and science, and allergy-free cooking enhances these challenges, yielding a great sense of satisfaction when a dish comes out as you plan. This blog is dedicated entirely to gluten and dairy free recipes, but I make an effort to make sure that they are better than their 'normal' alternatives. And for people without allergies, there are many health benefits to many of these foods, with higher protein content and lower glycemic index among many things that everyone can enjoy. I will do my best to point out these health benefits along the way.
Also keep in mind that this is not a healthy food blog, but I do enjoy studying nutrition and I try to live a healthy lifestyle so I try to reflect that in my posts (not all the time of course- a girls gotta splurge).
I hope you all enjoy my recipes and hearing about my inspiration behind them and my experiences making them.
And also I love hearing feedback, so please comment and ask questions and if I dont already know you I'm sure I would love to.
Much Love!
-Erica
