Welcome to Breathing & Cooking, I’m Erin and I’m so glad you’re here! This blog is as much about slowing down and savoring the process of cooking as it is about savoring the final dish.
I’m a big believer in keeping things real – whether that’s the ingredients I use or the expectations we set for ourselves. Cooking should be joyful and never feel like a chore- and food should be enjoyed whether we’re sharing it with people we love or dining solo.
What you’ll find here:
- Seasonal recipes using real, unprocessed ingredients
- Cooking fundamentals – because when you understand the “why” and “how” of a recipe cooking becomes intuitive
- Recipes for one (or two) – because self care is important & you deserve to eat well
- Recipes to feed a family – because sharing a meal strengthens bonds
- Menu’s for gatherings – with timelines to help you organize so that you can relax and enjoy your company
- What to make when you don’t have a lot of time- because life happens
- What to cook when you have time to slow down and enjoy the process- because cooking is good for the soul
- Thoughts on life, balance & mindfulness
And sprinkled throughout we’ll talk about favorite ingredients, tools I can’t live without, weekly dinners with Hannah, being kind to yourself, embracing your season, and even the recipes that don’t make the cut (because it’s important to remember not everything turns out the first time)!
A little about me…
Where do I start- My credentials? My family? My personal food philosophy? Maybe I explain what breathing has to do with cooking? Honestly, that’s a novel right there! This blog is the accumulation of 49 years of food never not being a central part of my life, it’s 40 years of mom-&-cookbook- inspired trial and error, it’s 28 years of raising children and working and figuring out how- in the middle of it all- to take care of me, too.
Within those chapters are stories of flipping crepes with one hand while holding a baby who would only fall asleep on my shoulder. A meatloaf even my dog wouldn’t eat. The embarrassing realization that I’d been incorrectly pronouncing prosciutto (pro-skeew-tow) because I’d only read the word in magazines and never actually heard it spoken. The deep satisfaction of successfully catering a prime rib dinner for 40 all by myself. The first time I tasted a caprese salad with still-warm-from-the-sun tomatoes and basil freshly picked from my own garden. And the time I was moved to tears (seriously) by the most beautiful head of butter lettuce I’d ever seen with dew drops still clinging to it’s soft, pale green leaves.
Food and cooking has carried me through so many seasons in life. It’s been the constant in a world of change. So maybe I’ll go with that…
Growing up my mom and dad set a solid food foundation…
Cooking was enjoyable and food was sustenance, pleasure and comfort all wrapped up in one delicious bundle. Mealtimes were for slowing down and connecting. And presentation -my mom was the queen of the “parsley flourish” and my dad, an artist, set a gorgeous table- was part of the whole experience.
I had three daughters by my 26th birthday. We lived on a farm and we were poor. We didn’t have the internet or cable, but I had a subscription to Bon Appetit and a collection of cookbooks which I’d read cover to cover like novels. My budget for groceries was less than the food I wanted to make, so I planted a big garden and got chickens for fresh eggs.
I learned to cook seasonally and make ingredients stretch
I learned that some of the best things you could eat had nothing to do with spending a lot of money or having fancy equipment (for years my stove was a 1940’s Magic Chef with a pilot light I had to ignite manually with a match). Rather, they were the result of quality ingredients and understanding the why and how of putting them together. I learned that things I could never afford to order in a restaurant were within reach if I made them at home.
And I learned that when we sat down around the table together sharing a meal we weren’t poor– we had everything we needed.
A lot of life has happened between the time I lived on the farm and where I find myself now. I went from a stay at home mom to a divorced mom trying to balance work and family and eventually, when my last daughter grew up, it was just me and my dog, Ollie, sharing dinner at the end of the day. In 2016 I met the most wonderful man, Eric, who is truly the yin to my yang and we were married a few years later in our backyard with my dad officiating and our combined 5 children by our sides. Life is good.
Through all of these seasons the constant has been the joy I find in my kitchen. Cooking is my passion and my love language. It was a creative outlet when my kids were young, it was the comfort and familiarity I craved on my way home from work after a stressful day, and it was self-care when it was just me and Ollie on a Friday night.
Cooking for me is like breathing. It’s always been there and it’s most rewarding when I slow down and pay attention to it.
I tell you this because whatever season you’re in right now, whatever level of cooking skills you possess, whether you have an ancient stove & one knife or a dream kitchen filled with every fancy tool you could want, whether you have ten people to feed or you’re cooking dinner for one… Breathing & Cooking will meet you where you are.
I’d love to hear from you and see what you’ve got going on in your kitchen, so feel free to reach out to me! Thank you for stopping by, I’m looking forward to breathing & cooking with you!
Erin