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40 Foodies Under 40 (and the home cook)


I've been wanting to blurt this out for a while now and it still feels as exciting as the day I found out. Western Living Magazine has named me to its annual list of 40 Foodies Under 40. Me. In my little family kitchen with my cheap knives and my stained wooden spoons. I've seen it in print and I still can't quite believe it. They've even included one of my recipes, beautifully photographed for the glossy pages.

When I first found out I had been nominated I was incredibly flattered but not all that confident my name would end up on the final list. I mean, I'm a food blogger. Not a chef. Not a professional putting in the time and the money to make a restaurant or a bakery or a winery be the best it can be. Sure, I teach cooking classes, but even then I'm always a little surprised when people actually turn up to learn something about home cooking from me. I mean, isn't someone suddenly going to realize I'm just a home cook? A mom with two kids to feed who often get in the way of me doing it? Isn't someone in chef's whites going to point at me and let everyone in on the fact that I'm just fumbling around in the kitchen with a basic camera and no clue?

But I realize no one will do that because people are generally nice. And that makes me think that perhaps I should be nicer to myself. In fact, maybe as home cooks we should all feel a little more entitled to be proud of what we do, what we cook and the role we play in our homes. A fabulous slow-cooked lamb stew and a warm and flaky apple pie don't just make themselves. It takes patience and skill to get these things right. We read, we watch, and we read some more. We get pretty good at these things because we practice them, over and again, for the people we love. We're nurturing relationships, softening sorrows and celebrating life's big moments with the food that we cook in our home kitchens. That truly is something worth being proud of.

So, I'm thrilled to be on this incredible list. Score one for the home cooks.


Leave a comment: What makes you feel proud of yourself in the kitchen?